Page 25 of March

“Why would I laugh at you?” Monica asked.

“It’s Bryce.”

Monica nodded and said, “What about her, exactly?”

“It’s my family, too, but it’s really Bryce, if I’m honest with myself. If I move…” she said without needing to finish the sentence because Monica would understand.

“She couldn’t find you,” Monica replied.

“Do you know that I found zero food blogs with the name Bryce on them based in Tennessee or anywhere else in the world?”

“Maybe she doesn’t use her name for security purposes or something.”

“Probably. I also make my social profiles public for a few days a month before I shut them down.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, I can only risk it for a few days. Being fully public puts all your stuff out there, and that’s dangerous. Not to mention the comments and messages I receive every time I do it. None of them are from Bryce. Most of them are from men who see that I have ‘lesbian’ on my profile and, apparently, want to ‘do me’ and make me come with their–”

“Okay, I got it,” Monica interrupted, holding up her hands. “Gross.”

“Yeah. Why do they do that? I get links to porn and ten dick pics within about an hour after I make profiles public. I take them back to private after a day or two. I haven’t done that the past few months because it’s exhausting and, sometimes, just plain gross, but I thought that she might try to find me, and if she did, she’d go online. I wanted to be there if she did, but I can’t keep doing that, can I?”

“Do you want to keep getting dick pics?”

“God, no,” she replied. “Just say hello. What woman is going to tell you to come on over when she gets a close-up shot of your wang?”

Monica laughed and replied, “Soph, I know that night meant a lot to you, but no, I don’t think you should keep opening yourself up to unsolicited penis pictures or anything else that comes from public profiles. It’s really not about that, though, is it? It’s been a year, and she hasn’t found you, and you haven’t found her. Maybe that means something.”

Sophie nodded and said, “I’m sure you’re right.”

“It doesn’t mean that she doesn’t still think of you or that it didn’t mean anything to her.”

“But it was one night, and it was a long time ago now,” Sophie added. “Time to really stop comparing other women to a woman I’ll never really know.”

“I hate to say it, but I think so.”

“You’re right,” she said. “Anyway, let’s get back to the whole ring conversation. What are you thinking for Bridge?”

“Well, I’d get her something huge, but that’s not her style, so I’m thinking simple but visible from at least ten feet.”

“Ten feet? Damn. That’s big.”

“I can afford it. And I want her to have something to show off.”

“Mon, she doesn’t seem like a woman who needs a big ring to show off. I’ve seen her look at you. You’re all she really wants.Melinda might know better, but for my money, I’d go simple. Bridgette will say yes regardless of what’s in the ring box. I bet if you gave her a piece of grass tied in a circle, she’d wear it every day for the rest of her life.”

“I think it would fall apart.”

“She’d just put it back together with glue,” Sophie said with a smile. “She wants the marriage, not the jewelry it typically comes with.”

“I know.” Monica looked back down at the menu. “But I love the idea of her walking around with my ring on her finger. Is that old-fashioned?”

“No,” she said with a chuckle. “It’s not. Let’s just talk to Mel, and we can help however we can.”

Monica nodded in response, and they proceeded to order their food when the waiter approached. After he was gone and they were alone, though, Monica stared at her for a second.

“What?” Sophie asked.

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