Previously

“I’m going to New York.”

“What?!” Kit, Alice, Dana and Shane exclaimed in unison.

“You heard me. I’m going to New York to look for Bette.” Tina stated.

___

“Hold up there Mary Poppins, do you think you can just fly over to New York City in your magical umbrella?” Alice asked.

“Why not?” Tina asked as she walked over the door.

“Because you just can’t show up in New York City. You have to be prepared.  I mean New York City is the most populous city in the United States. It consists of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and Manhattan with over eight million people living there. Manhattan alone has almost two million people and then you have the Downtown, Midtown, Uptown, the West Side and the East Side.  Let’s not forget the neighborhoods: TriBeCa, SoHo, NoHo, NoMad, Chelsea, Washington Heights, Harlem, Alphabet City, Greenwich Village, the East Village, Chinatown, Little Italy and Koreatown.”

Tina, Kit, Shane and Dana all looked at Alice as she continued with her facts and figures about New York City.  Finally Dana asked, “How in God’s name do you know all of that?”

Alice looked at Dana, “Wikipedia.”

“Tina, what about your job at the Center? You’ve become so involved over there that you practically live there. You’ve become Oscar’s right hand person since that whole Faye Buckley mess.” Shane said.

“Shane’s right.” said Dana, “This takes planning.”

“Besides, Bette’s probably still on the plane…it’s only been a few hours.” Alice said.

“But the sooner I get there…”

“What? It’s going to be like ‘Where’s Waldo?’”

Kit walked over to Tina. “The girls are right.”  Tina looked at them and felt helpless. “Let’s wait for Bette to get in touch with me once she’s settled and then let’s decide what you can do.”

“Yeah, Tina. Bette’s hurting right now. She may not what to see you this time around.  Let’s give her some time to collect herself and sort what she wants.”

On Board Continental Flight 1219

In first class, Bette looked at the photos and smiled as she recalled the memories: the search for a donor party, the commitment ceremony, and photos of the exchange of rings. Bette looked at her wedding band that she still wore on her left ring finger and tugged the platinum band off her finger and read the inscription: First, Last, Forever.   Bette touched the callus that formed and the indentation on her finger and slipped the band back on.

Peabody Foundation – New York City

Peggy Peabody’s personal secretary, Barbara Brady, organized the documents on her desks while speaking with Peggy on the speaker phone. “Yes Peggy I have everything ready for Ms. Porter.  Yes, Ms. Porter can choose whatever listing is available. But if you are so sure that she’s going to choose that place, why have the other listings available? Yes, I have a car on its way to the airport right now.” Barbara hung up the phone and leaned back in her chair and waited.

John F. Kennedy International Airport

Bette grabbed her large suitcases from the luggage carousel and placed them on the luggage cart.  She looked around at the drivers holding names and finally saw her name “Bette Porter”. She followed the driver to the car and climbed while the driver placed her suitcases in the trunk.  Bette looked out of the window as the car made its way back to Manhattan.