Page 26 of March

“I just realized I’m mad at you.”

“What? Why?” She laughed.

“It’s been over a year since you and I reconnected, and you never told me that you hated your job.”

Sophie shook her head and replied, “I’m working on asking for help, okay?”

“I’ll call Darius. He’s the new CEO.”

“CEO? No, Mon. I’d be a director, at most. No CEO needs to be involved in that.”

“He owes me. I’ll get you an interview. I’ll ask him for the jobs he hasn’t posted online for leadership that he’d be willing to do remotely and let you know what they are. If you want one, I’ll get you in, and it’ll be up to you to get the job. I can’t guarantee anything, but at least it’s something.”

“Thank you,” she said genuinely. “I really appreciate it.”

“I’d hire you on with Bridge and me, but we’re running lean right now until we can get everything back in the black.”

“No, it’s fine,” Sophie told her. “I’m not looking for a handout. Just a chance.”

After they finished their lunch and said their goodbyes, Sophie returned to the spreadsheet awaiting her and pretended like she was fully focused on it while she was actually thinking about Bryce down on one knee again and that faceless woman holding her surprised hands to her mouth as she said yes to Bryce’s proposal. Bryce’s arms would wrap around her, and they would hug before they’d kiss to celebrate their moment.

Sophie closed out of the spreadsheet at five o’clock, not giving this place another minute. She grabbed her jacket and purse and headed out the door, trying to remind herself that it was time – time for her to put Bryce out of her mind and stop making that one night rule her entire life.

CHAPTER 10

Reagan1991: I think you need to find her. It’s obvious that you two are meant to be.

Iloveladies180: This breaks my heart. You lost the love of your life.

Reply toIloveladies180: She doesn’t know if that’s the love of her life. It could’ve just been a fun night out.

NDFBrulz: Damn! Sucks! I hope you find her.

GirlzGirlzGirlz: I sent this to my friend, and she and I both think you need to keep trying. We need this blog to go viral to help.

NAP1989: I have a friend in New Orleans. I’ve asked her to see if she knows anyone named Sophie that might be your Sophie. I hope you find her.

Bryce read every comment on her blog, some of them repeatedly. There were at least three stories that people had posted about finding their own loves, and as much as Bryce was trying to move on from this, reading these comments and stories was only giving her hope that she could actually find Sophie one day. Again, she wondered why she hadn’t thought about doing this before. Right after she met Sophie, she could’ve typed a blog and sent it out into the world. She could’ve even still been in New Orleans, and maybe they’d be together now. Maybe they’d be talking about how crazy that night was as they ate breakfast after a night of making love for their one-year anniversary.

Of course, even if shehadwritten the blog and she’d met up with Sophie there, they still might not have ended up liking each other enough to continue beyond that. She had to keep that in mind because picturing Sophie sitting next to her on her sofa was almost too much for her to handle. Bryce scrolled through the new likes and comments on her phone before opening one of her social profiles and seeing all the reposts, shares, and comments there. The blog had blown up overnight. With the addition of the second post, more people had read it and sent it to other people. Readers were now offering their help. Some had mentioned knowing people in New Orleans. Others said they had vacation plans there soon and would ask around. One person said they’d try to find the bar for her on their trip and see if anyone knew a woman named Sophie, who was a local. The ones who had no connection to the city offered to share the story online to help her find her. They shared it on Instagram and TikTok and talked about this woman named Bryce who was looking for this woman named Sophie, who might just be the love of her life.

Bryce hadn’t been prepared for that at all, and now, it was the only thing she wanted to write about. The food part of her blog hadn’t had an update in well over a week, which was pretty unusual for her, but she’d added more than four thousand subscribers to it because of her blogs about Sophie, and more and more people were coming to her site. So, while it might be forcing her to hang on to something that wasn’t ever going to happen for her, itwasgood for business.

At first, she wasn’t going to comment back and encourage people, but the outpouring of support had gotten to be too much, so she decided to post again.

If you’ve just joined this blog, you might think I only write about a woman named Sophie, who I met one nightin New Orleans, but I actually write mostly about food. To my subscribers who are here for my take on restaurants and recipes, I’ll get you back to your regular blog soon, but this has taken on a life of its own, so I want to address it.

I wrote the first blog because I needed to get my feelings on the page for some reason that even I’m still unclear on. Just talking to my friends about it wasn’t helping, and I can honestly say that I feel much better now, just having posted the first blog. Now that people are following and interested in this story, I’m actually hopeful. I probably shouldn’t be because there’s no guarantee that this blog will reach her, but with all the help people have already given me by commenting, sharing the story, and offering to go to New Orleans and ask about Sophie, I feel like there’s a possibility that one day, I might get to see her again.

For those of you holding out for a happy ending, I wouldn’t hold your breath. The reality is that it’s already been a year, and Sophie could have moved on. We all, but mostly me, need to be prepared for that. I still can’t believe I didn’t get her number or at least tell her the name of my hotel so that she could find me there. I can’t believe I don’t have her last name or that I never gave her mine, or even the city I live in or something; really, anything about me at all that could help her find me if she was searching.

Even this blog doesn’t have my actual name on it. When I first started it, I thought alliteration would be better and catchy, so I went with Food with Foster. Foster is a name I found online that I liked, thinking that if I ever had a daughter, I might name her that. Now, I wish I had gone with Bryce’s Food Blog or something equally obvious because Sophie might have searched for it and commented, and I never would’ve had to write this story and put it out into the world.

I miss her. That’s the truth: I miss someone I hardly know. I miss her smile. I miss the blush she had when we first met. I miss the feel of her skin on mine, how amazing her lips felt, and how she laughed. I just need to know that she’s okay, that she’s happy, and I’d be okay. I could move on. But without knowing that, I’m here, stuck in limbo.

For those of you offering help, please do. I’m not normally someone who asks for it, but I sure could use it now. I had hoped to use this blog to move on, but now, I’m using it to find her. If you have a lot of followers or know someone who does, knows someone in New Orleans, especially in the gay community, and you can share this blog with them, I would be forever in your debt.

To Sophie, if you read this: I’m looking. I’m trying. I’m not giving up.

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