Thanks for the nice words about this story! Please keep them coming – sometimes a poor writer needs it *g*


Part 4

Sooo any ideas what to do next? Jenny scowled. Since they are in there SINGING and not ***** and since they are both DRUNK but OKAY, cant we just get the ***** out of here? Let her make a ***** fool of herself by her own. Or better let Francesca the ***** mighty come to her rescue!

Who knows what they have been doing before we got here, Tina whispered brokenly. For all we know they could have been doing it for years.

That would be so much like Marina, Jenny hissed. The greatest ***** on the planet, why not spread that gift around to as many as possible?

Shane had to stop herself from shouting in disbelief, knowing that pain and anger spoke through both women, but these statements were ridiculous, Marina and Bette didnt ***** each other! She glanced at the, at the moment not so cool but otherwise hot, brunettes dancing to Love Hurts while holding hands. Did they?

Nah, Shane rolled her eyes. Of course not.

Why are you even letting Bette do this? Jenny snarled at Tina. You should keep her on a tighter leash. For ***** sake, its MARINA shes dancing, and God knows what else, with in there!

Excuse me? LETTING her? Im not LETTING her do anything! I seem to have no control whatsoever over who shes ***** these days! Tina was near hysteria now.

Ladies? Can you keep it down, Shane whispered. They are going to.

What are you doing here?!

***** and double *****! Too late. Shane shook her head, closed her eyes and waited for the explosion.

Marina stared at them with fire in her dark eyes – Bette gaped and seemed rather shocked. Her eyes tried to soak up Tina, like a dry sponge on the edge of a bathtub filled with water it cant reach.

Tina lips moved, but not a single word came out. Jennys eyes were huge and both hands covered her mouth.

And then Marina laughed, that oh so famous inappropriate laughter that either baffled you, angered you or made you fall for her all over again.

Jenny flinched like she was about to be hit and quickly averted her eyes – and ears. No doubt about how the laughter affected HER.

Tina on the other hand went completely blank, like she had gone to another time and space in her head.

And Shane felt like Marinas laughter – totally out of context.

The obviously very drunk Marina said something – in French? Spanish? Italian? Shane was quite certain it wasnt German – and she gestured for them to follow her inside.

Robotically both Tina and Jenny obeyed. Shane rolled her eyes in surrender and dragged a completely paralyzed Bette with her.

The caf owner in Marina came to life and went to the kitchen to prepare everyones favorite hot beverage.

She left behind a very uncomfortable silence; one of those you can cut through with a knife – if you got one sharp enough.

Shane searched every corner of her brain to find something to say that could lessen the tension in the room, but found nothing.
Man, Im ***** impotent! *****, that thought alone made her shiver.

Bette was the first one to speak:
T Tina? she whispered hoarsely. It seemed like she had a hard time comprehending that she was actually in the same room as her former (?) lover.

Fuckfuckfuckfuck. Bettes voice kick-started Jennys muttered ramblings of: Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

That in turn woke up Tina. Shut the ***** UP, Jenny! Enough with all those ***** you throw around polluting our defenseless ears!

Once again Shane didnt dare to point out the double standard in that statement. Tina was behaving totally out of character and it made her a bit uneasy. She missed her soft-spoken friend – though sharp tongued at times, Tina got claws when she needed them, but certainly not like this – with the easy humor and the well thought out advises. That Tina would have been sympathetic to what Jenny was going through, and wouldve ignored every desperate *****, even in the middle of her own personal chaos.

It was like being in a parallel universe where everything seemed okay on the surface, but was slightly twisted and off somehow. Maybe she was lucky enough to wake up soon.

T Tina? Bette repeated like a broken record.

Shane sighed. And Bette was nowhere near herself these days either. The Bette she knew would tell everybody what to do with themselves in this awkward situation and try to solve things effectively and reasonably. She would take charge, sweep Tina off her feet – again – and probably yell a bit at Marina and Jenny.

But that Bette hadnt cheated, hadnt fucked the best thing in her life up.

And Tina wouldnt have ignored that Bette like she did this one.

Marina entered, carrying the beverages on a large tray. It looked like the time in the kitchen had sobered her up a bit and her normally cool demeanor was in place. Shane sighed in relief; maybe she could at least deal with a Marina acting like herself.

Marina served everyone like she would have done at The Planet, smiling accommodatingly to a smoldering Tina and slightly touching a flinching Jenny to get her attention away from the floor and take her coffee.

So, Shane, why are you all here? she asked.

That question that almost made Shane flinch, too. How to explain their presence her? Man, that was a tough one. Maybe sticking with the truth, at least part of it would be a good start.

You usually phone before your visits. Marina continued and suddenly seemed to remember that she had left the phone turned off for the most of the day.

Shane coughed slightly. We were worried about you.

We? Marina raised an eyebrow at Shanes companions, not sure how to interpret that statement.

Yeah, you see, Shane uncharacteristically fumbled after the right words. We were, that is Tina and me, we were at The Planet and then Francesca.

Francesca?

Yeah, shes obviously back, and she was kinda worried, too, and none of your staff knew were you were and Francesca said you had been gone for a week and the we went to Jennys. Man, Shane had never felt so verbally halting before.
Yeah, impotent, thats me!

Jennys?! Marina eyebrow skyrocketed.

Yeah, we thought you might be there and we.

But you werent! Jenny yelled. You were up here SINGING like a ***** siren and probably ***** Bette in between, ***** up another relationship just for the fun of it. So much for being worried about you!

Oh, man this was going really well.

tbc
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