"What was she like?"

"She was beautiful," Kerry pulled out another picture, this one of her and Sandy at what looked to Kim like a commitment ceremony, "Strong, smart. She didn’t take ***** from anybody. Not even me."

Kim looked at the Latino woman’s dark curly hair, broad smile, muscular arms. She looked tough, just tough enough for Kerry Weaver. Kim handed the photos back, "I’m sorry for your loss, Kerry."

"I’ve made peace with it."

"That’s good." A moment of silence passed. "Anything else happen while I was gone?"

"Actually, yeah." Kim didn’t expect anything else. What with marriage, kids, death, work, what time was there for anything else? "I met my birth mother."

"Oh my God, Kerry, that’s great! I know how important that was to you."

"Yea." Kerry smiled, but Kim could tell it was a false gesture.

"How did it go?" She probed for the truth.

"She doesn’t want to have anything to do with me because I’m *****. She says it’s a sin."

Kim’s heart went out to her ex-lover. "I’m so sorry. But it’s her loss really."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

Just then, the waiter interrupted their conversation by setting down two large steaming plates in front of the ladies, saying the names of the dishes in Italian, and asking if they needed anything else before making his exit.

"So, what have you been up to?" Kerry asked between bites.

"Well, I got a job at a psychiatric hospital in San Francisco called Bridge to Wellness. I worked there for about three and a half years, but then got bored with it. I missed the variety and excitement of working in a hospital. So I got a job at Cedars-Sinai and moved to Los Angeles. Now that was exciting."

"Cedars-Sinai?"

Kim pretended not to notice the impressed look on the redhead’s face. "Yea, they took me on as lead attending, so I got to oversee pretty much everything. You won’t believe the celebrities I’ve seen and the things they’ve done. It’s too bad I’m not allowed to talk about it, there are some pretty crazy stories."

"I bet. It sounds to me like that would be fun for you. What made you decide to leave?"

"It was fun for a while, but the celebrity stuff wears on you fast. I hated the way everybody catered to these people. But it wasn’t about that, really. I don’t know, I just really missed this stupid city. I felt like no matter where I went, there would always be a missing part of me here." After she said it, Kim was afraid she’d said too much. The slight blush on Kerry’s face let her know that Kerry understood the missing part was actually her. She had said too much. There was a long moment of silence before Kerry spoke.

"I miss you, Kim."

"I miss you too, Ker." Kim wanted so badly for them to have another chance, but she knew she didn’t deserve it. She was willing to settle for a good friendship, though, as long as she could have Kerry in her life. "If and when I do move back, we should do this on a regular basis. Go out, have dinner, hang out and talk like we used to. I want us to be friends. Do you think we can we put the past behind us and at least be friends?" She made sure to add the ‘at least’ part, just to keep the option open.

"I’d really like that," Kerry answered, without hesitation.

"Me too." They both smiled.

"A toast to friendship." Kerry raised her glass.

"To friendship." They clinked their wine glasses together and drank to friendship.