She said to me, "This parting must be endured, Sappho. I go unwillingly."

I said, "Go, and be happy but remember (you know well) whom you leave shackled by love…’

“Wow,” Elizabeth said softly, “Sounds just the way I felt when Christina left, but I still don’t understand…”

“Sappho lived on the Isle of Lesbos and supposedly the targets of her affections were female, often women who were sent to her for the art education. She took care of those women, wrote poems of love and adoration for them, and when they would eventually leave the island to be married, she wrote their wedding songs. Hence, the word Lesbian, meaning women attracted to women,” Alicia said enthusiastically, as if all her life she was waiting to share this information. “Bette, you are having feelings for a woman. I know it can be overwhelming and confusing, but love is love and sometimes you can’t help who you love.”

“I didn’t say I love her,” Elizabeth said a little defensively, knowing that Alicia hit the target.

“Okay, not love, but at least you can admit you feel an attraction towards her. You know, in the past, pre-Freud…you’ve heard about Freud, right?” Elizabeth gave Alicia irritated look and Alicia realized that sarcasm and humor were not the right approach right now, so she continued more seriously, “…well, before that it was more acceptable for women to express strong passions towards one another. Just take one step at a time and go with the flow.”

Elizabeth looked at Alicia completely bewildered and said, “That’s exactly what I said to Christina. Funny, how our minds just think alike.”

Place: Los Angeles, CA

Year: 2005

(Previously) Tina heard rustling of the papers and knew that Dylan was looking at her notes to be sure that she got everything right. “I found a part-documentary, part-fictional 3-volume work on unsolved crimes in California at the end of the nineteenth-beginning of the twentieth centuries.” Dylan checked her notes again and continued after a small pause. “There’s a whole section on Orange County and one story mentions your mystery woman. I made you a copy and it is being delivered as we speak.”

Tina jolted as she heard a door bell ringing as soon as Dylan finished talking. “Talk about perfect timing and a small heart attack,” Tina murmured to herself as she ran towards the door, trying to calm herself. “Thanks, Dylan, I owe you.”