————————–

Bette and Lea stood about ten feet away, quietly watching until more of the crowd hovering around the seated blonde dissipated.

The brunette waited until Rian, who’d been half bent over next to Jia, talking to her, glanced up, sensing perhaps that Bette wanted something. She nodded in response when Bette motioned to ask her to walk over.

“Turns out it’s Jia we’re supposed to meet, Rian.”

“Really?”

“Yup. What do you think? Is she in any condition to talk to anyone right now?”

Rian squinted in the direction of Jia, thinking for a good long while.

“For some reason, I sense that she’s still somewhat shaky, although she appears calm, on the surface.”

Bette nodded slowly. “I still don’t know what happened, but if you think this isn’t a good time, then …”

“I could ask her, though, Bette. I mean, I’m just talking from experience, since I still remember how it felt when similar things happened to me before. When … you know, when I was still dependent on the crutches, and everything … I actually just met her, literally seconds before she fell …”

“Yeah?”

Rian nodded. “Rachel knows her from way back when, though, at least that’s the impression I got from their conversation earlier. She’ll have a better read on her…”

Bette shook her head slightly. “No, no. I don’t want to make this bigger than it needs to be. Here, I’ll write a short note, give her my number. We’ll leave, and wait for her call.”

The brunette dipped into her cross-body bag and pulled out a pen and a short stack of sticky notes, inscribed with her foundation’s watermark and initials.

She wrote out a note, paused for a second, and added an offer to take Jia to dinner later, if the blonde was up to it.   Alternatively, if Jia preferred it, Bette mentioned that they could meet later in the week, instead.

As she motioned to Lea that they head in, she started a text to Tina, who’d taken the kids to the other end of the sculpture garden, suggesting that they regroup inside, by the roped area near the exits of the museum. She and Lea were nearing the revolving glass door when they heard Jia call out from behind them.