After Saturday’s events, Bette had virtually disappeared from view, and remained non-communicative to anyone Tina checked with.  Finally, a few days into the week following, George called Tina to share with her that Tina’s SOS to him on Saturday allowed him to anticipate whatever it was he thought Bette would eventually ask from him.  So when Bette had called earlier that day, she was surprised George had been ready, and had the lawyers draw up the needed papers that would enable Bette to liquidate some of the holdings that she had accumulated while working with him.  He had accepted her brief comments about “needing to get away for the foreseeable future,” calmly, which she found surprising, also.

“But please take good care, Bette, and please, please call me anytime, from anywhere, for anything,” he asked, with a shaky voice.  He feared the worst for his dear friend, but didn’t want her to sense any weakness in him, or think that he wasn’t going to be a dependable resource, in case she would need one.

Two weeks later, he and Claudia were consoling Tina in her and Bette’s apartment.  “That’s the thing you’ll have to accept, Tina.  Bette has means, significant means now, because she made very astute investments, and not only with me. I don’t think she made a bad call the whole time she was with me.  And when it comes to her own money, you know, the nest egg she was putting together for the two of you, after withdrawing from LA?  Well, she put part of that in the stock market, and, although her broker won’t be able to divulge any information, of course, I get the sense that she made a killing with a few stocks that people started unloading several months back, that she bought up.  They’ve hit their peaks over the last few days.  If she sold some of that, combined with what she liquidated with me, she could literally be anywhere in the world today, and she could make it difficult to keep track of her.  She can stay away, that way, for a long, long time, if she wanted to” George explained to Tina in a sad voice, rubbing her arms as if to console her.

As they spoke, Tina decided that she wouldn’t tell them, as yet, about the baby.  Once she began to show, they, and everyone else, would find out soon enough.  By then, Tina felt she would be in a better position to explain things, or even have figured out things.  For the moment, only Liz and Dan knew.  That was because they were her doctors.