Page 103 of March

“No, but Bryce is a writer, and if she wants to write blogs about us or herself in the future, I want her to be able to do that without getting sued by you.”

Bryce lifted an eyebrow over at Sophie.

“We would only hold those rights, yes, and it would only pertain to things on film, so you can write about your life in books or blogs, if you want.”

“Okay,” Sophie replied. “I’ll still have a lawyer review it to make sure.”

“You definitely should. It’s the smart move. Look, I’m sure you’ve heard things about Hollywood producers, but I promise, we’re not like that. For one, I live in a studio in Long Beach.” Eloise chuckled. “We’re a small production company, and we only make LGBTQ+ movies. We do about two a year, if we’re lucky, and we think this one could be a hit. I’m hoping to sell it to Netflix or Hulu now that they’re getting in on stories about people like us.”

“Hulu?” Sophie asked.

“Yes. We would try to film in New Orleans, if we can, to make it authentic, and we would like both of you to consult closely. They also give tax breaks, and we would hire a local crewand save money because it’s not LA prices. We want to get it right, and we would pay you to help, obviously. Not Hollywood blockbuster money, but we’d still pay you something.”

“So, this is really a thing? Like, it’s legit?” Sophie asked.

“If you sign off, we will be getting started on this right away, so yes, it’s legit,” Eloise replied.

“How do you feelnow?” Bryce asked her with a small laugh.

CHAPTER 32

It was Bryce’s last night in New Orleans. She was sitting next to Sophie on the sofa, and her arm was around Sophie’s shoulders. Sophie’s head was against her chest, and her arm was over Bryce’s stomach under her shirt. They hadn’t said anything to one another in a long time. After the meeting with the producer, they’d spent the rest of their day walking around New Orleans, with Sophie pretending to be a tour guide for NOLA Guides, which was very entertaining to Bryce. Then, they’d grabbed sandwiches and had dinner by the water. For dessert, they’d gone to Café Du Monde and had beignets in honor of the day when they’d nearly found each other after the night they met.

Melinda had joined them there unexpectedly, along with the two women they’d met in a bar the other night, and it was nice for Bryce to see Sophie with her friend and the possibility of new friendships with Linden and Asher, who, themselves, had been friends for years outside of being colleagues. When Jill showed up after her final tour of the day, they’d all talked about everything but the fact that Bryce was leaving tomorrow, which Bryce had appreciated, and she was sure Sophie had, too. Kyle had joined them after a call from Melinda, and they had continued to hang out at the café, ordering coffee and more beignets because they’d felt bad about taking up the small roundmetal tables from those waiting for the fritters covered with powdered sugar and coffee of their own.

Bryce thought they would leave after that, but Monica and Bridgette had walked over hand in hand, and Monica had asked to borrow Sophie and Melinda for a minute, leaving Bridgette and the rest of them at the table. When Sophie returned without them, Bryce had silently asked her what was going on with her eyes. Sophie had looked both happy and somehow sad at the same time. She had told Bryce that she would tell her later as Monica and Melinda rejoined them at the table.

“Hey, Soph,” Monica had said.

“Yeah?”

“I heard from a little birdie today that someone is about to get an offer from Arnette.”

Sophie’s eyes had gone wide, and she had said, “What? Really?”

“Yes. I got the call before we got here, so I asked them if I could tell you myself. They’ll be calling you with a verbal offer tomorrow, and the offer packet will follow that. Congrats!”

“I’m happy for you, but I was hoping you’d be a tour guide for us,” Melinda had said with a wink.

“I got the job?” Sophie had asked.

“You got the job,” Monica had replied.

Bryce had hugged her then.

“I can’t believe it,” Sophie had said.

“Yes, you can. Mon told me they said they loved you when they called her,” Bridgette had replied. “You killed it. Congrats, Soph.”

“Thank you,” Sophie had said as Bryce had held on to her.

“Congrats, baby,” Bryce had whispered into her ear.

“You two should take off and celebrate,” Kyle had suggested.

“Yeah, alone and all night long,” Jill had chimed in.

“You don’t want to go for drinks or something?” Linden had asked.

---