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S ophie sat at her desk in the living room. She hardly ever used it. Back when she first moved to New Orleans for her job, she’d bought a desk because she was bringing a lot of work home with her and needed somewhere to sit other than her sofa. Over the years, though, she’d slowly stopped bringing work home because they didn’t pay her well enough to devote her entire life to the company. In fact, the last time she brought work home with her had probably been more than six months ago, and that had been an actual urgent task after she had had to let go of one of her employees. Now, she sat here because she was unemployed and about to interview at Arnette for the second time in her life.

“Hey,” Bryce spoke.

Sophie turned and found her exiting the bathroom and headed her way.

“Hey,” she replied softly.

“Are you getting nervous?”

“Getting? I’m already there,” Sophie shared.

“You’re going to do great, okay?” Bryce knelt down beside her chair and took her hand. “I’ll stay in your room and get some work done. I’ve got to write about gator bites.”

“If you do that, people are going to figure out you’re in New Orleans right now.”

“Oh, that could be cool: post about gator bites and wait for the comments to roll in.” Bryce kissed Sophie’s palm. “‘Are you in New Orleans? Oh, my God! Are you with Sophie?’” she pretend-quoted the possible reactions.

Sophie laughed and ran her free hand through Bryce’s hair.

“What will you say?”

“That I’m definitely with Sophie.” Bryce closed her eyes as Sophie repeatedly ran her hand through her hair. “I’m only with Sophie, and she’s all I want.”

“That’s sweet. But you’ll actually tell them that?”

“I think I’ll wait for the interview to be live and link to it. I’ll post something then and make them all guess about those gator bites.” Bryce winked at her. “Now, I’ll leave you alone, but you’re amazing, and you’re going to do great, okay?”

“Kiss for luck?” she asked.

Bryce stood, leaned down, kissed her on the lips, hovering there for a moment with closed eyes, and said, “Always.”

When Bryce left her alone, closing the bedroom door behind her, Sophie only somewhat worried about the fact that her sex toy drawer was right next to where she slept, and yes, it was full. About the only thing she could claim about herself that was remotely interesting was that she bought new sex toys regularly, trying just about anything to see if it got her there. She probably had about twenty different vibrators in that drawer, along with her two favorites, always close at hand. She hoped Bryce wouldn’t just open the drawer, but if she did, Sophie thought it would be something funny for them to discuss later. She had no idea what Bryce’s thoughts were on vibrators or strap-ons, so it would be a fun way to bring up the topic.

“Fuck,” she whispered to herself.

Sophie was about to go into a video interview, picturing Bryce wearing a strap-on for her. That wouldn’t help calm her nerves at all. As her heart raced, now for multiple reasons, she clicked on the link, opened the video chat, and pulled down on her shirt to make sure no wrinkles showed.

“Sophie,” the man said when he appeared.

“Hello,” she greeted professionally.

“I’ve heard so much about you,” he said.

“You have? All good, I hope,” she replied with a cheesy smile.

“All good,” he said. “I heard we lost you to the bayou, and now, you’re interested in coming back.”

“Yes, I am. I love New Orleans, and I’d like to stay here, but I’m looking for a new professional opportunity.”

“I spoke with Monica. She had nothing but good things to say about you and working with you. And I talked to a few others as well. You had my job when you left and worked your way up, right?”

“Yes,” she confirmed.

Sophie then gave him a brief overview of her time at Arnette, trying to cover as much as she could without sounding like this know-it-all at the same time. He nodded as she spoke and asked her a few questions. Most of them were softballs, but he had a good one in there that she found a little challenging in a good way.

“Honestly, I’m looking for someone to work with me, but I’m also looking for someone who could potentially take over for me should I end up moving into a new role, which is possible this year. The fact that you have experience in both roles is a huge plus for me. I want to make sure you’re here for a career and not just a job because I’d love to have someone grow into the role.”

“Yes. Definitely. That’s what I want,” she said, probably a little too eagerly. “I’m looking to stay somewhere for the long haul.”

“Great,” he replied and looked away from the screen. “All right. Well, I have all I need for now. Do you have any questions for me?”

Sophie had interviewed so many times now, she knew all the standard questions a candidate should ask, so she asked her top three, and he answered them well. It was only an hour-long interview, but she could see herself working with this guy, and that was a good thing. She didn’t have an ego, and it wouldn’t bother her that he had her old job while she’d basically be starting over. It had been her fault that she had to start over, anyway.

“So, here’s what I’d like to do,” he began the wrap-up. “I’ve got a few other interviews already lined up. I’m going to talk to those candidates and have recruiting reach back out to you with the next steps.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

The interview, she’d thought, had gone well, but this was a party-line approach to giving next steps that Sophie had heard far too many times. It had always ended in a rejection email or the company ghosting her entirely.

“Well, thank you for your time,” he added.

“Yes. You too,” she replied, trying to put the smile back on her face.

Closing the browser window, Sophie sat still for a while, not knowing what to do or how to react to what had just happened. They’d talked about role specifics. She had given him actual examples of what she’d done in the role before. She’d had answers to all of his questions, and they weren’t hypotheticals. She had good questions for him in return. Hell, she’d done the job, and his on top of it, so she had actual experience in the role at the company. She didn’t know what to do now. If he was brushing her off, there was only Atlanta now, and she didn’t want to move to Atlanta.

“Soph?”

Sophie tried to shake herself out of it and turned to see Bryce standing in the open doorway of her bedroom. She still couldn’t believe Bryce was there. It was also strange because seeing the woman standing at her bedroom door felt familiar, even though it hadn’t ever happened before, but it also felt like she could be a figment of Sophie’s imagination and that she might disappear if Sophie wasn’t careful.

“Hey,” she said.

“It got quiet, so I thought I’d check. How did it go?”

“I honestly have no idea.”

“Really?” Bryce walked toward her.

“He gave me the brush-off; recruiting will reach out to me with next steps.”

“Oh, babe… I’m sorry. Are you sure it was a brush-off, though?” Bryce cupped her cheek. “They just say that sometimes. Maybe he’s said it so many times, it’s a habit now.”

“I don’t know,” she replied with a sigh as she leaned into Bryce and rested her head against Bryce’s stomach, needing her solid body to provide some safety right now and also to remind her that Bryce was really there with her. “Maybe.”

“Let’s try to be optimistic. When did he say they’d be reaching out?”

“He didn’t.”

“Oh,” Bryce let out. “Well, that just means he doesn’t know.”

“It means I didn’t get it. I don’t understand… It was a good interview. And I don’t say that about every interview I do, either. We talked like people more than he did a whole interrogation thing.”

“Then, I’m sure it’s a habit,” Bryce suggested. “Do you want to call Monica? Maybe she can tell you more about this guy or something.”

“We’re supposed to meet them for an early dinner,” Sophie said, looking up at her. “Is that okay? She asked me, and I said yes, but I should’ve talked to you first.”

“I get to meet the friends? Yeah?” Bryce asked, looking so excited that Sophie couldn’t believe she could be this adorable about meeting her friends.

“It would be Monica and Bridgette. I didn’t invite Melinda and Kyle or Jill.”

“So, a double date, then?” Bryce asked.

“I guess so,” she said with a smile, loving how Bryce could somehow make this insecurity over her job leave her mind entirely.

“I’m down for that,” Bryce said. “Can it just be dinner, though? Maybe we can do something on our own after.”

“Like what?” Sophie looked up at her.

“Literally anything. Another movie in bed. Another walk through the city but longer. Gambling on a riverboat. I don’t care.” Bryce laughed a little. “I just want as much time with you as possible.”

“I really like that idea,” she replied.

Then, Sophie stood up and wrapped her arms around Bryce’s neck. She pulled the woman in for a long hug, loving how good it felt to have someone here for her right after an interview she was no longer sure had gone well, after all. She’d never had this before, and now, she had no idea how she’d do without it when Bryce went home.

◆◆◆

“Mon, Bridge, this is Bryce.” Sophie motioned around as she did the introduction part. “Bridge, be nice.”

“Hey! Why did I get a ‘be nice,’ and Monica didn’t?” Bridgette spoke.

“You know why,” Monica said for Sophie. “Hi, Bryce. It’s so nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. You’re a real person and everything,” Bridgette added.

“And that ’s why,” Sophie noted, pointing to Bridgette.

“I’m a real person, yeah. Did you think Soph was making me up?”

“Well, you sounded so perfect when she talked about you, which was all the time, so if Jill hadn’t actually laid eyes on you, I don’t know that I would’ve believed you were real, no. I probably would’ve thought Sophie hit her head really hard and made you up or something.”

Sophie glared at Bridgette.

“I’m very real and very happy to be here,” Bryce said as she wrapped an arm around Sophie’s waist and pulled her against her side.

“We’re happy you’re here, too,” Monica said. “Sophie seems really happy about it as well.”

“Your table is ready,” the hostess said to Monica.

“Oh, great. Thanks,” Monica replied before she turned to Sophie and Bryce. “I paid her twenty bucks to get us ahead in the line because they don’t take reservations. I’m starving. This one has me crazy busy at work.” She pointed to Bridgette.

“You two work together?” Bryce asked as they walked toward their table.

“I’m the boss. It’s very fun,” Bridgette replied.

“Bridgette!” Monica laughed as she sat down. “Bridgette runs a greeting card company, and when I left Arnette Assets, I went to work with her.”

“It’s pretty cute, actually,” Sophie said as Bryce pulled out her chair for her, making her swoon internally. “They even share an office, and they live together.”

“You don’t get sick of each other?” Bryce asked.

“We just have sex,” Bridgette replied.

Sophie waited for Monica to say something, but Monica only shrugged, not objecting to what was said even a bit.

“Make-up sex is great,” Bridgette added.

Bryce turned to Sophie when she sat down, wrapping her arm over the back of Sophie’s chair, and said, “Sophie mentioned you’ve been together for over a year?”

“Yes, a little more than a year,” Monica replied. “We just moved in together officially not that long ago.”

“That’s cool,” Bryce said.

“Have you ever lived with a girlfriend?” Bridgette asked, causing Sophie to glare at her again.

“Uh… No,” Bryce replied. “I’ve only had one serious girlfriend, though.”

“Only one? How old are you?”

“Babe…” Monica said.

“I’m thirty-one,” Bryce answered. “I came out later than some, probably. I was with someone for about two years, but we never did the living together thing, and I’ve dated some, but nothing serious since then.”

“Until now?” Bridgette asked.

“Bridgette, knock it off.” Sophie laughed.

“No, it’s okay,” Bryce told her. “My friends will grill you when you meet them .” She smiled at Sophie before turning to Bridgette to respond, “Until now. Soph and I really only just met, but it doesn’t feel like that. It feels like I’ve known her forever. I know I’m going to always be discovering new things about her no matter how long we know one another, but I still know so much already.”

“That’s nice,” Monica said as she picked up her menu. “You should say things like that to me.” She turned toward Bridgette.

“I do say things like that to you,” Bridgette replied.

Monica winked at her and asked, “Do we want wine? We can get a bottle.”

“Sounds good to me,” Sophie said. “Red.”

“Merlot,” Bryce said at the same time as her.

Sophie turned to look at her and smiled. Then, her hand moved to Bryce’s thigh, and she just rested it there, claiming Bryce as her own in the middle of this restaurant. Bryce’s arm was still over the back of her chair, doing the same to anyone who would look over at them right now.

Dinner was fun, and the wine was better than the wine they’d had last night. Bridgette actually wasn’t as annoying as Sophie thought she’d be, and she knew it was Bridgette’s way of protecting her friends, so she appreciated it. Monica was polite, as always, and when they finished eating, Monica and Bridgette hugged them both goodbye and left them to continue their night outside of the restaurant, probably sensing that the two of them were ready to be alone now.

“Oh, hold on a sec,” Bryce said when her phone rang. “It’s Kels. Can I take it real quick?”

“Yeah, of course,” she replied, taking Bryce’s free hand and walking them away from the restaurant and the crowd behind them.

“Hey, Kels. What’s up?”

While Bryce talked, Sophie tried not to listen in as they walked because she was just so happy to be walking hand in hand with a woman she was crazy about. When Monica had hugged her goodbye, she’d told Sophie that she was happy for her and that Bryce seemed great. Bridgette had even told her that Bryce was hot and that she’d done a good job. She smiled at the moment because Bryce was hot. She was really, really hot and Sophie wanted to see all of her.

They’d talked about so much already, but they had yet to talk about what would happen tonight, after they got back to Bryce’s hotel or Sophie’s place. They also hadn’t discussed what would happen tomorrow or the day after or whenever Bryce left to go back to Tennessee. There was so much still for them to say to one another, and that was scary because Sophie could now say that she was addicted to walking hand in hand with Bryce, and when she had to leave, it would hurt having to walk these streets alone. She knew she couldn’t ask Bryce to just move here, and she couldn’t just pack up and move to Tennessee herself, either, but she also couldn’t be without her now that she had her. It was as if she’d fallen in love last year, and now that they were finally together, she could feel how much Bryce meant to her, so thinking about having to drop her off at the airport in a few days hurt Sophie’s heart.