~~~~~

"You cut your hair! It looks great!"

Someone knocked at the door and Tina stopped the video playback. She cleared her throat.

"Yeah, come in."

A young intern stuck his head inside. "The boss wants to know if you can talk to that composer about sweetening the promo? He’ll be in recording for the next hour or so."

"I’ll be right there."

Tina turned off the TV and stared at her reflection off the blank screen.

~~~~~

Shane opened the door and greeted Tina with a hug. "Hey, how are you?"

She held up a script. "I just wanted to drop this off for Jenny."

"She’s out, but I’ll make sure she gets it."

Tina raised her eyebrows alluringly. "Wanna see some audition tapes?"

"Yeah, you bet! The one out here is on the fritz: let’s go to my room."

~~~~~

Tina took in Shane’s room with interest, not having seen it in awhile. Shane followed her train of thought. "Guess it’s been a few years, huh? Well, now that it’s just the two of us."

Tina furrowed her brow, remembering something. "Why did that guy – Mark? – move out, anyway?"

Shane shuffled her feet and looked away at nothing in particular. "Kicked him out. He set up spycams around the house, the bedrooms. He recorded everything," she finished flatly.

"Jesus!" Tina gasped. "I had no fucking idea. Why didn’t you ever tell me?"

Shane shrugged indifferently. "No, hey, you had Angelica to take care of and all that. It was years ago – lots happened since then. We got all the tapes, so … "

Tina smiled at her diplomacy. "I don’t know how you do it, Shane: you’ve always kept an even keel – Bette and Candace, me and Henry – hell, everyone else when they fuck up … "

"It’s ‘cause I’m a fuck-up."

"Don’t say that: you are not a fuck-up, Shane," chided Tina.

Shane laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah. Right. The moment I start believing I can change, I fuck it up."

"Sweetie, there’s nothing worse than giving up … "

"Nah, I’ve just finally accepted that I can’t handle relationships, that’s all: it’s not the same." Shane headed to her closet. "Listen, uh, there’s something I think you should have." She dug through a box and handed her a videocassette. "I probably should’ve given this to Bette, but … I didn’t think she could handle it."

Tina read the label: ‘Bette Finds Out About Partner’s Pregnancy’. She slowly opened the case and looked at the date. She thought to herself for a moment, then quietly, "It was the night of Dana’s bachelorette party."

Shane bobbed her head slowly, remembering. "Oh, yeah. Dana." She let her name hang in the air for a moment, then forged on. "I left early; any drunken toasts?"

Tina ignored her question. "What did you mean about Bette? It’s been a long time now."

Shane continued toeing the carpet distractedly. "She was pretty fucked up then, y’know? After that party, it was around eleven and my date had just left. I saw Bette over the wall: she was getting ready to wade into the pool with her dress on, babbling about her ring. I guessed she accidentally lost it in there. She was so upset, I had to get in with my clothes on. And when I finally found it, she wouldn’t put it back on – just held it and kept crying … " Shane trailed off when she looked up and saw that Tina had gone ashen. "Hey, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up anything – "

"No, no, it’s okay," Tina shook her head and tried to smile, not really meaning it. "We’ve all moved on, right?"

"Yeah, you have," Shane said fondly. "I mean, I know everyone always thought that Bette was the strong one, but she was a fucking wreck after you left. And you – you were pregnant and all, but you went out on your own – got your own place, a job. Hell, even a new girlfriend." Shane smiled shyly. "I know I never said it back then, but I always admired you for that, y’know?"

Tina put her arm around Shane’s shoulders affectionately.

"Thanks, Yoda."

~~~~~