Page 5 of February (New Orleans #2)

“S he just walks in and sets up in the conference room like she owns the place,” Bridgette said as she took a drink.

“Who?” Kyle asked, sitting down next to Melinda, her girlfriend.

“This woman who wants to buy Bridgette’s company,” Melinda said before she leaned over and kissed her. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Kyle replied. “And someone’s trying to buy your company?”

“It’s a whole thing,” Bridgette replied as she picked up a chip from their shared nacho platter and took a bite.

“How was work?” Melinda asked Kyle.

“Fine. I finished translating the article and sent it off.”

“So, you’re free for the rest of the night?” Melinda asked her.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Bridgette watched as the waiter approached to see what Kyle wanted to drink. Kyle ordered, and Bridgette looked at how her best friend in the world looked at her new girlfriend as if she hadn’t seen the woman in years when they’d woken up together that morning. Bridgette wanted that for herself as well, more than anything. She always had. She wrote the cards that talked about it and drew the images that, at times, appeared on the cards, too. She had been doing it since she graduated from college and had planned on doing that until she retired while she also took over more of a leadership role at the company that her parents were now thinking about selling out from under her, leaving her with no professional future for the first time in her entire life.

“So, the company?” Kyle asked.

“Yeah. Her name is Monica. She’s a total type A, New Yorker, one of those uppity types, and definitely a pain in the ass.”

“Didn’t you spend all of maybe five minutes with her?” Melinda asked.

“Yes, because she was late. She said the weather prevented her from flying down yesterday, but she was still over an hour late for the meeting my parents had scheduled with her people because, yes, she has people. She probably has two assistants, like Miranda Priestly, because she thinks she’s that important.”

“Have you tried talking to your parents about the company being sold?” Jill asked as she placed her phone back on the table and picked up a chip covered in cheese and sour cream.

“I tried.” Bridgette sighed. “They told me it was our best option. I even asked my mom if I could look at the books and see if I could come up with something myself, but she said we’d all be doing that as part of this vetting process for the sale. I get this vibe from them that they’re maybe embarrassed to show me the numbers or something.”

“Could be,” Melinda replied. “You’re their kid, and they were going to hand you the keys to the business, but now, they can’t.”

The waiter brought over Kyle’s drink and set it down.

“Are you all ready to order?” he asked.

They ordered their entrées, and Melinda caught Kyle up on her day for a few minutes, which gave Bridgette a much-needed break from the topic of the business being up for sale. By the time they’d circled back around, Bridgette was halfway through her burger, and Jill was stealing some of her fries.

“Why did you order a salad?”

“Because I wanted a salad,” Jill said.

“Then, order a side of fries,” Bridgette replied.

“Why? I can just steal yours.”

“Well, we are not dating, so you don’t have fry-stealing privileges.”

“Does that mean I can steal your fries?” Melinda asked Kyle.

“Anytime, babe,” Kyle replied.

Jill rolled her eyes at them, making Bridgette laugh.

“When will you two be out of this honeymoon phase?” Bridgette asked them.

“I hope never,” Melinda said.

“Can you at least pretend like you only tolerate each other when you’re around us?” Jill asked. “Some of us are still trying to meet people, and you’re just rubbing it in.”

Kyle laughed and said, “I can tell her she can’t have any of my fries, but that’s the best I can do.”

“We just got together. What do you expect?” Melinda asked. “When you two finally find whoever it is you fall in love with, we’ll have to watch you be all over them.”

“Yes, but the difference will be that you already have Kyle, so you won’t be missing out on anything,” Jill noted.

“No new dates, I take it?” Melinda asked.

“No. I can’t seem to find anyone I want to go out with on the app. I’m thinking about deleting my account. Maybe I’ll meet someone on my next tour, like you did.”

“Maybe,” Melinda said as she turned to Kyle.

“Bridge, what are you going to do about the whole sale thing?” Kyle asked.

“I have no idea,” she replied. “I know she’s here to take my family’s business. My mom says she’ll make us a good deal because of our family connections, but I’ll probably be out of a job. The company isn’t worth all that much on a good day, so if we’re struggling, they’re not likely to really give me enough to support myself for long, and this is all I’ve ever planned on doing. I mean, I thought about other things while I was in college, but nothing ever felt right to me.”

“You have to talk to this woman, then. Ask her if she’ll let you keep your job or if you can be brought on somewhere else at the company,” Melinda suggested.

“Their company is in New York, so I’d probably have to move, and I don’t want to move. I love it here. This place is home to me.”

“They wouldn’t let you work from here?” Kyle asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

“What did you do?”

“Kind of glared at her for about an hour while she talked to my parents.”

“Well, that’s probably not the best idea if you’re hoping she hires you at her company,” Jill said.

“I couldn’t help it. She just has this way about her. We left about the same time, so I watched her get into a car while I walked to mine, and I saw it drop her off at the Four Seasons.”

“That’s only a block away,” Melinda replied.

“Exactly. She had a car drive her for, like, a minute because she didn’t want to walk,” Bridgette added. “I watched her get out of the car and go into the hotel. She couldn’t walk that?”

“She’s a New Yorker. She’s used to a walking city,” Jill said. “Maybe she didn’t know how far the office was from the hotel, or maybe she was just really tired or couldn’t walk long distances. You don’t know.”

“She might be from there, but she went to Yale undergrad and Harvard Business School. Her resume reads like someone who has never taken the subway in her life. She’d be the one to get on the subway and have no idea that it even existed or something,” Bridgette replied.

“Maybe that’s true, but it doesn’t mean she’ll treat your family poorly. You said there are family connections there,” Kyle said before she ate a French fry.

“Distant.”

“You’re not related, are you?” Jill asked.

“What? No. My grandfather went to business school with her dad, I guess. He’s doing us a favor.”

Bridgette’s phone beeped on the table, so she glanced down at the screen and quickly picked it up. It was a text from Toya, asking what she was up to that night. Bridgette had forgotten all about her ex and their possible arrangement. That should probably tell her something.

“So, what do you think about Lacey leaving?” Jill asked Melinda, referring to a part-time employee at NOLA Guides, the tour company they both worked at as tour guides.

Bridgette looked around for the waiter and waved him over.

“What’s up?” Melinda asked her. “I thought we were going to share dessert.”

“Kyle can share dessert with you now. I’ve got to run.”

“Is everything okay?” Kyle asked.

When the waiter arrived at their table, Bridgette asked, “Can I get my check, please?”

“Sure.”

“Everything’s fine,” Bridgette added to Kyle then. “I’m just not feeling well all of a sudden, and I think I need to go home and crash.”

◆◆◆

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Toya yelled over and over as Bridgette fucked her from behind.

“Come now,” Bridgette said because she was running out of patience.

She’d been at Toya’s for well over an hour now. When she first walked in, she had moved immediately to the bed, stripping as she walked and told Toya what she wanted. That was something she’d never done before. When they’d been together, their sex life had been more geared toward what Toya had wanted. Not that Bridgette hadn’t enjoyed herself – she had – but now, if they were just doing this, she wasn’t going to make it all about Toya or come over whenever the woman texted her. Bridgette would have to want it, too, and would expect Toya to give her what she wanted as well.

Toya had fucked her hard first before Bridgette had told her to go down on her. Watching Toya’s head bob between her legs had used to get her so turned on, but as she’d watched Toya bring her to another orgasm, she knew it would be a small one and not the explosive release she craved. Toya had rolled onto her back then, and Bridgette remained where she was, lying on her own back about a foot away.

“Are you going to fuck me now or what?” Toya had asked.

Bridgette had actually considered saying no and getting up to leave, but she’d thought that would be rude, so she’d rolled over and brought her to a fast orgasm before Toya had gone for the strap-on that she favored. She’d always loved it when Bridgette wore it for her, and Bridgette loved making a woman come with one, but she’d been ready to leave. She had gotten what she’d come for. Well, sort of. She’d needed a great orgasm, and she’d gotten a couple of just good ones, so she would have to make herself come again before she went to sleep to really sate her body.

Before Bridgette knew it, though, Toya had slipped the harness over her hips, rubbed some lube over the dildo, and slid on top of it, fucking herself more than Bridgette actually doing the work. Bridgette had held on to her hips but hadn’t moved her own or done anything else. When it had become obvious that Toya wasn’t going to come like that, Bridgette had instructed her to get on all fours so that she could take care of her quickly.

They’d been going at this for a while now, though, so Bridgette finally reached around to Toya’s center and tried to stroke her clit as best she could while still thrusting inside her. Toya rocked back against her harder. Then, she put her own hand over Bridgette’s, and Bridgette returned her hand to Toya’s hips. Toya rubbed herself while Bridgette fucked her until finally, and that was exactly how it felt, she came hard and fell down to the bed, the dildo slipping out as she went. Bridgette looked down at the woman she’d once been in love with and wondered what in the hell she was doing. Toya rolled over and stared up at her, looking sated and out of breath.

“Give me a minute,” she said as she ran her hands up and down Bridgette’s thighs. “And then, I’ll do whatever you want.” She chuckled. “That was so fucking good, baby.”

“Don’t do that,” Bridgette said.

“Oh, sorry.” Toya squinted. “It really bugs you?”

“I’m not your ‘baby’ anymore.” Bridgette moved to stand and stripped off the harness, letting it fall to the floor.

“It’s just a word, Bridge. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“It used to, though.”

“Okay. I’ll cut it out, then,” Toya replied. “It just slips out sometimes.”

“We shouldn’t be doing this.” She sighed.

Toya sat up and replied, “You said you could handle it.”

“I can. That’s the problem.”

“What? I’m confused.”

“I’ve got to go,” Bridgette told her as she looked around for her clothes. “I’ll text you, okay?”

“Bridgette, don’t go. Talk to me.”

“You don’t want to talk.”

“I never said that. You just rushed into the apartment and told me to fuck you. But just because we’re having sex, doesn’t mean we can’t talk to one another like we used to.”

“I’m going to go,” Bridgette repeated. “We can’t be anything like we used to. That’s the point.”

She pulled her shirt and pants on quickly.

“Okay. Fine. Do you just want to text me if you want to do this again? Assuming you can , that is.”

“Yeah, sure,” Bridgette said.

“You told me you could handle this, Bridgette. I trusted you.”

“I am handling it,” Bridgette replied. “I just need to go.”

“Fine. Go,” Toya said.

Bridgette gathered her things and quickly left the apartment. She pressed herself against the back of the old elevator as it went down to the first floor and thought about how she didn’t actually want to talk to Toya anymore. She’d let everything at work get the better of her and drive her to make a bad decision. Fucking her ex-girlfriend had been a mistake. Not just because Bridgette wasn’t a sex-only kind of person but because she didn’t want to have sex with Toya anymore.

She’d been missing Toya for months, but what she had really been missing was having someone to come home to, someone to talk to, to watch movies with, to snuggle up to on the sofa, to talk to about her day at work, or even to complain about how Kyle and Melinda were annoying now but that she wanted them to be happy together at the same time. Bridgette wanted sex, yes, but not just sex, and as she continued to process the mistake she’d just made, she thought back to her relationship with Toya and the sex they’d had, suddenly feeling like it hadn’t been as great as her post-breakup brain had made it out to be. It had been primarily about her ex. Bridgette had been willing to give Toya whatever she wanted, and that had been fine with her at some point, but it hadn’t been as good as she’d remembered.

She probably wouldn’t even have gone to her ex’s place had her parents not been driving her crazy with the business by bringing someone in to buy the thing when it was supposed to be hers one day. Her whole life seemed to be a big mess right now, and she still had to figure out the business part, but she knew now that she was ready for something more in her love life, something real, something where the woman she was with wanted those same things and also wanted to take those relationship steps with her . Bridgette didn’t want to go backward. She wanted to move forward.