The grocery store had been an experience. Now they were headed to Bette’s. Amy watched Shane’s profile as she drove until Shane glanced over and chuckled at her.
“What?”
“Won’t your friend feel awkward around me? What will I talk about with her?”
“Well, I was hoping at first you could just work on dinner while she and I talk about what happened, if you would be willing to do that.”
Amy nodded.
“And after that I guess we’ll see what comes up.”
“Well, what is she interested in?”
“Mostly she is interested in art. She is the Director of the California Art Center.”
“You’ve gotta be ***** kidding me!”
“Amy! Such profanity! And here I’ve been being so ***** careful about my goddamn language.”
“I’m sorry, I’m just a little blown away. I used to be in art school before Gaby, in fact, if you want to take a quick detour by the Planet, we could get my portfolio out of my car to have in case conversation lags.”
“Actually, that is probably a really good idea. Ok, the Planet’s right here. Which one is your car?”
“The silver one.”
“That little Honda?”
“No. That big one.”
“Holy *****, what is that, a Rolls Royce?”
“No, that is my grandmother’s Bentley.”
“Who the ***** is your grandmother?”
“Camille Crane.”
“The actress? Wow.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not really that cool.” She took out her keys and pressed a button on one of them, causing the trunk to pop open.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, hopping out of the car. Shane sat and watched in amazement as Amy got her portfolio out of the mammoth trunk and stowed it behind Shane’s seat.
“Ok.”
“You don’t mind leaving that car?”
“Oh, it will find its own way home if it sits there too long.” Amy said. “I like this truck. You look really ***** driving it.”
“I bet I would look even sexier if you scooted over here to the middle.”
“Ok.”
“So where does your grandmother live?”
“Bel Air”
“Does she know the Jaffes?”
“We know who they are. They don’t hang out at our place or anything.”
“Because, well, what you were saying earlier about if you had met me before Gaby you would have believed the hype?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, if I would have met you before Cherie Jaffe, I would still be here with you, but I wouldn’t be with you again. Do you know what I mean?”
“I thought Clea headed up the Eating ***** department over there.”
“Oh my God.” Shane burst out laughing, unable to stop for several minutes, then finally wiped her eyes before leaning over and giving Amy a very long hug and longer kiss.
“Yeah. Well, Clea thought that too. Now she knows better.”
“Oh, *****.”
“You’re telling me.”
“So, he threatened your life?”
“Exactly.”
“And you’ll never see any of them again?”
“Exactly.”
“And you feel guilty about it?”
“Totally.”
“But it taught you not to be a player?”
“Completely.”
“Perfect.”
They kissed agin and Shane pulled back onto the street, continuing toward Bette’s house.

When they arrived, Amy volunteered to wait in the truck while Shane explained her presence. Shane rang the bell with trepidation. Bette answered with a tissue in her hand and tears on her face.
“Aw, Bette,” Shane said as she embraced her. Bette sobbed harder.
“The house always smelled so good at sunset.”
“We’re gonna fix that, ok? I brought someone with me.”
“Oh, Shane, I don’t know if I can..”
“She’s going to be totally low-impact, ok? You’ll forget you don’t know her in about five seconds, she’s going to cook while you and I just hang out and then after we eat, I thought you might like to look at her artwork with her, just as a friend, not as a professional,” Shane quickly added, seeing the look of dread come over Bette’s face at this reminder of her job.
“Look, she needs us, ok…and I…” Shane looked down and then slowly back up.
“I don’t want to take her home yet.”
Bette looked at Shane very carefully, hardly able to believe what Shane seemed to be saying.
“I would love to meet her.”
Half an hour later, Amy had made herself at home in the kitchen while Shane and Bette lay spooned on the sofa, Shane stroking Bette’s hair as Bette stared into space. Shane clasped her arm firmly around Bette’s waist and concentrated on pressing as much of her slight weight as she could up against Bette’s back, transferring as much of her small warmth into Bette as possible, and waiting until Bette could speak. Slowly, she felt Bette relax into her and then turn slightly onto her back to look Shane in the eye. Shane’s heart skipped a beat as a small but genuine smile passed over Bette’s lips and Bette whispered..
“That’s the girl.”
“We don’t have to talk about that, sweetie,” Shane began, but Bette shook her head.
“Oh, I think we do.” Bette smiled again and Shane felt tears come to her eye sand spill over as she smiled into Bette’s eyes, finally allowing Bette to see the full force of the afternoon’s events on her face, as Bette smiled and cried and kissed Shane’s eyes and finally called out.
“Amy!”
Amy scurried in from the kitchen, holding a cup towel and looking concerned.
“First of all, whatever you have going on in there smells incredible.”
“Oh, thanks. It’s just a spinach quiche.”
“Oh, that sounds so good. I can’t imagine how long it has been since I’ve eaten. Now, come here for just a second.” Bette motioned Amy over to the sofa. When she was close enough, Bette grabbed her arm and pulled Amy onto the sofa with Shane as she slipped to the floor and sat up to contemplate the vison of Amy and Shane, smiling tearfully as she kissed the snuggling girls on each cheek.
“Oh, Amy..I told her about you.”
“Shane told me you did..”
“But I never thought you would show up the same day.”
“It has been a very intense day.”
“And you’re an art student?”
“I was.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, why don’t I let Shane fill in the details while I finish dinner? It’s a common enough story.”
“Ok,” said Bette as Amy rose form the sofa and Bette reclaimed her spot.
“Ok, tell the story.”
Shane rolled her eyes slightly.
“Gaby”
“Oh. She’s right, that is an old story. How bad was it?”
“Actually, we haven’t really talked about it, but we did run into her.”
“Are you serious? I guess it really was an intense day.”
“Totally. And Gaby had plenty to say about me being with her. It wasn’t pretty.”
“It looks like she took it well.”
“Yeah, it seems like it…”
“You don’t sound too sure.”
“I’m not sure she knows as much as she thinks she does. All she said was that she had never seen me before today, but that she had seen Lacey’s flyer and that it was obvious to her when she met me that I was not that girl.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“I know, but I still feel like I need to tell her…you know…”
“Yeah, you do need to do that eventually. But I think you can take your time.”
“Oh trust me, I’ve been beating myself over the head with time all day. I mean, I know I need to go really slow, but I have no idea how you guys do that.”
“What do you mean ‘you guys’?”
“You know, you guys.”
“I don’t think there is a ***** on earth who knows how to go slow, Shane. You’ve known Amy, what, about five hours?”
Shane nodded.
“Have you slept with her?”
“No, but we probably would have done it in the front seat of my truck if she hadn’t accidentally leaned on the horn.”
Bette giggled.
“I know, right? But we totally cannot make out again or it’s going to happen. I don’t have control…”
“I wouldn’t argue with it, then, Shane.”
Shane rolled her eyes, then threw her head back and sighed emphatically. Bette started laughing, at which moment Amy came in from the kitchen.
“Are you guys ready to eat?”