Bette stood in line at the ticket counter at the airport. She kept running the recent events through her mind. ‘I’ve lost her’ she thought to herself. ‘I’ve truly lost her.’


“Ma’am? Uh, Ma’am?” The ticket agent tried to get Bette’s attention.


Bette walks up to the agent. “I need to get a flight.” Bette looks over at the next customer, who is standing talking to the agent in front of her.


“Oh, we can’t wait to get to Portland. My mother has not seen me or my daughter in nine months. We’re so excited.” the lady exclaimed. Bette watched the interaction intently. The little girl looked at her mother with a wide smile and obvious excitement.

“Ahem, Ma’am. What is your destination?” the agent said impatiently. Bette looked from the mother and daughter to the ticket agent.

“Portland” Bette replied.

——–


Tina finally got Angelica calmed down and off to sleep. She stood by the window, looking out. She occasionally would look down at her sleeping daughter. ‘She looks just like an angel,’ Tina thought. ‘She reminds me so much of Bette.’


Tina began to walk across the room. Why would Bette seek sole custody of Angelica? She had planned to make sure that Bette was a part of Angelica’s life even though they were no longer together. But getting that fax from Joyce Wischnia sent her over the edge. How dare Bette think that she had a right to Angelica full time? She was HER daughter. SHE gave birth to her. SHE carried her.


“Damn, I’m starting to sound like Henry,” Tina muttered. Tina knows that her threats to Bette probably fueled the decision to take Angelica from the hotel room. If the situation were reversed, she probably would have reacted impulsively too. And Joyce Wischnia certainly influenced Bette’s decision to file for sole custody, surely. Damn woman. What was it that Bette said after she told her about getting the fax? Tina rubbed her forehead as she tried to remember. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.


“Tina? It’s Alice.”


Tina slowly opened the door. “Hey Alice.”


“I know that you wanted some time, but I wanted to check and make sure you’re okay.” Alice peeked around the door. “Henry here?”


“No. He’s probably downstairs at the bar.”


“Oh. Can I come in?” Alice looked gently at Tina.


“Sure Alice.” Tina moved out of the way and motioned for Alice to enter. “Angelica is asleep, though. And I would like to keep it that way.”


“No problem. I’m sure the poor kid’s been through a lot today.”


Tina sat down on the couch and blew out a gust of air. She put her hands on her head. “Alice, did you find Bette? I need to know what happened, or what almost happened.”


“Tina she’s nowhere to be found. She checked out, got a rental and left.”


“Left? Where? Back to LA?”


“No one knows where Bette is. She didn’t talk to anyone Tina. She just left. Her cell just goes to voicemail.”


Tina looked up at the ceiling. Alice stared at her. “Tina, what’s going on. I know that Bette can easily blow a fuse on occasion, but what is all of this about?”


“Bette had Joyce Wischnia draw up a custody petition for sole custody of Angelica.”


“What?” Alice was sure that she heard wrong. “Sole custody? That damned lawyer sure has a gigantic pair of ‘em, huh?”


“Yeah. Well Joyce had the papers faxed here, and when I got them, I really went off on Bette.”


“I guess so. I’m sure it was a shock. But how did things get THIS bad, Tina? Couldn’t you two talk about it?” Alice was still confused.


“I told Bette that I would not allow her to adopt Angelica. That Henry and I were talking about having children together and we wanted Angelica to be a full part of that.”


“What! Tina!!! Are you? Going to have kids together?” What!” Alice was sure that her hearing was going.


“Alice, I don’t know what Henry and I are going to do. It just was the first thing I thought of. I was so fucking mad at her.”


“What did Bette say, Tina? She had to have said something?”


Tina tried to remember what Bette had said. It seemed like such a blur.


“Tina, what did Bette say?”


Tina closed her eyes and tried to recall the exchange. “God Alice, I can’t remember, exactly. Something about trying to stop Joyce. Something about it not being planned to go like this. I don’t know.” Tina was feeling exhausted by now. “I was so mad after getting the papers I couldn’t see straight. I can’t believe that she was trying to take Angelica away from me.”


“But if she was trying to stop Joyce, then doesn’t that mean that Bette changed her mind?”


“I don’t know, Alice. I guess so. I just can’t believe that she wanted to take Angelica away from me.”


“So you retaliated by telling Bette that you were going to do the exact same thing?” Alice felt as if she were in some alternate universe. “Did you really mean that Tina?”


Tina threw her head back on the back of the couch. “Yes. No. Hell, I don’t know. I was reacting out of anger, Alice. I couldn’t believe that Bette would go that far. Until I came back and the baby was gone.”


“Tina, do you really want Bette out of Angelica’s life? For good?”


Tina began to rub her forehead again. How did this get so fucked up? She thought that she and Bette had made some progress during this trip. Things had felt better between them. She remembered feeling so good after they hugged in the hallway the other night.


“Tina…” Alice started.


“Yeah?”


“Do you not believe Bette tried to stop Joyce?”


Tina sighed again. “I don’t know, Alice. Maybe she did. I don’t believe that Bette intended for the petition to be faxed here. It’s not her style. I never thought Bette would go to Joyce Wischnia and file for sole custody, though. I don’t know anything anymore.” Tina stood up. “I need to talk to Bette.”


Alice looked up at Tina. “No one knows where she is, Tina.”


“Well,” Tina started, “the first place to look is LA.”