Bette shifted in her seat, the wood made her ass feel numb and she knew that soon it would feel like a pin cushion. Her stomach was making those familiar flip-flops, except it felt like a huge fish or something was going to come busting out. She was meeting Paxton for lunch, to discuss legalities…catch-up, closure. Bette fiddled with her napkin, took a sip of champagne. She already had a glass and this was her second, she needed to feel a bit more relaxed. She was thinking…closure? Could one really have a closure? True closure? Bette knew she didn’t want Paxton back in her personal life, but she didn’t want to him to disappear completely. She wanted him to be safe, to be on his feet…to know what’s going on in his life. But Bette didn’t delude herself into thinking Pax would actually allow that, he probably never wanted to see her again and she didn’t blame him. Bette would personally slice off Pax’s nose if it were he who cheated. Bette felt a bit filthy, a dirty adulteress…undeserving. She should be chased out of the restaurant into the street, mobs of angry people would spit on her…drag her down the road, rip her clothes off and shave her head…bloody and broken and filthy…then they would string her up onto a tree so she couldn’t move..a spectacle. And a lesson, a lesson to all those other women. A lesson that-

“Uh… Bette?”   Bette snapped out of her daydream, the two glasses of champagne made her body feel a little tingly, relaxed. For a second she saw Paxton stiffen and then he sat down before her. Bette offered an embarrassed smile and a shrug, Paxton unexpectedly smiled and a laugh came out…he motioned to the waiter for a glass of water. Bette was a bit thrown off by his mood, he was being happy..Paxton? He could be happy but she couldn’t think of anything that would make him happy to see her. And soon she found out. Paxton had just met someone. Bette felt her face pale and the familiar tug of jealousy poke her heart. “Umm..that’s great, you know that’s really great..i hope it works out for you Paxton” Her ex nodded and took a sip of his water. Bette was still unsure, this was totally uncharacteristic of him. The Paxton SHE knew would have been moping for five years before even Looking at a girl, the Paxton she knew did not move on that quickly then gloat about it . Bette didn’t like this, she could feel her hackles rise and didn’t think about Paxton’s wellbeing so much. Still…..she was still the dirty whore….no no no no no…mustn’t think that way. Bette mentally stabbed herself, she was just thinking what centuries of oppression wanted people to think.. That a woman had to either be the virgin mary, faithful, or a worthless slut. Bette’s pride made her raise her head a bit, Paxton noticed the gesture. Would they even talk about anything that needed to be talked about? They knew each other too well..knew which buttons to press and what the other was thinking. Well not psychic but Bette knew that Paxton knew what Bette was thinking, and he knew she knew that. Bette felt tired already.