"I’m more a cherry-vanilla cream custard kind of girl myself." Bette said with a rueful smile.

"Oooh, those actually sound like good ideas." Lara wrinkled her nose as she mentally created a shopping list. Absently she picked at her salad, while Kit and Bette let the conversation drift back to the subject of Bette’s upcoming interview.

"Kit! There’s a Willie D. on the phone for you…something about a band you wanted to book?" One of the young waitresses approached the table. "You wanna take it or should I get his number?"

"I’ll take it." Kit stood and made a face. "This could take awhile. Willie believes in giving a history lesson before he signs one of his bands to play. If I’m not back in an hour, come and get me. I may need caffeine." Kit winked and walked to her office.

Lara glanced at Bette, "She’s doing a great job here." Lara knew that Bette had been skeptical of Kit’s management skills in the early days, but The Planet was doing better than ever and had diversified into much more than a café. It was considered a cutting edge venue for up and coming artists. Kit’s connections in the music industry kept the place bouncing with an energetic vibe that crossed ethnic, age and gender lines and often had patrons queuing up around the block for late night shows.

"Yes, she is." Bette smiled with pride. " Are you coming tonight? She’s got Carmen spinning."

"No. Actually I’m cooking dinner for Alice tonight. But I’d like to see Carmen. I haven’t spoken to her since Whistler." Lara sipped her water.

"Dinner for Alice? I didn’t know you two were that close." Bette regarded Lara quizzically.

"Oh, I think we have a lot in common these days." Lara said with a sad smile.

Bette nodded absently and spoke without thinking. "Alice has been through a lot. You know Dana’s death hurt everyone, but Alice was closest to her and as a consequence she’s really vulnerable right now."

Lara blinked. She let Bette’s comment hang for several seconds before responding. "Alice wasn’t the only one left reeling at Dana’s death, Bette." She said firmly in a stiff voice.

"Of course not, Lara. I don’t mean to minimize your loss. But Alice was really close to Dana the last few weeks of her treatment."