Bette sat at the table with her lawyer and her agent beside her as they sat across from her record company’s lawyers. She was still reviewing the contract trying to figure out if this was truly the direction she felt her life needed to take, her eyes scanned it over and over not really reading anything. Her mind was so lost these days and she could hardly concentrate on the day let alone any rehearsed praise that was constantly being thrown at her. Without giving it another thought she signed her name forcefully and moved on auto-pilot throughout the rest of the contract. She slid it over to her lawyer and let him initial it further, there it was she was now officially and legally bound to her record company’s Philadelphia based office for at least three years. She stood and shook hands with the men and immediately wanted to go home and try and free herself from her thoughts again.

She stopped and bought some Chinese food and headed straight for her new loft. For the past couple of days she’d been sampling from the local restaurants, trying to get a feel for the neighborhood. She’d walked through the neighborhood as well finding small places to listen to artists and get a feel for the neighborhood people. She’d seen a few spots she’d like to have her late night meals in. The thought of having meals with no laughter from her friends made her sad beyond measure, but she toughed it out and dredged on. She even saw a few friendly faces she knew she’d see again and perhaps under different circumstances she would make friendly conversation with them. But as of right now she was focused on ridding herself of the woman that constantly plagued her thoughts.

Bette reached her loft and headed straight for the elevator. One of the benefits of being here in Philadelphia was the older buildings that offered the perfect amount of privacy and flexibility for her somewhat bohemian lifestyle. She closed the gate to the opening and threw the switch to the up position, the ride was short and she only lived on the fifth floor. Luckily for her it was a space previously occupied by someone who had already done all the hard work of converting the space into some sort of livable condition. Semi-private walls were constructed and the only place she really needed privacy was her studio but she would take care of that when the time came. As of right now she was enjoying the surrounding views that the gallery style windows offered and at night she liked to sit with the windows open and the lights off letting the sounds and smells of this new city enrapture her. Some nights she would sit with a cup of tea and watch as the city became enveloped in a flesh of darkness and she’d watch as the night life seemed to know when it was time for breath again. She’d stay up some nights and watch as the lights fell away and the sun burst through the darkness of night again. Occasionally she would take long walks through the night and watch as some spots seemed like the type of place where she could find some talent and some spots seemed to seedy to even go past at a certain hour. All- in- all she was enjoying trying to acclimate herself to this new city.