“It’s not a joke. There was an accident, her plane crashed” Alice broke down

“God help me Alice if this is a joke, it’s not…”

“I’m not ***** with you Dana” Alice shouted angrily “It’s real, turn on any TV and you’ll see it”

“*****..Alice are you sure?”

“Yeah” Was the best Alice could manage

“So the plane crashed”

“Yeah”

“Where?When?”

“Into the ocean off Malibu”

“But there could be survivors Al. Bette might have survived. Dana tried to rationalize the situation

“There’s god knows how many helicopters hovering over the site relaying the footage back to live coverage. I’ve seen it Dana and it isn’t looking good for survivors, they’ve even said as much”

“*****, Alice!” Dana said helplessly, “Does Tina know?”

“Yeah I called her from work and then raced home but she’s gone and I have no idea where she is”

“Well have you tired her cell?”

“Of course I have” Alice snapped

Dana opened her mouth to send a scathing reply but resisted the temptation.

“I need you to go to my place and wait there in case she comes back. I’m going to check Bette’s just in case she’s there”

“OK” Dana replied “Do you want me to call Shane?”

“Yeah” Alice sighed “Tina’s going to need all the support she can get. Call me immediately if she shows up”

“Yeah, OK” Dana replied

Alice ended the call, started her car and headed to Bette and Tina’s place. She used her spare key to get into the house but again there was no sign of Tina. As Alice turned to leave when black and white photo on the bookcase caught her eye. Drawn to it, Alice walked over and lightly traced her finger around the top and sides of the frame, her eyes fixated on the happy faces of her closest friends. Tina is laughing at something to the left of the camera, Bette’s attention is focused completely on her partner and her adoration of Tina is unmistakable. Alice shakes her head, once again refusing to accept that Bette won’t be coming back from Paris.

‘Well I’d be a lot better if you were calling to tell me that Tina’s on her way to the airport as we speak’ Her conversation with Bette floated into Alice’s mind ‘Take care of Tina for me OK?’