Page 34 of February (New Orleans #2)

“H ey,” Melinda greeted them when they arrived.

“Hi,” Monica replied.

“Can I borrow Bridge for a minute? Ky and Jill are sitting in a booth over there,” Melinda said as she pointed to a booth, where Monica saw Jill and Kyle sitting with drinks.

“It’s okay,” Bridgette told her and kissed her cheek.

“I’ll be over at the table. Want me to order you a drink?”

“Yeah, whatever you’re getting.”

“Gin and tonic?” Monica checked to be sure.

“Never mind. Get me a beer. Have Jill tell you which one.” Bridgette winked at her.

Monica smiled at her and made her way over to the booth, where she said hello and sat down next to Jill.

“So, I’m supposed to ask you what beer to order for Bridgette.”

“Me? I don’t know what she drinks. Maybe just what I’m having.” Jill shrugged.

“She probably thinks you’d know the local beers better than me. I’m guessing she drinks local.”

“She does,” Kyle replied. “It just kind of happens when you move here. I love the local stuff now.”

“Can you tell me what to order for my girlfriend, then?”

“Girlfriend?” Jill asked. “Really?”

“Oh. She hasn’t told you yet?”

“No, but I also haven’t talked to her much recently. Must be all that time she’s been spending with her girlfriend ,” Jill said in a mocking tone.

“That’s great,” Kyle added. “Bridgette’s awesome.”

“She is, yes,” Monica replied with a smile as the waiter arrived. “Can I get a gin and tonic and whatever she’s drinking?” She pointed to Kyle.

“Sure,” he said, placing beverage napkins on the table for her.

“We like coming here because it’s one of the few places there’s table service,” Jill remarked. “And it’s less noisy than most of the other bars in the Quarter.”

“It’s nice. I’ve been here before.” Monica nodded toward the pianos. “I can’t wait till they get going.”

“We rarely come here to watch the pianists,” Jill said. “But the drinks are good and not that expensive, and we can usually find a booth.”

“So, you and Bridgette are together now? How will that work when you go back home? Sorry. Is that too personal?” Kyle asked.

“No, it’s fine.” She shook her head. “I’m actually going to be here for a while. I need to find an apartment soon, I guess. I’ve basically been sleeping at Bridgette’s and charging the company for an expensive hotel.”

“You’re going to stay? Long enough to rent an apartment?” Jill asked.

“I’ve still got some fine-tuning to do on my long-term plan, but the short-term one is done. Yes, I’m going to rent a place, probably for a year or maybe a little longer, before I’ll find a house to buy. I haven’t decided if I’m keeping my place in Manhattan, but I don’t plan on moving back there full-time. I’d also like to take Bridgette there to see it before I sell, if I do end up selling, because it’s pretty stark but very fancy, and, honestly, it’s funny to me when she mocks me for being fancy.”

“When who mocks you?” Bridgette asked as she and Melinda both approached the booth. “I’m the only one who gets to mock you, right?”

“Yes. And I was talking about you.”

“Oh, good,” Bridgette said before she sat down next to Monica.

Monica wrapped an arm around Bridgette’s shoulders and whispered, “Everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll fill you in later,” Bridgette said softly to her as Melinda sat down next to Kyle.

“Monica is moving here,” Kyle said to her girlfriend.

“I heard. Bridge just told me. Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Monica replied with a chuckle.

“It’s a whole thing. She’s got to transition from taking over this giant company and helping her dad before he retires, but she’s sticking around.” Bridgette smiled at her.

“The sex is that good?” Jill joked. “Maybe we should’ve hooked up, after all, so that I could’ve experienced it myself.”

“Hey!” Monica said with a laugh she only half-meant.

“And yes, it’s that good,” Bridgette added.

“Bridge!” Monica tapped her on the leg.

“Hi.”

Monica looked up and saw Sophie standing there.

“Oh, Sophie, hi,” she said. “Everyone, this is my friend, Sophie. She used to work with me at Arnette a long time ago, but she lives down here now, so I thought I’d invite her to join us, if that’s all right.”

“Thank God! I don’t have to be the fifth wheel now. Please, sit down,” Jill said.

Sophie sat down next to Kyle and Melinda in the six-seater booth, and when the group started in on some small talk, Monica turned to Bridgette.

“It’s really okay?”

“Babe, she just wanted to apologize to me,” Bridgette told her with a smile.

“Apologize?”

“Yes. She’s been distant since she met Kyle, and we’ve hardly had any time to hang out, just the two of us like we used to, so she was apologizing. I told her it’s not really a big deal because I’ve been doing the same thing because of you since you got here, and I don’t see that changing much anytime soon.”

“Bridge, I want you to spend time with your friends.”

“I will. I am. We’re with them now,” Bridgette replied. “We also set something up for just the two of us this weekend.”

“Yeah? Good,” Monica said.

“So, Sophie and Jill?”

They turned back to the conversation to see that Sophie was at one end of the booth, across from Bridgette, and Jill was at the other end, across from Kyle. They hadn’t planned this setup very well. The women couldn’t really talk without yelling across the table, but Jill also didn’t seem all that interested. Mostly, she just slowly sipped her drink and listened, occasionally turning her head to watch the dueling pianos on the platform behind them, so it seemed clear to Monica that Jill either wasn’t interested in Sophie or was playing it incredibly cool.

“Hey, are you all right?” Monica asked her when they both decided to line up for the bathroom at the same time.

“Yeah. Why?”

“You just haven’t said that much tonight.”

“Oh, I’m fine. Just a little sad.”

“Sad?”

“It’s great that you and Bridge are together and that Mel and Kyle are a couple planning a future, but I’m still all alone and wondering where my Princess Charming is, I guess.”

“You know, Sophie is–”

“Gay? I kind of figured out the whole setup angle,” Jill replied.

“Not truly a setup. Just an idea. Sophie’s single, too, so I thought–”

“I appreciate your thinking. And she seems nice… I’m just in an off mood tonight.”

Monica then watched as Jill disappeared into the bathroom and waited her turn. When they were both finished, they headed back to the table, where Bridgette and Sophie were laughing about something.

“And she was–” Sophie stopped when she saw Monica standing there.

“Was what?” Bridgette asked.

“Uh… Nothing. She was just the best boss in the entire world and did nothing worth making fun of ever.”

Monica sat down next to Bridgette and said, “Hi, babe.”

“No!” Bridgette laughed. “Soph was just about to finish telling me an embarrassing story about you.”

“I gathered,” she replied and playfully glared at Sophie. “Did you want to continue?”

“Yes, but not with you sitting here. I’ll call Bridgette later and tell her the rest.”

“You two exchanged numbers?” Monica asked.

“We’re starting a group text,” Melinda said.

“Just to make fun of me?”

“No, babe. So that we can all talk easily. You’re in there. You didn’t check your messages, did you?”

“While I was peeing? No, I didn’t,” she replied.

A little while later, Monica was tired, but she was having fun, too. Normally, she’d excuse herself to go home and get some sleep, but Bridgette appeared to be having fun as well, and Monica liked that their hands were joined under the table. She liked it even more when Bridgette’s hand left hers and slid up her thigh, and she loved it when Bridgette gave her upper inner thigh a squeeze, indicating something Monica was more than up for.

“I think I’m ready to go,” Bridgette said. “Mon?”

“Yes. I mean, whenever is fine with me.”

“Have a good rest of the night,” Melinda teased.

“Oh, I will,” Bridgette stated.

Monica looked at Sophie, who seemed to be fine, and when Sophie nodded that she was , Monica stood up with Bridgette and took her hand. Then, she looked around at her friends, some new and one old, and decided that she did feel like she fit in here, after all. Bridgette led them outside, and they walked at a leisurely pace despite the fact that they both had things in mind for when they got back to Bridgette’s place.

“So, I’m going to need help finding an apartment,” she said.

“I’m the wrong person for that. You’d be looking in the rich part of town. Maybe Sophie. Is she rich, too?”

“Babe, I’m not looking for a realtor. I meant that I want you to go with me when I look at places so I can make sure you like it, too.”

“I can do that,” Bridgette replied. “But can you make sure it has appliances I’ll know how to use?”

“Oh, I cannot wait to take you to my place in New York. It’s going to be hilarious.”

“What? Why?”

“The in-wall espresso machine and you will not get along.”

“You’ll just have to bring me a cappuccino in bed, then. No soy, though. I drink the hard stuff.”

Monica laughed as they turned the corner and said, “I can buy regular milk for you, but just for you.”

“Then, I’ll figure out how to use the damn in-wall espresso machine for you. Mon, who has an in-wall espresso machine? I mean, a bookshelf, sure. But an espresso machine? What happens if you have to replace it, and the new one you want is a different size? Are you so rich that you just redo the wall every time you get a new machine?”

Monica laughed before she stopped walking and said, “I love you.”

Bridgette stopped and stared at her then. Yes, they’d told one another that they were in love, but neither had said those exact three words yet.

“I love you, too,” Bridgette replied.

“Yes, you would.”

Monica heard that voice and turned to her right to see the fortune teller standing there with a smile.

“You?” Bridgette asked. “Are you following us around or something?”

“Babe,” Monica said, pointing down.

Bridgette’s eyes followed her finger. The fortune teller was out walking her dog.

“Oh,” Bridgette let out.

“Right on schedule,” the woman told them and patted Monica on the shoulder before she walked off, leaving them there on the sidewalk.

“That’s weird, right?” Bridgette asked then. “Like, really weird?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s kind of nice now. Maybe she does have a gift.” Monica pulled Bridgette along.

“A gift? Come on.” Bridgette chuckled. “Like, she sees two people and just knows they’re meant to be?”

“Yes, just like that,” she replied.

“Say that again in about twenty minutes, over and over again.”

Monica laughed and said, “I’m sure I will.”

“Mon?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you really believe that?” Bridgette asked. “The part about people being meant to be?”

“Yes. Don’t you?”

“Yeah, I always have. I–” She pulled Monica over into an alley and pressed her against the wall like they’d done the day they’d first made love. “I’ve always believed it for others, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever have it for myself. Having Mel find Kyle has been harder on me than I let on. I had this misplaced, broken heart, and, in a way, I lost my best friend a little there, too. I was lonely, and I thought I just always would be.”

“Which is why you had sex with your ex?” Monica said with a lifted eyebrow. “Never again, Bridgette.” She wrapped her arms around Bridgette’s neck.

“I don’t plan on having any more exes, Monica.” She lifted an eyebrow right back at her.

“That was a really good line,” Monica told her, pulling Bridgette in for a kiss.

Not everything was set in stone yet, and they still had a lot to figure out, but when Monica made love to her girlfriend that night, it felt like a fresh start, a new beginning. They whispered that they loved each other for the first time after, and neither of them qualified it by saying that it was too much or too soon, or that it wouldn’t make sense to anyone else. They just said it and let it sink in that they had found their person in the most unexpected way.

When Bridgette fell asleep, Monica went to the living room to find her laptop in her bag. She didn’t want to wake Bridgette, but she had this urge to write her official resignation letter for Arnette, knowing she wouldn’t even need it for a few weeks. Then, she started looking for an apartment.

“Babe?” Bridgette mumbled when she walked into the living room, looking exhausted and completely naked.

“Sorry. Go back to sleep. I’ll be in there in a minute,” she said.

“Everything okay?” Bridgette sat down next to her on the sofa and rested her head on Monica’s shoulder.

“I couldn’t sleep. I got the urge to find a place to live.”

“My apartment isn’t fancy enough for you? I knew it.” She wrapped an arm around Monica’s waist.

“It’s plenty fancy.” Monica chuckled. “But we’re not moving in together right now.”

“I’m too tired to argue. Those four orgasms you gave me knocked me out.”

“Go back to bed,” Monica replied.

“Not without you.” Bridgette settled into her side.

“Do you want to help me look?”

“If it means you’re staying here, I’ll look for anything you want,” Bridgette said, shifting to kiss Monica’s neck. “I love you.”