Page 108 of March

She swallowed hard and focused on finding the short-term parking because she couldn’t say goodbye to Bryce on the curb while a traffic cop yelled at her to hurry up and move her car. She turned into the garage, took the ticket that would likely mean she would be paying twenty bucks for every ten minutes that she was here, and found a spot on the third level. There had been two spots on the first level and at least six on level two, but Sophie had kept going around and around in the garage. She wanted to delay this as much as she could. They’d left with enough time for a goodbye before Bryce hit security, but that would happen in front of people, and in her car, they were alone.

“Are you sure you want to come in?” Bryce asked. “We can say goodbye here.”

“I’m sure,” Sophie replied as she turned the car off and turned to Bryce. “I just…”

“Want as much time as possible?” Bryce guessed.

“Yeah,” she replied.

Bryce turned in her seat and said, “You’ll get the verbal offer today, and you’ll ask them for the start date.”

Sophie nodded.

“Then, I’ll see you before you start the new job,” Bryce added.

“Yeah,” Sophie replied.

They’d done this at least ten times already, both of them reciting the plan as if it required repeating. It didn’t. They both knew it by heart. They understood that soon, Sophie should receive a phone call from Arnette with her offer, and she’d know when they would expect her to start. She’d arrange to be here for Monica’s proposal, which would happen later this week, and Bryce would get the work done on her aunt’s house that could no longer wait, given the electrical issues the contractor had found upon his initial visit for the quote. Bryce had spent an hour telling Sophie about that just that morning because neither ofthem could talk about anything that actually mattered. It was too hard to bring up the fact that they were parting soon, so instead, Bryce had explained the parts of the work that she couldn’t do on her own because she didn’t want to get hurt or needed an expert for. The electrician she’d had inspect the house found some issues that would need to be repaired for either the next tenant or the person who bought the place from her aunt. Bryce had shared that she’d booked the appointment before booking her trip to see Sophie, and while she wished they could’ve had a few extra days together, the work really needed to get done.

Sophie had listened to her talk, but she wasn’t sure she retained much of anything. She’d been watching Bryce add the last of her things to her suitcase, and they’d had a difficult decision to make then. Bryce had left her toothbrush in the holder, and before she’d zipped her toiletry bag, she’d asked Sophie if she should keep it there for when she came back. Everything in Sophie had told her to say yes. It made sense. It was practical. Bryce would be back soon and should just leave her toothbrush. But there had been a small part of her that silently begged Bryce to take it with her because seeing it there every night, in that holder, without the woman being there, would be too hard. In the end, Sophie had nodded, and now, there was a toothbrush belonging to her girlfriend in the holder next to her own.

Other than that one item in the bathroom, there was only one more thing in Sophie’s apartment that told her Bryce had even been there. The painting Bryce had bought for her was hanging above Sophie’s desk now. She hadn’t had anything there before, and it had always been fine, but now that the painting was there, she wondered how the wall had ever looked okay while empty to her before because that painting clearly belonged there. She’d stared at it that morning while Bryce wheeled her bag out of the bedroom. Sophie knew there were other thingsthat would now remind her of Bryce. She’d never look at her bed or shower the same way again, but there were also the spicy chips Bryce loved sitting on her counter, with a chip clip holding them closed. There was also the beer Bryce had bought for them that Sophie wouldn’t have bought for herself, but those were food items that would either soon be gone or that anyone could mistake for being Sophie’s.

She wanted more of Bryce in her apartment. She wanted to have Bryce’s clothes in the laundry mixed with her own, Bryce’s shampoo and conditioner in the shower, butting up against the grapefruit kind she used and likely always would now. She wanted it all, and she didn’t want to have to wait for it because it already felt like she had. She’d waited a year. She’d watched days, weeks, and months go by on her calendar, thinking about this woman she’d met and wishing people could hold their alcohol better and not get violent. That fight had pulled Bryce away from her the first time, and now, she was being pulled away again by distance.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Bryce said.

Sophie wondered why she had said it, but then Bryce’s thumbs were on her cheeks, wiping away tears that Sophie didn’t know had fallen.

“Sorry,” she replied with a chuckle. “I know we’ll see each other soon.”

“It’s okay,” Bryce said. “This is hard.”

“It’s just that… You get to go home, and it’ll be, like, normal for you, but I have to drive home and have all the memories of us there. It’s going to be hard. There’s a painting right above my desk now, and I’ll be working from home, Bry.”

“I know,” Bryce replied, pulling Sophie’s lips to hers. “But the memories are good ones, Soph. Just remember that, okay? Remember that they’re good memories, and I’ll be back there soon to make more of them with you.”

“Yeah,” she said unconvincingly.

“I think we should say goodbye here, after all.”

“No,” Sophie objected and pulled back. “Let’s go inside. I want to hug you for hours before you go through security.”

“I’d miss my flight, then,” Bryce said.

“That’s sort of my plan,” she replied with a laugh that she didn’t really feel.

Bryce didn’t argue. She just got out of the car, and when Sophie popped the trunk, she pulled out her bag and backpack. Then, Sophie was right there, standing next to her, and Bryce held out her hand for her to take how she’d done so many times now. As Bryce pulled her bag with her free hand, Sophie leaned into her strong body, needing to feel it pressed against her as if to let her know that Bryce was still here; she wasn’t really leaving. The walk to the sliding glass doors was all too short, and when Bryce pulled them over to where the security line was forming, Sophie’s heart started pounding loudly and uncomfortably in her chest.

Having dropped her backpack into a chair against the wall and pushed her roller bag in front of it, Bryce turned to her. Her hands went to Sophie’s hips, but Sophie was staring at her own feet, unable to meet Bryce’s stare.

“Babe, will you look at me, please?”

“If I do, you’ll say goodbye.”

“I’m saying I’ll see you later. It’s different. And I need to see your eyes.”

Sophie swallowed and looked up, knowing there were tears in her eyes.

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