“No… it wasn’t like I was completely and utterly alone… I had a nanny and there was the cook… and the housekeeper… but no one from my close family…” Bette said trying to comfort Tina, she hated nothing more than people feeling sorry for her.

But that last statement got Tina even more sad, because if Bette’s father wasn’t around and her sister wasn’t there either, even if she was supposed to… where was Bette’s mother, now that was a subject Tina realized she never ever heard Bette mentioning, not even once. Tina also understood that now wasn’t the time to go there either.

“I’m so worried about the girls… I mean what could possibly happen to them? I’ve been listening to Al brag about this trip for the last month and a half… I cannot imagine her missing the plane… for anything… I just… I hope nothing bad happened to them…” Tina was showing an increasing amount of concern.

“It’s ok T… we’ll find out pretty soon…” Bette said trying to speed up within the limits in order to go faster and not getting a ticket in the process.

Once in the apartment Tina was still in trance. Coming through the city she couldn’t stop admiring and asking about every single thing she saw, but walking into the Porter residence was whole new experience. Tina knew Melvin Porter had a lot of money, after all who the hell has a house in Mexico, a private jet to use at any given time and her daughter in Yale… but this was just plain amazing.

Everything in that apartment was a display of delicate taste, the art in that place was just mind blowing, but so were the view and the area and the furniture and the disposition of everything combined together.

Tina was beginning to understand not only why Bette had chosen that career but also why Bette was the way she was, which made her feel even more proud of her friend, since she was one of the most respectful and honest and centred people she knew. Given the life style Bette clearly always had, that could easily turn her into a spoil rich brat who wouldn’t appreciate anything other than herself, but not her Bette. She was quite the opposite.