Page 132 of February

“No, I don’t think I do. I like solving problems, Dad. I’ve been doing that here, and I realized that I missed doing it. I’ve helped Bridgette with her parents, and I know you’re still mad that they’re not selling, but it was the right decision for their family and for the business, and I helped. Bridgette did most of the work, butIhelped.”

“You help here, too. You might have just saved Good Day with a few phone calls.”

“I didn’t save them. I put a Band-Aid on their bleeding wound. Their president is a moron, Dad. He should be let go for the stuff he did this year. Relying on us buying a company to save them was a bad move.”

“I know. I know. I’ll work on that,” he replied. “But, Monica, this was supposed to all be yours.”

“Darius is a great candidate, Dad. He has the best experience and pedigree. He knows Arnette enough, and I can take some time with him to help him learn the rest. If you can just give me until the rest of the year, I’ll have him ready for you to recommend to the board.”

“He’s fine, but he’s not my daughter. He’s not an Arnette.”

“No, but he’s a friend of the family, and that matters to you, or I wouldn’t be here right now, trying to save a tiny local greeting card company.”

“You should have been a lawyer, the way you argue,” he replied.

She allowed herself to laugh.

“I had a vision, Monica.”

“I know, Dad. But your vision isn’t my life. I wanted to live up to that for you, for Mom, and for myself, but I just don’t think I want it anymore.”

“Then, what will you do?” he asked. “Stay in your current role?”

“I don’t know. That depends on you, I suppose.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I want to stay down here,” Monica revealed. “I want to move to New Orleans at least part-time.”

“Move? To New Orleans? Weren’t you just griping about having to go down there when I asked you to? And now, you want to move there?”

“If anyone should understand, it’s you. You fell in love with this city when you went to school. It’s why you recommended Aaron go to Tulane.”

“Yes. But why would you want to be there part-time? It’s a beautiful city, but you don’t know anyone. Aaron won’t be there until August.”

Monica cleared her throat and said, “Actually, I did meet some people down here. I have a few new friends, and Sophie lives here, too. Do you remember Sophie?”

“No, but I think I remember you mentioning the name,” he replied.

“She used to work for us. She left Arnette about four years ago. I’ve met up with her a couple of times since I got here, so I have an old friend and new friends,” she replied.

“And do you plan to live at the Four Seasons?”

“No,” she replied with a laugh. “I’ll get an apartment at first and then look for a house to buy.”

“Buy? So, when you say part-time, you mean part-time forever? Or is this just because Aaron is going to school down there?”

“Partly.” She shrugged, even though her dad couldn’t see her. “I want to be able to spend time with him when he wants, but I’ll stay out of his way. It’s important for him to have acollege experience without his mother always checking in and asking for dinners.”

“He’ll need somewhere to do his laundry, I suppose. I doubt Lily ever taught him how because she doesn’t know how herself.”

Monica laughed at that and said, “I taught him how to laundry, Dad, but I’d like to have a room for him here in case he needs a place to stay or even just a quiet room to study in.”

“So, you’ll be down there part-time. What does that look like, exactly?”

Monica took a deep breath and said, “Well, I’d like to spend three weeks here and a week in Manhattan for a while. If I need to be there for an important meeting, I will be, but, Dad, my goal would be to figure out if I want to move here full-time. Meaning, if things work out down here, I’d move here permanently and sell my Manhattan apartment.”

“So, this is really an experiment?”

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