(Alice was driving through the pouring rain like a woman on a difficult mission, racing against the clock, the elements, and all the odds it seemed. It was a particularly gloomy day in this the not altogether happy co-existence of the friends who lived and grew together these many years. She hoped to get there in time. She hoped the fruits of her furious labour would bloom in time. She hoped this was finally going to make a difference and save what was seemingly lost and unsalvageable since before Dana died. A long time had passed and now here she was, driving into a destiny she hoped Dana would look down on and smile. She talks to her ubiquitous late friend… “Dane, you better be putting a good word in for me up there or this ain’t gonna work.” Alice finally arrives and parks across the street from the house. She was about to get out of the car but noticed the front door open. Two figures stood in the threshold. They seem to linger, and then morph into one. They kissed and one of them walked quickly into the rain, not looking back and heading for a car parked out front. Alice recognized the car and now realized who the driver was. She wasn’t sure what she had witnessed, but she was glad that who she hoped was still in the house was alone now. Alice waits for the car to drive off and she emerges undaunted in her mission. She grabs the flimsy umbrella and makes her way to the familiar front door, all the while fighting the wind and trying to keep the umbrella in one piece. It was an ominous night. She knocks several times, but no answer. Finally, the image of an old friend appears and slowly opens the door. “What are you doing here?” asks the old friend, with reddened eyes and sullen face.)

ALICE- “Do you think you could let me in please? We need to talk.” (She’s permitted entry and the door closes behind her. Alice drops the umbrella and grabs her friend by the upper arms. Rain drops cover Alice’s face, but don’t deter her expression…she’s fearful and excited…nervous and yet hopeful…angry and yet understanding…) “Was that Jodie who just left?” (Bette nods.) “Is it over?” (Bette looks at Alice intensely and bows her head.) “Bette…we need to hurry…she’s leaving.”

BETTE- “What?”

ALICE- “Tina, she’s leaving.”

BETTE- “She’s going to visit a friend for a few days.”

ALICE- “NO…she has a job interview there…it’s all but done.”

BETTE- “Alice what are you talking about? She wouldn’t do that…”

ALICE- “Bette…please…listen to me…it’s not THAT close…she is planning to move there once they give her an offer. She’s going to commute with Angie, it’s an executive position, so you can continue your regular custody arrangements. But she’s hoping you’ll travel a bit too to see Angie when you can.”

BETTE- “No…no…she would have told me about something like that. She wouldn’t take Angie to another city, even if it is that close.”

ALICE- “BETTE….LISTEN….Peabody has its subsidiary there…Tina would be running it. This will be a PERMANENT move. She’s taking this because it’s close enough so Angie can still see you…are you listening to me????”

BETTE- “Well even if this is true, so what? As long as I get to see Angelica as much as I do now, who cares?” (Bette breaks the grasp, flings her hair back and goes to get a drink.) “You want one?”

ALICE- “NO…no I don’t want one…what’s wrong with you?”

BETTE- “Alice, I don’t understand. You drove all the way over here in the rain to tell me something of little if any significance and you expect me to react in some way. Why?”

ALICE- “No significance? What’s wrong with you? Bette, I know…you and I both damn well know that you’re no where near as indifferent about this as you’ve been pretending.”

BETTE- “I repeat…what difference does this make and who cares?”

ALICE- “YOU do…”

BETTE- “No…I don’t. All I know is that I just watched someone walk away from me and I may have lost her…someone who has become very special to me for the first time in a long time. And all you can do and dredge up the past and the unrealistic future you somehow can’t seem to get over as being totally out of sync with the past couple of years. Give it up Al…that thing is dead and gone…it’s an old song that I don’t want to hear anymore.”

ALICE- “Okay…invasion of the lesbo body snatchers…where’s Bette Porter ’cause I’m really pissed now.”

BETTE- “Come on Alice, I’m not saying anything new.”

ALICE- “Was that not you last week who told me that things with Tina were great and that you had come to terms with the fact that you still care about her and that you’re glad she’s in your life and you think she feels the same way?”

BETTE- “Yes, and there’s apparently a huge gap between those statements and you seeming to think they somehow mean we’re to be together again. A gap that logic doesn’t explain. So we get along and we’re friends again…where exactly did you get something more lovestoryish out of that?”

ALICE- “Lovestoryish? Porter…uuuuugghhhhhhhh!!!!! Stop lying to me Porter. I saw the way you’ve been looking at her this past while…the way she looks at you…you can cut the intensity with a knife.”

BETTE- “Clearly you’re reading into things and totally neglecting to notice my relationship with Jodie, which has been going on for months now…and quite happily I might add…until recently. Here, have a drink.” (She hands Alice a drink, but Alice shakes her head and sits holding her head.) “Suit yourself, it’s only club soda anyway.” (Alice’s cell phone rings and she picks up…it seems she was waiting for the call.)

ALICE- “Yeah…Damn! NO, no friggin luck here…stubborn as a mule. I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway. Yeah ok, bye.”

BETTE- “Excuse me?”

ALICE- “Are you happy now?”

BETTE- “What are you talking about?”

ALICE- “She’s gone. That was Shane. She was waiting for my call so she could try and stop Tina. Obviously, for reasons totally incomprehensible to me, Shane didn’t get my call…thanks to you…so she’s gone…Tina has left the building.”

BETTE- “And? Alice please…you said yourself she’s only going for an interview. Geez Al, it’s not like this was a FAR more dramatic moment…it’s not like she already had the job and was flying to her new life in New York, or London, or Paris or something, with Angelica.”

ALICE- “You know what…that’s exactly what you would have deserved.”

BETTE- “Pardon me?”

ALICE- “You heard me. You know what Porter, you’re really stupid. That job is her’s to lose. The meeting there is a formality, but paying her deposit on the new place, and registering Angelica for the school she found there, as well as moving half her stuff into her new place and new office…not to mention a whole lot of other final steps…those aren’t just formalities….they’re signs of permanency and signs of a point of no return, you ungrateful jackass.”

BETTE- (She a bit taken aback…) “What?”

ALICE- “Congratulations. Once again you are destroying anything apart from Dana that meant anything to me or to your better half…my family, including my earth daughter, are disappearing into the four winds and all I’ll have left is your sorry ass to look at when you’ve realized the opportunity you’ve lost and everything that you have lost.” (Bette looks like a punch to the gut was delivered.) “I’ll have to be reminded of that and this night every time I look at you….every time Shane or Kit looks at you. The relationship that was of all us, somehow part of us, and now…splat….it’s gone because Porter was afraid.”

BETTE- “Afraid? In case you haven’t noticed we haven’t been together in over a year and both of us are in other relationships. As you might recall Tina put most of that into motion and chose the way things are. What part of ‘reality’ do you NOT understand?!!!!!”

ALICE- “YOU…I don’t understand YOU! Bette think about what I’ve said. Just think about it. I’m leaving. I can’t take this crap anymore. You people are driving me crazy.” (She gets up and heads for the door, arming herself with the flimsy umbrella as she aims for the car. She stops and turns to look at Bette.) “And by the way, the subsidiary isn’t where you think….it’s in San Francisco. But hey, at least she’ll have the Peabody Lear Jet at her disposal as Chief Executive Officer or be able to afford the regular flights anyway. Angie will be a very frequent flyer I imagine. Goodnight.” (Alice turns to exit. The door slams behind her. Bette stares at the doorway, standing there with her glass in hand. She struggles to hold back tears, somewhat unsuccessfully, as she thinks about having two women almost totally walk out of her life on this night…two very different women, and two very different exits. She raises her hand and holds her mouth as she tries to restrain herself from outright crying. The tears flow down her face and she raises her glass to take a sip of water…a sort of lifesaver from total breakdown. She walks slowly towards the front door and looks out the window. She looks across the street to see Alice sitting in the front seat of her little car…her head resting on her hands atop the wheel….likely in the same state as the woman inside the house.)


(Tina was on the jet, with Angelica next to her. They were airborne. Tina looks out the window as Los Angeles disappears out of view. Tina picks up a glass left for her by the stewardess and she takes a few sips, swallowing hard to defray the mounting pressure. She turns and looks at Angelica, and pats her on the head softly.)

TINA- “I think you’ll like San Francisco. You know your mom liked it. We went there before you were born, before…well, at the beginning.” (Angelica smiles and Tina looks back out the window. She remembers their first year together and standing near the window of their hotel room in San Francisco, overlooking the city. Bette is holding her close, with her hands on her lower back and Tina’s on Bette’s arms.)

BETTE- (Smiling…) “What?”

TINA- (Smiling…) “What what? You’re the one staring into my eyes. It’s like they’re looking for something…find it yet?”

BETTE- “You’re not exactly looking away.”

TINA- “How could I? Those deep orbs…mmmmm.”

BETTE- “I can’t stop looking at those eyes of yours…I feel like I can’t look hard enough…trying to see deep inside them, trying to discover the source…”

TINA- “Source? Of what?”

BETTE- “My miracle.”

TINA- (Her voice is softened by the light verbal blow…) “Bette…”

BETTE- “God’s really done it…finally blessed me with my own miracle…you mean everything to me and always will.” (Their foreheads touch.) “I can’t fathom life without you.”

TINA- “Nor can I. You are my life.” (Bette tilts her head and grasps the sumptuous mouth by its supple lips. Once, twice, in short rhythms and loving spurts…thrice and a fourth time, until finally engaging the soft lips wholeheartedly. Tina feels the wave of energy radiate throughout her, and embraces the beautiful frame in both love and ecstasy. Tina cannot remember another touch more moving, another person more provoking, another soul more captivating…this was her beginning and ending…this was it, she thought.

The stewardess breaks Tina’s recollection of a far happier time.)

STEWARDESS- “May I get you anything else Ms. Kennard?”

TINA- (Turning after a moment…) “No, no thank you.” (The stewardess walks off and Tina looks at Angelica. She strokes the top of her head, and rests her own on the headrest while keeping her eyes on the little angel.)

(Peggy walks into Helena’s office back in LA.)

PEGGY- “She gone yet?”

HELENA- “Yes, they’re well on their way.” (Peggy sits.) “I don’t know mother, maybe I should have insisted she stay.”

PEGGY- “You have no business insisting anything.”

HELENA- “But it’s not right. Maybe went she gets back we can change her mind. Maybe a different position here…”

PEGGY- “Helena…don’t you think it’s a bit of a lost cause at this point? She’s obviously thought about this. And you know maybe this is what she needs…what they all need. Maybe it’s just time to move on, physically as well so that things can truly move on. And with her new position, which is a promotion, she’ll have the resources to visit frequently as well as have Angelica visit us as often as possible. Bette will continue to be an active part of her life. She insisted on that and she got it.”

HELENA- “Move on? Is that really what you think is meant to be here?”

PEGGY- “I don’t know child, but let’s not meddle. You bunch have been trying to help them for a long time. Alice was running around half-cocked the other day with Shane and Kit. Ladies…let’s get a grip. You’re all well meaning and, frankly, I’m on your side, but you have to be careful to not tinker with fate, with destiny, with God’s plan, if you will. Whatever you want to call it, you should not interfere to the point of changing course. There’s nothing wrong with a little facilitation, motivation, encouragement…but let’s not push them against the force of their own will…at least not without great care, foresight, and strategy.”

HELENA- “What do you mean? Either you’re telling us to stay out of it or not…what are you saying mother?”

PEGGY- “I’m saying don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, but don’t drag them kicking and screaming anywhere…even if you think it’s the right way to go. Helena, maybe this really is the best for them. Perhaps they could really move on and be happy as a family and as friends.”

HELENA- “For as long as I’ve known them they’ve never seemed right for anything or destined for anyone unless it was with each other.”

PEGGY- “Even when you laid claim to Tina when you first arrived on the scene?”

HELENA- “Even then mummy…even then.”

PEGGY- “Well, you were a slightly different creature back then shall we say…Let’s see how things develop. Let’s see how things look when Tina returns from her trip.” (Helena nods.) “Now, I’ve got to go. See you later dear.”

HELENA- “Bye mother.” (Peggy leaves.) “Stubborn as a friggin mule is what that Porter is. Alice is right. Bahhh…they’re both horses’ asses. Drive me nuts.”

(Bette left the house and got into the Saab. She cried and felt desperation take control. She drove until she reached her destination. ‘Maybe this is it for me…last chance Porter…’ she thought to herself. She parked the car and ran to the door and knocked. Jodie answered and stared at the soaked Bette, tears, raindrops, and all.)

BETTE- (Signing while talking…) “Jodie please, please let me in. Let’s talk. Please. I need you.” (She reluctantly lets her in and the door closes.)