It was nearly halftime of the Monday night soccer match between France and Germany, and in the midst of the raucous party on one of the bigger yachts docked in the Cannes Vieux Porte, Bette and Jenna locked eyes.  As if reading each other’s minds, they simultaneously stood to walk together, hand-in-hand, to the furthest end of the broad upper deck of the superyacht, in full view of most everyone in the party.

It was time to heat up the series of flirtations they’d been displaying in public.  Their intimate touches and kisses had started since that morning at breakfast in the hotel café, all through the morning during a walk on the beach, and over lunch in the alfresco dining area of one of Cannes’ most sought-after restaurants.

That night, they showed up together for the party on Jeremy’s superyacht, hand-in-hand, looking tanned and glowing, arriving half an hour late,  hair mussed-up and tousled, with the game well underway already.  Bette made sure to keep a smile on as often as she could, and at one point, encircled her arm around Jenna’s waist, drawing her closer, as they chatted with Jeremy and Roger, Carla’s husband.

When Jenna stepped away to get both of them drinks, she dropped a quick kiss on Bette before walking off.  Jeremy and Roger exchanged glances, raising their eyebrows, and observed Bette watching Jenna walk off.

After a minute, Jeremy had coughed a little, and said with a light laugh, “You seem to have found a new friend here in Cannes, Bette.”

Bette didn’t immediately respond, still pretending to look at Jenna, who’d arrived at the bar, and turned to look her way, and had blown her an air kiss.  She smiled back, before turning to look at Jeremy and Roger, responding, “Umm… what was that?”

Roger laughed, and shook his head, “Jeremy was just saying you seem a bit distracted tonight.  By your new friend.”

Bette shrugged, and chuckled, “No, Jenna’s not a new friend.  We knew each other many years ago.  Struck up a friendship.”

She injected a strong tone of regret into her voice, “But we’d avoided being more than friends at that time.”

“Yeah?” Jeremy asked, “So she’s one of those that got away, huh?”