Bette had been in NY for 2 weeks and knew that the time to send a letter to the girls was quickly approaching.  She had kept her mind off of it until now, but knew that the date was nearing. 

She had been so busy with the gallery that the two weeks that had passed felt like minutes.  The apartment that Peggy owned was in the residence tower of The Four Seasons and was gorgeous.  Bette could not have asked for more extravagant accommodations and knew that she was truly blessed in her friendship with Peggy.

She saw Peggy fairly regularly, but her main contact was with a woman that Peggy considered her right arm.  Her name was Ansley Jacobson and she was quite easy to work with.  Ansley did not have an office at the gallery, but spent a large portion of every day there.  The space that was being used for this project had to be completely gutted and then renovated.  Bette had total control as to how she wanted the gallery to look, but did run plans through Ansley, to be sure that Peggy would approve.

Bette found working with Ansley to be quite easy, certainly nothing like the turbulent relationship that she had had with Franklin.  She was an attractive woman, mid 30s Bette guessed, and very intelligent.  She was a native New Yorker and so knew a great deal about the city.  They never discussed their personal lives, and so Bette had no idea if Ansley was romantically involved with anyone, male or female.  And for that matter, it did not really interest her.  A romantic liaison with anyone at this time was so out of the question.  It was all Bette could do to get out of bed in the morning and muddying that up with a relationship was simply not in the picture.  She admitted though that she certainly cared for Ansley’s company and felt fortunate to have someone like her to work so closely with.

James had gotten to town the previous week, having taken some time off in between jobs.  Ansley had helped him secure an apartment not too far from the gallery.  As for Bette, she was in walking distance as well, but had a car and driver waiting for her for when she needed to get somewhere.