“You want me to move in with you?” Candace asked Bette as they sat down
at a table at the Planet and Bette nodded. They were on a lunch break,
and Bette found herself wanting to spend as much time as humanly
possible with Candace.

“Why not? I mean, think about how much sense it makes.”

“How about how much sense it doesn’t make? Bette, it’s been a few weeks
that Tina is gone, but she’s still in that house.” Candace says,
blowing on the hot cup of coffee.

“I need you to get rid of that ghost.” Bette stated, she really hated
being alone at night, and ached for Candace; she just didn’t understand
why she was fighting her on this.

“Bette”

“You’re not a priest, I know.” Bette said playfully and Candace shook
her head, reaching across the table and grabbing hold of Bette’s hand.

“No, and I have to think about this, ok?”

“Ok, just don’t think too long.” Bette stated, sipping her coffee.

“Why not? You have another roommate in mind?”

“No, I could go looking for one” Bette teased and Candace pretended to
throw a bagel at Bette, and they laughed. All the while, someone
watched from the shadows.

~*~*~*~*~*

Marina was screaming at the top of her lungs as she drove recklessly
from the lawyer’s office to Petruccio’s. That ***** *****! She’d set
her up again! Just for the ***** of it. She shouldn’t have been
surprised. That was what Francesca did best. And now she had to go
crawling to Susan to get Jenny back. “*****!” she screamed again and
pulled into the parking lot, tires squealing.

She started to push through the door, and Donni held her back. “Nope.
You’re not dressed right.” Marina spat at him, her eyes on fire.

“Get the ***** out of my way, Donni. You know who I am!” Donni nodded, but held fast.

“I also know we have a dress code. You know it too.”

“Do I need to call Susan?” Marina glared. Donni chewed her lip. She
wasn’t sure she wanted to take this on. Susan could just as easily
punish her for letting Marina in without leather, or punish her for not
letting her in because Susan knew her. “Fine! I didn’t see you.
Understand?”

“Yes,” Marina hissed through clenched teeth, and walked angrily into
the club, heading straight for the bar. The submissive on duty gave her
a quizzical look but didn’t challenge her. She could smell the
dominance roiling off Marina’s skin. “Jack Daniels. A double. Straight
up.”