"Ok.  Thank you so much again for last night.  I had a great time.  I couldn’t believe that many people came out," Peter commented.  "And Bette was definitely drunk.  I can only remember one time in our ten years working together that she has told us all to come in at eleven instead of nine.  I hope Alice made it worth her while," he laughed.

"I thought they were just friends?" Tina quickly turned around and asked, this time looking Peter right in the face.

"Well yea, but they used to date a couple of years ago.  After Bette dated Jodi and they broke up, Alice and Bette were inseparable.  They’re not official, but knowing Bette, she’s having her cake and eating it too."

"What does that mean?" Tina asked defensively, giving up on getting ready.

"I don’t know.  It means Bette is a woman that gets what she wants, and if she hasn’t been seen with any woman lately then I have to imagine she’s getting her ‘cake’ from someone else," Peter responded, a bit annoyed at the intrigue he saw from Tina.  "Why are you so worked up about it?"

"I’m not worked up about it.  I just….I knew Jodi very well and always thought they had a great relationship.  I would hate to find out it was all a lie is all."

"No, she loved Jodi.  But Jodi wasn’t the one for her.  Alice on the other hand, I don’t know, she always just stuck around" Peter smirked.  "Bette is like a man in many ways.  Will always take what’s in front of her, but keeps her eye on the prize."

"Nice," Tina felt disgusted by Peter. "Well, I have to go.  I’ll talk to you soon."

"No kiss?"  Peter asked.

Tina turned and blew a kiss at him, "For being such ‘man,’" she coyly responded.

—

As Tina rode a cab to work, she could not help but keep looking at her phone.  She suspected Bette was still sleeping, but the real question on her mind was whether or not she was in bed alone.  She kept telling herself not to think about it, but the truth was, Bette was all she had been thinking about since the previous night.  In fact, when she really thought about it, Bette had been behind much of her recent motivations; dating Peter, having a surprise gather for him, and of course, inviting all of his co-workers.  She felt awful as she realized she was clearly just using him, but at the same time felt as though this was her only connection to Bette.  Their dinner had seemed to go so well several weeks ago, and yet Bette gave up on Tina just as easily as one would turn the page of a book.  It was for that reason she decided to pursue Peter, hoping and knowing through him she would find her.  Would Bette call her this time? Would she even remember the events of last night? Was she in bed with Alice?  So many questions that only Bette could answer ran through Tina’s mind.

As the cab pulled up to her building, Tina looked at her phone one last time before entering.  Still nothing.  This was indeed going to be a long day.