“When are you going to break down and call her already. This has gone on long enough.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Alice.”

“You don’t know what I’m talking about?” Here it comes, my daily lecture from Professor Pieszecki.

“We’ll do it the hard way, since you want it that way, Bette.” Before she starts she hands me my seemingly daily dose of aspirin. After she was satisfied that I wouldn’t choke on the tablet, she began to lay it on thick.

“Do you remember that woman, say about this tall, blonde hair, answered to the name of Tina, TK, or in your case T?”

“What’s your point, Al?”

“When are gonna stop trying to replace her with these no name bimbos?” that’s not what I’m doing. Alice is reading too much into this.

“Bette, I know you think about her, ok? You’re not an iron man. Why don’t you just call her?”

“Why doesn’t anyone ever ask why she didn’t call me? I mean when she figures out what she wants, what she feels. Why can’t someone ask her about seeing how I am” ***** now I’m crying. I guess the aspirin is going to completely useless after this conversation.

“Bette, what makes you think that she doesn’t ask about you? *****.” I’m taking by that little curse my friend let out that she just said something that she wasn’t supposed to. That’s what Alice is good for, spilling the beans. Still it’s not as good as it sounds. This isn’t exactly happy news.

“If she was so worried about me, then how come she hasn’t called me, or wrote, or anything? Why is she putting me through this if she cares so much.” Alice rubs my back as I break down. I didn’t think the news of Tina asking about me what hit me this hard. It means she still cares. But what does that matter if she’s all the way in New York?

“So now will you admit that she left you a complete wreak? I’m not sure Bette, maybe because she was a scared kid. And she just wasn’t ready for all of this drama being thrown at her.”

“Is that going to be everyone’s defense for her? She was scared. Scared of what, me, what we had, her mother? What was so ***** scary that she would break up with me and run to her mother’s?”