Harper just finishes spitting out her mouthful of toothpaste when Shane clicks back to her.
“Tina’s having the baby!”  Shane practically yells.
Shane’s loud voice startles Harper, “Whoa, what?! You’re kidding??  That’s awesome.”
“I know!”  From the sound of Shane’s voice you’d think she were the father.
***
Shane keeps Harper up to date on Tina’s recovery from her unexpectedly difficult delivery.  She waits a few days before even thinking about visiting her.  She knows Tina’s had a rough few days and doesn’t want to impose.  She decides to swing by the Planet to see what the latest is.
When she walks in Bette is standing at the counter talking with Kit.
“Hey stranger!”  Kit sees Harper walk in.
“Hi.”  Harper says joining them.  “Congratulations!”  She says to an exhausted looking Bette.
“Thank you.”  Bette says smiling softly.
“How are Tina and the baby?”
“They are both doing much better.  I’m sure you heard Tina had a rough time of it.”
“Yeah, Shane’s been keeping me posted.  How are you holding up?”
“Other then a little sleep deprived I’m pretty good.”
“Poor baby sis.”  Kit says.  “Harper can I get you anything?”
“I’d love a green tea, thanks.”
“How’ve you been?”  Bette asks.
“Good, just really crazy with work.”
“Not too crazy to go to New York though.”  Bette gives her a thoughtful smile.
Harper laughs, “Some things are more important then work.”
“Isn’t that the truth.”  Bette agrees.
“Is there anything I can do to help you guys out?  Do you need groceries or anything?”  Harper says sincerely.
“No, I don’t think so.  Thank you though.”  Bette is touched by her kindness.
“Seriously, if you need anything call me.”
“I will.”
“Here you go Harper.”  Kits hands her the tea.
“Thank you.”  Harper pulls money from her pocket.
“Put that away, this one’s on the house.”  Kit says.
“Awesome, thanks.”
Kit winks at Harper, “You want to take something to Tina?”
“Sure, she loves those scones, the blueberry ones.”
“You on your way to the hospital?”  Harper asks.
“Yeah, I go before work, for lunch and then after work.”  Bette looks more tired just saying that.
“Sounds exhausting.”
“It is but it’s so worth it.”  Bette’s smile grows, “Angelica is amazing.  She’s so tiny and perfect.  It breaks my heart.  And Tina’s so amazing and brave.  I just love them both so much.”  Her eyes become misty with emotion.
“Please send Tina my best.  And when she’s up for more visitors I would love to stop by.”
“Why don’t you come with me now?  I know she’d love to see you.” 
“I’d love to if you’re sure.”  Harper is touched by the invitation.
“As long as it’s a good time for you.”
“Absolutely.”  Harper smiles, “Oh man, Shane is going to be so jealous.”
***
Shane is in the hair and make up trailer putting her stuff away for the day and trying to get herself out of there.  She looks up when she hears the door open and is surprised to see one of the girls from the art department.
“Hey.”  Shane says continuing to tidy up.
“Hey, what’s up?”  The young blonde says.
“Not much, just trying to get out of here.”
“I was wondering if I could get a haircut from you some time?”  The girl asks leaning against the salon chair.
Shane pauses to look at her, “Yeah?”
“Yeah, you do really good work.”  The girl eyes Shane in the way she’s so used to.
“Thank you.” Shane doesn’t like that she’s being hit on and goes back to gathering her stuff.
“So what do you think?  I’ll pay you.”
Those words strike the wrong chord deep within her soul.  “I already have my hands pretty full.  I don’t think it’s a good idea.”  Shane can barely look at the leering girl.
“I understand.”  The determined girl continues, “Are they too full to have a drink?”
“I appreciate the offer but I’m in a relationship.”
“She’s in L.A. right?”  The girl keeps pressing.
“Yeah.”
“So, what happens in New York, stays in New York.”  The girl gives her best ***** smile.
Before this can go any further Shane’s co worker Michelle walks in.
“Hey!”  She says quickly assessing the scene.
“Hey!”  Shane says feeling a slight bit of relief.
“You ready?”  Michelle asks.
“Um, yeah.”  Shane catches on quickly.
Michelle grabs a few things from her station.
Art department girl moves close to Shane and in a low tone says, “Let me know if you change your mind.”
Shane says nothing and the girl continues to stand too close.
Michelle heads for the door, “Shane.”
Shane heads out the door, “You too.”  Michelle says to their unwanted visitor, “I gotta lock up.”
As the girl walks by Shane she says, “See you around.”
Shane grins and nods her head.  Michelle takes Shane by the arm, walking her in the opposite direction.
“Eck, that girl is nasty!”  Michelle says.  “She’s hooked up with more then half the crew.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yep.”
“So what are you saying, I’m not special?”  Shane kids.
“Oh baby your special, but in that short bus kind of way.”
“***** you.”  Shane says playfully.
“I hope you don’t mind me stepping in back there.  I promised Harper that I’d watch out for you.”
“I appreciate it.  I kinda froze up, I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.  It’s really strange cuz I never used to consider that at all.”
“So you’re a changed woman.”  Michelle laughs not knowing her history very well.
“You could say that.”
***
It’s Saturday morning and this is the last weekend Harper will have to endure without Shane. Even though she has work to do she allows herself an extra long surf session to help ease away the tension of her hectic week. And instead of going straight to the office afterward she decides it would be ok to get some work done at the Planet.
There are no familiar faces there to distract her at such an early hour so she settles right in to working. She makes herself at home on the overstuffed couch tucked back in a corner with less distractions. Harper quickly falls into her creative zone, sketching away listening to her MP3 player. She doesn’t notice Carmen until she feels her sit down on the couch.
Carmen flashes the disorientated girl her patented huge smile. “Hey!”
Harper pulls off her headphones, “Hi.”
“How’ve you been?” Carmen asks sipping her coffee.
“Pretty good. Yourself?” Harper feels a little awkward since she doesn’t know Carmen very well.
“Great! What are you working on?” Carmen points to the sketch book.
“Oh poster designs.” Harper says.
“Cool.” Carmen doesn’t really know what to say to the girl she most envy’s. “I hear you went to New York to visit Shane.”
“Yeh, it was a lot of fun. I miss New York a lot and I was missing Shane a lot too. So I figured, what the *****!”
“How’s she doing?”
“She’s doing really well. I think this job is going to do a lot for her career.” Harper says with pride.
“That’s great.” Carmen continues to make small talk. “She gets back Thursday right?”
“Yeah,” Harper’s face lights up with a smile that out does Carmen’s.
“Jenny’s pretty excited too. I think she’s missed her more then she let’s on.” Carmen says.
“I don’t doubt it, from what I’ve heard they’ve grown rather close in the last few months.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know Jenny before that. But I guess Shane’s gotten her to break out of her shell quiet a bit. In fact Shane’s the one who pushed me into Jenny’s arms.” Carmen thinks for a moment, “She’s told you that story right? How we met?” Something deep inside of Carmen hopes she can tell Harper something she may not know. Something that may hurt her.
“Oh yeah, blow by blow.” Harper gets the sense that Carmen harbors some resentment toward her. “That’s one of the great things about Shane, she’s been very open and honest with me from day one.”
“That’s great.” Carmen’s voice betrays her jealousy. “I wish she’d been more like that with me. I tried really hard to get her to open up.”
“Sometimes trying to get someone to do something they aren’t ready to works against you.” Harper hopes Carmen doesn’t take that as an insult or a jab at her. “I gave her the same space I like when I’m getting to know someone new. Maybe if we’d connected the same way you guys did it would’ve been different.”
“You mean if you’d fucked five minutes after you met.” Carmen says almost feeling ashamed of the fact.
“Yeh.” Harper doesn’t know what else to say.
“Man, life is so weird, ya know.”
“Yes it is.” Harper agrees.
“Well, I guess I should let you get back to work.” Carmen stands up.
“You were a nice distraction, thank you.” Harper means it.
Carmen can see why everyone is so taken by Harper. She’s quite the charmer. “I guess we’ll be seeing you around more once Shane’s back.”
“Most likely.” Harper smiles.
“Good, I look forward to it.” Carmen says.