“I left the salad for you and you can choose the wine.”

“I think I can manage that. I just need to wash up. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

“Take your time. The lasagna won’t be ready for another 30 minutes.”

Bette came back out to the kitchen a while later with her hair falling into natural curls as she let it air dry. She was wearing yoga pants and a tank top and soft house slippers on her feet. She finished up the salad while Tina took the lasagna out of the oven and warmed the bread. They selected a nice red wine to go with dinner and made small talk while they ate.

“So how was your day?”

“Good; very productive. All the paperwork is done and we are officially Shaolin-Peabody. When I get back we’ll start the relocation to the new offices, merging personnel, meeting with project managers, assessing budgets, etc. I’m happy to have a few days of relaxation because once I get back I’m going to be very busy. Did you ask Peggy about me staying until Friday and flying back with you?”

“Yes she’s fine with it. She said she was happy for the opportunity to spend more time getting to know you. She even suggested that maybe you should move into the penthouse and stay with her for the rest of the week.”

“Really. Did you tell her I was staying here?”

“I did and of course she wanted to make sure that my intentions were honorable.”

“She asked you if your intentions were ‘honorable’?”

“Not in those words. She wanted to know if there was something more than friendship going on between us.”

“And what did you tell her?”

“The truth. I told her we were just friends and besides that you were dating Eric.”

“But you know Eric and I have an open relationship and we date other people.”

“I know, but I don’t want ‘other people’ in my relationships. I told you before that I’m not judging your choices Tina, it’s just not something that I want to be a part of.”

“I know. We are just in different places in our lives and we want different things. I do feel something for you Bette and our friendship is important to me. I want you in my life but I don’t think we should complicate things by reading more into it than what it is.”