CHAPTER FORTY ONE
Ophelia was in emergency fix-it mode. After Etienne left, she contacted her therapist the following morning and asked for a last-minute session. Then she messaged Jade to see if she could meet for drinks after work. Her head and heart were spinning. She wanted to trust herself completely again, but she needed to protect herself first. No one was going to take from her again unless shewantedto give it.
Ophelia met Jade at their favorite wine bar off St. Charles Ave. It was one of those weird January days where the skies were blue, the sun was shining, and you could get away with just a sweater. As the sun began to set, the friends sipped wine on the patio under a lamp heater.
“How’s Theo? Does he miss me?” asked Ophelia.
“Nuh-uh! You’ve got me out on a school night, and you want to talk pleasantries? Nope. Spill. The. Tea.” Jade’s left eyebrow raised in that knowing way.
Ophelia rolled her eyes dramatically and laughed. “You know me too well.” When she was finished telling Jade all about how Etienne confessed his feelings for her, Jade was practically vibrating in her seat. “You may speak now,” Ophelia said with a flourish of her hands.
Jade did not speak but made a squeal of delight that disturbed the entire patio.
“Shhh! Good Lord, woman,” admonished Ophelia.
“I knew it. I knew it. I knew it!”
“What are you talking about? You didn’t know a thing.”
“I did too. I told you! I told you!” Jade danced in her seat. “I wasright.” She sipped her wine with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Well, don’t get too excited. I’m still struggling with it all. Obviously, I’m beyond attracted to him, and I really enjoy being around him. But I feel like it’s too soon. It’s only been a couple of months since…everything.”
“It’s been almost four months, and there is no time limit on when you can start dating again or when you can start trusting yourself again.”
“I know. As my therapist reminded me today, it’s very hard sitting with these conflicting feelings.”
“Well, I’m here for you no matter what you decide. If you decide to date now or in a couple of years. Do what makesyouhappy, what makesyoufeel good, not what you think you should be doing.”
Ophelia swiped several tears off her face at Jade’s words. Her phone buzzed with a message, briefly distracting her. She could see the preview of the text on the home screen.
Etienne: Your gumbo might be better than my mom’s.
Ophelia smiled.
“Etienne?” Jade asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“Yeah, yeah. You know I love you, right?” asked Ophelia.
“I love you too,” Jade said and kissed Ophelia’s tear-stained cheek.
“I’m going to be dehydrated from all the tears I’ve cried. Now, can you please tell me about the other man in my life? Does Theo miss me or what?”
Etienne metOphelia at her house the following Wednesday. A cold front had come through over the weekend, bringing New Orleans from a crisp sixty degrees to a chilly thirty. New Orleanians treated the drop in temperature like it was the apocalypse, with more concern over the cold than a Category 3 hurricane. Etienne and Ophelia were bundled up in their running gear, about to exit the door.
“You sure you want to go running in this weather?” asked Etienne.
“Positive. I love running in the cold. It makes me giddy,” she said with a goofy smile on her face.
“You’re actually serious?”
“Yes! Come on, slowpoke, let’s go.”
Ophelia delighted in the sound of Etienne’s breathing and the patting of both their strides. When they reached the top of the levee, Ophelia turned to Etienne. “How ya feeling?”
“Freezing, O. Fucking freezing. How are you enjoying this?”
Ophelia was bouncing on the balls of her feet to keep warm. “It just feels so good. It even smells better in the cold.”
