“Why should it bother you?” Lara said indifferently, sipping on the
wine; funny how the server had remembered her favorite wine.

“It bothers me because I CARE! I care about all of you!” Alice said
heatedly. “And when I see my friends acting so strangely, it worries
me, all right?”

The server set two fresh Bloody Marys down in front of Alice, and
picked up her empty glass. “Will you have another, M’Lady?” She asked
Lara, who nodded and waved the server away with an impatient hand.

“What HAPPENED to you, Lara?” Alice peered at Lara’s face, searching
for some explanation, or perhaps just a hint that the kind, loving
woman she’d known was still in there. Somewhere.

“What do you mean? Nothing happened. I’m fine.” Lara looked away
briefly. The words seemed to be the right ones to say, under the
circumstances, but she didn’t quite feel fine. There were moments, just
brief ones, when she felt like she’d stepped into someone else’s life,
even though she only had vague recollections of who she’d been and what
she’d been doing only a few weeks ago. Her past seemed to be swept up
in who she was now, what she was doing, what she was planning.

“Oh, you are anything but fine, girlfriend,” Alice said sarcastically,
taking another deep swallow of her drink. “You used to be so . So
passionate, so full of life, and love, and caring about people, not
just Dana.”

Lara’s eyes flashed at the name of the woman whose demise she was orchestrating.

“Not just Dana but everyone. And now.” Alice gave her a sad look, “Now
I just don’t see that person. It’s like she’s gone. I look in your eyes
and.” Alice’s eyes glistened, “and they look empty. And when I’m
anywhere near you, I feel cold. It’s like walking into a meat locker.
It just radiates from you. What happened to you, Lara? What? What
happened to turn you into a cheap version of Susan Birch?”

“You should know,” Lara growled, running her finger around the rim of the glass, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

Alice shook her head. “No. I don’t. Whatever you went through when you
went back to Susan, to protect DanaI know it must have been badbut
this is something worse. It’s like you’ve gone dead inside, Lara,
nothing in you but anger and hate and hardness. If you’re trying to be
another Susan, you’re doing a lousy job.”