Chapter 6

Bright and early Wednesday morning Bette walked into the buzzing world of The Planet. She scanned the room looking for Alice and noticed that the main population tended to be women. “Alice was right,” she thought. “This is going to be tit.” Similar to the club, Bette felt the heat of several pairs of eyes on her and briefly heard the whispers of desire and want throughout. With no Alice in sight, she ignored the stares and casually strolled over to the ever-expanding coffee line to wait.

Fifteen minutes later found her at the head of that line just as Alice was rushing in. Spotting Bette, she made a beeline for her. “Hey Babe,” she said as she approached. She leaned in for a kiss, which Bette accepted. A collective groan of disappointment could be heard throughout The Planet.

“Sorry I’m late. There’s this crazy wreck on La Cienega. It amazes me how many people around here don’t know how to drive. Anyway, how are you this beautiful morning?” Bette smiled at Alice’s mile-a-minute speech.

“I’m good. And you?” Just as Alice was about to answer, the employee across the counter cleared her throat. “Oh sorry.” Bette orders for both her and Alice and soon the two women are sitting and enjoying their coffee and each other’s company. Alice scoots around so she is sitting intimately close to Bette. She occasionally allows their thighs to touch as they talk.

“I have to give you credit,” Bette said as she sipped at her drink. “When it comes to reporting you really know your stuff. This place will be famous in a few years; hmmm… especially if they keep serving coffee like this. Wow.”

“It is delicious, isn’t it? The owner, Marina, has this secret blend she uses.” A comfortable silence ensues as both Bette and Alice drink their coffee and do some people watching. Bette randomly thought about what she needed to get done for the gallery opening, which was less than a month away. While Alice’s thoughts were somewhere else completely.

“I slept with her,” she thought looking at one of the girls at a nearby table. “And her,” looking at another. She watched intrigued when she spotted the woman from the club 3 weeks ago who dissed her, lean down and kiss her one-night-stand from a couple of years ago. A connection was beginning to be made. She looked at Bette, wondering whether she should try to explain this newly discovered web in her head. “What?” Bette asked, when she noticed she was being stared at.