When It All Became 3
by PS


Shane met Bette at the diner not far from her midday appointment. The agency had scheduled her on single-day appointments, generally on short notice. With The Planet out of commission, this place seemed as likely as any to suit their needs.

The waitress kept inching closer to Shane as the young woman scanned the menu. Shane seemed totally oblivious, but it caused Bette to smile.

“Do you have espresso?” Shane asked, finally putting aside the menu. “

The woman leaned forward. “Sure.”

“Ok, can I get a triple shot?” Shane looked across to Bette.

Barely rating the waitress’ attention, Bette ordered an egg-white omelet and coffee.

The waitress’ attention shot back to Shane. “And you’d like?”

Shane rubbed at her forehead. “I’d like to figure out this menu after I have my espresso.”

“You bet!” The waitresses rushed off.

“You have another one,” Bette said, nodding towards the retreating waitress?

“Huh?” Shane was the picture of oblivious.

Bette took a napkin from the dispenser, wadded it, and lofted it towards Shane. No change. Shane remained locked in her morning stupor.

“I don’t get it,” Shane said, finally, putting the menu aside.

The waitress returned with the drinks and hovered, order pad at the ready.

“She’ll have the Big Man combo, eggs scrambled.”

The waitress looked to Bette, then to Shane, and pouted. Shane, working on the espresso, shrugged in agreement, leaving the waitress to stomp off, dejected.

“You don’t have to get it, I ordered for you.”

“I mean, I don’t get it with you and Tina. I know you did some *****, and she’s really angry. But it doesn’t have to be permanent, right?”

Bette gave a bittersweet smile. “That’s my hope.”

Shane returned the smile with a more relaxed on of her own. “That’s good. Because I just think it’s cool that there are people who really can be into each other. I mean, it was that way from the start, right?”

“Well,” Bette hedged.

“But Tina said that you had pulled some earring scam on her, luring her to your clutches.”

Bette chuckled, enjoying the story of their second meeting as filtered through the viewpoint of Shane. She was quite certain in Tina’s version of the story, which she had heard on occasion, the terms “luring” and “clutches” were nowhere to be found.

“We started quickly, which was harder for Tina. She was getting it from all sides. Moving out of her boyfriends, the questions from her straight friends,” Bette took a sip of the coffee, and sincerely hoped for the sake of Shane’s client that this place did a better job on their espresso. “And my friends didn’t make it easy.”

“You’re kidding. Everyone loves Tina.”

Those words, spoken casually, were one of the many that she heard on a daily basis that inflicted a new wound on the psyche of Bette Porter. Try as she might to hide the pain, sometimes a small glimpse of it darkened her gaze. This must have been the case as Bette saw Shane’s look of remorse.

“They do,” Bette agreed, choosing to bypass the small hurt. Maybe, over time, she could show that she was one of those who did, indeed, love Tina.

“But she was coming out. She had been living with Eric, so she had to move out of there. The question was where to go.”

“You guys didn’t U-Haul it, did you?”

“Well,” Bette thought back to happier times, “I did offer my guest room.”

Mostly happy times, anyway. Such as the night when Bette followed Tina through the parking lot. “Tina, please,” she called towards the retreating woman.

Tina’s speed picked up but after a block, she appeared to run out of steam. She sat on a bench at a bus stop, haloed from above by a streetlight.

In an effort to lighten the mood, Bette put on her best smile. “Tina Kennard, I am wearing the wrong shoes to chase you around all night.”

A glance at the sleek pumps on Bette’s feet caused the corners of Tina’s mouth to crease up into a smile. She raised an eyebrow. “But they’re appropriate for dancing?”

Bette shrugged and inspected the bench, brushing it off before seating herself close, but not too close, to Tina. “That’s different.”

Tina’s mouth formed an “oh”. She leaned forward, placing her elbows on her thighs and resting her chin on the back of her hands.

Holding out a shoe for inspection, Bette teasingly swung it behind Tina’s calf, rubbing gently before crossing her legs in front of her.

A fuller smile now set upon her face, Tina leaned into Bette, nudging her shoulder.

Bette gave a nudge back, and, scooting closer to Tina, she threw her arm across the back of the bench.

Tina let out a loud sigh. “Your friends hate me.”

This caused Bette to chuckle, which gained a dark look from Tina. “They don’t hate you.”

“They do. Especially that girl, Alice. She keeps calling me ‘straight girl.’”

The serious look on Tina’s face caused Bette’s giggle to continue. “It’s mass PMS.” Bette gave another nudge. “Besides, I thought it mattered what I thought.”

Tina turned her gaze to Bette, raising an eyebrow. “It’s important to me that your friends accept me.”

Bette placed a hand on Tina’s shoulder and gave a squeeze. “They will. They just don’t know you yet.”

“They know about Eric.”

“Alice was at the gallery that first night. She saw you two.”

Tina leaned over, placing herself more into Bette’s grasp. “Oh.”

“I guess she made an impression.”

“Only one person made an impression that night,” Tina admitted. “You should know that.”

Bette leaned so her mouth was close to Tina’s ear. “Only one person made an impression on me.” She placed a light kiss on Tina’s cheek to punctuate the statement.

“It’s strange.”

“What?” Bette thought that surely this woman couldn’t find it strange that someone would find her attractive.

“Since this, us, and Eric,” Tina gave a small shrug, “my friends have been strange. I don’t know what my family’s going to say.”

Bette had dealt with more than one case of straight-girl regret in her time. The thought that she could be rejected from something that was so right for reasons that were so external cause her breathing to speed up, shallow.

Bette knew that Tina felt a deep connection between them, she just needed Tina to acknowledge that to herself. “What do you want?” she asked, taking the direct approach.

“I don’t know that I want to go back there,” Tina motioned towards the club.

“So” Bette paused.

“So?” Tina offered nothing in reply.

Taking a chance, Bette muzzled Tina’s neck. “I could think of a few things we could do here.”

If the night had been cooler, Bette probably would have felt the heat rising on Tina’s face. “Bette, the bus”

“You want to do it on the bus?” Bette purred. “We can, you know.”

But Tina didn’t reply further. Even worse, she leaned away from Bette’s attention, which caused Bette to mentally chastise herself. But she needed a way for Tina to understand that one night of bitchy friends was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Especially if things went as Bette had long hoped since they first met.

The silence was growing uncomfortable. Tina broke it, finally, with a timid statement. “This is going to sound stupid.”

Bette couldn’t help but smile at the demure tone coming from Tina. “I doubt that.”

“You, umm, me, uh,” Tina’s words spoke to thoughts she either couldn’t fully grasp, or couldn’t bring herself to say.

Battling an urge to cover Tina’s mouth with a kiss and hope that just solved everything, Bette sat and tapped a foot, releasing energy, and hoping the movement wasn’t too noticeable.

“The reason you are seeing me,” Tina finally continued, “it’s not just a ***** thing, right?”

“To be honest,” Bette began. She thought of trying to go for another light quip, but it was clear from Tina’s face, even in the light and shadows of the street light, that now was not the time for flip. “To be honest, I adore you, physically, and being with you,” Bette stroked the back of her hand on Tina’s cheek, “making love with you.”

‘Please stay with me for the rest,’ Bette thought. She could read a growing stiffness in Tina, a symptom that she was again ready to flee.

“Making love is a vehicle to express how I feel, what I feel, for you. I care for you very much, see such beauty in you, and in us. Being with you, loving you lets me to show you that beauty.”

Tina visibly relaxed. She leaned into Bette’s caress, her eyes closed, face open, showing the enjoyment in the nearness. “You keep using that word.”

“Word” Bette feigned ignorance. She hadn’t intended to reveal so much tonight for fear Tina would think there was too much happening too quickly. But she knew that to keep this woman, she would bare her soul.

“The word, Bette.” Tina opened her eyes and turned slightly, forcing Bette to meet her gaze. “Love?” she whispered.

Bette again played many scenarios through her head. Her momentary hesitation was seized by Tina, who met Bette’s mouth in a hungry kiss. A hand slipped onto the back of Bette’s head, fingers keeping, but not forcing, the two of them close.

They continued the kiss. Bette could feel herself growing increasingly aroused. She fought with the desire to move her mouth to Tina’s *****, and instead pulled away for a breath. She rested her forehead against Tina’s. Each of them was breathing heavily.

“We have two choices.” Bette saw the desire she felt reflected in Tina’s face. “First, my bed.”

“Second?” Tina’s lips twisted into a wicked smile.

“The bus.”

Tina wrinkled her nose to that. “I think I’ll opt for comfort.” She teasingly ran a hand up Bette’s thigh, stopping just before she reached the apex. “This time.”

That did it. Bette grabbed Tina’s hand and the two of them, quickly, made their way back to the club to retrieve Bette’s car.

“So what happened?” Shane’s voice broke Bette reverie.

“Hmm?” The memory of those early days played across Bette’s lips in a smile.

“What happened. Did she move into the guest room?”

Bette tried to maintain a neutral expression. “Yes, she did.”

Shane narrowed her eyes. “But did she ever sleep there.”

This time Bette had a harder time keeping a smile away. “Of course she did,” knowing full well that while that might technically have been true, it was rarely without Bette being there, also. The two of them had, essentially, shared a bed and a life from the day Tina moved in.

“Liar.” Shane took another drink.

Bette couldn’t help but again feel the tears, the loss, thinking back to what they had.

“I didn’t mean.” Shane almost choked on a mouthful of coffee. “I just meant.”

But Bette placed a hand on Shane’s arm, and dredged up a smile from among the tears. “It’s ok. It’s good to remember what I lost, what I need.”

Shane shook her head in a way that Bette knew, she really did understand. For Bette to be able to get Tina back, she had to understand how things were when it all became obvious that they were meant to be, meant for forever, and figure out how the two of them, being who they were now, could get to that place.

And for the first time in a long time, Bette felt hope.

(the end)