Bette smiled to herself, still thinking of Tina’s last remark as she went to the bar and ordered up two martinis. This was certainly unexpected. She had randomly approached a woman at a party, only to find they shared a common link in Alice, with both of them claiming Pieszecki as their closest friend. It was just about the last thing she had expected to happen tonight.

What was Alice playing at, anyway? How was it possible that Alice had never once mentioned Tina to Bette, or vice-versa? Bette shook her head. She would have to get to the bottom of this with Alice later.

Bette collected their drinks and worked her way back over to Tina, handing her a glass.

“Thank you,” Tina murmured, a soft glint in her eyes that Bette couldn’t read. Wariness? Tipsiness? Whichever it was, Bette found this woman magnetically attractive, in spite of the knowledge that she had no chance with her at all.

Bette sipped at her drink, studying Tina above the rim of her glass. She was rapidly coming to the conclusion that she had been wrong in assuming that Tina was a bit of a narcissist. This woman was shy, not that she had any reason to be; she was far too pretty for that. Bette had noticed that Tina was good-looking on the first glance, sure, but something about the blonde garnered the need for more than one look. Further observation showed the fair hair, the milky complexion, the well-proportioned features, all of which gave Tina an oddly soft and innocent look. It made her stand out in a brittle world filled with Botoxed faces and sprayed-on tans. And, Bette couldn’t help but notice, she had just the right amount of curves…

Stop that, Bette chided herself. She looked down briefly before her eyes were drawn back upwards, seemingly of their own accord. Regardless of her not having a chance with Tina, Bette figured looking couldn’t hurt. She felt an appreciative smile forming on her mouth, and tried to hide it by taking another sip of her martini.

As a rule, Bette didn’t understand shy people, especially shy people who wore attention-grabbing dresses. Bette guessed that Tina could only be but so insecure, working in Hollywood the way she did. The shark-infested inner-workings of Hollywood wouldn’t suffer a shrinking violet for long. She found she wanted to know more, and decided to break the not-uncomfortable silence with a question.