The next day, Rebecca reaches Heather on the phone: she at least sounds like she used to, and is thrilled to hear from Rebecca. Heather suggests they meet in Venice...Rebecca actually wanted to get into Heather's house & see how the cop makes her live, but she's willing to start small. And she was longing to see Venice again...

The oxygen bar in the spa is the first change that Rebecca has liked. And Heather doesn't look at all different, married to a cop or not.

"So what is this I hear about you being married to el puerco, H?" Rebecca asks boldly, and Heather stands for a moment in stunned silence. Rebecca suddenly wonders if Coby played a joke on her, and Heather isn't married at all. "Rebecca, I wish you wouldn't call him...that," Heather finally stammers softly, apparently no longer able to even utter the phrase that used to fly off her tongue readily in the old days. Coby didn't lie: Heather is so married to this pig she won't even call it what it is.

Heather gets defensively quiet about her husband & hurries Rebecca to the bar for a drink, where she talks about anything except her home life. She's kept busy with the anti-war movement & tells Rebecca about protests & rallies.

Though she is still burning with curiosity about what Heather is hiding about her arrangement with this cop, Rebecca gets caught up in the activism talk. And of course that means talking about Shannon....With Heather that means starting from the beginning and telling the whole story, how they met at Berkley, they were in all the same student clubs, all about political activism, organizing, protests.

They were friends & sometimes lovers, and when they graduated, they got an apartment together in San Fransisco. It was just temporary, neither of them meant to settle there & their relationship was just supposed to be partying & playing together until they moved on. "It took years," Rebecca forces herself to laugh & tries to make it sound lighthearted, "But I've finally moved on." Heather smiles warmly, an Rebecca feels the tug of the old bond the girls shared. "Well, do you love him, Becca?" Heather asks, and averts her eyes. Rebecca snorts disdainfully, "What? No! It was never about love! That's absurd." Heather gives her an annoying knowing look, so Rebecca changes the subject "When do I get to meet this husband of yours?" Heather's smile turns to a panicked frown, "You won't make any trouble, will you, Becca?" she asks quietly. Rebecca sighs, "I won't call him 'pig' to his face, H, I just want see this guy. You said you'd never do it, so I figure he must be pretty special," she lies, unable to believe this is any 'normal' kind of marriage, not that the 'normal' ones aren't twisted in their own right..."He is special, Rebecca," Heather insists. This Rebecca will have to see for herself.

NEXT