Chapter 8


Tina entered Alice’s apartment, the conversation she had with Teresa earlier that morning was still on her mind, and she realized that she really liked Teresa but something was still bothering her.
“Out of all the places in the city to meet, Teresa chose the Planet …..*****! ….what am I going to do?” she thought, “What if I see Bette there? …can I handle it?…I don’t think I can ….last time at the Center was so difficult, …I had to remind myself of what she did …the look on her face when she found out I was pregnant almost killed me….. I wanted so much to run into her arms and tell her that I still loved her, I wanted to forget, erase the last six months of our lives, six months without her…..Im not ready …I cant …….what am I going to tell Teresa?”

Alice was in the kitchen, and as soon as she saw Tina she jumped.
Alice: “Hey you…O my God …if you got here ten minuets earlier you would have seen a nasty side of me…my face was covered with the left over food you left in the fridge, …it was delicious ….I love it when you cook”.

Tina blushed, she was embarrassed but she knew she had to tell Alice about Teresa sooner or later, she also knew how bad Alice would take it .
Alice never said anything or tried to push her back into Bette ‘s arms, but Tina knew that in her heart, Alice was hoping theyd get back together.

Tina: “Alice ….I …hmm….I didn’t cook this food.”
Alice: “You didn’t?… whoever cooked it, it was delicious!!”

Tina: “I had a friend over for dinner last night,” she continued explaining.

Alice : “I know, you told me …tell them their invited anytime…as long as there’s extra food for me.”

Tina was quiet, she was trying to find the right words to explain to Alice, when she finally said:
“hmmm……Alice…the person who cooked the other night was not an old friend….in fact, it is a new friend….a very new friend….the female kind.”

Alice smiled, she was trying to understand what Tina was trying to tell her.

Alice: “*****,” she whispered when it finally hit her,” you had a date,” her voice was trembling.

Tina looked at her, Alice’s reaction was as expected, ……disappointed.

Tina: “Yes .. I guess you can call it a date,” she said and lowered her eyes….somehow she was disappointed too, she never thought of having a date with anyone but Bette.

Alice: “Wow ” she continued still shocked,” do I know her?…..does Bette knows her ?”

Tina: “Yes.”

Alice : “She does?!”

Tina: “No ..I meant …youknow her …I don’t know if Bette knows her…. damn…maybe she does,” the thought that Bette might know Teresa upset her, but she quickly recovered. “So what if Bette might know Teresa, Im not cheating, shes the cheater, she’s the liar, I don’t owe her any explanations,” she was caught up in her thoughts when she finely noticed that Alice was waiting for her to talk.

Tina: “I don’t give a damn if Bette knows her or not …she’s not a part of my life anymore.”

Alice knew Tina was lying, Tina herself knew she was lying, Bette was not part of her life anymore, not on the daily basis aspect of it, but she was still very vivid in her mind, her dreams…thoughts…and most importantly….in her heart …nothing and no one, not even she could deny it.

Alice ran her hands through her hair, her eyes were wide open.

Alice: “I need to sit down,” she said and looked at Tina, she had a strange look on her face, a mixture of curiosity and disappointment.

Alice : “So …” she began her inquisition “come on …spill it ..I want all the details.”

Tina hesitated, “God…this is weird,” she thought, she found it hard to talk to Alice about another woman.

Tina: “Before I tell you, you have to promise not to mention anything to Bette…. Dana or Shane.”

Alice: “What?! ” She yelled, “what does Shane and Dana have to do with it?”

Tina: “I don’t want to tell anyone yet …I still don’t know where this is going ….and I don’t want to rush into things.”

Alice : “Okay ..I promise.”

Tina: “Well,” she started, “she’s very nice and very beautiful and she makes me laugh,” she looked at Alice’s impatient expression, “what?…Im telling you what you want to hear.”

Alice: “Tina, cut the ***** …bottom line…. who is she??? not knowing was eating her up alive.

Tina smiled a nervous smile, she was trying to hide it so that Alice wouldn’t think she was pulling her leg.

Tina: “Its the dentist …..Dr. Mendez….Teresa,” she whispered .

Alice’s jumped off the chair like a rocket, in a movement so fast it startled Tina.

Alice: “***** me.. You’re kidding me …no way …” she started pacing around the room, not shutting up for a second, “what?…when?..how?,,,oh my God!

Tina was starting to panic. Alice’s reaction was bothering her”maybe Alice knows something I don’t know, after all, she knew Teresa before.”

Tina: “What Alice?…what is it?…what’s wrong with Teresa?”
Alice stooped, she realized her reaction scared Tina.
Alice: “No … there’s nothing wrong with her …if you like that J-LO type.”

Tina: “J-LO type?” she asked, even though she knew exactly what Alice was saying.

Alice: “You know ….tight jeans…firm ***** ….. Im Jenni from the block-latina-rock your world-give you lap dance- wanna be …you know ….”

Tina laughed: “Alice…. stop it…she’s nice …she really is,” she looked at her friend in a look that said, “Give me a chance will ya.”

Alice sat back on the couch, she looked a lot more relaxed than a minute ago.

Alice: “Im sure she is, …Im sorry … I met her only a couple of times about six months ago…. I think she was very new in town …my friend Jessica was all over her… I had to drag her away …Teresa seemed nice, she gave me her card and thanked me …said to call if I ever need anything …God, who would have thought this would happen?

Tina: “Well it did …I like her ….I don’t know what will happen but I do want to see her again…there’s something about her ….she makes me feel comfortable.”

Alice knew what it was , she didn’t want to say it out loud ….she felt the same when she met Teresa ….that was the reason she helped her dump Jessica in the first place …there was something very familiar about Teresa … ….the way she talked…..her confidence….Alices sharp instinct quickly realized what it was ….something that Tina would probably refuse to acknowledge …the fact was that Teresa reminded her of someone …someone she knew well …she reminded her of Bette.



next day ( morning)


Bette was sitting at her desk, trying to concentrate on her work, she found it difficult, she was still emotionally drained from her first appointment with the new therapist she chose, her name was Deborah Johnson and Bette immediately felt a lot more comfortable talking to her than with Dan Foxworthy.
In the first session Dr. Johnson asked Bette to tell her about her childhood, it was hard for Bette to explain her relationship with her family and especially the relationship she had with her father.
Bette realized a few things in that session, but had trouble dealing with a few questions the doctor asked her.
She was reviewing the session in her head when her cell phone rang.

She looked at the caller ID

” Candace Jewel “

“*****,” she thought, the last person she wanted to talk to was Candace. Now that their relationship was starting to take a different turn, Bette found it harder to talk to her, and the fact that she was starting to know Candace better as a person was too much for her to handle, not that she thought Candace was a bad person, its just that Bette couldn’t see herself building something good with Candace after all the mess they made. She also knew that she was still madly in love with Tina and that Candace didn’t stand a chance compared to her.
She reluctantly answered the call.

Bette: “Hello? she said trying to sound busy.

Candace: “Bette, it’s Candace”

Bette: “I know.”

Candace: “Can you meet me tonight?

Bette: “No, I don’t think so, Im very busy.”

Candace: “Oh, I thought maybe we could have dinner together…I guess not.”

Bette: “Maybe some other time,” she said, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

Candace: “Okay…let me know.”

Bette: “Okay, bye. Bette wasnt sure if she would.

Candace: “Oh, wait…. before I forget…Teresa called me, she asked if you could call her, she wanted to ask you for a favor.”

Bette’s voice changed when she heard Teresa’s name.
Bette: “Sure, what’s her number?”

Candace gave her the number and said “you two seemed pretty close the other night …is there something I should know about?

Bette knew exactly what Candace meant by her last question, she knew that somehow Candace will always see her as “the cheater,” just like everyone else, and that “once a cheater, always a cheater,” is a phrase that now applied to her.
Bette was getting upset; the jealousy in Candace’s voice was annoying her.

Bette: “No nothing at all…and I resent the indication…. I have to go.”

She hung up the phone without waiting for a response.
“Great,” she thought, just what I need…a jealous Candace.”
She dialed the number that Candace gave her, wondering what it is that Teresa needed from her.

“Hello?” she heard Teresa’s voice.
Bette: “Teresa, hey its Bette Porter, how are you?
Teresa: ” Bette, hey, Im fine, thank you for calling.”
Bette: I just spoke to Candace, she told me you needed something.”
Teresa: “Yes I do…. the truth is that I was hoping you could help me out with a little something…. I know your schedule must be really busy, and Ill completely understand if you dont have the time.”

Bette: “No, not at all, what is it?

Teresa: “Well…each Saturday I take Karina and my sisters children to a day of fun. I try as much as possible to make it a little educational as well…you know …the zoo…the botanical gardens…whatever they can enjoy and maybe learn something on the way…. well…. I was hoping they could learn a little more about art…and since you are the expert, I was wondering if you would like to give us a small tour at the art center next week.”

Bette was excited, Teresa was asking her to do something that she would be absolutely thrilled to do, not only did she like Teresa as a person, but it also meant spending time with Karina and the kids, she didn’t hesitate for a second and quickly said: “I would love to, Teresa…what a wonderful suggestion…there are so many special sections for young crowd, Im sure they’ll have a great time.”

Teresa: “Fantastic! Thank you so much.do you want to check your schedule to see if you’re available on Saturday?”

Bette didn’t need to check anything, she wasnt working on Saturday.
Bette: No its fine, Im available, she said, what she really wanted to say was, no its fine, I have no social life anyway.”

Teresa thanked her again and finished the conversation and Bette’s mood changed immediately from dead depression to semi alive.
She even managed to get some work done.


(Evening)

Tina was sitting at the Planet, waiting for Teresa to arrive, it was 7:15 pm, they were supposed to meet at 7:00. Teresa was late and Tina was starting to get edgy, she didn’t want to be there, she wasnt ready to be seen in public with Teresa, she wasnt ready to run into Bette, not even by accident.
She looked at her watch, impatiently, trying to decide if she should leave.
She called Teresa’s cell for the fifth time in four minutes, the voice mail picked up again.
She took out money from her purse and left it on the table.
She spent only fifteen minutes waiting for Teresa and usually Tina wouldn’t think much of it since Teresa is coming from the east side of town, but now, at this place those fifteen minutes seemed like eternity.
“I shouldn’t have agreed to meet her here in the first place, Im not ready…. this is not the place….”
She got up and decided to go back to Alices apartment.
Thats when she heard a voice behind her whispering.

“Hi T”