At the CAC

James opened the door just enough to squeeze his head through, Uh, sorry, but the caterers are on line three and the crew outside wants you to come give the new display the final look-over when you get the chance. Bette finished scribbling on her notepad and looked up, her face a little flushed, Thanks, Jamesuh, tell them Ill be there in about ten minutes. She scribbled something else and heard the door slide closed. She reached for the phone and pushed the button flashing red, HelloIm doing just fine, thank youI seewell, we had those at the opening event, so I was hoping okay well, could I give you a call back once Ive looked over the menu againhopefully not more than twenty minuteswell, Im sorry but there are about a million other things that need my attention at the momentyesthank you I appreciate italright, bye. Bette exhaled slowly, hanging up the phone and beginning to rub both her temples with circular motions.

She had been back at work for about two weeks and every second had been hectic. Provocations was leaving for Europe at the end of the week, and she had been busy preparing the huge event celebrating its departure. She had also been on the phone constantly, looking for the museums next show and turning down numerous offers from museums in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston. Even a member of MOCAs board of directors had called her to make a lunch date. Bette wasnt interested, however; her goal had been to increase the prestige of the CAC, and now that she had the respect of her board, she felt she could continue to do that more freely and with authority. She also had not intention of leaving Los Angeles, no matter how lucrative the offer was. Grabbing her notepad, she got up from her chair and rushed out of her office to meet the construction crew.

Danas apartment

They had gotten into a cute little groove. Tina would wake up before Dana, getting herself practically completely ready before Dana had even woken up. It sort of felt like college all over again. They would eat breakfast together, some toast or a bowl of cereal, while skimming over their preferred newspaper sections. Tina would usually be the first to leave, giving Dana a quick kiss on the side of the head and struggling down the stairs with all her bags. At first Dana would always help, but then she fell out of practice. This morning, however, was different. Dana was packing for her tour and Tina had taken the day off. Do you think I should take this, its cute isnt itI can wear it in Florida, Dana asked holding up a blue sundress. Tina smiled, How many times has Alice told youNO SUNDRESSES. They both laughed as Dana stubbornly stuffed the dress into her bag, playfully sticking her tongue out at Tina.

They heard the doorbell ring and Tina jumped up from the bed, Ill get it. A few seconds later she returned holding a stack of mail and Alice beside her. Dana was quickly zipping up her bag, making sure to conceal the delinquent sundress. God! Arent you ready to go yet? Alice asked throwing herself on the bed. Yeah, yeah, we can go, I just need to pack my racquets and stuff, but I can do that tonight. Oh, God, the pre-match ritual! Alice shouted, as she peeked into one of Danas bags. Dana had this systematic way of placing all of her equipment into her bag. It was a sort of good luck ritual. Tina chuckled quietly, as she continued to thumb through her mail. Bette would drop it off at Alices, and either Alice would bring it when she visited, or Tina would go pick it up at Alices. Tina hadnt requested this; a couple of weeks ago Alice had showed up with a stack of mail for saying that Bette had brought it by, and since then it had become the system, as Alice called it.

The girls had a full day ahead of them. They were doing hair first, then manicures and pedicures. Tina just wanted some highlights and Dana needed a trim, but Alice kept threatening to do something drastic. Finally making their way outside, they piled into Danas Subaru and headed to Shanes salon. They acted like high school girls the whole ride, blasting the speakers and singing along to the songs at the top of their lungs. They had spent a lot of time together over the last couple of weeks and they wanted to have some serious girl bonding since Dana was leaving for about a month. When they pulled up in front of the salon, Shane was standing outside drinking coffee waiting for them. She smiled and shook her head disapprovingly, Youre grown women for Petes sake! she shouted over the music.

Back at the CAC

Bette walked up to James desk after giving countless orders to too many people, Could you hold my calls for about twenty minutes, I just need to catch my breath. No problem, James replied quickly. Bette walked into her office and slid the door shut behind her. She sat down on the couch and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths, and stretching her neck. She expected Kit to show up any minute, bringing her some lunch. She had seen Kit more frequently recently than she could ever remember in the past. It was comforting to have Kit around and they had grown really close over the last couple of weeks. Alice and Dana had also stopped by to visit a couple of times, once at her office and the other times at the house. Shanes daily visit was a given, even if she just stayed for a couple of minutes. She knew that Dana was leaving for her tour tomorrow morning, and she wanted to say goodbye to her, but didnt want to just show up because of Tina.

Bette stood up from the couch and walked over to sit down at her desk. She opened the top drawer and removed a picture. It was a snapshot of Tina, making a funny, kissy face:
Bette: Baby, theres still one picture left!
Tina: Well, just take a picture of whatever.
Bette: (with a mock French accent) Cmon darling, make love to the camera
Tina: (laughing) No, Bette stop! Take a picture of the plantBette!
Bette: Its for mecmon babyplease
Tina: (giggling) Fine!
*Click*
Bette gently stroked the picture, circling Tinas lips with her fingertips.

At Shanes salon

Tina was in the back, getting her hair washed by one of Shanes coworkers. Meanwhile, Shane, Alice and Dana were arguing over what to do with Alices hair at the cutting stations. Tina smiled to herself listening to them bicker. It was a scenario she was extremely familiar with by now. Pretty soon, the sounds surrounding her soon dissolved away as she felt herself relaxing under the touch of the shampoo girl. She had a real sense of contentment right now. She had been given several small projects by one of her old bosses who now had his own production company. She had continued working part-time at the center, going in every other day or so, since her job was flexible enough. Even though she enjoyed the work and it was something she was good at, it was stressful and she wanted a change. But for the time being, it was a paycheck; and living at Danas place was helping her save up so she could hopefully get her own place by the time Dana got back from her tour.

She felt the warm water run through her hair as she sat thinking about the last couple of weeks. Dana, Alice and Shane had been wonderfully supportive through it all, and she appreciated that they didnt alienate Bette from their lives on account of her. She was also grateful that Bette had kept her distance. She suddenly felt a huge knot in her stomach; thoughts of Bette always did that to her. Okay, youre all done, the shampoo girl said. Tina held the towel to her head and sat up contemplating for a few seconds before she got to her feet, Am I really done? she thought to herself. Okay, then lets give you a mullet, itll go extremely well with that trucker hat of yours, came Shanes husky voice from a distance. They were still arduously discussing Alices hair and what to do with it. Okay, Shanedont go thereokayleave the hat out of this, she replied in a threatening voice.

Later during evening

The girls were all huddled on the floor laughing at the look on Danas face. In her hands she was holding a vibrator with dozens of stickers of tennis racquets on it. It can be youre new good luck charmyou know like rubbing a rabbits footexceptyou know Alice squealed, exploding into laughter. They had all gotten Dana gag gifts for her trip, but Alice had just topped them all. Dana turned her head toward Alice, and then lunged at her, knocking her to the floor. They rolled around for several minutes, tickling each other and screaming. Tina glanced at Shane through her tears still laughing, and Shane met her look, giving her a wink. They both got up and walked towards the kitchen, giving Alice and Dana a little privacy.

Meanwhile, Bette was sitting at the breakfast table in her house. She took a sip of her wine and resumed staring at the notepad in front of her. She grabbed the folded pamphlet that Kit had given her several weeks before and smoothed it open. She had read it over and over again, but she felt that reading it one last time would give her the impetus she needed to get her list started:


Step #3 Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
Step #8 Make a list of all persons we have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all
Step #9 Make direct amends to such people wherever possible except when to do so would injure them or others

These were the only she felt really applied to her, so she read them over again and picked up the pen.