“Well you should be, I mean you cancelled pizza night to hang out with Bette and eat what, wheatgrass soup and barley shakes, come on!”

“You told them I fed you wheatgrass soup and barley?” Bette asked in a stage whisper with a hint of a smile in her voice.

“No,” Tina immediately dismissed the claim with a charming smile. “I said it had a lot of color and was healthy.” she finished her explanation with a pat to Bette’s hand on the table. She looked back to Alice and found it in her not to laugh at the ridiculous pretense with which they were both summoned to lunch. “Al, I’m sorry if it seems that I’m ignoring you but Bette helps me with a lot of questions and things that I need answered. I guess I call on her so much that I hadn’t noticed how much I’ve been excluding you guys from my life.”

“Thank you.” Alice said with a bow of her head and suddenly all attention was on Bette.

“What?!” she answered looking directly at the eyes boring into hers.

“Don’t you have something to share with the group?”  Alice said with a sweeping motion across the table and in overly soft and polite voice.

“No.” Bette immediately spat back with a creased brow.

“Aww, come on Bette, Carmen was hurt by your lack of consideration.”

In a slightly agitated motion Bette turned toward and Carmen and without a single word she hitched a brow with a nod to which Carmen shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head in agreement. Bette turned back towards everyone else and waited for her food.

“That’s it?”  Alice asked with a deadpan expression on her face. 

“That’s all you’re really gonna get out of her.” Carmen said. 

………………………………..

Bette was in he office and she was typing so fast and in her own her head that she hadn’t noticed her doorbell ringing for the second time or third time. Finally when the resonating chime hit her senses she looked up in confusion and then looked at her watch. The hour was unusual to have visitors and she certainly wasn’t expecting anyone. Then the sudden thought popped in her head that it might be Tina in need of some kind of help.  As routine with exiting her office she’d replaced her house shoes back onto her feet and turned the lock on her door twice before exiting the office. She walked to the door and was relieved  by the fact that it was just Carmen.