Dana was lying comfortably on the couch, throwing a tennis ball into the air with her left hand and catching it with her right. The T.V. blared in the background, rambling random scores of a tennis match that Dana was no longer watching. She was quite depressed; her talk with Tonya didn’t really go very well. She meant to break it off with Tonya but one thing led to another and before she knew it she was back to picking wedding sponsors and China patterns. “What have I gotten myself into?” she wondered out loud. She threw the ball with more force, launching it high into the air and causing the ball to angrily land on her head. ‘I need to find a better hobby.’ she thought, as she got up and went over to check her messages, nursing the soar part of her head.

The machine beeped and a recorded voice came on “You have three new messages, press 1 to play messages, press 2 to delete messages”” Dana pressed 1.

“Hi, it’s me Al. Um, meet me at Bette and Tina’s at around 10. Tina needs our help finding something, oh and yeah; apparently they’re back together. Go figure…”

“Hey Dane, it’s Shane. Did you get the same screwy message from Alice? Anyway my car’s kind of busted so can you pick me up at the Planet? I’ll just be getting my usual morning shot. See ya.”

“Hi honey, it’s me. I just called to tell you that I’ve already made arrangements for us to stay at the Gold Coast Hotel in Las Vegas, I booked an earlier flight for you though because of the whole press junket thing Subaru will be holding for you on Saturday, so that means you have to catch your plane tomorrow, I wish I could be with you, see you in a couple of days. I love you.”

The machine beeped again and as the same recorded voice came on, ” You have no more messages.”

Dana sighed and decided against packing her bags, opting instead to do it later. She quickly grabbed her things and set off to pick up Shane, not quite knowing what to expect when she gets to Bette and Tina’s house.
_________________________________________

Bette was driving herself to work when a thought occurred in her head, ‘***** I haven’t thanked Kit yet. She doesn’t even know…’ Bette turned the car around and went into the direction of Kit’s neighborhood.

Bette knocked the door and patiently waited for Kit to answer.

“Baby girl, what are you doing here?” Kit said smiling, clearly surprised that her little sister would be there. “Come in.” she motioned for Bette to enter her house.

“I just wanted to thank you…” Bette said, practically beaming at Kit. “Tina and I got back together.”

“Oh B. that’s amazing!” Kit gave her sister a hug.

“Yeah I know, it’s just that…”

Kit let go of her, “What is it?”

“I’m afraid.” Bette said, staring at the floor, Kit just gave her a quizzical look, so she tried to explain further, “You know…? I’m afraid that one day she’ll realize that she actually is too good for me. That one day she’ll leave and never come back.”


Kit understood, “Bette, Tina won’t leave.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because, it’s like you two were meant to be together.”

“Well if that’s the case, why did I cheat on her?”

“I don’t know Bette. Why do you think you cheated on her?” Kit said returning the question to its rightful owner.

“Well I… I guess I felt empty for a while, like I didn’t matter to anyone, not even to Tina.” Bette replied sounding upset. ” Things at the C.A.C were pressing down on me, and when I got home Tina needed me to be this strong, emotionally stable person. I just” I lost it.”

“And when you found that carpenter you thought what?”

“She really wasn’t special Kit, she was a conquest. She boosted my ego, she made me feel wanted, and that’s what made me want her.” Bette said defensively, feeling shame washing over her every word.

“But not the same way you want Tina right?”

“Right… Of course… Definitely. Tina is everything Kit, I can’t believe I almost lost her.”

“Consider yourself lucky baby girl, Tina is really somethin’ else.”

“Yeah, there aren’t a lot of people willing to put up with my *****…”

“Just be thankful that I’m also one of them!” Kit interjected.

Bette let out a little laugh and moved closer to show Kit something, “Hey Kit do you think Tina would like this?”
_______________________________

“God what took you so long?” Alice complained as Dana and Shane entered the hallway.

“Jesus Al, it’s 10:05, were just five minutes late…” Shane retorted taking off her aviator glasses and hanging them over her shirt collar.

“Hey!” Tina yelled, from under a kitchen table.

“Hi” Dana said trying to see where Tina’s voice was coming from.

“So what exactly are we looking for?” Shane asked.

“Tina’s wedding band.” Alice quickly answered.

“Okay, tell me where I should start looking.” Dana offered. Alice gave her a weird look, and hastily turned her attention toward Shane. The whole exchange wasn’t lost on Shane.

“Uh, Dane you should go help Tina in the kitchen, Shane and I will go check in the bedroom.” Alice ordered, completely avoiding eye contact with Dana. Alice walked into the master bedroom, and immediately decided on busying herself. Shane followed her she somehow got the message that Alice was hiding something from her.

“All right spill…”