Page 34 of February

“I really feel like I should drive you,” Monica said.

“Miss Arnette, I was fine before you got to New Orleans, contrary to what my parents might make you think, and I’ll be fine long after you go home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When Bridgette just turned away and started walking, Monica had no other choice but to stand there and watch her until she turned the corner. Her car arrived minutes later, and soon, Monica was back in her hotel, wishing she’d just gotten that damn seaweed wrap tonight instead of taking Bridgette’s advice and trying a local bar that wasn’t in the Quarter. Deciding not to pull out her computer to do more work, she picked up her phone and went to find Bridgette on social media. The woman’s Facebook profile was private, but her other social accounts were relatively public. Monica was able to see several photos, and she was about to make a comment to herself about young people putting their lives online when she noticed that there were hardly any pictures of Bridgette with her friends. Instead, most of them were just images of the cards Bridgette had written and drawn. There were three images in a row of a plain white card with couples holding hands. One card had a man holding a woman’s hand. One had two women. The other had two men. Bridgette was a good artist, and Monica smiled, liking that Bridgette had been inclusive in her cardmaking.

As she switched from one social site to another, she remembered something, so she opened her Facebook page, which she rarely used, and checked that she and Sophie Santiago were still friends on the platform. She went to Sophie’s profile and noticed that she’d been right: Sophie had relocated to New Orleans from New York about four years ago. The woman had worked for Arnette Assets for three years or so, and she and Monica had become friends. Normally, whenever Monicatraveled for business, even if she knew someone nearby, she didn’t bother reaching out because she never wanted to be social on these trips; she just wanted to do the work and get back home. Sophie was nice and fun, though. She was a lesbian as well, and even though she was probably about thirty-two or thirty-three now, closer to the age of Lily’s new girlfriend than her own, Monica had never really noticed.

Monica went to Messenger and decided to leave her one there instead of texting since she wasn’t certain Sophie would have the same number. She let the woman know that she was in town and told her that there was no pressure, but if she wanted to grab lunch or a drink sometime, to let her know. Done with typing the message, she dropped her phone on the bed and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. While washing her face after, she thought back to Bridgette’s horrible drunk-acting, and it made her laugh. Then, before she fell asleep, she also thought about how good it had felt to have her arm wrapped around Bridgette. Monica quickly pushedthatthought out of her mind, rolled over, and went to sleep.

CHAPTER 9

Bridgette walked into the office, surprised to see that the big open space was empty. She sat her bag on her desk and turned toward the conference room, finding her parents in their office next to it. Dan and the other two employees were in the conference room itself, along with Monica, who looked up and gave Bridgette an unreadable expression before returning her attention to the employees in front of her.

“Mom?” Bridgette asked after opening the door to the office.

“Hi, honey.”

“Morning, sweetheart,” her dad said as he looked up from his computer.

“What’s everyone doing in the conference room with Monica?”

“She asked to talk to them.”

“Do they know why she’s here?” Bridgette closed the door behind her.

“Not yet, no,” her dad replied. “She’s just asking them questions about our processes, mainly, and trying to covertly gauge if they’d be interested in staying on.”

“She’s very thorough, isn’t she?”

“She’s doing us a favor,” her dad reminded.

“I know. You keep telling me that,” Bridgette replied.

“Honey, we need her to give us a good price for the business. The family favor will only go so far. She has to see that there’s value here, or we won’t make enough to pay a decent severance to those we have to lay off. That includes you. We want to make sure you’re taken care of.”

“I doubtshedoes,” Bridgette stated.

“Well, maybe if you tried being nice to her, she might consult with you, and you could tell her whatever you think she should know about the business.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Why do you think that?” her father asked.

“Just a feeling I get,” she replied.

“Have you considered maybe showing her around the city?”

“What? Why would I do that?”

“Bridgette, I know we raised you better than this,” her mom said.

“Don’t pull that card, Mom.”

“What card?”

“The motherly guilt trip card.”

“Is it working?” her mom asked.

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