Alice was completely lost in her thoughts when a tiny tapping caused her to jump, and hit her head on the ceiling. Rubbing the sore spot, Alice rolled down the window, “That’s it, I’m putting a bell around your neck, because my heart can not take you sneaking up on me all the time.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Dana said

Alice brought her hand down from her head, and inspected it for any signs of blood. “Well, at least my head didn’t break. Not to sound unwelcoming, but what are you doing here?”

Dana pointed towards the passenger seat, “Do you mind if I get in?”

Alice nodded her head and waited for Dana to enter the car.

Once Dana was seated, she rotated her body so she was facing Alice. “The other day when you told me that you were leaving I let you walk away without asking the one question that has been bothering me ever since our fight at The Planet.” Dana’s hands found the loose change in Alice’s ashtray and she quickly began to fiddle with the small, round objects. “Before you go I need you to tell me if this decision is hard, because you think you may love her more than you ever loved me, or is it that you can trust her, and you’re afraid you’ll never be able to trust me again?” Dana dropped the few pennies rattling around in her hand and reached out to touch Alice’s arm. “Because if it’s the trust thing, then I know we can work through that, but if it’s the love thing then there’s nothing I can do.”

Dana’s fingers were gently rubbing Alice’s arm, and each stroke was causing Alice to shiver. Closing her eyes, Alice stopped Dana’s movements. Holding onto the tennis player’s hand, Alice looked into Dana’s eyes. “I have to go.”

Dana pulled her hand away from the blonde, “Oh, then I…um. I guess I’ll to talk to you later.”  Getting out of the car, Dana quickly made her way to her Subaru.

Alice waited for Dana’s car to pull away, and when it finally did she let her tears silently glide down her cheeks. Had she really just let Dana leave thinking she loved Kerry more. Alice couldn’t understand why she did it, because she knew there was no truth to it, but Dana’s question had left her defenseless to the insecurities she feared, and at that moment the easiest answer was no answer.

But the pain she saw in Dana’s eyes caused her to grow nauseous with regret. She had wanted to run after Dana, to tell her it wasn’t true, but she knew taking this trip would help her figure out if she could get over this mistrust that plagued her, so instead Alice picked up her phone and called Dana’s home phone.

Knowing the tennis player couldn’t have made it home yet, Alice waited for the answering machine to pick up. After the shrill sound of the beep filled her ears, Alice took a deep breath and began explaining herself. “Dana, I’m sorry I let you leave thinking I loved somebody else more, because I never have, and I never will, but right now I don’t know if that’s enough, so I’m still going to go on this trip to sort through some things.” Alice paused for a few seconds before continuing,  “I love you Dana.” Alice took the phone away from her ear and pushed end. Throwing it onto the chair next to her, she put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.