Page 18 of February (New Orleans #2)

M onica had kissed her. Bridgette had kissed her back. They’d kissed each other, and she’d been right to tell Bridgette that it had been a perfect first kiss. Still, had Aaron not been staying at the hotel, Monica wasn’t sure she would have stopped it at that. She hadn’t wanted to. They hadn’t been that close to one another before, really, and the hug they’d shared when Monica had dropped her off earlier that night had been a wake-up call: Monica liked Bridgette. She really, really liked her, even though she shouldn’t, so when she returned to the hotel, Monica had tried to do everything she could think of to stop replaying that hug. Nothing had worked, though, and she’d ended up back at Bridgette’s apartment, where they’d shared a goodnight kiss.

Now, she was walking with Aaron around LSU, only half-paying attention to the tour guide, who was definitely not as good as Bridgette had been. Aaron was paying attention, but he didn’t seem as excited as he’d been the previous day. For whatever reason, her son was obsessed with his grandfather’s former school, and it didn’t appear that excitement had dimmed after seeing the place.

“After this, we can be done,” he said softly to her as they walked.

“Done? I thought there was a thing after this.”

“It’s like a party or something, where there’s food and some faculty are supposed to be there, but I don’t really want to go.”

“Why not?”

“I like it here; it’s nice, but I don’t think I want to go here.”

“Okay. Do you know why?”

“It’s nothing about LSU. It’s more that I like Tulane more.”

“Well, it’s up to you, but we can stay, if you want.”

“No, it’s a long car ride back, and we have dinner to get to.”

“It’s just a reservation. I can ask them to change it for later.”

“No, you can’t. Well, you can, but you shouldn’t.”

“Why not?” Monica turned her face to her son, whose cheeks were now flushed. “What did you do, Aaron?”

“Nothing.” He held up his hands in defense. “I just told Bridgette that she should join us because it’s my last night here, and she’s cool.”

“You invited Bridgette to our dinner?”

“Yeah. And I changed the reservation to three people in case you were worried about that.”

“I wasn’t. Aaron, you shouldn’t have invited her. She probably had plans but felt guilty about turning you down.”

“She said she was free.” He shrugged. “Besides, Mom, she’s really nice, and she seems smart, too. Plus, she’s pretty.”

“Aaron…”

“What? I’m only saying that you haven’t dated anyone since Mom. You and Bridgette looked good together, though. She even laughed at your jokes, and, like, no one laughs at your jokes.”

“People laugh at my jokes,” she said in mock-offense.

“Not really,” he argued.

“Pay attention to the tour,” she said with a playful slap to his shoulder.

When Aaron returned his attention to the guide, Monica looked down at what she was wearing. Was it okay for dinner with Bridgette? They weren’t going anywhere fancy. She’d only made a reservation because she knew they would be starving, and she didn’t want them to have to wait. She supposed that if they skipped the whole meet and greet, they could get back to the hotel in time to change before dinner, but she didn’t know what to wear. It wasn’t a date. Aaron would be there. She shouldn’t dress up. She should be casual and stop worrying because this was just a dinner for Aaron to say goodbye to Bridgette.

“Mom?”

“Yes?” She looked over, expecting Aaron to be there.

“The tour is over.”

Monica turned around, finding her son about ten feet behind her, pointing to the open door of a building where the rest of the tour group was headed.

“Okay,” she said.

“You’re still walking.” He laughed.

◆◆◆

“I’m sorry. He told me you wanted me here,” Bridgette said when Aaron excused himself to go to the restroom after their entrées had already arrived. “He got my number from your phone, I guess, and texted me this morning.”

“It’s not your fault. He just wanted to thank you again,” Monica said as she sipped her wine.

“Then, why would he tell me that you wanted me here?” Bridgette asked.

Monica stared at her from across the table, wishing they were in the booth from last night so that she could be closer to Bridgette.

“He’s got something in his head about us.”

Bridgette’s eyebrow lifted at that.

“I keep telling him to knock it off.”

“He knows about us?”

“What is there to know, exactly?” Monica asked.

“Well, you did kiss me last night, and pretty thoroughly at that.”

“I remember.” She smiled.

“And you called it a perfect ending to the day, so…”

Monica took a deep breath and said, “He thinks you’re pretty, smart, nice, and that you laugh at my apparently awful jokes.”

“Your jokes aren’t awful.”

“That’s what I said,” Monica replied.

“They’re more, like, bad or maybe mildly terrible.” Bridgette appeared to actually be considering how to categorize Monica’s jokes.

“You’re being cute. Don’t be cute right now.”

“I’m cute?” Bridgette asked with a smile.

“Yes.” Monica laughed. “So, stop it.”

“Why?”

“Because Aaron will be back in a minute.”

“Are we going to talk about what happened?” Bridgette asked.

“Not right now,” Monica said. “He leaves tomorrow. Can we just…” She looked at the bathroom door. “Wait?”

“Fine. But I was kind of looking forward to another kiss goodnight,” Bridgette told her.

“We shouldn’t,” she replied.

“Why not? Aaron? I didn’t mean that he’d see it.”

She turned back to Bridgette and replied, “Because I’m leaving.”

“You are? When? The deal’s not done yet. I thought–”

“No, I don’t mean that I’m leaving right away. Just that I will be.”

“Oh,” Bridgette let out as she leaned back in her chair. “I know that.”

“So, maybe we should just leave it at that one perfect kiss?” Monica suggested.

“One perfect kiss,” Bridgette repeated as she appeared to roll that over in her mind.

“Yes. It’s probably best, right? Save us both.”

“From what?”

“I don’t know; heartache?”

“Your heart would ache?” Bridgette asked.

Monica heard the door open then, and she turned to see Aaron walking out of the bathroom.

“Later,” she said.

“So, how’s the food?” Aaron asked as he sat back down next to Monica.

◆◆◆

“Mom?”

“Yeah, honey?”

Aaron turned away from the car window he had been looking out of and toward her.

“Will you be okay if I’m at school here?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’d be on your own in that massive apartment that hardly feels lived-in, and all you do is work.”

“That’s not all I do. I spend time with you, too.”

“And I’d be down here ,” he pointed out. “I mean, I’d go home for breaks and stuff, but Mom has someone, at least. I don’t even hear you talking about friends. Well, now you talk about Bridgette, which is cool, but–”

“ I don’t talk about her. You talk about her.” Monica chuckled at him.

“Yeah, right,” he said, turning more toward her. “You brought her up three times today on campus and mentioned her twice over breakfast.”

“I did not.” Monica laughed louder.

“Yes, you did. You mentioned that they didn’t have her favorite toast or something.”

“It’s French toast,” she replied.

“See?” Aaron laughed. “Then, you said that she knows your coffee order. That one came out of nowhere. Something about how she made you walk around a little. I forget the other stuff, but I kept count. It was five times.” He held up his hand with his fingers spread. “You like her. You’re just pretending like you don’t, for some reason.”

“Aaron, I’ll be going back to New York soon. She’s staying here.”

“But you’re like a different person here.”

“I am not.”

“Look at what you’re wearing. I didn’t even know you owned tennis shoes,” he said as he pointed at her feet. “And you’re way more relaxed here. You’ve hardly looked at your phone all day.”

“Grandpa wanted me to take a little vacation while I’m here, and then you wanted to visit, so I’m taking some time off.”

“You look at her, Mom.”

“What?”

“You look at Bridgette like she’s, I don’t know, something romantic,” he said and flopped back against the seat.

Monica laughed and asked, “Something romantic?”

“You stare at her and make a ton of eye contact. It’s weird to watch, but she does it with you, too.”

“Okay. Well, why don’t you leave Bridgette and me to Bridgette and me, and you focus on school?”

“You like it here, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I didn’t at first, but I feel like I’ve gotten to know it a little bit better now.”

“Bridgette said you hung out with her friends.”

“We went out one night. She pitied me more than anything.”

“No, she didn’t. She invited you because she likes you. Why is this so hard for you to get? You’re supposed to be smart. You went to Yale.”

Monica practically cackled at that. Then, the car pulled over in front of their hotel, and the door was opened for Aaron, who got out first. Monica followed, and they were silent until they got into the elevator.

“What if you worked here?” Aaron suggested.

“Honey, I work–”

“You can work from anywhere.”

“Arnette is in New York, and I’m going to run it one day.”

“But not yet.”

“Grandpa will be retiring soon, Aaron.”

“So? You can travel there when you need to.”

“Honey, I live in New York. I work–”

“I’ll miss you,” he said softly before she could finish.

“What?” Monica turned to him.

“I won’t miss Lillian . I love her – she’s my mother – but… You’re my mom .”

Monica felt the tears well in her eyes and tried to hold them back. This was an important moment between the two of them that she needed to pay attention to and not be crying happy tears because her son said he’d miss her.

“Honey, you’ll be home for breaks, and I’ll come for visits.”

“I just think you should think about it. You can work here and travel to the office whenever. It’s not that long of a flight. And it’s not like Bridgette has been there. She told me. You could show her around.”

“Aaron, Bridgette is a friend. We’re not together. She wouldn’t be traveling anywhere with me.”

The elevator dinged, indicating that they had arrived at their floor, so they exited and paused in front of Monica’s door as she got her key out of her purse.

“It’s an idea, and I think it’s a good one. I’d be here – I’ll live in a dorm on campus, obviously – and you’d have your space to not be with Bridgette or anyone else.”

Monica rolled her eyes and said, “I want you to focus on making the decisions you need to make. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m okay.”

She proceeded to wonder at the truth of that statement as she hugged Aaron goodnight and watched him walk down the hallway toward his room, which she saw him go into. Then, she let out a deep sigh and went into her own suite, flopping onto the bed in a seated position. As she stared out the window at the view outside, she thought more about what Aaron had said. Monica knew he was right. She hadn’t been happy in New York for a long time. She also knew that her father had at least another two years in him before he’d retire. On top of that, while she’d been bred to take over for him, there were also other candidates that the board could approve over her when the retirement happened.

Monica stood and walked over to the window, picturing how Bridgette had stood in this same spot not all that long ago. Almost immediately, thoughts of how good it had felt to kiss Bridgette started to overtake her mind, so she touched her fingertips to her lips and replayed the moment again and again, allowing herself a few minutes to think about what could happen between them if she didn’t have to go back to New York. She smiled, thinking about working at Southern Hospitality Greetings with Bridgette and how much fun she’d had strategizing with her the previous day. It had been the most fun Monica had had in years. She liked bouncing ideas off Bridgette and talking through how they could work far more than she did with anyone at Arnette.

Monica shook her head at that because while it would be fun, she had a job and an expensive house back in Manhattan, and soon, she’d be returning to it, leaving this view she’d grown to love and Bridgette behind. Deciding to take a shower after a long day, she turned around from the window, but just as she went to remove her sweater, there was a knock at the door.