“Guys, I thought of something else, creepy but exciting at the same time,” Kit said suddenly. “Remember the entry in Bette’s diary about her nightmare after meeting Clarice in the woods? The next day Bette drew an image that looked so much like Tina. Bette hasn’t met Christina yet so is it possible that Clarice somehow showed Bette visions from the future and Tina was a part of that dream?”

“Shut the front door,” Alice exclaimed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Do you know what it means if Bette saw Tina in her dream before she met Christina?”

“What?”

“It means she fell in love with Tina first and later had those feelings projected onto Christina who looked so much like Tina from her dream.”

“Well, if I wasn’t confused before I am now,” Shane said with slight sarcasm.

“It doesn’t really matter anymore,” Bette said. “What matters is that Tina and I had found each other now. I don’t think there’s anything else to discover.”

“Wait, we still don’t know how long the portal stays opened, except for Alice’s assumption based on the significance on numbers three, five and seven,” Shane said.

“Does it mean that if Bette will go back to revisit the 1880’s she might stuck there?” Dana’s innocent question reminded Tina of her worst nightmare. She shuddered and Bette put her arm around her lover, smiling at her lovingly, “I’m not going anywhere, baby, so there’s no need to worry.”

“Promise?”

“I promise,” Bette gave Tina a kiss. “These things are rare, you know…finding someone that completes you, someone who gets you, someone who loves you for who you are, loves you for your strengths and your weaknesses. You complete me.”

“Aww,” everyone said together, except Alice who rolled her eyes. “Did you watch ‘Jerry Maguire’ again?”

“No but I really liked that scene in the elevator,” Bette smiled, enjoying the teasing. “It made me want to learn sign language.”

“Oh, I might help you with that, Bette,” Kit said. “I had a customer the other day who’s going to become a regular, I think. Her name is Jodi Lerner. She’s the new Dean of Art Department at UCLA and she’s deaf. She came in with a friend and they were signing the whole time.”

“That would be great, Kit, thank you.”

The girls finished their breakfast, chatting excitedly about Alice’s discoveries and theories.

“So, what’s next?” Dana asked, bringing everyone back to reality.

“What’s next?” Alice looked at everyone and smiled. “Now that there’s nothing really left to explain or to reveal, life will go on as usual. Bette stays here with Tina and we will try our best to keep the time travel a secret from everyone, especially the government.”

Alice gathered all the copies and notes scattered on the coffee table and stuffed them inside the manila folder she brought with her. “I will destroy all evidence,” she added seriously, pointing at the papers.

Nobody noticed that a lone piece of paper stuck under the pile of subscription magazines.

TBC…