Page 21

“I thought I’d say hi before I head out.”

“Bryce? I didn’t know you were here,” Asher said.

“Yeah, I just had lunch with Linden.”

“Oh. Is Sophie here, too?”

“No, she’s working. I needed a break from script and blog writing.”

“Linden told me she had lunch plans. I didn’t know they were with you.”

Bryce walked into her office and tucked her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

“I asked her if she and I could just hang out alone. I needed to talk to her about some stuff. All good,” she said, but Asher had a feeling that she might be covering for Linden.

“You two became fast friends, huh?” she asked.

“I guess, yeah. Not jealous, are you? You’ll always be the best friend.” She winked at Asher.

“No. I’m glad she has you. Now more than ever actually.”

“Because you’re moving?” Bryce asked, walking farther into the office.

“She told you?”

“She mentioned it, yeah. That and the whole dating a supermodel thing.”

Asher just rolled her eyes and replied, “I’m not dating a supermodel.”

“But you went out with one?”

“Technically, but not really. We had a nice dinner and chat. That’s all.”

“But you’re doing it again?”

“Maybe. I don’t know. We exchanged numbers, but she might have just been polite. It’s not like she’s called or texted yet.”

“Playing hard to get?” Bryce suggested.

“I don’t think so. We might end up being long-distance friends or something.”

“Well, having a famous friend is cool.”

“I guess,” she said. “I kind of just want the one I have to talk to me.”

“Linden?”

“She’s acting weird,” Asher explained.

“You’re moving.”

“I know. But I still thought she’d at least be remotely excited for me. She was happier that I broke up with Gavin than she is that I have this amazing career opportunity.”

Bryce sat down in a chair and asked, “Why do you think that is?”

“It’s hard. I get it. We’ve been attached at the hip for years now. We’ve only really drifted a bit when one or both of us was in a relationship, but even then, we still saw each other here and went to lunches two to three times a week, at least.”

“She’d be losing that,” Bryce pointed out.

“Yes, but so would I,” Asher replied. “And I can’t just not take the job because it would be hard on our friendship, though.”

“No, you can’t. If you want it, you have to go for it.”

“Yes. Thank you. Why can’t Linden see that?”

“I think she can. It’s just going to be an adjustment. Give her some time.”

“Time? I’m moving?”

“But you’re not dying, Asher. She will always be your best friend; yes or no?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, her heart racing even at the thought of them no longer being friends.

“Then, you’ll both figure it out,” Bryce replied. “It’s not like you’d never see each other. And as someone who’s in a long-distance relationship, I can tell you that technology helps a lot. I’m so glad I didn’t meet Sophie, like, fifty years ago. We’d be exchanging letters and talking on the phone, but I wouldn’t get to see her face every night when we’re about to fall asleep.”

Asher thought about Linden lying in her bed before sleep. She pictured them on FaceTime, saying goodnight and not hanging up, laughing at how ridiculous it was to be this old and still act like teens in love, and it hurt because, while Bryce and Sophie were in a relationship, she and Linden were not. They wouldn’t have nightly calls or video chats because friends didn’t really do that in the same way.

Besides, Asher would be busy with the new office and getting settled into another city, and Linden would probably still be going out at least a few times a week, coming home late, and even if Linden didn’t have another woman with her, Asher would already be asleep. She knew they’d keep missing each other, and things would get hard. She’d visit for work, and they’d reconnect then, at least, but it would never be the same, and she’d miss it. She’d miss what they had right now, even though it wasn’t exactly what she wanted.

She knew that getting out of New Orleans and away from Linden was a good idea for her, though. She meant what she had said to Linden about running a bigger office coming in handy later when she started her own company. Asher had checked her savings account just that morning, and with her most recent commission coming in, she had enough saved to feel comfortable about going out on her own. She would feel better in a few years, but she knew that either way, she’d be ready when she made the decision.

It wasn’t that she wanted to hurt Carolyn or steal her clients. Carolyn had given Asher her career, but this was how it was done in this industry. Her boss had done the same thing to her mentor, who had her own wedding planning business. Carolyn had worked for her for about ten years, too, before she’d started this company. Asher knew that she’d be upset at first, but she also knew that the woman would understand whenever Asher made that choice for herself.

“Asher?”

“Huh?”

“You just kind of zoned out over there. Are you okay?” Bryce asked.

“Yes. Sorry. Just a lot going on right now.”

“I should leave you to deal with it all. I just wanted to say hi,” Bryce said and stood. “Oh, I had a thought.”

“A thought?”

“Yes. I actually wanted to talk to you about something. Well, it’s someone.”

“Someone?”

“Yes. I met someone I think you might like.”

“A woman?”

“Yeah.”

“You want to set me up?”

“Casual thing,” Bryce replied, waving her off.

“A casual date?”

“Yeah. Why not? I think you’d like her. Anyway, I just thought I’d mention it.”

“I’m leaving, Bryce. Not really a point.”

“Like I said, it could be totally casual. Sophie and I were going to hang out with her tonight, but Soph wants it to just be us instead, and I’m more than okay with that, as you can imagine.” She smiled. “Anyway, we have the reservation at Santorini’s. I can tell her you’ll join her.”

“This is weird,” Asher said, squinting at her.

“It’s whatever. If you end up not wanting to be on a date, you can just have a meal together.”

“Who is this person, exactly?” Asher asked.

“Oh, just someone I met the last time I was here,” Bryce told her.

Carolyn appeared in the doorway and said, “Asher, can I borrow you for a moment? I have a vendor on the phone who’s arguing about a bill with me for one of your accounts.”

“Sure. Sorry, Bryce.”

“No problem. I’ll text you later.”

“Um… Okay,” she said and stood.

◆◆◆

“So, we were thinking about two to three hundred,” Monica said.

“No, you were thinking about two to three hundred. I was thinking, like, fifteen,” Bridgette argued.

“Fifteen people at our wedding?” Monica turned to her. “That’s not even our entire family.”

“Well, I don’t think the entire family needs to be there,” Bridgette replied. “Do we really have to invite cousins we haven’t seen in years?”

“We should at least invite the ones we have seen recently,” Monica argued.

“We don’t have to make any firm decisions on the guest list just yet,” Asher chimed in. “We can go through the venue options first and just make sure we have one that can fit up to three hundred but, say, fifty for now, to be sure. Does that sound okay?”

“Well, if it can fit that many people, Mon will invite that many people.” Bridgette nodded toward her fiancée.

Monica laughed and replied, “People will expect to be invited, babe.”

“But it’s our wedding.”

“I know that.” Monica took Bridgette’s hand and put it in her own. “And I won’t let it get out of hand, I promise, but you’re marrying into an important family.”

“Your dad made sure I knew that when we told them we were engaged.”

Monica smiled at her and said, “He wants what’s best for his only daughter. My last marriage didn’t exactly work out.”

“No, but you got Aaron out of it,” Bridgette noted of Monica’s stepson, who was going to college at Tulane nearby. “When we get married, does he become my step-step-son? How does that work?”

Monica chuckled and said, “I think we can worry about that later.”

“So, Monica, anything else we should keep in mind with your family? It’s not big, from what I remember you telling me.” Asher picked up her pen and began to make notes.

“No, it’s not. It’s more the people who aren’t blood-related but are family to my parents. That’s the biggest group. When I spoke with my mother, she gave me a count.”

“Of course, she did,” Bridgette said. “She also wanted us to hire a Manhattan wedding planner and have the wedding there.”

“She did. But I said no, didn’t I?” Monica replied. “So, you’ll have your New Orleans wedding, and I’ll get my sassy, pain-in-the-ass wife. Compromise is the key to any relationship, isn’t it?”

Bridgette laughed and said, “One hundred.”

“Babe…” Monica said.

“It’s so many people… And they’ll be watching us…” Bridgette said. “People will have their eyes on me, making me all nervous.”

“So, you won’t be nervous just marrying me?” Monica asked.

“No. What? Why would I be nervous about that? I’ve wanted to marry you since the first time you walked into my office.”

“You did not .” Monica laughed loudly. “You hated me.”

“Yeah, but in that hot, sexy, will they, won’t they kind of way. And we will. Well, we did. We have, and we will… over and over…”

“Bridgette!” Monica laughed even louder.

“They’re rich people, Mon. They’ll be staring at me.”

“No, they’ll be there to celebrate us getting married. No one is going to stare at you how you think they will.”

“Judging me for not saying the right thing or not having that silver spoon stuck up my ass like they all do.”

“I won’t invite those people,” Monica said with a simple shrug. “I’ll only invite the ones who have removed the silver spoons from their asses and can look at us enviously because we found each other and love each other enough to put up with wedding-planning with three hundred and fifty people coming.”

“Oh, I know what you’re trying to do… Two hundred. Max.”

“Deal,” Monica said with a smirk.

“Shit,” Bridgette muttered.

“What?” Asher asked as she wrote down three hundred and fifty, marked it out, and then wrote two hundred beneath it in her notebook.

“She wanted two hundred all along,” Bridgette replied.

“Well, yeah. I told my mom that she could have a certain number of people whom she got to invite. I have my number, and I know yours, so I just added them all together, and here we are: two hundred.” Monica smiled wide.

“God, I love you,” Bridgette said, laughing.

Asher watched them as they went back and forth over whether or not the ceremony should be indoor or outdoor, and she couldn’t help but smile. It was clear that these two loved one another. Their banter, the way they understood one another, and the way they joked back and forth made Asher jealous. She wanted that. Then, there was the way she’d catch them looking at one another, like they wanted to tear each other’s clothes off right there, in Asher’s office, that had her really jealous. She wanted that, too. Asher wanted it all.

“So, what do you think?” Monica asked her.

“About?”

“Indoor or outdoor?” Bridgette said.

“It’s really up to you. The weather down here is generally pretty awful humidity-wise.”

“Trust me, I know,” Monica replied, and Bridgette just laughed silently for some reason.

“Anyway, I’d usually recommend outdoor only if your hair is pinned and sprayed down completely and if we can have an air-conditioned space or at least industrial fans for you every moment leading up to the ceremony because otherwise, you’ll be miserable, and you don’t want to be miserable on your wedding day. Plus, you need to consider your guests. If it’s ninety-five degrees, and there’s humidity, it’ll feel like a hundred and ten, and they’re out there with nothing to cool them off for several minutes before the ceremony.”

“Indoor?” Bridgette asked Monica.

“I’m okay with that.” Monica nodded.

“Your mother would kill us if we tried to put her rich friends outside in New Orleans’ humidity.”

“It would be sort of fun to see a few of her guests melt, though,” Monica said, and she appeared to be thinking about it and maybe picturing it, which made Asher laugh.

“So, I have several indoor venues. If you’re set on two hundred now, I have a list that can seat that many. There are many more that can only do under that, though, so I think we should decide on whether or not you want to see any of the smaller locations or just focus on the larger ones.”

“I’m not getting her under two hundred, so larger ones it is,” Bridgette said.

“Oh, and we have a designer working on my dress and Bridgette’s suit. We were going to firm up colors with her. Are you okay with that?”

“Of course,” Asher replied. “I’ll make a list of venues and email it to you so that you can check them out online first. We can go see the ones you like in person.”

“God, it’s really happening, isn’t it?” Monica said.

“Yes, it is. No takebacks,” Bridgette replied.

Monica looked over at her and said, “I wouldn’t dare.” Then, she turned back to Asher and added, “I didn’t really get to do this the first time I got married. My ex was in control a lot, and I let her be because it seemed to make her happy. Back then, I thought that was what a marriage is. But after my divorce and meeting Bridge… It’s not at all what a relationship is supposed to be like, is it?”

“No, I don’t think it is,” Asher said softly.

She thought about Gavin and how he hadn’t respected her decision to end things, told her that she just needed time, and then, didn’t respect even that. That wasn’t the kind of relationship Asher wanted for herself, and she was happy that he hadn’t bothered trying again.

“So, I heard from Jill that you went out with Stephania last night. As in, the Stephania,” Bridgette said as she leaned forward in her chair.

“Why does everyone call her the Stephania?” Asher shook her head. “Wait. How did Jill find out?”

“I assume from Linden,” Bridgette said with a shrug.

“Or…” Monica began. “From Melinda at work.”

“Right,” Asher said, unsure of what Monica’s face was telling her. “Well, we did.”

“Go out?” Bridgette asked.

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“And? Details?” Bridgette asked.

“There aren’t any. We went out. She was very sweet and obviously gorgeous, but there wasn’t a connection.”

“Bummer,” Bridgette replied. “She is hot.”

Monica cleared her throat.

“She’s a model, babe,” Bridgette said.

“I know. I saw the billboard on Canal where she’s wearing half a shirt and a pair of underwear. I agree: hot.” Monica wiggled her eyebrows at Bridgette.

“Let’s just get back to planning our wedding,” Bridgette said, laughing. “I want to get ahead of whatever Mel and Kyle are going to do so that they can’t say we stole an idea from them.”

“Oh, God. It’s starting,” Monica said sarcastically.