A high pitched, demanding cry cut across the rest of Tina’s words.

"Momma, Momma, hurry hurry!"

"Bette, I have to go. I am trying to toilet train Angel and I don’t want to ignore her."

(Slightly muffled) "I’m coming baby. Let’s go"

"Go on T, take care of our baby. I’ll call you when I am done here and heading home." Despite everything, Bette felt herself smile at the sound and feel of the word ‘home’ as it crossed her lips. "I know I’m going to really need you, going to need to be close to you after doing this and this fucking day"

"Ok babe. I love you" came Tina’s reply her heart skipping a beat as she heard Bette’s verbal admission of needing her.

The line went dead and as Bette closed the phone she found herself looking up into the dark brown eyes of a face she hadn’t seen in over a decade. The woman that stood before her was undeniably Monique yet she was different, more toned, fitter and the eyes contained a leanness that had not been there before. Bette watched intently, gauging the woman in front of her as the statuesque, copper-toned woman dressed in black khakis, deep green cargo style shirt and heavy black boots pulled out the chair across from her and spoke.

"So girl, long time no see. What kind of problem do you have that you need me to fix?"

"A rather cynical response I would say Monique. Nice to see you too." came Bette’s sarcastic reply.

"Not cynical, just realistic in my line of work, not to mention something I never thought you, of all people, would need from me" came Monique’s reply as she waved over a waiter and ordered a double scotch on the rocks.

Deciding there was no way to get through this than to simply start, Bette reached for the drink in front of her, took a large swallow and began to explain the situation as concisely as she could. The whole mess took less than 15 minutes to explain but through the course of the conversation several of the patrons of the shop could not help but look briefly in the direction of the woman sitting in the corner talking in hushed but intense tones to the other. The second woman alternated between listening intently and writing quick notes in a pad of paper she slipped from a pocket in her shirt.