"No."

            "Overload of work?"

            "No."

            "Lots of cute art
students?" ventured Sam. 

            Bette
laughed, "There is that."

            "I knew there were
perks to this job!"  Smiled Sam,
Bette blushed. 
"Come on, you owned your own gallery, a successful one, had to be a
reason you dumped that and started this."

            "The gallery had a lot
of memories, and I needed a fresh start. 
I thought this was a nice start to a new beginning.  I’m not looking for young hot art students."

            "Not looking for
anyone?"  Sam
asked curiously, and her cell phone rang, then as she was answering it, Bette’s
also rang.

            "Hey, Sami,"
Shane’s voice drifted through the phone.

            "Bette,
how are you today?"  Dana
said into Bette’s phone. 

            "I’m good, how are you
doing today, Dana?"  Bette fell
into a conversation with Dana. 

            "So you’re in?"  Shane
asked Sam, who was still eating while talking on
the phone.

            "Sure, tomorrow at
what time?"

            "Six, bring a date,"
eluded Shane.

            "I don’t date," added Sam,
closing the phone with a resounding snap. 
Bette had heard the comment, and tried
not to let her disappointment show. 

            "Isn’t that an odd
thing to be doing?  To be having a party
to celebrate losing your hair?"  Asked Bette.

            "Bette,
just show up, and bring a date too," stated Dana,
hanging up the phone before Bette could say
anymore.

            "Was that Dana?  She invited you to the head shaving party of
the year?"  Sam
laughed.

            "Yes, it was, I think
it’s is a bad thing that she is doing this. 
Shouldn’t she be concentrating on getting better?"

            "She is, Bette.  She’s just taking it lightly, dying isn’t
easy."  Sam
said offhandedly, sipping on her bottle of water.  "I know, I watched my wife die."

            "You did?"

            "I did, and Shane
and Dana? 
They are enjoying what time they have left, and if she pulls through,
then they’ll enjoy that time even more so. 
You gotta let ‘em live, let them celebrate the oddest things.  Maybe this stem cell treatment will work,
maybe it won’t, but I hope it does.  You
going to go?"

            "Yes," thought filled Bette’s
voice, she thought about how her own father had died, his anger, his life not
lived to the fullest.  "Yes, I’m going
and I’m going to have fun."

            "Oh, then I’m definitely
going…," said Sam as her cell
phone began to ring again.  She snatched
it up, "Darci, hi."  Sam
smiled and stood, moving off to the far corner of the room.  Bette watched
her, and began to eat the steak, which was as close to perfect as she’d ever
tasted.  Sam
spoke into the phone, animated and serious. 
Snapping the phone shut.  "I’m
sorry, I have to go.  I’ll see you
tomorrow?"  Sam
asked hopefully.

            "Absolutely," said Bette.  Disappointed that she hadn’t gotten Sam
into a deeper discussion.  The doctor had
a way of worming right into your psyche when you least expected it.  Sam left the
room, and Bette contemplated things. 

~*~*~*~*~*

            Cassandra threw
herself on the couch, feet aching, ass aching. 
She’d been in the library most of the day, doing research.  No one ever told you that working for a
lawyer would give you so much seat time at the local library. 

            "Is my baby
tired?"  Tina
asked from the back of the couch, leaning down and kissing Cass’s
lips.  Cassandra moaned softly into the
kiss, tugging Tina over the back and into her
arms. 

            "Deadly tired, but
this, this kissing thing?  Hmmm… it’s
helping…" 

            "Good, I was planning
on doing that for a while yet," said Tina,
running her fingers along Cassandra’s chin, trailing her fingers with her
tongue.  "There are certain place’s I’d
like to go massage with my tongue…"

            "If my feet aren’t on
your list, add them?"  Cassandra joked
and Tina  "My ass too while you’re at it?"  laughed.

            "You are tired."

            "This job is a lot
harder than I thought," said Cass.

            "Make sure the boss’
are easy on you tomorrow, we have a party to go too," whispered Tina,
her lips caressing Cassandra’s neck.  Cass
wrapped her arms around her, hugging her closer. 

            "How about we retire
to the bedroom?"

            "How about we have
round one here, and round two in the tub, and round three in the bedroom?"  Tina
asked, her sexual appetite had doubled in the last few months. 

            "Three rounds of
sex?  Good god woman, you are going to
kill me," groaned Cassandra, her green rimmed blue eyes twinkled.  Tina
ran her hand through her strawberry blonde hair, smiling down at her.

            "That’s all before we
eat, now AFTER we eat…," giggled Tina
as they kissed and laughed.

TBC