We Work Better as Friend
1.0 Prologue - August, 5 2013

Los Angeles, January 1996

Int. The Milk - Night

The Milk was one of the most famous nightclubs in West Hollywood, in which gay people, expecially gay women, met each other just to have fun. Usually, group of friends hunged up there, enjoying the company, dancing and drinking something together. Some people, instead, preferred to go there alone, just to hit on someone and spend one of those one-night stands and then pratically forget about it in the morning after.

That night, two of them decided to spend the night there, just hanging out and talking about this and that like two old friends do all the time.
They were observing a group of girls that were dancing a few steps before them.
"What about that one?"
"What? Which one?"
"That cute redhead. On the left, see?"
"Oh yeah. Um, I don't know, she looks like one of those snob dollies, you know."
"Come on, you're scaring me. Usually, you hit on every woman that crosses your path. What the hell happened to the player I know so well?"
"What are you talking about, I am not a player."
"Yes, you are. Bette Porter!"
"Shut up, Alice. I'm not in the mood, that's all."
"Something happened?"
"God, the gallery is driving me crazy. I'm working on the new show and I need to do a lot of meetings. Plus, I need to find a new space, this one is too small to set up the exhibition. I don't know if I can make it"
"When is the show?"
"In two months."
"Two months is a lot of time, you're totally gonna make it! And if you want, I can help you with the research of a new space for the gallery."
Bette, smiled at her friend. "Come on, let's go dance"
"Woah, you're asking me to dance, Porter? You're hitting on me, huh? Now I see why you didn't want that cute redhead. You want the cute blondie, you want me!"
The brunette laughed, "Shut your mouth and come with me".
The woman emptied her third glass of Martini, she grabbed her friend's hand and both of them made their way to the dancefloor.

Int. Alice's Apartment - A few hours later

"Alright, Porter. You drunk a little too much tonight. Let's go sit on the couch, I'll pour you a glass of water" the blonde woman said as she openend her aparment door, trying to support Bette's weight with her body. She finally managed to approach the couch and sat her down. She couldn't let her drive herself home.

The woman made her way to the kitchen and in a few seconds came back, finding the beautiful woman soundly asleep on her couch. 'My God, she's so hot'. She found herself daydreaming about her friend. As she realized it, she shook her head to get of rid of that strange feeling. 'Fuck Alice! Get your-fucking-shit together. She's your friend. You can't fall for your friend.'
Trying to make those thoughts avoid to cross her mind, she reached her bedroom and got a blanket for Bette from the drawer. She gently covered her and since there wasn't any chance that Bette would've woken up before the morning after, she decided to call it a night and went to bed.

Int. Alice's Apartment - Morning

"Oh, Jesus Christ!"
A yell came out from the living room.

Alice woke up at the sound of her friend's voice. She surely was having those awful headaches. Well, that's the price for drinking too much the night before. "I don't envy her" she uttered, amused. Jumping out her bed she exited her room.

"Good morning"
"This morning is anything but good" Bette muttered, holding her head with her hands. She kept murmuring something that Alice didn't get and left herself fall onto the couch, "Oh good Lord, I'm dying".
The blonde giggled "Here, take these" she handed her some pills and a glass of water.
"Next time I decide to drink this much, please kick me in the ass" she said as she sipped. "Jesus, I can't even remember how I got here"
"I got you here. You couldn't drive home. You were way too drunk"
"Yeah, I'm sure I was —" she stopped herself, something came up at her mind. "Oh fuck!"
Alice jumped and widened her eyes, giving her a puzzled look.
"The car! Tell me you didn't leave my car there"
"Well... I could drive just one car at a time, you know"
"Alice, you —" she started talking, then stopped again "Fuck, my poor head, you're lucky my head is killing me or I would've killed you instead" she groaned.
Her friend couldn't help it but find all of this hilarious.
She tried to suppress her laughter, but it didn't work.
"Alice, that's not funny" she rolled her eyes.
"Look, I'll give you a lift at the Milk parking lot on my way to work, okay? Don't worry, you and the love of your life will be back together again, very soon" she teased her.
The brunette ignored the teasing and just gave her a stern look, "Alright, I just need to freshen up and then we can go"

Int. Bette's Office - Bette Porter Gallery

"No, I'm not giving up on that piece, you understand? I want it in my gallery, for the Spring show. I —" she was on the phone, talking to one of those unpleasant artist managers who knew nothing about art. "Listen, stop interrupting me. I don't give a damn if -in your opinion- MOR Gallery is better, we're not talking about you, we're talking about the artist and his talent. I think that his painting needs to be here, at the Bette Porter gallery. Now, act like a really good manager and please schedule a meeting and make sure the artist will be there with you, I can assure you, it's worth it... Fine, yeah... Thanks, bye"
The woman left herself collapse into the chair and sighed. "Fucking managers"

She spent the whole afternoon making phone calls and sheduling meetings with artists and their corresponding managers to make sure to get the show ready as soon as possible. Everything seemed to go smoothly, except for the fact that she needed a new space. And she didn't have the time to make researches.
"Evelyn?" she called her assistant.
"Yes, boss?" a tall and blonde beauty made her appearance. Bette seemed to be a kind of magnet for blondes.
"Listen, I need you to make some researchs. I have a list of the best realtors... here," she handed the paper to her "Can you please contact them and see if they can find something for me? I really need a bigger place for the Spring show, otherwise I won't be able to install the highlight of the show"
"Sure, I'll start immediately"
"Thanks, Eve, you're an angel" she showed her 1000 watt smile.
Her assistant was used to that Porter's smile but she couldn't help but feel weak in her knees everytime. "Anything for my boss" she winked.
"I've always known you were the best assistant a woman can ever ask for"
"Then, I need a price, don't you think?" she teased her.
"We'll see..." she smirked.
Both of them always exchanged those kind of jokes but always kept it as professional as possible. They never crossed the boundaries, even if sometimes it's been really hard to avoid.

Bette found herself gazing at her ass as she exited the office.
She shook her head to wake herself from the daydreaming and puffed, "Porter, you need to get laid", she said to herself.
In fact, she'd always been a very sexual woman but with the show and everything she found difficult to free her mind and feel able to get acquainted with someone. And she was starting to feel the need. Committed relationships wasn't made for her. 'You are a player' her friend Alice would say. Well, effectively, she had a point. The brunette had never been in a relationship for more than one month. And if she was, it wasn't exclusive. Besides, one-night stands were her favourite.

Int. Alice's Office - L.A. Magazine

In the meantime, Alice was busy writing a new article for the magazine. She worked for L.A. Magazine for about two years and felt pretty fulfilled by her job. She was a chatterbox, so words didn't lack. Her articles were the best.
Right at the moment she was surfing the web, trying some details for her new work, before she knew it she found herself searching for Bette's pictures.
Her gallery was pretty famous so there were quite a lot of websites in which Bette made her appearance. 'My God, she's beautiful. What the fuck is happening to me?"
Alice didn't know why those feeling were crossing her mind. They knew each other for three years. They knew a lot about each other. The blonde always saw her exclusively as a friend, but something happened and she was started to see at her in a different way. She was literally falling for her.
She was staring at one of the pictures when her collegue made her jump, "Alice!"
"Fuck! You startled me"
"Sorry, you looked a bit... taken by whatever you were doing, I called you a few times and you didn't hear me" a cute curly haired woman said.
"I know, I'm sorry Tiana, this article is pretty intricate. Anyway, did you need something?"
"Yeah, Carl said he need the paperwork he gave you yeasterday. He wanted to know if they were ready"
"Oh yes, here they are" she handed them to her, "Listen, can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure!"
"Um, your brother... is he still in touch with that realtor, what's her name?"
"Sasha?"
"Yes! Sasha"
"Well, yes, I think he saw her a little time ago. Why? Searching for a new place?"
"No, actually, it is for a friend"
"Oh I see, anyway, you need her number?"
"That would be great!"
"Alright, I'll email you the number later, then"
"Thanks Tiana, later!"
As her collegue exited the room, she sighed and without noticing she smiled widely thinking about Bette and how great it would've been if she could help her finding the place for the exhibition.