7:28 Friday Night
Bette stood by Della’s front door, fidgeted with her hair for a moment, took a deep breath and stretched out her hand to ring the doorbell.

Inside Della had just completed her search for a pair of earrings. As she stood up triumphantly from the spot where she had been crouching to retrieve an earring from behind her dresser she heard the doorbell ring. She leaned over to catch a glimpse of her bedroom clock, as she looked the time switched from 7:29 to 7:30 and she smiled to herself. “What else should I have expected” On her way to the door she finished putting on her earrings and when she got to the door she paused to fix her hair and calm her shallow breathing; her actions nearly identical to those Bette performed before ringing the doorbell.

When Della opened the door there was a moment of silence in which each woman admired the one before her. Della was struck momentarily speechless. She had thought Bette was beautiful when they had met in the gallery but the image before her made words like stunning, gorgeous, and elegant seem pale by comparison. Bette was wearing a white dress which clung gracefully to her curves and had her curly hair hung loose about her shoulders. There was a fire of intensity in Bettes eyes as they met Dellas that had none of the flinty harshness Della had come to expect in the gaze of other Type A Personalities. Instead all Della saw in Bettes eyes was anticipation, awe, a bit of nervousness and something else she could not put her finger on. It was this something indefinable that made her timidly look away for a moment. Before meeting Dellas eyes Bette had taken in the black halter dress that hugged Dellas petite, toned form and her strappy black heels.

Hi, I hope Im not too early.

No, not at all. When Della looked back up at Bette she saw that the emotions that had been in her eyes before had been skillfully masked and replaced my warm interest and amiability. I have that case outline for you. Why dont you come in for a minute while I get it for you.

Della showed Bette into her living room then ran back to her desk, rummaged around for a few minutes while trying to breathe deeply and calm the beating of her heart which had been gradually accelerating since the moment she opened her front door. During the past week Della had tried to convince herself that the weakness at the knees and shortness of breath she experienced when around Bette had been a fluke. Now she knew that she had been kidding herself. She grabbed the case outline and managed to walk back out to the living room with perfect poise.

As she heard Dellas footsteps approach Bette stopped the compulsive thumb twiddling and hair twisting she had been indulging in since Della had left the room. After she had regained control of her mind, which had been rendered momentarily useless when she saw the back of Dellas dress, or rather the lack there of. What had appeared to be a rather conservative dress turned out to be almost entirely backless, a perfect showcase for Dellas sleek, toned frame. Dellas mention of the case outline had put a damper on Bettes confidence. She had been convincing herself that Della felt the same way she did, that she viewed tonight as a date. The look on Dellas face when she opened the door and now the style of dress she had chosen had made Bette even more hopeful, but the mention of the case outline made her thoughts swing the other way. ***** it, thought Bette, this is ridiculous, Im not going to dance around the issue like a nervous teenager. With that she resolved to turn on the Porter charm regardless of whether or not it was what Della was expecting. As she stood up to meet Della as she entered the room Alices words about Della echoed unnervingly in Bettes mind.