CHAPTER 21 #2
“You’re type A, yeah, but you’re not a nutjob, Violet.
You have certain ways that you want to do things, but you’re also the CEO, so you’re the one who has to make the decisions.
It’s a blessing and a curse. You know that it all rests on you.
If it doesn’t go well, Arlowe will go back to coding.
Enya, I guess, will learn, like, ten more languages.
Sarai will market whatever you give her.
You’re the one who’ll have to figure out what to do next. ”
“Gee, thanks, Stella,” she said, laughing a little.
“Hey, it’s the truth. I mean, when have I ever let you off the hook?”
“Never.”
“Exactly. So, it’s harder for you than for the rest of them. Then, you add in the fact that you’re a bit of a control freak, and–”
“Hey!” Violet laughed.
“What? It’s the truth, too. Remember that group project? You didn’t like that you couldn’t rule with an iron fist and made the professor put you in another group where you could.”
“Oh, my God. I forgot about that.”
“I did not,” Stella replied. “I was pissed when he first grouped us together. You lasted one group meeting, had a list as long as my arm, and it was hand-written, Vi. Who was handwriting lists for classes even back then?”
Violet laughed for a moment, but then, she stopped.
“Hey, have you eaten dinner yet?” she asked without thinking.
“No. Why?”
“I don’t know. Want to come over and have pizza with us? Decide quickly. Sarai is placing the order as we speak. She has trouble making decisions when it comes to food, though, so you might have about thirty seconds to add to the order.”
“Where is she ordering from?”
“Mama Ps,” she said of their favorite pizza place.
“That’s my favorite. And it’s on my way there. Are you sure your friends won’t mind?”
“They won’t care. Honestly, they’d probably like having someone who doesn’t work with us sitting at the table so that we have something other than work to talk about with each other for once.”
“Can you have her set it for pick-up? I can grab it on my way and have them make me whatever when I get there.”
“Yeah? You’re sure?”
“Yes. It’s not a problem. I’ll be there in about an hour, probably.”
“Okay. I’ll go let her know.”
Violet hung up, headed back to the kitchen to try to stop Sarai from completing a delivery order, and she managed to get there when she was deciding between getting the brownie cookie dessert or the chocolate chip cookie bar dessert.
The time it would take Stella to arrive there also gave them each a longer break, and Violet used it to take a quick shower because she felt dirty after a long day out in the garage, where there was no air-conditioning.
When she got out and finished getting dressed in a pair of her old sweats and a T-shirt, she headed to the living room, where she found Sarai letting Stella in.
Stella had made it there in under an hour, and Violet felt like maybe she should’ve at least blow-dried her hair instead of leaving it down and wet, just brushed, looking like a slob in the clothes she’d chosen, too.
Why had she done that? She’d known Stella was coming over for dinner.
Was Stella staying for more than just dinner, though?
That part, they hadn’t discussed, but according to their sex-only rule, Stella would likely want or expect that tonight, given how she’d brought up phone sex earlier.
Violet wasn’t sure she could get herself in the mood, even with how good Stella looked in the adorable gray beanie she wore over her short blonde hair, a navy sweater, tight jeans, and brown boots that she kicked off by the door.
“Hey,” Stella said when she saw her. “Want to help me out here? I think Sarai ordered one of everything.”
“She has a hard time–”
“Making food decisions, I remember,” Stella interrupted.
“I like options. Sue me.”
Sarai took the top pizza box and made her way into the kitchen. Violet walked over to Stella and grabbed a couple of the smaller boxes and one of the bags carrying their drinks.
“Hey,” Stella said again. “You look comfy.”
“I look exhausted, but at least I’m clean. Working in the garage saves us money, but it’s also pretty hot in there, so it gets sweaty.”
“You look good sweaty. I’d know,” Stella teased.
“Okay. Save that for after dinner, when you’re alone in Vi’s room,” Arlowe said when she walked from the hallway and headed by them straight for the kitchen.
When Stella laughed a little, Violet looked over Stella’s shoulder and didn’t see an overnight bag.
Maybe she hadn’t planned on staying over, after all.
Violet found that thought disappointed her.
She went into the kitchen, and Stella followed.
Enya came in a moment later, and they set out all the food for everyone to take what they wanted.
Violet realized that they only had four chairs for the table, so she went to the garage and grabbed a folding chair.
She sat and offered Stella her usual seat instead.
Stella sat down, and when the rest of them joined, everyone started talking about anything other than the company, the investors, and the deck, which was a great relief for Violet, who hadn’t realized how much she’d needed that.
“Hey, are you staying? I didn’t see a bag,” she said.
“I left it in the car. I couldn’t carry it inside and bring in dinner. We also didn’t talk about that, so I packed just in case but didn’t want to assume. Besides, I didn’t know if you’d want me to bring in an overnight bag in front of your friends.”
“They know, so it’s fine,” she replied.
“Do you want me to stay, Vi?”
“I don’t know that I’m up for anything tonight. It’s been a long week.”
“Hey, Stella? Come out to the garage. You can give us your thoughts on the deck and tell Violet how good it is so that we can all get some sleep.”
Arlowe didn’t wait for a response before she walked into the garage, and Stella looked at Violet as if to ask permission.
“It’s not ready yet.”
“That’s okay. Maybe I can help. I’ve worked on decks for VCs before in my role. I won’t if you don’t want me to.”
“Come on, Violet. Maybe she can help,” Sarai said.
Violet sighed and replied, “Yeah, it’s fine. We could use a fresh set of eyes.”