Tina backhanded her on the arm and glared at her.  Meanwhile Bette was still bewildered by this latest news.

“That bitch” Helena looked up and was relieved to see she wasn’t the focus of her ire.

“Bette.  Its done with” Tina commented.

“I know that but I can’t help but think that when she warned me not to get back together with you after I informed her that you were back in the fold, she was a bit of a hypocrite.”

Tina rolled her eyes.  “Bette, it doesn’t matter anyway…Hey Jodi” she aborted the rest of her sentence to greet Jodi who had just arrived behind Bette.

“Hi Tina” Jodi responded and leaned down to give Bette a kiss on the neck.  Bette turned and gave her a full kiss then turned her attention to greet Tom.  “Hi Tom”

“Hi Bette.  You remember Paul, my friend?”  Bette knew they were more that friends but knew it wasn’t her business.  She greeted him and then introduced them to the rest of her friends.

“Oh and this is my sister Christa” Tom introduced the girl who must have been at least as tall as Bette with auburn hair and blue eyes.  Shane jumped up quickly and both Helena and Max focused their attention on the gorgeous new arrival.

They greeted her and Shane placed a free chair next to her for Christa.

“So Christa” Tina decided she would start since the others seemed tongue tied.  “Do you live in LA?”

“Um yah.  I just moved here from Boston.  I’m doing a masters at UCLA.” 

Tina as well as the others found the accent charming.  A bit reminiscent of the Kennedys and told her so.

Christa blushed slightly and smiled.  “Thanks.  I’ve just started noticing Tom’s now that I’m around people without it.”

“And what are you studying?”  Alice finally found her tongue.

“I’m studying film.”

At this two of the potential suitors deflated and Bette who had been following the conversation felt her stomach clench.

Jodi leaned into the conversation.  “Ah Christa, Tina is a development exec.” She supplied.

“Helena is in the business as well” Bette added quickly.

Helena smiled charmingly as she now had a bit of Christa’s attention. They began talking about the industry.  Meanwhile, Jodi and Bette who had been conversing privately moved towards an impromptu passionate kiss.

“Wow, I would love to pick your brains more formally sometime.”  She looked from Tina to Helena.

“No problem. Bette has our number if you want to get in touch with us.” She offered as she stood up quickly and announced it was high time for a swim and rid herself of her sarong and top. 

This got Bette’s attention from Jodi, and despite the heat of the day, Bette got goose bumps.

“Mind if I join you?  Christa asked abruptly raising from the table.

“Absolutely” Tina smiled as she walked down the steps to the pool.

When they were out of earshot, Helena pondered, “Man, do you think that Tina has any idea how easily she can pull a girl?”

“What’s pull?’ Shane asked.

“Exactly what’s she’s doing now” Alice supplied.

“Ah”

The gang drank, ate and talked until the evening.  They had a great time in the pool, even Jodi joined.

Finally Tina announced she and Helena needed to go relieve the baby sitter and they left after given Christa their number directly.

As soon as the two departed, Christa turned to Jodi.  “Wow, what’s Tina’s situation”

“Boy if that’s not a loaded questions” Alice mumbled her interjection.

“Huh?” Christa knew she missed something.

“She’s single, Christa” Jodi provided, shooting Alice a stern look.

“I notice that she doesn’t drink.  That’s a nice change coming from a big Irish family”  Christa commented.

Bette had also noticed that Tina wasn’t drinking and made a mental note to talk to her about what it might mean.