Eric nodded his head enthusiastically. He threw a cursory glance at Tina, asking her silently if she would like to join him.

“I think I’ll just stay right here.”

“Excellent.” He made his way over to the short haired photographer, his mind focused only on acquiring the piece he desired.

Tina turned her attention to Bette after watching Eric walk over to the photographer. She felt a sense of awkwardness arise around her, and quietly wondered over what to talk about.

Bette immediately sensed this woman’s shyness and decided to step in before the conversation evaporated completely. “Ms. Kennard, if I may, what exactly does the head of development do at Alphaville?”

Tina relaxed noticeably as she began to talk about something in which she was grounded and confident. Bette smiled and laughed as Tina described some of the things that occurred during the filming of a movie or documentary, her stories running the gamut from missing film to nudist protestors in Nevada.

After a few minutes, Tina relaxed completely and became animated as she told Bette everything she could think of about the industry. Once again, Bette succeeded marvelously in getting a complete stranger to share their life with her, and all she had to use was simple intuition.

After a while, Bette and Tina were outside, enjoying the night air. Neither knew what time it was or how long they had been talking to the other; however, both knew that they never wanted to stop.

Tina took a sip of her chardonnay and bowed her head. “God, I’m probably boring you to death. Once I get to talking about my work it’s hard to stop.”
Bette smiled down at Tina, brightening the already glowing atmosphere. “You aren’t boring me at all. In fact, I find it highly intriguing how anyone could survive and still remain sane in your line of work. I mean, from the stories you’ve told me, I’m pretty sure I would go out of my mind with all the delays and constant cuts and script repair – and the nudists. God, the nudists.”

Tina let out a full laugh. “That only happened once, and we had a blockade put up around the set after that. I couldn’t believe that they would be offended by a documentary about themselves. Apparently nudists are very private people.”