Page 94 of February

The walls were dark-red-and-brown brick, and toward the middle and top of them, they were covered in vines of some plant Bridgette hadn’t ever learned the name of. Maybe it was ivy, but that couldn’t be the only plant that grew like that. Each table had a small tea candle in a red holder that allowed red light to flicker around the space. Each table also had a sauce holder with six different kinds of the stuff in it.

“Oh, which one of those do I stay away from?” Monica asked.

Bridgette took the holder and pulled out one bottle.

“This is their hottest sauce. You shouldn’t even smell this, given your reaction before.”

“Funny,” Monica said sarcastically.

Bridgette pulled out a second sauce and said, “This is a sweet sauce, but it’s, like,reallysweet, so a little goes a long way.” She pulled out a third. “Here is their mustard barbecue. It’s not spicy, but it’s tangy, so take that for what you will.” She pulled out the fourth bottle. “This is a standard barbeque. Mild on the spice and a little sweet and tangy.” She pulled out the fifth. “This is Tabasco that they just put in here. So, go easy on that.” She pulled out the final bottle. “This is their medium-level spicy barbecue. I usually use this one and add a little Tabasco. I like the combination.”

“That’s a lot of options.”

“In some places here, you have more. This one is my favorite in all the restaurants, though.” Bridgette held up the sixth bottle. “It’s thin and just coats everything evenly.”

“So, be careful if I plan to use that one, or I’ll have brisket soup?” Monica asked.

Bridgette laughed and began putting all the bottles back into the holder. Their food arrived only a minute later, and Bridgette watched as Monica put a little bit of each of the sauces on the edge of her tray. She waited patiently as Monica dipped apiece of meat into one, tried it, and repeated it until she’d tasted all six of them.

“Holy shit!” Monica yelped, causing Bridgette to laugh as Monica tasted their spiciest sauce. “Not funny,” she added after she took a drink of her tea.

“I warned you.” Bridgette continued to laugh.

“That’s crazy. How do people eat that?”

“People eat even hotter than that,” Bridgette replied, putting some sauce onto her own plate.

“Well, not me. Give me that sweet sauce.”

They ate and talked as the loud group finally finished and left. More groups arrived, though, and eventually, it was too loud in the space to hear one another, so they dropped their trash into the can and left.

“So, what’s next?” Monica asked.

“Walk it off,” Bridgette replied. “I’m full. I could use a walk. You?”

“Sounds nice,” Monica agreed.

Before Bridgette knew it, they’d walked for well over two hours and had only stopped to grab a coffee to-go. They’d ended up in Jackson Square and continued walking since the night was cool without being cold.

“Well, well,” a voice said loud enough and in their direction that Bridgette was sure that the person was talking to her.

She turned to the right but didn’t see anyone she knew, so she decided she must have been wrong.

“Right on schedule,” the voice said again.

Bridgette turned some more and saw the fortune teller from the last time they’d been here. The woman winked at her and nodded down toward their joined hands. Bridgette gave her wide eyes and silently told her now was not the time. Monica hadn’t noticed and was talking about Aaron and how he played socceras a kid. Bridgette walked them a little faster until they were in front of the cathedral.

“We’re stopping?” Monica asked.

“No, just pausing.”

Bridgette leaned in and kissed her sweetly, unable to wait any longer to do that.

“What brought that on?” Monica asked as she smiled back at her.

“Just had to do it,” she replied.

Then, she wondered ifthatwas right on schedule, too.

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