Shane had clicked in again, “Okay, Bette shifted her schedule around, and will meet you at 7 for dinner in a Café Milano in Georgetown, I believe.  She’ll shift her hotel to the Four Seasons in Georgetown, in case you and her will need more time.”

Diane answered nervously, “Ummm… Shane… what do I tell her? How much does she know?”

Shane sought to assure her friend, “Don’t worry, Diane.  I explained a bit about your leaving New York, and having an episode, and going home, probably to try to figure things out.  So feel free to start by filling her in from the start.  And you can tell her everything.  Everything, Diane.  I think it would be better that way.”

“I’ve always been intimidated by her, though,” Diane admitted.

Shane laughed, “Phewww… Bette?  She is the biggest softie around.  She may be a hard-ass in her public persona, but believe me, she has the biggest heart of anyone I know.  She will go to the ends of the earth for her friends, much more for those she loves.  She has fought for me, when even I gave up on myself.  She’s pulled me out of the deepest shit…  Give her a chance, Diane.  She may well surprise you.”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

“I first laid eyes on her in the hair salon Shane works in,” Diane started, as she and Bette sipped their drinks.

“I .. um.. was struck,” Diane tried to explain what she’d felt, using her hands to express what she remembered feeling.

Bette smiled, “senseless, I believe, is the word you are searching for.”

Diane smiled back at her, easing into a level of comfort that Shane had assured her she would find in talking to Bette.

“They had seated her next to me, and her chair was the one closest to the window that overlooked this wonderful pocket garden.  And when I turned to look at her, the sunlight that spilled into the garden seemed to set her aglow, and her wide smile was just so warm and friendly, but dazzling,” Diane continued, her voice growing softer, remembering the dream-like quality of the indelible moment she and Jules had first met.

Bette listened patiently, smiling inwardly, as she recalled the moment she and Tina had been introduced to each other in her gallery.  Her world had tilted towards the blonde irrevocably from that moment on, as well.