** Bette**

Bette’s frustration level had only increased through the day. She tried calling Monique several times and had managed to get her voice mail each and every time! She had vowed not to use it at all when she had first started this whole thing so that there would be no tangible connection between them when it was all finished but Monique’s action were simply unacceptable! Bette had finally left a message at 1:30 pm– a well censored one which had required ALL the self control she had remaining to her–demanding that Monique contact her immediately. Then there was the whole issue of Alice contacting Tina instead of her about Monique’s questions. Bette could only speculate as to her motives but none of them bode well for the erratic journalist.

The rest of the day had melted away for Bette (although the phone call sat like an undigested lump in her psyche) as she had set her mind to focusing on Angelica who seemed to have recovered completely from her encounter with the bee. Angel, honey I wish I had 1/3 of your resilience and trust marveled as she tried to focus on the bundle of energy and imagination that was her daughter. Crayons and stuffed toys as well as a trip to the local park (cell phone tucked in the diaper bag) ate up the rest of her afternoon. Thankful that she had something to keep her grounded Bette fought the urge to look at her watch every ten minutes as she focused on the one truly untainted good in her life.

**Tina**

Relieved to be free of the demands and petty politics that swirled around the studio Tina maneuvered her car toward home. They had mixed with the uncertainty of Bette’s future as well as their family’s and the knot of apprehension that had lodged itself inside her soul around Monique to create a mass of fear, doubt and anger so all consuming that Tina had been afraid she would chock on it. Tina felt tears of frustration begin to form and the traffic in front of her blurred slightly. Reaching up she brushed the offending liquid away only to find that it replaced almost as quickly.

The work day started like most others and that was part of the problem-there had been no warning. Over the last few weeks Kate had become increasingly more demanding both professionally and personally and everything seemed to come to a head today. This morning she had been sitting reviewing the politics of the current production when she had looked up to see the dark, demanding director standing in her office staring at her!