“Naaahhh,” Jules laughed lightly, waving her hand.  “I’m sure there are a ton of women … and men … who would gladly trade places with me right now, though!  Grab an eyeful of that bangin’ body!”

Bette laughed.  ”The first time I’ve heard that in a while,” Jules thought, smiling to herself.  She decided to go to an area not too far from the locker room to check in with Tina while she waited for Bette to finish.  She walked quickly to the lounge/waiting room outside of the locker rooms, and noted with relief that the elegant space was empty.  She could talk to Tina in peace here.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

In the end, Bette decided to skip dinner and announced to her friends she planned to head back to the Chelsea flat, instead.

In the meantime, Jules had been frantic – Tina had texted Jules while Bette was finishing in the shower that she was still waiting for Christy to make it to the duplex so that she could watch Angie.  By the time Diane made it to The:Core just as Bette was telling Jules in the lobby area that she was intending to head to Chelsea, Tina had texted she was on her way.

Both were unable to convince the brunette to stay or have dinner with them.

They were still protesting, accompanying Bette out to the sidewalk, when Bette wheeled around to face them after attempting to flag a cab down.  “Look you two, why don’t you both enjoy the evening together?  Make a night of it.  I promise you, I’m ok.  Just let me go, I need serious shut-eye, and I finally feel like doing so.  I’ll give you both a call when I make it back to Chelsea, ok?”

Bette waved at them, blowing them kisses, walking backwards, and then turned around, deciding to hoof it until 7^th Avenue, to squeeze a little bit more out of the pleasantly cool evening.  After seeing that picture of Tina, in bed with a man, she thought to herself, “heaven knows I need a nice, relaxing walk to clear my head!”

Just as she was about to cross Fifth Avenue, she heard someone call out from behind her.

“Bette!  Bette!”

She’d know that voice anywhere.