Page 29 of February (New Orleans #2)

“H oney, is everything okay?” Bridgette’s mom asked.

“Not really, no,” she said as she sat down in the conference room after a long walk around the block.

Monica wasn’t sitting in her chair how she had been all morning, and Bridgette hadn’t seen her outside. She worried that Monica might have just hopped on her plane, needing to get back to her life in New York even sooner than she’d originally thought, and that Bridgette needing a little time to herself had ruined them.

“What’s wrong? I thought you’d be happy,” her mom replied. “Do I need to get your dad? Do we have more to talk about?”

“No, it’s not–” Bridgette stopped when she realized that they do have more to talk about now. “Actually, yeah.”

“He went to the office to make a few calls to the printer. Let me get him.” Her mom pressed the intercom button on the phone and said, “Honey, can you come back into the conference room, please?”

“Sure,” he said.

A second later, her father was in the room, closing the door behind him.

“What’s going on?”

“Bridgette needs to talk to us,” her mom replied.

He sat down next to his wife.

“I was talking to Monica earlier,” Bridgette began. “I’m not sure where she is now, but–”

“She went back to her hotel to talk to her father in private.”

“Oh,” she said, relieved that Monica wasn’t gone yet. “Well, she told me that her company–”

“Is making an offer?” her dad interrupted. “We know. They made it.”

Bridgette leaned forward in her chair and asked, “What? Monica made you an offer?”

“No,” her mom replied. “Monica told us that Arnette would be calling us with an offer and that she wouldn’t be involved anymore.”

“She said that?”

“Yes, before she left for the hotel. We got a call from one of their attorneys, who gave us an offer.”

“Oh,” Bridgette said, slumping back in her chair now.

“And it was more than what we thought they’d offer,” her dad added. “Enough for a good severance for every employee, and they said they could hire on most of the staff if we wanted and either relocate or keep Baton Rouge open. We’d have enough to find our next business or job, and you would, too.”

“I see,” she said, thinking of Monica the moment the words were out of her mouth. “So, when do you sign?”

“We’re not,” her mom replied.

“What?” Bridgette’s eyebrows lifted.

“Honey, we just told you that we’re giving you the company to run. We gave you our word, and we’re not going back on that.”

“Mom, if their offer is really that good, you should probably–”

“You just spent hours telling us how you could fix our mistakes and turn this place around. And now, you’re telling us to take the offer?” her dad asked.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that if the offer is really that good–”

“It’s not as good as keeping the business in the family and giving you the chance you want to try to make this something. Monica gave us a list of web designers or developers she wanted us to give you. She said she had her assistant vet them, and they’re all reputable. You can have them update the site we have and add the whole cart thing to it.”

“She did?”

Her mom nodded.

“So, you’re sticking to what we talked about? I’m taking over?”

“You are. We just need to plan when we’ll announce it to everyone and how,” her dad replied.

“Thank you,” she said on a sigh.

“You thank us by doing everything you said you’d do. We believe in you, honey,” her mom replied and paused for a second. “But why does it feel like there’s something else going on with you? You have this face right now.”

“I don’t have a face.”

“Yes, you do. You’re sad, but we just told you that you have nothing to be sad about.”

“I do, actually,” she admitted.

“What?” her dad asked.

“Well, very recently, I fell in love with a woman, and I just found out that she’s leaving sooner than I thought.”

“You’re in love?” her mom asked. “What? With whom? When did you start dating someone?”

“Recently,” she replied. “And you can probably guess, based on today’s events, the answer to the ‘who’ question.”

“No, I can’t. I–” Her mother’s eyes moved to Bridgette’s empty desk and then back to Bridgette. “No!”

“Yup.”

“What am I missing here?” Bridgette’s father asked.

“Monica? Honey, you’re in love with Monica Arnette?”

“Yes.”

“But she’s only been here a few weeks.”

“I know,” Bridgette replied. “Still true, though.”

“We thought you hated her,” her dad said.

“Nope. I’ve just been falling in love with her since she got here, and now she’s leaving.”

“Does she know how you feel? I mean, I didn’t ask. Is she… gay, too?”

“Yes, Mom.” she chuckled. “She’s gay. We’re together. We decided to become a couple last night.”

“That explains why she started helping you plan to take over instead of working on the sale.” Her dad nodded to himself, things starting to click in his mind now. “And why she looked so sad before, when she told us she needed to call her father and wouldn’t be part of the sale anymore.”

“She’s a good person and makes me happy,” Bridgette said.

“Then, why are you sad? You knew she’d be leaving.”

“She told me last night that she’d be staying for a while. She likes it here, and she was going to take some time off, but then, her father called, and there was the sale, and–”

“And she defied him because of you,” her mom said.

“She did, which only makes me love her more, but she’s still leaving. She thought her dad would work for another year or two, but he’s retiring now, and she has to go back to New York for some big meeting where he announces it and names her as the next CEO. We thought we’d have more time.”

“Well, I can see why that might be disappointing, but you said you’re in love with her, Bridge. You can figure it out. If she feels the same way, I’m sure you will,” her mom said.

“She offered to send her family’s private jet to get me or something, for weekends when I’m going there, but I’ve never even been to New York, Mom. I wouldn’t fit in. Everything there always seems so fast, and there’s hardly any grass. I know she’s going to be busy. What would I even do there if she needs to work late or over the weekend when I go to visit? And I’m going to be running this place, too, so I can’t just fly off whenever I want. I need to be here, especially in the beginning.” Bridgette sighed. “I just want what Mel has, you know?”

“No, I don’t know,” her father replied.

“Kyle. Kyle moved here. She didn’t move because of Mel, but she moved here at least in part because they’re together. They have this house they’re working on now, and you can tell they’re preparing for Mel to move into it one day. Hell, when I called her the other day, she even said our house instead of Kyle’s , so it’s already happening. They love each other, so while it’s still new and exciting, at least Kyle isn’t going anywhere. I can’t even get the new and exciting part because my girlfriend is leaving soon. I know I should’ve been ready for it, but I guess I thought we’d have a few more weeks. I feel like I was robbed of something, and I went for a walk after she told me. I couldn’t process her suddenly not being here anymore. I’m used to it now. I’ve woken up next to her for the past few days, and I don’t even know how to sleep alone anymore.”

“It’s only been a few days, Bridge,” her dad said.

“But to me, it feels like a few weeks or months, even. My heart hurts when I think about her leaving, Dad. And that’s what I’m in for every time she goes if we do long-distance. Either she ’ll be leaving, or I will be, and I can’t just pack up and move to New York. I don’t want to. She’ll be the CEO soon and can’t just move here.”

“Well, it sounds like you and Monica have a lot to talk about. Maybe you should go to her hotel,” her mom suggested. “Tell her what you’re telling us right now so that you two can decide what you want to do.”

“And if she says that it’s not worth it? If she tells me that it’s just over because I won’t move there and she can’t move here, or she doesn’t want to do long-distance, or we should stop now before it gets harder? What would I do then, Mom? I’m too far gone now.”

“That doesn’t mean you can avoid this,” her dad said. “Bridgette, you’re in love with someone, and given the look on Monica’s face that I really didn’t understand before, my guess is that she feels the same way. It’s not just two people meeting and going on a date anymore, is it? There are real emotions now, which means you need to tackle this thing head-on. You put your cards all on the table, and she does the same. Yes, it might hurt, depending on the outcome, but you can’t just pretend like it’s not happening at all and let her fly home without talking. You would just wonder what could’ve been or what you should’ve done differently.”

“Your father’s right,” her mom added. “Avoiding does no good for either of you. Talk to her, honey. This probably came as a surprise to her, too.”

“It did,” Bridgette said.

“So, she’s probably still processing this herself. And if you don’t process it together, she might end up leaving without knowing what you want.”

“She knows what I want,” she replied. “I just want her .”

“But it’s more complicated than that, isn’t it?” her mom suggested.

“Yes.” Bridgette sighed. “Unfortunately.”

“Well, you can do nothing, or you can do something. Either way, it’s up to you,” her mom said.

Bridgette knew her mother was right. They both were. Knowing that Monica was in her hotel room made her feel a little bit better, too. Monica hadn’t gone just yet, and if she was talking to her dad, maybe there were more developments she’d tell Bridgette about. Just showing up right now, though, wasn’t an option. If Monica was working things out with her father, Bridgette didn’t want to interrupt. Monica would text or call her, and they could meet up when she was ready. So, instead of rushing to the hotel, she reluctantly got into her car and drove home at the end of the workday.

There, Bridgette changed into a pair of sweats, grabbed a pint of ice cream from her fridge, and sat on her sofa, eating it while watching some rerun on TV. She checked her phone at least once every five minutes, waiting for Monica to message. When she heard footsteps in the hall, she prepared for Monica to knock on the door, but the footsteps continued on. Bridgette lay down after a while, and when it got so late that she knew she couldn’t keep her eyes open, she fell asleep on the sofa. She hadn’t cleaned her sheets after their night of lovemaking and knew she couldn’t sleep in that bed tonight without Monica in it next to her.