“Well, if Rian saw you, I bet she’d be bowled over,” Bette teased her, trying to get her young friend’s mind off of what was worrying her.

“Rian wouldn’t make me get into a monkey suit,” Jade huffed.

“But she did like the one you wore for that wedding in Wyoming, right?” Bette reminded her gently.

Jade blushed. “Yeah, she loved it. But what I meant was she would let me choose what to wear. If I feel like wearing a suit, then…”

“I get it,” Bette answered.

“She lets me be me,” Jade said quietly. “But she calls me out on things, too, even though she supports me all the way, once I decide on something.”

Bette smiled. “It’s nice that you’ve struck a good friendship like that with her.”

“Yeah, Bette,” Jade answered. “To be honest, there are mainly three people in the world whose opinions matter to me: hers, Tina’s, and yours.”

Bette set her cup down, and reached over to draw Jade into an embrace.

They hugged for a beat longer, and then Bette released her.

“And what about Cole?” she asked.

Jade laughed. “Yeah, Cole of course. But most of the time, that older brother of mine is so lost himself. So I’m not sure I can trust his opinion. He’s dealing with such a big crowd on the in-law front, you know. So his head is constantly on a swivel. Sometimes, I find I’m the one giving him advice. And I’m well over five years younger than he is!”

As they laughed, Jade started to recount a recent story of Cole’s recent misadventure with his brother in law,the in-law’s brood of six children, and nagging wife, who’d all gotten lost in the bowels of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame….

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Two days later, Christmas Eve

Fabienne leaned into Jade’s tall, athletic frame, clutching her girlfriend’s arm as they walked quickly down the ornate Silver Corridor in the third floor of the Waldorf Astoria. Fabienne’s heels were rapping out a staccato- like rhythm as the couple traversed the black-and-white tiled floor of the famed corridor.

Jade glanced up and slowed down as she eyed the crystal chandeliers winking down on them from the ceiling.

Wow! This is a really classy place. Fabienne had said while they’d been borne up by the large Ballroom elevator as it slowly climbed the few floors from the lobby that the fabled third floor venues of the grand hotel remained one of Manhattan elite’s favorite venues for formal events. With good reason, Jade said as she looked around her.