Obviously, Alice needed a job. But how could Bette help with that realistically, when she was leaving L.A. in a few days?

She knew Alice was talented and that something should come up soon for her. The key was to change her frame of mind.

“She needs to get an offer,” Bette murmured aloud. There had to be someone who could make that happen.

She knew a few people at the Times, but no more than Alice did. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to put a call in there. There were a few others on the art beat working for other publications that she knew. It might not do any good but she would try.

She spent the next two hours on the phone to old contacts, putting out the feelers for any kind of job opportunity out there for Alice. Everyone was sympathetic but no one had any useful information or help to give. Bette was feeling pretty dejected when she hung up the final call.

Realizing that it was time for her to get dressed for dinner, she went ahead and showered and changed. She was running a few minutes late when she got to the restaurant, and surprisingly, Tina was already there… at a table for two.

“Hey you,” Bette said as she was shown to the table. “I didn’t expect to see you here so soon. I figured your meetings would run late.”

“I didn’t expect to see you either. I’d figured you’d cancel on me like everyone else did.”

“Seriously? I just saw Helena this afternoon, but she didn’t say anything to me about not being able to make it. I knew Alice wasn’t coming – I’ll tell you about that later. What happened to Shane?”

“Impromptu trip to Vegas. She said to tell you she’s sorry to have missed us and that she’ll see us the next time we come out. Helena called me to give her apologies but something came up,” Tina sighed. “I was so looking forward to catching up with everyone. We see Kit more often than the others. By the way, Angie decided to spend the night at Kit’s. They’re having a girl’s night in, she said.”

“That’s fine. I know she’s been wanting to spend some time with Angie. They went Christmas shopping and I think a movie was mentioned,” Bette said, skimming the menu. “Your meetings go okay?”