Candace: Hello

Danielle: Her voice stressed with panic, Candace? Oh, Thank God!

Her bad luck streak continues. Candace laments to herself. Of all the people who had to call, Danielle is the last person I want to talk to. Danielle Stone being the other half of Jewel Stone Creations is Candaces business partner.

Candace: Hey Danielle.

Danielle: In an exasperated tone, Hey Danielle? Is that all you can say?

Candace: Feigning ignorance. What else where you expecting me to say?

Danielle: sarcastically, Oh I dont know. Maybe you care to shed some light on why I got a very disturbing phone call from Carla. Something about Tina Kennard walking into the Center and accusing you of having an affair with her partner, Bette Porter. Followed by an argument between Mikela, Tina and you, which resulted in Mikela storming out and you sucker punching Ms. Kennard before running out like a thief in the night!

Candace: I should have known Carla wouldnt keep her mouth shut.

Danielle: What!? Look the last thing you should be thinking about is who gave me this information!

Candace: Really. Beginning to get very annoyed, sarcastically asks, And what, Danielle, do you think I SHOULD be thinking about?

Danielle: Ok Candace, you can save the annoyed and sarcastic ***** for someone else, because right now that ***** does not phase me. She pauses for Candace response, but gets nothing but silence from the other end. Alright, be that way if you want, but you better start some serious damage control, because this is OUR business reputation on the line.

Candace: I know that! Yelling into her cell-phone. Dont you think I know that?

Danielle: Screaming back. Yeah! Well then get off your ***** and do something! Taking a few seconds, then calmly warns, Oh, and Candace, when I get back in town you and I are going to get into this.

Candace: Before she can respond the line goes dead. *****! Pulls the phone from her ear and looks down at it in disbelief. She hung up on me. Closes the phone and places it back in her pocket while she mumbles, ***** under her breath.

Candace sits down at a bus stop bench trying to collect her thoughts. Since leaving the Center, all her focus have centered on Mikela. She hadnt given much thought about the other implications and repercussions of Tinas outburst. Truthfully, shes been trying to avoid thinking about Tina altogether. She knows having to deal with what happened between Tina and herself after Mikela left, is inevitable. The simple fact is – Candace punched Tina. No one watching would dispute this, but the reason why she did it is not as simple. To any observer it looked like Tina stepped in Candaces way and Candace lost her temper that resulted in her punching Tina, which is partially true. The whole truth is Tina triggered something off in Candace when she stepped to her and put her hands on Candaces shoulder. As much as Candace hates to admit it, I didnt just lose my temper, I had a relapse.