2004- Two Months after the Provocations Opening

Rae’s Café, Santa Monica

Tina arrived at Rae’s early hoping to grab an outside table before the girls arrived. Casting an eye about the Diner, she tried to envision how Alice, Shane and Dana would view it.

She liked the café and felt comfortable there. Rae’s was only a few minutes walk from her new home and was quieter than the more touristy restaurants along the promenade.

 Situated back off the street, the Diner was able to offer several tables on the front Patio along with courtyard seating in the back to customers wishing to eat outdoors.

Their food, coffee and relaxed atmosphere had lured Tina back several mornings with her newspaper or laptop. Looking around, she told her self to relax as she saw again for herself the obvious charm of the place. She blew out a breath and laughed inwardly, knowing it wasn’t Rae’s she was feeling anxious about.

 After more than seven years, this was the first time she’d asked her friends to meet her for breakfast anywhere other than the Planet and without a certain Museum curator.

Tina had hung out with the girls a couple times at Alice’s for pizza and bad movies, but this was the first time they’d been to see her in Santa Monica. She was still unsure why she had had them meet her at Rae’s instead of her house.

Tina was living in a townhouse Alphaville owned a block off of both Santa Monica Beach and the Third St. Promenade. The beach house was one of many properties taken over by Alpha when they bought a smaller studio a few years back. The take-over purchased had been very low on marketable titles but was rich in real estate.

Alpha offered Tina a rental price that bordered on ludicrous as part of her package.

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Brunch finished, the group fell into the easy banter they usually shared. They were enjoying just being together, absorbing Bloody Mary’s and the Santa Monica sun. Tina couldn’t help but think of the member of their group that was missing.

“So… how is Bette?” she asked finally. She didn’t expect a real answer; she was asking more to put the topic behind them.