Shannen glanced around. "Where is this place?"

"West Hollywood." Tina replied casually.

"Huh." Shannen took off her sunglasses, and glanced at the name of the café. "The Planet. Why does that..."

Tina watched her friend in worry, bracing herself for the accusation and verbal beating she was sure to receive.

Shannen turned to Tina with a fiery look. "You liar."

"I told you I knew where to get good coffee," Tina protested. "I didn't lie."

"And the fact that this is Bette Porter's hangout doesn't mean anything," Shannen said sarcastically.

"Shan, the woman stopped returning my calls last week. I'm not letting some woman with an overinflated ego ruin my pursuit of the perfect coffee." Tina replied.

"Uh huh, okay." Shannen rolled her eyes, dismissing Tina's entire reply. She turned to regard the exteriors of The Planet. "This is nice, though."

"Yeah, um, Shan?" Tina broached hesitantly.

Shannen knew very well what the hesitation meant, and she provided an immediate answer: "No."

"What?" Tina asked, surprised.

"Whatever favor you're going to ask, TK, I'm going to go with 'no.'"

Tina rolled her eyes. She should've known better than to try with a Yale graduate. "Okay, fine. But if we see Bette you can't act like you recognize her."

"I was your espionage team on your first date." Shannen reminded. "Remember? Sitting alone in that restaurant while you flirted mindlessly with your bronze goddess?"

"Yeah, I kind of told her I haven't told anyone about her." Tina admitted sheepishly.

"Because--?" Shannen drew out.

"Because you scare every living being that crosses your path!" Tina exclaimed. "I wasn't about to scare her off with the radiance of your inner -- and outer -- bitch."

"Uh huh. Well, she hasn't called in a week, so I guess that backfired." Shannen retorted.

Tina shook her head. "Whatever. But, Shan--"

"Not a word. I promise." Shannen assured her. Taking a pause, Shannen studied her friend. "Tina, you know how much I love your brave front especially in the face of adversity, but this thing, with Bette..."

"It's done, Shannen. Don't make more of it."

"But you really like her."

"And I want to be with her," Tina nodded. "But I don't like ultimatums."

"Sure, and I don't like Mondays, but they have a funny way of coming around." Shannen pointed out. "Sure, she's a woman, and this is going to be something completely new and different for you. But you really like her. And from my vantage point, she really seems to like you. Sure, she's a she, but that's a minor detail. So what's the problem?"

"The problem is that the pronoun assigned to Bette isn't a 'minor' detail. The problem, Shannen, is that if I do it: If I want to be with her, everything I know's going to change. I can lose friends. I can lose my standing at the company. I will face discrimination and disrespect simply because of the sex and gender of the person I love."

"Well, yeah," Shannen shrugged. "But it'll be worth it."

"Yeah," Tina sighed. "But, as I've said: she stopped calling last week."

"Did she say why?"

"Because I wouldn't introduce her to my friends?" Tina guessed.

"Your friends who have been scrambling to get films ready in time, to be released in time, to be considered for awards season?" Shannen asked. "Have you told your gallery owner that it's a matter of bad timing?"

"Yeah, she wouldn't believe me."

"Well, if we didn't work together and were working on the same movie, we wouldn't even see each other." Shannen continued.

"That's what I said!" Tina exclaimed. "Apparently everything works on her time, and she wants to meet my friends now."

Shannen smiled sympathetically at her friend. "So that's why we're having coffee at The Planet?"

"A little." Tina admitted.

Shannen laughed. "Okay, Tina. But if she does anything to upset you, I'm going to have to unleash the Prom Queen within."

"Deal." Tina smiled at her. "Thanks, Shan."

"The coffee better be damn good." Shannen muttered, following Tina into the café.