Bette- (She pans her office, mostly empty now with some boxes ready for
departure. All she has left is to finish up the last couple of assignments.
She was actually relieved…it wasn’t going to go down to the wire, she was in
fact almost done…no all-nighter, no rushing to finish, no harrem scaram mad
dash to the deadline, a madness that was part of the past few years of her
life. Her gaze returns to the window briefly then meanders to her desktop.
She takes her seat for one last time to finish her work here, to complete her
work and life in this place for all time.

After a couple of hours she was done, packed her last bit of paraphanalia, said
her goodbyes, and headed for home…and there she found herself, alone, sitting
on her couch, her things from the office laid out on the floor. She had sat
down there since coming in 3 hours ago and had not risen but for the ocassional refilling of her glass from the liquor bottle that had inhabited her office, way in the credenza, for the past year. She never sipped it for pleasure, and it served as a sort of prop, but now she was consuming it generously, though in periodic sips, as though administering a potent drug. She had become an old hand at this and paced herself well, so try as she might she could not suplant the conscious mind with inebriation or delirium. She still knew who she was, where she was and the recent state of affairs of how she was. The anasthetic was working to at least dull the sensations, but her face bore the mark of dried tears nonetheless. This was not going to be a day to suddenly fall apart- she had been mourning this entire last stretch of time for the ending of this phase in her career.

A knock at the door barely roused her from the emotional if not entirely
drunken stupor. She slowly got up and went to discover which unfortunate
visitor might have made the mistake of dropping by.)

Alice- (Undaunted, an old friend stands before her. A shorter blonde, with
dancing eyes and wit at the ready.) Hey. (She takes a close look at her
eyes.) Can I come in? (Bette motions her in and Bette resumes her position on
the sofa. Alice sits right next to her and puts her arm around her shoulder.)
I’m sorry you’re going through this. I know it’s hard. You’re going to be ok.
(Trying to be humourous…) Fear not my friend, the cougar will be on the
prowl again!