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    Echos of the Past Chapter 3

    ”Would you mind if I drive us over to Dana’s?” Bette said as she gathered paperwork on her desk and put it in her brief case.

    Bette’s phone buzzed with Dani’s name coming across the ID window. ”Hey Dani, Angie is here and I’m packing up to leave.”

    ”Ok, but Jesselyn Parks is on the line. It sounds urgent. Something about most of her staff being out sick and not knowing what to do about the upcoming show. I guess installation is supposed to be at the end of the week, but she is the only one left.”

    ”Ok, put her through.” Bette paused waiting for the connection, ”Jessey, how are you?”

    ”Oh, my, God, Bette, New York is a mess,” said Jesseyln Parks, the Gallerist for New York Peabody.  ”Everyone is getting sick around here.” She hesitated and then continued, ”We have that showing with those two new artists coming up.  I am not sure what to do.  I’m thinking we may need to reschedule,” she said in frustration.

    ”Wow, seriously that bad?” Bette said with concern.

    ”We are having a really bad flu season. I went and got a flu shot when everyone started to get sick. What do you want me to do? I can reschedule the showing?”

    ”No, don’t reschedule, it’s a bit late to be doing that now. I will send Dani out to help you.” Bette looked at Angie, lifted her index finger and mouthed, give me a minute. ”We need to keep our commitments Jessey. I’m sure everything will be fine. Hold on and let me tell Dani so she can get the arrangements started.” Bette put Jessey on hold and then buzzed Dani. ”Rearrange your schedule and pack your bags.  You’re going to New York to help Jessey,” she said in a commanding tone.

    20 minutes later, Bette was behind the wheel of her car making her way toward Silver Lake. She had called Shane advising her that she and Angie were running a bit late.

    ”Mom? You’re awful quiet. Is something wrong. Angie said as she stared at her mother’s hands gripping the steering wheel.

    Comments

    1. Nice chapter…. now we know a little more about Bette. She is obsessing over finding this painting project. She misses her younger days when risk were never factored in to her decision…. don’t we all. However, some of us realize that not evaluating the risk can be dangerous to our well being. That is what happens when you gain a spouse and a child and a profession in which you are in charge. Its call accepting adult responsibilities.

      Despite what Bette thinks, she is still that young woman she was in college. She had just allowed common sense to rule rather than excitement and adventure.

      I’m concerned about this virus…. no help in New York, Shane is short staffed and much of Tina’s production is shut down. The curtain is about to drop on their public lives. Hopefully they can operate from home for a while and have some time to gain a real understanding of what split Bette and Tina up and what they need to do to have a secure long term life together.

      Love to see more….. chapter too short….

    2. Good chapter. We all make choices, don’t we? And many of us reach a point where we revisit those exciting times when we were younger. That’s natural. And, Bette had an exciting life to be sure. It’s fine that Bette has found something that so excites her and reminds her of that time as long as she keeps it in perspective. She can’t let it get away from her. As Martha says she has responsibilities. And the virus is coming. Well done.

    3. Martha and Billy

      Thanks so much for the feedback. I am really trying to stay true to their ages and weave in some of the complex issues we go through as we age.

      Reflection and regret are probably the two biggies. I am glad you are enjoying this story. It is different for sure, but I do plan a surprise at the end.

      K

    4. This is a great chapter, Supe. It advances the plot and fills in some background info to explain motivation and decision making. You are the first to tackle THE virus so kudos to that (unless I missed someone else writing about it?) and I imagine that will play a bigger part as we continue through the story. It’s a good way to force them being together and spending time dissecting what went wrong. Keep writing – you mentioned some new techniques, can you share what you changed? I have some theories but want to see where you were headed with that. Looking forward to more!

    5. Hi SK,

      Great update & the story is starting to take shape.

      We all have introspect at a certain time in our lives & it seems that Bette is at that stage at the moment. And is Tina’s concern for the changes she sees in Bette foreshadowing of things to come??

      Covid – courageous of you to tackle. Proteonomics also included it in her story – Lockdown – which she started last May. It is a challenging topic & cheers to you for attempting to include it in your story. And how will Covid affect their relationship ?

      So glad you included James in the scene at Dana’s!!

      Looking forward to how this all plays out.

      Great job.

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