(Justine is walking out and just then Shane’s arriving home.)

SHANE- “Hey!”

JUSTINE- “Hey Shane.”

SHANE- “How’s it going kiddo?”

JUSTINE- “Ok.” (Shane noticed the anxiety in her new friend.)

SHANE- “You wanna come in for coffee? I’m heading into town in a bit. I can give you a lift if you want.” (Justine’s face lights up with hope…Shane was one of the most decent people she’s ever met and what she was desperate for right now was a real friend to lend a shoulder and an ear. She was bursting with all sorts of emotions, thoughts and just didn’t know what to do with them.)

JUSTINE- “Shane that would be great, are you sure you’re not too busy?”

SHANE- “No, not at all. Come on in.” (They enter and head over to the island in the kitchen area as Shane gets the coffee going.) “Were you going to work?”

JUSTINE- “No….well, yes, I guess I was. I might not go in today. Not sure. I’ve got a piece I’m working on now, another project, but I just don’t have the patience today.”

SHANE- “Patience? You don’t have patience for work? Hmmm…what’s competing with work?”

JUSTINE- “She e-mailed.” (Shane looks up at her from the coffee pot.)

SHANE- “Did you do what I told you and wait before replying?”

JUSTINE- “Kind of.”

SHANE- “Kind of?”

JUSTINE- “I e-mailed her again. Told her I miss her. She e-mailed back, almost right away Shane. I couldn’t believe it…finally!!! It’s been like 3 weeks.”

SHANE- “So, what was her story this time?”

JUSTINE- “She said she was busy.”

SHANE- “I’m sorry…I told you my friend…stop e-mailing her.”

JUSTINE- “But she said she might come to visit….”

SHANE- “What?”

JUSTINE- “I can’t believe it…she might actually be visiting again.”

SHANE- “Wow. When?”

JUSTINE- “I don’t know.” (Shane looks at her suspicious of this bit of news from the mysterious Dr. Bertrandeisen.) “I mean she said she’ll tell me more later when she figures out her itinerary.”

SHANE- “Okay, you know what happened last time Justine. Don’t get your hopes up ok? Just assume she’s not coming and go with the flow. Her plans seem to change more than my dates!”

JUSTINE- (She smiles at the comment…) “I know, I know….but…”

SHANE- (She stands leaning on the island, next to her…) “But what?”

JUSTINE- “Oh Shane, last time we came so close. I’ve missed her so much all this time that’s gone by. Maybe this is finally it, maybe we’ll finally figure things out.”

SHANE- “Justy, I know how you feel, but I remember what happened after that last visit. I never met the woman, don’t know much about her, you’re so private about it, and it’s all based on what you told me, but I don’t like what I’ve heard so far. She sounds self-interested and while she might value your friendship, I think your heart is just in a different place. You can’t expect anything from her, it wouldn’t be fair to her but it’s not fair to you either to play with what she must know are very deep and sensitive feelings.”

JUSTINE- “Shane I can’t stop thinking about her. It’s been so long since she was last here and I don’t think a day has gone by that I haven’t thought of her.”

SHANE- “Justy….”

JUSTINE- “Thank you…”

SHANE- “For what?”

JUSTINE- “This has all been so new and difficult for me. I don’t know what I would have done without you to talk to, especially after her last trip here.”

SHANE- “It’s ok. Glad I could help. Do I get to meet her this time?”

JUSTINE- “I dunno. I hope I get to see her while she’s here. I almost think she’s going to come and then give me excuses or something about how she’s way too busy.”

SHANE- “I can’t imagine she wouldn’t make time to see you if she’s here. She’d be pretty nasty if she did that. From what you’ve told me, I think your friendship is important to her, despite her indecisive behaviour towards you. But if she pulls something like that, she’ll be meeting me sooner than she thinks…and it won’t be a meeting she’ll forget!”

JUSTINE- “You’re sweet.”

SHANE- “Shhhhh!” (Justine chuckles.) “I’ve got a reputation to uphold you know.”

JUSTINE- “Yes ma’am. Oh Shane, I really hope she comes.”

SHANE- “Remember…no expectations. Just go with the flow.” (Justine nods, but Shane worries.)


(In the car, Jeffrey wonders why his sister has gone silent.)

JEFFREY- “You ok?”

TINA- (She turns to look at him after he disturbed her gaze out the car window…) “Yeah.” (She smiles.)

JEFFREY- “Long flight?”

TINA- “Oh yeah. Tired.”

JEFFREY- “Is the hotel ok?”

TINA- “Yep. They let me leave all my bags in storage, no charge. Jimmy said ‘anything for Jeff.’”

JEFFREY- “He’s a good guy. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you at the airport. This thing at work just went down to the wire. It’s been crazy.”

TINA- “No problem. But you work too hard. All this time and not one visit from you. You gotta take it easy Jeff or it’s going to wear you out.”

JEFFREY- “You sound like mom. Don’t worry. I’m doing great and I enjoy it. Now, how about you? I see many thoughts going through that mind of yours. You still thinking about stuff back home?”

TINA- “Actually, no…thinking about new stuff here. I can’t believe I’m in Los Angeles. My first day and already an adventure in…hey, what’s WeHo?”

JEFFREY- “You never heard of WeHo?”

TINA- “No, why?” (He shakes his head.)

JEFFREY- “It’s West Hollywood. The uber trendy…”

TINA- “Was that café part of it?”

JEFFREY- “Yes, why?”

TINA- “Interesting place. Had a nice atmosphere. Kinda West Village, kind of not. Well, very different. You know what’s odd…”

JEFFREY- “What?”

TINA- “Now that I think about it, there were very few if any men there. It seemed overpopulated with women. Hey, is it…”

JEFFREY- “Yep, famous hangout for the saphists.”

TINA- “Ohhh. Hm. The women there seemed so nice. Really decent. I barely met them, but you could tell and they just seemed fascinating.” (Jeffrey just smiles.) “Bette Porter, you’ve been to the gallery where she works?”

JEFFREY- “Yes. Oh wow….Bette PORTER? I don’t know why I didn’t recognize here. She’s actually well known. I didn’t realize it was her until you mentioned her last name just now. But wow, if I had known I would’ve chatted her up. She’s one of the youngest directors in the galleries here.”

TINA- “Really?”

JEFFREY- “Yeah, she’s on her way up for sure.”

TINA- “She’s got quite a presence. She’s striking.”

JEFFREY- “Definitely. I know she’d turn my head if she were straight.”

TINA- “She’s gay?”

JEFFREY- (He chuckles…) “Okay T…lesbian café in WeHo…”

TINA- “I know Jeff, but that doesn’t mean they’re ALL gay!”

JEFFREY- “I’m actually just playing you…I wouldn’t have necessarily known, but she was featured in Horizons Magazine recently as an up and coming art world type and they went into her bio. That’s really how I know for sure.”

TINA- “We should go to see the exhibit. I’d love to have a look.”

JEFFREY- “At your service, madam.” (They continue for the rest of the drive and catch up, the way siblings do.)

(Bette was at her desk now, rifling through proposals, pictures, post-it notes…)

BETTE- “Friggin ridiculous. James!” (He pops in.) “Where is that stuff from Paris?”

JAMES- “Stuff from Paris?”

BETTE- “Evangeline Bertrandeisen….”

JAMES- “Oh, sorry. Dr. Bertrandeisen’s assistant sent me an e-mail. It’s coming tomorrow.”

BETTE- “Why didn’t you tell me?”

JAMES- “Uhm…I did…I forwarded the e-mail.”

BETTE- “Sorry…I actually haven’t had a chance to even look at my e-mails the past hour.”

JAMES- “Can I help you with anything?”

BETTE- “No, I’m just flustered, trying to reorganize the exhibit a bit. Your set up with the report was helpful actually. I guess I’m just tired or distracted or…whatever…”

JAMES- “Well, it’s been going great so far. It’ll be fine, I’m sure.”

BETTE- “I hope so. Tell me something, I might try and add some special invitations for the reception on Friday, can you arrange that?”

JAMES- “Sure, just give me the contact info.”

BETTE- “I don’t have it yet, but I want to write a note too to include, so…”

JAMES- “No worries. I’ll prepare it and it’ll be ready once you’ve got the info. I printed extras so we don’t have to wait to put an order in. But I’m glad I thought of that…I didn’t know we’d be adding people at this point. It’s pretty filled up right now.”

BETTE- “Yeah well I wasn’t expecting to invite anyone else but…anyway…thanks James.”

JAMES- “You bet.” (He goes back to work.)

(Bette just stops for a moment and leans back in her chair. She turns it and leans her head back, resting it on the comfortable surface. She’s recollecting a time a few years ago…a time of new things, new friends, new beginnings…)

SHANE- “Bette, it’s complicated. I think you should slow down.”

BETTE- “I don’t want to slow down, and you know what? Neither does she.”

SHANE- “There’s not much foresight in your approach obviously.”

BETTE- “No need to get ahead of myself, so why should I?”

SHANE- “Bette…don’t you think you should give her time?”

BETTE- “Time for what? To change her mind?”

SHANE- “Yes, exactly!”

BETTE- “What?!”

SHANE- “Take a step back for a moment, breathe. Look what happened with Freddie and I.”

BETTE- “She’s not Freddie.”

SHANE- “Oh yes she is, in every important way…she doesn’t know what she wants or who she is right now. Are you sure you want to step in prematurely and lead her down a path she’ll regret? Bette, you’re not the only one who will be disappointed…you’ll break her heart.”

BETTE- “I really care about her, do you think I would do that?”

SHANE- “In a second…not intentionally…but ultimately that’s what’s gonna happen if you’re not careful. She might just be confused and end up figuring out that all this is an interesting time in her life and all you are is an amazing person, the likes of whom she’s never encountered and you’ve awoken something…and that’s good….but when the dust settles what if it’s just an interesting time of self-discovery for her and nothing more but she’s gone into it with so much more?”

BETTE- “That’s always a danger Shane, for all of us…”

SHANE- “Yeah, except here you’re not on a level playing field…she doesn’t really know what she’s getting into…you DO.”

(Bette opens her eye and turns to look at a black and white photograph framed and hung on the opposite wall. She remembered the young artist who gave it to her…)

KATHERINE- “I want you to have it.”

BETTE- “I don’t know what to say.”

KATHERINE- “You don’t have to say anything, as long as you don’t mind me saying what you already know…I love you and I missed you…I…I’m going to miss you so much…” (Her eyes tear up very quickly. Bette put her hand on Katie’s face and was moved to emotion of her own.)

BETTE- “I’m sorry…I don’t know what…you’ve meant so much to me.” (They seem to stand there in some awful stance of pain and passion, and Bette moves in slowly as Katie holds back a bit. Bette gently touches her cheek with her lips while still caressing the other side of Katie’s face with her hand.) “You’ve been wonderful.” (She sighs and her eyes shut.)

KATHERINE- (Embracing her…) “You’ll always mean so much to me.”

(Bette opens her eyes again. She leaves the vivid image of the young blonde Katie in the recesses of her mind and starts to think of her present day circumstances…that first moment in the Planet that “Lothario” turned to look up at the blonde Tina who was lost and who had found her way to Bette and Alice. She was like Katie in some ways, and maybe that’s what struck her at the time, but she was so unlike Katie or any other woman she had known. So many women had peaked her interest, but this one commanded it. She disarmed her, which was not a feeling to which Bette was accustomed. Even Katherine’s innocence and raw emotions, powerful though they were, didn’t quite impact her like this. What is it, she wondered, about this woman who seemed so delicate and yet so conquering in her effect. How strange, she thought to herself, but if one thing was for sure, she was not about to just let this go. ‘Take a step back,’ she thought to herself as she remembered Shane’s words…’breathe’. ‘Probably a waste…she’s probably straight…’ Bette says to herself.)