Set in 1996 (8 years before season one finale) in LA, after Bette’s relationship with Alice and before she met Tina.

As Bette strode down the hallway of her gallery she had a thousand thoughts vying for attention in her mind. Chief among these was the nerve of an artist with whom she had a contract, and who was now trying to weasel her way out through a loophole. She was so absorbed in her thoughts she hardly noticed anything odd as she walked by the room containing a new collection of art.

When she doubled back to take a closer look she wasn’t sure which was stronger, her irritation, her urge to laugh, or her confusion. There, in the middle of the room, sat a young woman. She was looking at one of the photographs on the wall with her head cocked to one side, her legs out in front of her and her arms slightly behind her, propping her up. She was wearing a strapless black dress with white polka dots and her strawberry blonde hair was tied up in a loose bun from which several strands had managed to escape. Bette noticed with further surprise that the girl’s feet were bare, her shoes sat beside her on the floor.

Bette was not sure how to react and, as this uncertainty was not something she was accustomed to, she settled on simply walking into the room, hoping the girl would notice her presence and stop behaving so oddly.

When Bette walked into the room, still not within the range of vision of the girl, the girl did not even turn her head, let alone stand up and put her shoes on as Bette had been hoping she would. Instead she simply continued her examination of the photograph. Again Bette was not sure how to act. She did not really want to disturb the girl, after all she seemed to be entirely engrossed, but her behavior was simply so unorthodox, and it certainly was not acceptable behavior in a gallery. As she could not come to a conclusion Bette simply continued to watch the young woman as she stared.

When the girl did not move, Bette transferred her attention to the photograph the girl was examining with such intensity. It was a distorted black and white of a road in New York City. Because of the angle the photo was taken at and the alteration of the lighting by the artists, one had the impression that the cars were moving with remarkable speed directly toward the observer. Viewing the picture from this angle gave Bette a slight, almost imperceptible feeling of panic, as if she was actually standing in the path of the on coming cars. She had never noticed this quality in the photograph before and decided that she would have to put more effort into procuring more art from that artist in the future.

Just as Bette began to get preoccupied trying to remember the particulars about the artist the young woman on the ground shifted her position so that she could examine another photograph. By changing the direction she was facing she brought Bette into her field of vision.

“Oh, hello.” she said. There was no trace of embarrassment in her voice. She flashed a smile that radiated confidence and authenticity. She stood up to introduce herself properly.

“I’m sorry, I was so busy looking at this piece I didnt even notice you. My name is Della.”

She held out her hand to Bette, who grasped it rather awkwardly. Bette opened her mouth to respond, expecting charming word to simply roll off her tongue as usual. Instead she found her mouth empty and her heart beginning to beat faster, whether this was because of panic at being lost for words for once, or something else, she could not tell