She crossed the vestibule noiselessly after keying in the alarm. She painted the open space of the first floor with her flashlight. Nice. Tina probably brought some flowers home tonight. From Zak? She recognized the kinds of flowers she’d brought home the night she’d thought she and Tina would “make” the baby, using Tom’s “donation,” including the pink stock that Zak had said meant, “you’ll always be beautiful to me.” The bouquet had woven a spell on Tina that night, along with the candles and soft music that Bette had put on. They’d made love sweetly, whispering words of eternal love for the other. Bette felt tightness in her chest at the memory of that night.

She wiped some sweat from her brow. It had been a hot day, and an equally hot night, and her clothes were heavy. Maybe she should take a shower first, before getting to work?

Meanwhile, Tina woke when she heard a faint click of the front door being shut. Veronica? But she would have told me if she’d come into the duplex.
She sent Veronica a quick text. R u here?

No. Don’t worry. I know who is, though.

Tina smiled, and lifted herself off of the bed excitedly.

When she flung open the master bedroom door, she saw a shaft of light lining the bottom of the door to Bette’s office, and heard the sound of a shower running.

Mmmm … Bette’s in the shower. Should I join her there? Or just surprise her when she gets out?

Bette! I miss you so.

She quietly descended the stairs and was about to enter Bette’s home office, and realized it was locked shut. Probably shut automatically behind Bette when she went in. Boy, she must be really tired, forgetting to release the automatic lock like that.

She tried her code, and heard the door “click” to the unlock setting. She pulled down on the lever of the door to open it, and released the automatic lock as it swung slowly shut.

As she tiptoed towards the bathroom, she diverted towards Bette’s glass work desk, and saw that Bette had already switched on her new computers. Probably running antivirus programs to scan her files as she showers. Is she going to work here tonight?