CARA

I had seen Bridgette in battle. When she and Quinn were dating in high school, before she handed him to me, she had always been a fighter. Girls would as much as come close to Quinn--or any of the boys she dated--and they would go home crying and they would be lucky if they would arrive without a broken nose or scratches.

Looking at her now as she placed her hands on her hips was not only awkward because she was using my body, it was also scary. I didn’t know I could look that mean as she stared at the heads of the girls crowding the door of the diner. She reached out, grabbed the arm of one of the girls--the one we assumed to be Melissa--and pulled her away from the door.

“What the--” the girl started to say but stopped short to her foul words when she saw Bridgette. “Hey, lady, are you crazy? Let go of me.”

I wanted to stop her, really, but I remembered the shy, innocent girl sitting inside the diner having a great time with a great boy. So I stepped away to make room for Bridgette as she pulled Melissa further away from the door. The other girls were still in shock they only stood rooted in their spot as Melissa cried out about her arm.

“I know what you are up to,” I heard Bridgette say. I never imagined my voice could be that scary. “You take one step inside that diner and you’re dead.”

“Hey!” Melissa said, harshly pulling her arm away. “Who the hell are you?”

Bridgette smiled at her as if looking at the tiniest fly in the planet, crossed her arms over her chest and said, “I am your worst nightmare if you take your fake Prada inside that door.”

Behind her, Melissa’s friends were eyeing her footwear as the girl gaped at Bridgette.

“I can tell.”

“These shoes are legit!”

“Yeah, right,” Bridgette retorted, rolling her eyes at me.

I had to force out a laugh--that would sound demeaning. It was for Bernadette after all.

“Now, ladies, if you just all turn around and leave Bernadette and Todd alone, I can be very forgiving.”

Melissa was shooting murder at Bridgette but she must have realized that she was facing Lucifer’s mistress so she turned and strutted down the opposite path shouting at her friends, “They are not fakes!”

Bridgette was beaming at me when the girls finally disappeared. I had to pull her across the street to escape the looks the onlookers were giving us. “That was not very nice,” I told her.

“But admit it, it saved Bernadette.”

“Yeah, right,” I said with a sigh, looking at Bernadette now talking to Todd who just came back. “But you still can’t protect her from those goons at school.”

“She should learn to stick up to herself,” Bridgette said. “And that’s what we’re going to teach her later.”

BRIDGETTE

We decided to enlist ourselves as Bernadette’s chaperones without her knowledge and she was shocked to find us waiting for her outside the theme park.

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Just making sure you don’t get too carried away on your first day,” I told her with a wink.

Todd said goodbye to her and waved at us before leaving.

“Let’s get you home, young lady,” I opened the door for her. “You did great today.”

After we dropped Bernadette home, we drove back to my condominium. I had to drop Cara before I went on another hellish duty in the hospital.

We were talking about how I managed to push girls away from the boys I dated in high school when I spotted a familiar figure walking down the street. I frowned. “Isn’t that my sister?”

Cara turned to the direction I was focused on and she nodded. “Yeah, that’s Lorraine.”

“What is she doing in this side of town?” I asked aloud. She was supposed to be at home or at school studying.

“She’s a big girl. She can go wherever she wants,” Cara retorted.

I shook my head. “She’s the good girl, Cara. You know that. She never goes to this side of town, much more with that company…oh my God! Is she with those guys?” my eyes widened as I caught sight of the kind of men surrounding my sister. She was laughing out loud like I had never seen her do before. “She must be with those guys. Is she using drugs?”

Cara looked at me incredulously. “Why the hell would you think that?”

“They look like they are the type!” I exclaimed, taking in the features of the men walking with my sister. Tattoos, big holes in their ears, more than two piercings on the nose, weird shirt and pants…and don’t let me mention their hair! “Should we follow them?”

As if on cue, the car behind us started honking for me to move the car forward.

“No, I suggest you go right forward and take me home. You have to get ready for tonight.”

“She might be getting herself in trouble, you know,” I said a moment later.

“You are just freaking curious what she is up to than concerned.”

“Hey! She’s my sister!”

“And since when did you care for your sister?” Cara asked.

Well, now that she mentioned it, I couldn’t site an event that I was willing to die for my sister--or anyone. 

CARA

Bridgette could really get impulsive every time so I did everything in my power to keep her from following her sister. I knew Lorraine was hiding something big, but it was for her to keep and share in time.

The moment I climbed out of the car, she noted that we still had a few hours to spare to look for Lorraine and find out more about her group of friends, but I told her to stay away from her sister. I crossed my fingers that she was not driving back to that street earlier.

Todd was waiting outside my door with a shy smile on his face.

“Hey,” he said. “I just came by to say thank you. I know what you did earlier.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Your friend really did a good thing back there. I didn’t know if I could have had the same control like her if those girls got inside the diner.”

I smiled at him. “You are very much welcome. I hope you enjoy Bernadette’s company.”

“I already do,” he started to leave. “And Bridgette, I hope you find someone nice. You deserve it.”

Where the hell did that come from?

Quinn texted once again just as I was preparing for dinner and another sleepless night on the phone while Bridgette was in the hospital.

What are you up to?

Preparing dinner. Bridgette’s having her duty tonight.

So you’ll be up all night.

Definitely.

Care if I join you?

I didn’t want to say yes, but my thumb just knew which keys to tap. No, I won’t.

BRIDGETTE

I still couldn’t believe that Dr. Scott Newman could learn to actually like Cara. From her stories and how he treated me the first time I went on duty, I didn’t really expect him to be standing by the entrance of the hospital waiting for me. I guess it was safe for me to conclude that it was I he was attracted to and not Cara. After all, it was me he kissed, made love to and asked to go on a date. It was me, Bridgette.

“What are you doing here?” I asked when he leaned away from the wall to meet me.

His face was serious, as he always was. But there was something in the way he looked at me that changed. I was not sure when that changed, but now I saw it. “Have you changed your mind?” he asked, arching a brow in question.

“About what?”

He looked at me like he didn’t think I was that stupid. “You know what.”

“Fine. Tomorrow afternoon. Call me,” I said and then left him standing there with an expression of someone who just heard a miracle. Of course, he didn’t have that ecstatic look on his face. But he was motionless with his lips arched in a smile. Now, that was a miracle.

CARA

As Bridgette went on with her work, Quinn and I was texting with him accompanying me during my shift.

“Hey, you have to help me. I don’t know how to prepare this medication,” Bridgette said in my ear.

“Yeah,” I answered, busy tapping my phone.

This is actually my third coffee. No, you can’t tell Bridgette.

“Cara! What’s wrong with you?! If you are bothered I said yes to the date with Scott, you just say so. Help me out here!”

“Bridgette, it’s just like every other medication. Aspire the same dosage into the syringe, get the bubbles out and then put it in the IV line.”

“I forgot how to solve for the dosage.”

“You have it in your notebook. You do this every shift. How can you forget?”

“Hey, don’t use that tone on me. I am doing your job. At least be patient,” she hissed.

I sighed and gave her the same instruction I had been giving her since we swapped.

It’s raining here. There? It was Quinn again. I looked out the window.

Nope, not really. Rain, a cup of coffee and a good book is great. Try that.

I like the rain, a cup of coffee and texting you.

I couldn’t help the flutter of butterfly wings in my stomach. Oh my God. I felt like I was in the present of ten years ago.

“Okay, given,” Bridgette’s voice shook me out of my internal wanderings.

“Did you give it to the right patient?”

“Of course, I did! So, tell me. What do you think about me and Scott dating? Honestly.”

“Uh, okay,” I said, busily replying to Quinn.

“You’re preoccupied with something. What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” I lied.

“I know my voice when I am lying, Cara,” Bridgette warned.

“Fine. I’m talking to Quinn.”

“I don’t hear you talking to him.”

“We’re texting.”

“Oh my God, please tell me you are getting back together. If yes, don’t you dare have sex with him.”

“I am not getting back together with him. In case you forgot, you are arranging his wedding and it is going to rescue your bank account. And if I have sex with him, I guess it’s only fair. You had sex with Scott.”

“Please! Like I would choose creating a magical wedding for that bitch Natalie! But you’re right, this project with rescue my account balance. And about the sex thing, I regret doing what I did with Scott!”

“People always regret doing what they enjoyed doing in the first place when everything is over,” I uttered dryly.

“Cara, please.”

“Bridgette, I am not having sex with Quinn.”

“Good. But you can take him away from Natalie. I can always manage to find a new project.”

I rolled my eyes at her.

What are you doing? Quinn asked for the nth time.

Talking to Bridgette about you, I answered.

What about me?

Why you ditched her and dated me instead ten years ago, I lied. Honestly, I had always been wondering how he could have ditched Bridgette back then for someone like me.

Not a hard question. I liked you back then ever since we shared that project with the frog.

Please don’t mention the frog! Please!

And I still like you now.

I couldn’t reply. What should I say? That I liked him back?

You don’t know what to say, Quinn added a message.

Quinn, it’s not something we should be talking about. I wanted to remind him he was getting married.

Things can always turn out right for us, he said and it only made me feel worse. No matter how I disliked his fiancée, I couldn’t be the reason for anyone’s heartache. I had been through that kind of hurt and I barely made it.

I decided not to reply but Quinn added, Let’s talk when we are just two feet away from each other. You’re making it hard thru text.

BRIDGETTE

I woke up after my precious eight hours of sleep and when I did, I made sure that I dressed like the real Bridgette. I did Cara’s hair and applied a natural-looking makeup that enhanced her features. I proceeded on putting on a dress that was classy but casual at the same time. Cara should really buy more blue dresses, I thought as I looked at her features in front of the mirror. I was starting to think that it was me I was looking at. I ignored the weird feeling and waited for Scott.

When the doorbell rang, I jumped to my feet and opened the door. He was dressed in dark pants, walking shoes and green shirt that had a The Big Bang Theory print on it. I didn’t take him to be a fan of the show, but hell he looked hot!

I pushed him before he could take a step into the doorway and locked the door. We had to be careful. Having another sex with him was not in my plan.

“You look great,” he complemented with a smile.

“Thanks,” I replied, walking beside him.

“So, you said on the phone that you already have a plan?”

I looked up at him with a wicked smile and said, “We’re going to play detectives today, Dr. Newman.”

***ComVo all you want, guys! I'd love to hear what you think! Next chapter, Bridgette will have a great adventure with Scott. And will Cara be able to resist Quinn?