“You are on for tonight, Porter. Bring your tongue, but leave the verbage behind” grinning as she hung up.

Bette stared at her phone, shaking her head. It was 2:30 already. She quickly put on her sweater, blue jeans and long black trench coat, grabbed her walking cane and headed out into the cold New York City weather.

———————————-
Diva HeadQuarters, NY
“Congratulations to Diva for becoming the number 2 magazine.” Helena Peabody raised her wine glass as a toast. She walked around confidently among the circle of excited women standing outside her CEO office. “Now ladies listen up. We are going for number 1 so pull up your socks and pantyhoses, start burning the midnight oil and if your husbands or partners” she broke off momentarily to look pointedly at Alice “leave you, well you are better off!”

The women cheered, jubilant that their hard work and long hours were paying off. Alice was especially pleased—since she had started at Diva, the magazine had tripled subscription and doubled sales of newsstand copies.

“Alright everyone, back to work” Helena turned to Alice, “can I see you in my office for a bit?”

“Sure,” Alice nodded and followed her beautiful brunette boss into the luxurious space, with a large mahogany desk, several expensive art pieces lining the walls and two plush leather couches. She sat down opposite Helena at the desk, wondering what this one-on-one meeting was about. While she didn’t harbor any personal interest in Helena, they were past formalities and shared a good rapport. Helena would even occasionally flirt with her and Alice would cleverly dodge or divert the statements and pretend to be naïve.

“Alice, how would you like to head up our international version of Diva in London?” Helena asked not wanting to tiptoe around the issue. “We are looking to expand operations and no one is better qualified than you to undertake the project. You have done a great job here in New York, and greener pastures await you yet.” Helena smiled, still in celebratory mode.

Alice was startled. “Helena…I am very flattered by your offer, but I cannot just pack up and leave for London. This is my home. I have family here. I also need to think of my wife, Bette…” She stopped as Helena started to frown.