The Best Lines

by Nicole Pyland

  “I’m not done with my equations.”

  “You should tell Charlie and Hailey about this.” She pointed at the board. “Let them in on this part of you, Em. They’re your best friends.”

  “It’s a lot,” Ember pointed out as she walked toward the front door to grab Eva’s coat for her.

  “It’s you, babe.” Eva kissed her once more before allowing Ember to help her with her coat.

  CHAPTER 16

  Ember fell into bed that night and clutched her phone against her chest waiting for Eva’s text that she’d arrived home safely. She stared up at the ceiling and replayed that last exchange with Eva prior to their lengthy goodbye in front of the elevator. She’d offered to walk her to the train station, but Eva declined. Ember had instead watched her from the window for a few blocks. She’d cleaned the kitchen, dressed, and readied for bed and found herself thinking of the word Eva had used. She’d called her babe. Ember had been called that before. She’d been called that a lot, actually. Sometimes, it was in passing and sometimes it was in bed out of reflex more than anything. But it had never meant more to her than when it had escaped Eva’s lips.

  Her phone beeped. She lifted it to see that Eva had arrived home. She breathed a sigh of relief. Never before had she cared so much about a woman walking home alone. She wanted Eva to be safe because she couldn’t stand the idea of anyone or anything hurting her. She wanted only happiness for Eva Dash and wanted to help provide that to her. She texted back and a few minutes later got a reply from Eva that she was in bed. Ember decided to take a chance and pressed the phone icon next to Eva’s name.

  “Hey there,” Eva said.

  “I couldn’t wait until tomorrow.”

  ◆◆◆

  Ember made it through Wednesday at the restaurant with only the necessary conversations with her father. Her mother wasn’t playing sides in this argument, but she was spending the rest of the week with three of her friends at a house by the lake. They did this trip once a year. Francine wasn’t about to cancel because her husband and only daughter weren’t getting along.

  “I don’t know what I should do,” Charlie began without introduction. She sat down next to Ember and then stole a bite of her scone. “I like my job. It’s a good job. Government pay, but I get all the holidays, my boss is pretty cool, and I get to do what I love.”

  “But?” Hailey knew where Charlie was going.

  “But this other place is recruiting me hard. It’s a promotion. I’d have my own team, which would be awesome. More pay too, which is even more awesome.”

  “What’s the problem?” Ember took a piece of her scone.

  “It’s risky. They’re new. They don’t have many clients yet and the ones they do have are small. It’s private sector work, so if they fail, I’m out of a job. Getting back into the city planning office after leaving wouldn’t be easy.”

  “Why are you assuming they’ll fail?” Hailey asked the right question and Ember smiled at how well they knew one another.

  “I’m not. I’m trying to figure out if I should take it. They only gave me until tomorrow to decide. You two have been no help, by the way. I asked you to tell me what to do.”

  Hailey laughed at her and sipped on her coffee. “Charlie, we can’t tell you what to do. We can give you advice, but it’s your decision.”

  “Well, what’s your advice, Hails?”

  “I think you should take it,” Hailey replied. “It’s a risk, yeah, but it’s worth it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “She’s right,” Ember added and then moved to her messenger bag on the floor. She pulled out a notebook and placed it in front of Charlie. “I did some work to see if I could help you make an informed decision.”

  “You did research on them?” Charlie opened the notebook, and then her eyes told Ember she had no clue what was in front of her. “Em?”

  “What is it?” Hailey asked and without asking, turned the notebook toward herself. “What the hell is this?”

  “Some statistical analysis work with some econometrics mixed in that shows this job would be a good fit for you. I put the results in the back there.” She pointed at the notebook.

  “Did you have one of those students from those classes you’re auditing do this?” Hailey asked and turned the pages without looking up at Ember.

  Charlie actually moved to the other side of the table and sat next to Hailey to review the notebook.

  “I did it,” Ember said and swallowed.

  “You did this?” Charlie looked up in surprise. “How?”

  “I’m sort of good at math.”

  “This isn’t just math. This is really advanced stuff. I’ve seen stuff like this at work,” Charlie said. “In the structural engineering department. Of course, I’m assuming it looks like this. It all looks like gibberish to me.”

  “Their math isn’t the same as this, but yeah, it’s pretty advanced stuff,” she admitted.

  “Why didn’t you tell us you could do this?” Hailey asked with a gentle tone and pushed the notebook over to Charlie.

  “It never seemed like a big deal.”

  “So, this isn’t new? You’ve been able to do this for a while?” Charlie flipped some more.

  “Since I was young,” Ember said. “Well, not that specifically. That came later, but I’ve always been a little ahead mathematically. I can read pretty fast and understand some basic mechanical stuff.”

  “What?” Hailey’s tone registered shock.

  “It’s not a big deal. I thought you guys should know. I figured doing this for Charlie was a good way to tell you.” She pointed at the notebook. “I wrote out the results for you, but based on the company, my research, and the fact that I know you and your strengths, goals, and some other stuff mixed in, you should take it. They’re on a good trajectory financially, they have good investors backing them too, and you’d be a strong fit for them in terms of leadership.” She took a drink. “Oh, they should adjust that free meal thing, though.”

  “Huh?” Charlie appeared to still be catching up.

  “Most start-ups do something for the employees like free lunches, dinners or snacks. They’re trying to emulate that, but they don’t need to. They offer lunch and dinner, but they’d save money by switching to breakfast and lunch because breakfast food is cheaper and easier to prepare than dinner. Instead of having dinner catered nightly, they should offer things like fruits, cereals, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries along with some decent coffee. That would encourage employees to arrive a little earlier too, which would increase productivity.”

  “Who are you?” Hailey laughed out.

  “Em, this is awesome. If I suggest this to them and it works, it’s going to make me look great. Thank you,” Charlie told her. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

  “You asked for advice. I wanted to give you the best I could.”

  “You did. This is…”

  “This is amazing, Em,” Hailey finished for Charlie. “I wish you could do something like this for my personal life.”

  Charlie looked over at Hailey and smiled.

  “There’s been new research into that. They’re calling it the love equation. It was created for straight couples, but they made a variant for gay couples too.”

  “Really?” Charlie seemed interested.

  “I’ll draw it out.” Ember turned the notebook in her direction, pulled out a pen and scribbled on the last page:

  L = 8 + .5Y - .2P + 2J - .3G - .5(S1 - S2)2 - I + 1.5C

  “L is the predicted length in years of the relationship, Y is the number of years the two people knew each other before the relationship became serious.” She pointed as she explained the meaning of each of the variables and how it all came together.

  “But for this to work, I have to have someone to put into the equation with me, right?” Hailey asked.

  “Yeah, but it’s just a theory. The research is still so new. You shouldn’t put a lot of stock in it.” Ember looked over at Charlie.
“Some of the variables are subjective. You have to rate the importance on a scale of one to five to you and your partner, so that’s automatically subjective, but it exists. It’s kind of fun to play with.”

  “Have you played with your equation with anyone?” Charlie asked her.

  “No.”

  “Not even Eva?”

  “We’ve been on one date, so no.”

  “Will you?” Hailey seemed intrigued. “Assuming you keep going out.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Why?” Charlie pressed. “If an equation worked to help me pick out the job, why not try it to help you with the girl you like?” She winked.

  “You didn’t need it to know how you felt about the job. You already knew you wanted it. Hails and I both knew. You just needed to figure it out for yourself,” Ember replied. “And I don’t need math to know how I feel about Eva.”

  “That’s so cute.” Hailey clutched her hand to her chest. “Our little Ember is all grown up,” she added.

  “And the evidence backs that up.” Charlie pushed the notebook back in Ember’s direction. “I should get out of here. I have to go accept a job offer and put in my notice.”

  “I’m headed that way. You want a ride?” Hailey asked as she stood up. “Give me a second to get the car and meet me outside?”

  “Yeah, thanks.” Charlie watched as Hailey made her way out of Sally’s while bundling herself back up. “Be honest with me.”

  “About?” Ember shoved the notebook into her bag and donned her coat.

  “Did you use that love equation for Hailey and me like as a sample?”

  “Why?” Ember put her bag on her shoulder.

  “Just curious.”

  “Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you the results, Charlie.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you don’t need a stupid equation to tell you how you feel about someone.”

  “Well, obviously, Ember, but that equation doesn’t tell me how I feel. It tells me if Hailey and I would work out.”

  “Y = the number of years the two people knew each other before the relationship became serious.”

  “So?”

  “You can’t do the equation for real until you’re in a serious relationship. You can’t do that until you tell Hailey how you feel.”

  “Well, at least I have a kick-ass new job.” She hugged Ember. “Thank you. You’re amazing.” She kissed her on the cheek, which she rarely did, and then walked off toward Hailey and her waiting car. “Oh, and we’re not done talking about how you’re a genius and never told Hails or me about it. You’re lucky we have to go now.” She pointed back at Ember. “We want to hear all about it.”

  Ember smiled at that thought.

  ◆◆◆

  Eva was tired of interviews. She’d had too many already and still hadn’t accepted or rejected the offer from North Dakota. She hated making NDSU wait, and she was running out of time. She only had one week left to accept the offer. She considered having Ember create an equation for her, like she’d done with Charlie. Maybe math could tell her if she should take the job. Ember could include her current financial situation and the likelihood of her achieving tenure at NDSU over another local school and then factor in that she didn’t want to leave Chicago.

  She’d been restless all week. She couldn’t wait for Friday night. The week seemed to be extending itself to make her date with Ember an impossible-to-reach goal. She missed her touch and her taste and her eyes and her neck and the feel of her own fingers dragging along Ember’s stomach. They’d talked every day, sometimes at night if Ember could get a break from the restaurant.

  Friday morning, Eva decided she should try something else during her morning run and added a math podcast to her phone, attached it to her running band, and headed out the door. At first, she regretted the decision because the podcast wasn’t exactly her workout playlist, but after she got used to it, it wasn’t that bad. She made her turns through the city and focused on the host as he interviewed a prominent mathematician Eva had never heard of. They discussed principles in sabermetrics, which Eva learned was using statistics in sports to predict performance. While she didn’t know much about sports, she enjoyed the real-world application of the discipline nonetheless. She weaved in and out of tourists gathering outside a park to get a hot chocolate from a street vendor and review their city maps and tried to take in as much of the conversation as she could. She approached her usual turn back spot but decided to keep going because the topic was engaging enough to keep her interest. The podcast wrapped up just as she made it to the front door of her apartment. She decided she’d download another episode and hoped she’d at least understand part of it as well. As she was removing her running pants, her phone rang. She picked it up to see a familiar name, but not one that made her smile.

  “Doug?” Eva greeted.

  “Dr. Dash, hello. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Doug.”

  “Good. Listen, I’m in a bit of a bind here and I was hoping you could help.”

  “Help?” She pulled off her pants entirely and sat on the edge of her bed.

  “Dr. DeWitt is sick. She’s going to be out for a few weeks.”

  “Oh, I hope she’s okay. I know you can’t tell me anything, but-”

  “From what she’s told me, it’s not serious. It just came on. She’ll be out possibly through the end of April. I know you probably don’t want to do me any favors and you owe me nothing, but I can’t allow the TAs to teach all of her classes unsupervised. The other professors in the department have full loads already, so even if they divided up the work, it would still be a lot. We’re a small department and-”

  “Doug, are you asking me to fill in for Kayla?”

  “Would you be able to?” He exhaled deeply. “I hate that I have to ask, but you are the most qualified. I want these students to get the best education possible. We will pay you, of course.”

  “Where’s that money coming from? I thought you couldn’t afford me.” She was being petty, and she knew it.

  “There’s a discretionary fund for guest speakers. It’s coming out of that. You know if it had been in my hands, I wouldn’t-”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Doug. I’m still getting used to the fact that I don’t work there anymore. It’s been over a month. I feel like I’m taking a long vacation and I’ll be back soon.”

  “I hate calling you like this, but I’m not sorry that this has created an opportunity for you to teach our students again,” he replied. “I would completely understand if you don’t want to or if you’re unavailable. I’ve gotten a lot of reference calls about you recently. I know there’s interest in you. I’ve given you glowing recommendations.”

  “Thank you,” she replied and bit her lower lip. “When do you need me?”

  “This Monday. I’ll send you the entire schedule. The week after is spring break, so we don’t need anything there. You can have the TAs do any extra work you want to throw at them and then the next couple of weeks after that.”

  “Okay.”

  “And it’s her Brit Lit classes too, not just your old ones. You got that, right?”

  “Yeah, I figured,” she replied. “I’ll need her lesson plans and lecture notes.”

  “I’ll have a TA bring everything by your apartment, and I’ll email you anything that’s digital.”

  “Thanks, Doug.”

  “Thank you so much for this. I have to send you over an offer letter, and I need it signed and sent back. Can you do that today? I need it before you start.”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll send Danny over in about two hours with everything and Eva, I cannot thank you enough.”

  ◆◆◆

  When Eva arrived, Ember was standing outside the door to the apartment and holding a single red rose.

  “For you,” she said.

  Eva took it and replied, “Massive points for you, Ember Elliot.”

  Ember leaned in for a quick kiss on the cheek
and was more than excited to take Eva upstairs for their date.

  “I will take those points. Thank you.” Ember opened the door and ushered Eva through and followed her upstairs.

  “Ember…” Eva said immediately, as she hit the landing and turned to face Ember, who had a massive smile on her face.

  “I brought up a table from downstairs, so we would have somewhere to eat.”

  What she’d actually done was bring a table and chairs from the restaurant, cooked the food herself, except for their desserts which the pastry chef prepared especially for them. She’d also brought the rest of the beers from their first date and set everything up in front of the half-moon window. She’d pushed the bed toward the middle of the room to get it out of the way. She also made sure to bring her Bluetooth speakers to play soft music in the background.

  “Em, this is amazing.” Eva turned around and pulled Ember into her. “It’s been too long since I’ve done this.” She captured Ember’s lips and Ember had to take a few steps forward to make sure Eva’s actions didn’t topple them back down the stairs.

  Ember’s hands were on Eva’s hips and pressed firmly into them, but she couldn’t feel them enough beneath the heavy coat Eva was wearing, so her hands moved to unbutton it and tossed it to the floor. Her hands were back on Eva’s hips and then under her shirt, touching the skin of her stomach and lowering back down to the hips. She felt the outlines of those lines indicating muscle from her workouts. It took everything in her not to press Eva against the wall behind her and take her. Eva’s mouth was now doing amazing things against her neck. Ember knew she’d gone from excited about showing Eva the dinner table to excited for a whole other reason. Eva’s hands pulled Ember into her more, and Ember’s thigh pressed between Eva’s own.

  “We should stop,” Eva paused to say, but gasped when Ember’s lips hit her neck instead. “You went through all this trouble.” She got out while Ember assaulted her neck with her tongue and teeth.

  “It wasn’t that much-” Ember said as she lifted her head and pulled back a little on the thigh pressing against Eva.