Adam’s eyes widened, "Umm, I think I, I need, I’m gonna go." And with that he slipped away from them and out the door toward the patio.

"DANA! Oh my god look what you did! You just completely chased him away!" Alice exclaimed swatting Dana’s arm, but intending to do much more damage.

Dana flinched and quickly took a couple steps backward. She hadn’t quite thought about what she would do after she chased Adam away. Seeing Kit approaching, she reached out and hugged the woman, and in doing so, turned her, placing her strategically between herself and Alice. "Kit! It’s so great to see you!"

"Uhh, Baby Girl, I just talked to you like ten minutes ago…" Not noticing Alice’s threatening glare at Dana, Kit turned toward Lenore. "Lenore, congratulations honey, and whew, this has been one hell of a party, but I’ve got to get back and check out the situation at the Planet."

Dana seized the opportunity that presented itself. "Yeah, I’d better head out too. I’ve got an early training session tomorrow morning with Harrison."

Carefully avoiding Alice as she stepped around Kit to congratulate Lenore, then placed her hand on Kit’s back and began pushing her toward the doorway.

"Oh yeah, that’s nice! Run away, Dane! Well it ain’t gonna work! I know where you live! You can’t escape me!" Alice yelled at the retreating figure.

"Alice, dear, don’t make a scene. Some paparazzi might notice and we’ll be in the papers tomorrow!"

"Oh please mother. You and Dicky over here aren’t nearly important enough to be in the papers. I mean, if you were important, I’d be writing you up for LA Magazine."

Lenore probably should have been offended. But her selective hearing chose exactly that moment to kick in. "Oh honey! That would be fantastic if you could write up the wedding for your little magazine!"

Alice’s eyes shot wide open in a mixture of disbelief and horror. "Ok first of all, LA Magazine is not a ‘little magazine,’ it is a very respectable publication. And second, my respectable publication wouldn’t be caught dead covering the least important wedding of the century!"

"Oh hold on a minute there! I would hardly call my wedding the ‘least important of the century’! Richard over here is a very famous movie executive and I have worked with actors you couldn’t even dream of meeting!"

"I don’t really think being one of ten thousand extras in a scene with some washed up…"

"Washed up?! Alice, clearly you know nothing about movies! And I’ll have you know that Marty directed that film!"

"Oh yeah? Well I don’t see Scorsese here, do you? Nope, didn’t think so!"

Richard, really not wanting to get in the middle of the argument, looked for a way to distract the attention of his new wife and daughter-in-law. He noticed one of his co-workers walking his way and waved her over. Maybe they wouldn’t act so crazy with a stranger present… "Tina! Come over here, meet the new ladies in my life!" he chuckled awkwardly.

Bette was also looking for a way to escape Alice and Lenore. She looked over toward the bar and noticed a twenty-something brunette eyeing her hungrily. She smiled smugly. Eh, a little on the young side, but she’s kind of cute. Why not? She used her elbows to push off of the table she had been leaning on, and began to proceed toward the flavor of the week.

But suddenly, her progress stopped as she felt as if her feet were rooted to the spot. She shivered as a chill ran through her, though she knew she wasn’t cold. In that one moment, her pulse quickened, and she felt an invisible hand compelling her to turn back around toward Richard and the Pieszecki women. Her heart skipped a beat, and she just barely registered the words coming out of Richard’s mouth:

"Ladies, I’d like you to meet Tina Kennard."

…TBC