The next morning was as hectic as ever, but handing in that article on time was a definite highlight. Just as Bette knocked on the door, she saw that Tina was already speaking with Helena, and she silently cursed herself for being second in the door.

"Oh, and I meant to tell you two something," Helena smirked, "I have decided to up the ante on this promotion. If you win, you will have two weeks to explore Brazil. Your imaginative minds will be hard at work, I’m sure, but you’ll still manage to have some fun." She spoke as if the trip meant nothing, although both women beamed at the mention of such a vacation.

Bette stepped in and handed Helena her article.

"Oh, and on an unrelated note, has anyone seen Jenny?"

Tina looked over to Bette with wide eyes, as if to ask whether to mention what had happened over the weekend or not.

It wasn’t until the end of the day that the concern arose again, and they both lifted their heads to a passing conversation. Everyone in the office could hear, but Bette and Tina were most keen on the information.

"I don’t know … I heard she’s caught up in some big deal or whatever …"

They hadn’t heard anything of importance, but were still caught off guard when Helena called them both back into her office.

The next Tina knew, she was on a plane.

Not literally, of course. It was approximately a week later, and she was as ready as she could have been for the trip to Brazil.

Sitting on the plane, Tina tried to ignore it – gave it her best shot, really – but couldn’t ignore it any longer. Just getting onto the plane in the first place was a great challenge for someone as afraid of flying as she was, never mind the annoyance beside her. She opened her eyes only a crack before parting her lips and showing her frustration.

"Could you stop that?"

"I guess I could," came the cheeky reply, and Tina opened her eyes fully to display her annoyance.

"Bette."

"Tina, come on. I have to open this bag," Bette mumbled, still tugging at the stubborn pack of chips.

Tina leaned her head back again and took deep breaths in and out, all the while repeating aloud. "Ignore it and just focus … ignore it and just focus …" What silenced her was the sound of ripping, and then the sensation of chips falling onto her lap. "Bette."