Page 6 of April

“Honey, we should get going to the hotel,” the second groom spoke. “I’m exhausted.”

One groom kissed the other one, and they both smiled at each other before they said their goodbyes.

Watching them interact had been making Linden smile all day today. She loved her job. She wasn’t the typical kind of wedding planner, she supposed. Before coming out, she’dnot exactly believed in the kind of everlasting love weddings promoted, but she’d fallen into this career because she had needed a job, and they had needed an assistant. Two years as the gofer at weddings had proven to be challenging and fun, and then, she’d been promoted to a planner. Now, ten years later, she was one of the top three planners at the company and had people lining up to work with her. Asher was one of the other three and the top earner for the company for the past several years. Her best friend was also the more organized one of the two of them, while Linden preferred to let her clients have a little more fun and didn’t run things like a drill sergeant, but she could understand why Asher usually did. Sometimes, clients got in their own way, and Asher had things so well-planned and timed that she could often save them from themselves.

Things had only gotten better for Linden since she had started on those steps to come out. Step three had been going on a lesbian dating app, which she’d been surprised to find. She had only created a profile and hadn’t done anything else, but it was a good step all the same. A month later, as her next step, she’d actually reviewed all the messages she’d received and started checking profiles. While she hadn’t responded to any of them, she was proud of herself for moving forward. Then, without telling anyone in her life back then, including her best friend, she’d gone on her first date with a woman, making that step five, and step six had happened later that night: sex with a woman for the first time. That hot, passionate sex at the woman’s place had Linden craving more from her own life – not just hot, passionate sex with a stranger, but the intimacy that came from a relationship with a woman.

The next step after that had been telling Asher that she was gay. Asher hadn’t led on that she’d suspected all along and had taken the news well. She’d always been supportive of everything Linden had done or wanted to do since they’d met a decadeago and quickly became friends outside of work. Asher was the best friend she’d ever had, and when Linden had come out to her parents and siblings not all that long ago, Asher had been there, sitting next to her, holding her hand, and telling her that everything was going to be all right.

“Hey,” Sophie greeted her when Linden walked toward the high-top table the woman had somehow snagged.

With tourist season now in full swing, tables in bars were hard to come by, so they usually had to stand in the middle of a room or lean against a wall if they were lucky enough to find some space to do so. There weren’t any chairs, but at least they had somewhere to put their drinks, which was a luxury.

“Hey there. Anyone else here yet?” Linden asked.

“Jill’s in the bathroom,” Sophie said. “She’s been gone for twenty minutes, so she should be back soon.”

“Long lines and one bathroom… I hate French Quarter bars sometimes.”

“Why are we here, then?”

“Lesbians,” Linden replied with a shrug.

Sophie laughed and said, “Yes, there are a lot of those here tonight.”

“I’m going to grab a drink. Need one?”

“No, but Jill does. She went straight to the bathroom. Beer?”

“Yeah, I’ll get it,” Linden replied.

On her way to the bar through the crowd, she looked around, trying to see if anyone here would be of interest to her. Most of the women there would be tourists this time of year, which meant that if both parties were interested, she could get at least a hot make-out session and maybe a one-night stand with no complications because they’d be returning home soon. That was where Linden was right now: no relationships. She just wanted something uncomplicated and fun. Waiting this long tofinally be with women meant that she wanted to be with as many as she could before she started trying to settle down. Yet to see someone of interest even on her way back to the table, she placed the drinks down and returned her focus to Sophie.

“So, how are things with Bryce?”

“I miss her,” Sophie said with a shrug. “I just saw her, and she’s coming back here soon, but I miss her.”

“I get it. Long-distance is tough.”

“Have you ever done it?”

“Only with a boyfriend. But considering I knew I was gay, I’m not sure that really counts.”

“I know it’s smart of us to do this because her moving here or me moving there is so soon, but it just feels so right to me. I mean, Monica moved here for Bridgette, and Kyle moved here to be with Melinda.”

“Yeah, but Kyle has family history here, and she fell in love with the city and Melinda at the same time. And if I remember correctly, Monica fell in love with New Orleans as well, not just Bridgette. Right?”

“Yes. And Bryce loves the city, too, but she’s working on something for her aunt and can’t leave just yet. I have family here that I can’t leave, so right now, it’s long-distance and drives and flights when we can.”

“Hey, at least you’re working remotely now, so you can leave whenever and just work from there.”

“Yes, but when I’m with Bryce, I don’t want to work.” Sophie looked off in the distance. “I just want to–”

“Yeah, we know: have hot sex with your girlfriend,” Jill said as she joined them. “Some of us don’t have girlfriends to have hot sex with, so maybe we can change the subject?” She looked down at the table. “This one for me?”

“Yeah,” Linden said.

“Thanks,” Jill replied and smiled at her, picking up the beer that Linden had gotten for her. Then, she took a long drink and added, “The line was fifteen girls deep, and once I finally got in there, there was no toilet paper, just a roll of paper towels on the counter that was half-wet. When will bars like this finally get their bathroom act together? Oh, and I’m pretty sure the two women who went in right after me weren’t going in just to pee. So, they might still be in there, fucking, which means some girls are standing in line, probably peeing their pants right now.”

---