Dana Fairbanks swung the tennis racket hard, watching as the tennis ball smashed violently into the court on the other side of the net. Sweat dripped down her temple as another green sphere shot out of the serving machine at her, which she quickly returned across the net with a grunt. Tennis balls littered the other side of the court, evidence of the two hours she had been out there.

Feeling her return wasn’t fast enough, Dana smashed one more ball across the court before throwing her racket down in exhaustion. Turning off the serving machine, she mopped her face with a towel and stuffed her racket into her tennis bag.

“Were you trying to kill the ball, or what?” a voice asked sarcastically. Dana jumped, dropping the towel.

“Oh, hi, Shane. You scared me,” Dana replied, bending over to pick up the towel, not noticing as Shane subtly glanced at her backside.

“Nice *****,” Shane quipped. “You sure seemed pretty, uh, focused out there.” She noticed Dana’s white-knuckled grip on the tennis bag.

“I’ve got a few things on my mind,” Dana said, walking toward the clubhouse.

“Tonya?” Shane asked, falling into step behind her.

“Something like that,” was Dana’s curt reply as she held the door open for Shane.

“Dana, do you want to marry her?” Shane asked bluntly.

Dana whirled around and glared at her. “Yeah, sure. Otherwise I wouldn’t have asked her.”

“Okay, point taken,” Shane replied, hearing the tension and anger in her friend’s voice. “So, did Alice find you yesterday?”

A muscle in Dana’s neck twitched. “Why?”

“She was looking for you. So…I guess she found you?”

Dana felt her heart beat faster as her mind began to race. Had Alice said something to Shane about what had happened? “Yes, she did. So?” she said harshly, her voice rising sharply.

“Okay,” Shane said slowly, wondering what Dana’s deal was.

They had reached the club locker room. Dana unlocked a locker and took out a fresh change of clothes and a toiletry bag, substituting them with her tennis bag.

“So, got plans tonight?” Shane questioned, straddling a bench and watching as Dana meticulously refolded her clothes.’

“Not really.”

“We’re going to Milk tonight. It’s ‘Cheer Up Tina’ night. Wanna come?”

“Tina? What’s wrong with her?” Dana looked puzzled.

“Dude, where have you been? Remember that carpenter chick Candace?” Shane waited for Dana to acknowledge she did, before continuing on, “Well, to make a long story short, Bette fucked her and Tina found out.”

Dana gasped. “Oh, no. Poor Tina.” Dana shook her head sadly.

“Yeah, I know. It’s fucked up, ain’t it? Bette took off and holed up in some hotel somewhere and refuses to talk to anyone, and Tina just sits in their house and stares at the wall.” Shane watched as Dana removed her shoes and socks.

“Um, Shane, can you turn around for a moment?” Dana requested, her cheeks red.

“Dane, it’s not like you’ve got anything I’ve never seen before,” Shane told her with a sly grin, knowing it would further embarrass Dana.

Dana glared at her.

“Alright, I was just leaving anyway. See you tonight?” Shane asked, standing up. Dana nodded, and so Shane went on. “Don’t bring the ball and chain, either.” As she walked out the door, she glanced back to see Dana’s muscular back as she stripped off her tank top, thinking Shane had left. That was Dana: always modest. “So ***** cute,” Shane muttered to herself, shaking her head as the door fell shut behind her.