Marina walked back to her office, still puzzling over
what she’d seen between Tina and Page. Or what she hadn’t seen. One
thing was certain; Tina hadn’t told her the truth and that in itself
was chilling. Tina was the most guileless woman she knew. It never
seemed to occur to her to say anything but the truth, even when it was
awkward. But she was hiding something now. Well, Marina thought, under
the circumstances, maybe it wasn’t the end of the world, maybe it was
the beginning of one.

Jenny was waiting for her, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Marina
cocked her head to the left, regarding Jenny for a moment, just taking
in her breathtaking beauty for an instant.

“Jenny? Are you all right?” Marina knelt beside her, took her pale dimpled chin in her dusky hand.

“No,” Jenny sighed, “I’m not.”

“What is it?” Marina asked with true concern.

“I don’t know, Marina.” Jenny nuzzled her hand. “Part of me is hanging on to what’s familiar.”

“Tim?” Marina offered, wondering when the ghost of Tim was going to be expunged from their lives.

She shook her head. “We’re getting a divorce,” she said softly.

“Is that what you want?” Marina questioned, now getting comfortable on the cool floor.

“Yes. It is,” Jenny met Marina’s gaze. “It was a mistake to marry him.
It was a mistake to accept his ring in the first place, knowing it was
you I wanted. But I ran. And we both paid for it.”

“And what do you want, Jenny?” Marina’s eyes darkened to black.

She hesitated. How could she explain that she’d turned inside out in
the last week? And what she’d found deep inside when it happened?

“I want you to meet me tonight.” Jenny pleaded. A long heart beat later, Marina answered.

“Of course,” Marina smiled. “Where?”

“The Top Hat.” Jenny said with a shadow of a smile.

“The strip club?” Marina said with a bit of a grin, wondering what Jenny had in mind.

“Yes.” Jenny said, looking down at her feet, sheepishly away from Marina’s honest eyes.

“Jenny.” Marina stopped, a dozen different thoughts competing for attention. “All right. What time?”

“Eight.” Jenny said quickly.

“I’ll be there.”