Alice was not happy. Her mother was hastening into yet another marriage. When would she learn? Alice glanced at her mother. She looked radiant. A sort of calm excitement could be seen in her eyes as she applied her blush. Alice had to admit that she did actually look happy. Maybe it was her own relationship experiences that left her jaded. Her on-and-off relationship with Gabby Deveaux could hardly be viewed as healthy, with Gabby clearly using Alice. Alice had known that Gabby wasn’t exactly a monogamist, but couldn’t help but think it was different with them. Unfortunately it wasn’t. Gabby had broken her heart more than a couple times. From there, she had rebounded to Lisa. I must be really messed up to date a man who thinks he’s a lesbian…

"Alice, honey, you’re clearly not doing me any good in here. Why don’t you go outside and see who else has arrived?"

Alice turned to look at her mother, who had already gone back to her blush and was now humming to herself. She really did look happy. Maybe Dick wasn’t so bad. Earlier when they had chatted he did seem like a decent guy. Maybe she should give him a chance… Nah…

She headed out the door, closing it behind her. When she turned and looked up, she stopped, flustered at the sight before her, but quickly regained her composure.

"Hot damn, Porter, that dress should come with a health warning! I would so tap that!"

Bette smiled, "You already had your chance at that, Al. And I think we both agree that we aren’t going back there."

"Yeah, yeah, but still…whew!" Alice chuckled wickedly as she exaggeratedly gave Bette the once-over, her eyes slowly panning down Bette’s trim figure and back up. Bette’s hair was down, with straighter hair flowing into large, loose curls that landed on her shoulders. The straps of the black halter of her dress crossed over her prominent clavicles and exposed her strong shoulders, leading down to the lean, muscular arms. The neckline of the dress swooped fairly low, showing off the curve of her breasts but leaving the rest up to the viewer’s imagination. The fabric of the dress clung tightly to her sides and ended just above her knee, showing off her well-defined calves leading down to her 4 inch Jimmy Choos. Alice silently cursed herself for ever losing that opportunity, but that ship had sailed, and she was truly happy that she and Bette had remained so close after their dating experiment had failed. Her eyes finished their surveying as they met Bette’s. Bette smiled smugly and shook her head as Alice heard a cough from the two who had joined them, standing behind Bette.