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“So, tell me about you,” Rachel changed the subject.

“What about me?”

Rachel looked around and asked, “When did you get this place?”

“When I moved for the job. The previous owner was looking to offload it because she was relocating for a relationship, I think. I got it for a great price, which is nice because I had to use a little of my savings recently to fix the pool.”

Why had she brought up the pool? The story about the pool could easily lead to the story about the device, and she didn’t want anyone to know about that thing. At least, not yet.

“What was wrong with the pool?”

“The lining was leaking, and they found something wrong with the foundation, too,” she answered, keeping it simple. “Took them days and thousands of dollars to fix, but it’s done now.”

“Do you use it often?”

“I’ve never used it, technically.”

“What? You have a pool, and you don’t use it? I’m in the shared-apartment-building one every morning unless I need to sleep in for some reason.”

“This morning?”

“Yeah, I’m an early riser, too,” Rachel told her with a smile before she took a sip of her coffee. “I wanted to be on the swim team, but I was too young and too small at every turn. I just swim laps, but it’s my workout of choice, and it helps me relax at the same time. I can’t believe you have your own pool, and you don’t even use it.”

“It wasn’t why I bought the place, but itissomething I planned on using one day. I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Why are you in that apartment, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, I moved here for this job, too,” Rachel replied. “I only lived about an hour and a half away, but I was in a condo there, and after making the drives for all the interviews both times, I knew I didn’t want to make the commute every day. It’s tough when I already swim in the mornings to calm my mind before work,andthen I’d have to sit in traffic for close to two hours two times a day.”

“That sounds awful, actually.”

“It would’ve been, so I rented the apartment. I’m month-to-month, which is nice. It costs a little more to not have a lease tying me to the place, but it’s worth it to be able to move when I want. A lot of my stuff is still in the condo, but I’ve moved some of it here. I rented furniture for the time being.”

“Will you keep the condo?”

“I might rent it out and take the supplemental income. I like to have money for a rainy-day fund.”

“Rainy day?”

“Trips that I want to take; silly bucket list items; stuff like that. I’m usually just saving my money. I’m pretty frugal because I never know what’s going to happen, but I plan to have fun one day.”

“Planto have fun?” Violet laughed a little and took another drink.

“More fun than it sounds,” Rachel said with a shy smile. “I mean, right now, I’m in that focusing-on-my-career phase. This is my first VP role, so I plan to focus on that for the next couple of years. Then, I’ll maybe start thinking about settling down. I’d like to get married one day, and that’s where the trips come in. I can take one on my own, obviously, but I feel like I’d have more fun with someone else, andI think it would be the most fun if it’s with someone I’m in love with. Not like I have a ton of friends to volunteer to go with me, but I’d love to see Paris with the woman I love, or maybe Rio. I’d like to see Alaska too, but maybe a cruise for that trip.”

Violet had certainly heard thewomanpart, confirming what she’d already known, but the piece she was most focused on was that Rachel wanted to concentrate on work for the next couple of years and wouldthenthink about settling down. That part hurt a little because Violet had thought they were progressing toward something here. She knew it would be complicated to broach the topic because they worked together, so she needed to be careful, but she’d been sure that Rachel was feeling something and wouldn’t mind if Violet at least asked if she’d be interested in having dinner sometime. It made sense, though: Rachel was still young and was career-focused right now. Violet took another drink of her coffee in an attempt to hide her disappointment.

“I’m thinking kids would come later, but that depends on the woman I marry,” Rachel continued.

“Why’s that?”

“Well, I want them, but she has to want them as well, right?”

“You’d marry someone who doesn’t want kids when you want them?”

“I don’t know.” Rachel squinted in thought. “I just want one person for the rest of my life. I’ve always been a bit of a romantic in that way. And if she’s not interested in having kids, or – well, this is maybe too much information since we’re colleagues and possibly new friends – but I’ve… I’ve always been attracted to older women.”

“Older?”

“Yeah, older than me. I think it’s because I grew up so quickly and spent time around people who were usually five to ten years older than me. Anyway… If I want kids, but she’s not interested because she’s past that part in her life or something, I need to be open to that.”