Previously:

Back in the gallery Bette was hard at work, trying as much as she could not to let her personal life interfere with managing her business A few hours passed and she was actually doing a great job until her assistant burst into her office announcing that Tina wanted to talk to her on the phone, before briskly disappearing out of the door.

“T…” Bette softly spoke into the receiver. “How did the flight go?”

“It was fine baby, I just called to say I got here safe and…” suddenly Tina’s voice broke down.

“Tina what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing… I just wanted to apologize for um… being so pre-occupied at the airport this morning.”

“T I understand, I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time earlier.”

“No, I know that all the traveling and spending this time apart is taking its toll on both of us.” there was a short pause from the other line before Tina continued, “God sometimes I just wish we could get away together…”

Bette bit her lip as she flipped through her work. “T that sounds so good I mean listen to me you’ve been gone six hours and I make it sound like you’ve been gone a lifetime.”

Tina was about to drop another quarter into the payphone when a colleague of hers tapped a hand lightly against her shoulder, discreetly signaling to her that it was time for them to go. “Okay baby… Listen I’m really sorry but I have to go… the cab is waiting… I’ll talk to you later… bye.”

“Bye.” Bette smiled as she hung up the phone. Tina had no idea what she was planning to do next
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It was another uneventful day in New York City, or at least for Tina Kennard it was. Standing there amidst the busy urban streets of Manhattan, she felt her whole body involuntarily shiver from the freezing effects of the cold weather. Out of habit she rubbed her palms together trying in vain to generate enough heat throughout her whole system… Taking a minute to collect her thoughts, Tina finally settled herself into the cramped confines of a random taxicab. The cool mid-November air was getting to her, and at the back of her mind she knew that the chilly conditions just served as a silent reminder of the warmth that she was now missing out on at home.

In the midst of her dreary mood the flaxen haired beauty let out an exasperated sigh, today she would be entering into the last leg of her journey to the Big Apple and for some odd reason she couldn’t help but feel depressed. The meeting with studio people had gone along well, and the script she had been working so pain-stakingly on for the past six months had finally been given the go signal for production. Right now all she wanted to do was tell someone… well actually she was thinking of a certain person in particular, and that person was Bette. Keeping this in mind Tina was again reminded of how much she missed her girlfriend terribly… her sultry voice… her soft kiss… her gentle touch… Indeed she longed for everything… but somehow she couldn’t help but sense that Bette wasn’t feeling the exact same way…

Unaware of what she was doing the beautiful blonde let her back press into the firm padded cushions of the taxi’s passenger seat. She remembered the last conversation she had shared with Bette… which was a phone call that took place well over three days ago… and upon hearing her girlfriend’s voice through the receiver that very moment, Tina felt the quiet shadow of regret looming steadily above her. It was on that occasion that she had to tell Bette that she wouldn’t be coming home, or at least not as soon as they had both expected… and as soon as she did this, their loving discussion somehow managed to progress into a full blown argument… again Bette insisted on following her to New York, but Tina would have none of it. She knew that the last thing Bette needed was added pressure to be with her… and that to Bette was simply unacceptable.

Tina found that after they ended their conversation that day, her following attempts to try and reach Bette failed miserably. Every single time she called, her elusive girlfriend was either stuck in a very important meeting or completely unreachable when she tried calling her at home…Oddly enough though it was then that Tina realized that this type of occurrence had never happened to her before. Bette usually made time for her, even if it was just to check up on what she was doing, and given the fact that she told Bette that her stay in New York would be extended, she expected this to make Bette more persistent, or at least cause her to put more effort into making sure that everything was okay… but this time it was different… much more different than what Tina was used to, and she couldn’t help but ask the inevitable: Was Bette Porter trying to avoid her on purpose?

At this point the downhearted beauty found that with each passing second that rolled on by she was gradually thinking more and more about her so-called problem… Was this Bette’s way of trying to punish her? Of letting her know that she didn’t approve of her staying an extra few days in New York? And if by any chance that was the case, maybe she should’ve let Bette tag along with her after all…

Making her way along the busy streets of New York, Tina’s thoughts were a drift once more. Wouldn’t it cause more good than harm to have Bette by her side? Besides it was the striking brunette who offered to accompany her there in the first place… and if things went completely haywire at least it would be better than the situation she found herself quietly suffering through at the moment… Yet as tempting as that offer was, Tina couldn’t let Bette do that for her, taking into consideration of course that there was far too much work to be done at the gallery, as well as the reality that she herself couldn’t even manage to steal two seconds away from her own job… Tina was convinced she had done the right thing when she told Bette to stay behind.

Suddenly the taxi came to a screeching halt and so did Tina’s thoughts. The blonde was so flustered that before she could realize where she was, the cabby was already asking for the fare. Feeling somewhat disoriented, Tina tentatively complied and handed over the few dollars she owed to the driver before closing the door behind her and making her way into her hotel’s main entrance.
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SOMEWHERE ELSE… EARLIER THAT DAY:

“Are you sure that’s all you’re doing?” Alice voice skeptically asked through the receiver.

“Yes.” Bette answered rather impatiently.

“You’re just sending her flowers? That’s your big plan?”

“What’s wrong with flowers? Tina likes flowers.”

“I’m sure she does but I think that in this case its kind of different…”

“Different… how?”

“Well ever since she told you that she had to spend an extra week in New York you’ve been totally avoiding her.”

“How do you know that?” Bette asked indignantly, her tone of voice visibly reflecting how surprised she truly was.

“Tina called me yesterday… You shouldve heard her Bette, she sounded so upset over the phone. She said that you haven’t been taking any of her calls… She was worried about you…”

There was a short pause coming from the other line as Bette absent-mindedly let her thoughts wander. Alice’s voice escaped her hearing and at the back of her mind she knew that any minute now her meal was about to be served… quietly she reminded herself that it was about time for her to hang up on her best friend.

“Bette?” Alice urged. “Did you hear what I just sai””

“Yeah… uhm… listen,” Bette interrupted as she spoke stubbornly into the phone, “I have to go, my lunch will be here any minute…” Alice tried to interrupt her but Bette was too fast “…And whatever you do, don’t call me. I’m gonna be busy all day.”

“Fine, just think about what I said okay?” Alice managed to slip in before Bette could hang up.

“I will.” Bette dryly responded as she ended the call, thinking that unbeknownst to Alice, she was already deep in thought. Looking out the window, she saw that today the sky was the perfect shade of blue, and the clouds around it softened in it’s brilliant color as the fluffy masses of white glided effortlessly along the background. Seeing such a sight made Bette wonder how Tina was doing… being so far away from her yet somehow managing to keep up with life. Come to think of it, whenever she put it that way, it only made her heart sink… This was slowly killing her inside and still she refused to talk to Tina… she couldn’t… mainly because she knew it wouldn’t be right… and of course there was a big possibility that when they did talk, she would slip and say something that she would regret… Indeed she did feel terrible for what she was doing, by no means did she enjoy avoiding her girlfriend…. in fact she was sure that this was hurting her more than it did anyone else:

Not to hear Tina’s voice… to share her day with her… not to be able to say she loved her… it was almost unbearable, even for her… but she had to be strong… she had to… there was no other way around it. So there she was alone, having lunch by herself, and silently plotting what to do next… again she looked to her side and reached for the phone, meaning to call Tina… but sadly she never did….
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Back in New York Tina was wandering through the impressive surroundings of her hotel lobby. Upon entering the building’s grand interior one could clearly assess that it was nothing short of magnificent. The design was spacious, flowing and opulent. Walking around Tina noticed that the decorations were modern and contemporary, pieces of art were displayed strategically throughout the space. Paintings were hung tidily across the walls, and occasionally Tina would come across a well-made sculpture or two” something she was sure Bette would have definitely liked.

Surprisingly for her the elevator ride up to the thirteenth floor didn’t take as long as she had expected and as she searched her purse for the keycard to her room she decided then and there, that the moment she got inside she would try calling Bette one last time…

As soon as the door clicked open Tina walked in and took her coat off. Walking inside, she noted that the bed was dressed in crisp white linen sheets and down pillows, which simply beckoned to be slept in… Then she also took note that in the distance, just a few feet away from her stood the most beautiful bathroom she had ever seen in her entire life, complete with a sunken tub and lavishly decorated in Italian marble, she couldn’t wait for a chance to relax… For a second she pondered on soaking in a bath, thinking of how much her body was in desperate need of a soothing bubble bath, but in the end the first thing she headed for was the phone… Standing there Tina patiently waited as ring after ring… after ring… she realized that Bette still didn’t want to answer… Crest-fallen she finally surrendered, and decided to call it a night… Bette had to wait until the morning…

Out of the blue Tina heard a sudden knocking from the door. Her heart was racing… could it be? No… but what if it was? What if she opened it to find Bette standing on the other side? Without a second thought she dropped everything she was doing and made a mad dash to answer the door…

“Miss Kennard.” said the concierge who was standing by the door’s threshold, holding a tasteful arrangement of flowers in his hand, “I was told to give you this personally…”

“Thank you.” Tina smiled to hide her disappointment, she was sorry that she built her hopes up too high… It was silly of her to think that Bette would follow her all the way to New York, but she couldn’t help it. Opening the card Tina came across the simple note… what was in it only further sank her heart…

Replacing the stiff piece of card back into its envelope Tina sighed, undoubtedly Bette was fond of great gestures, she just wished that today she would come across one of them… but nonetheless Tina was glad to receive a little reminder that her girlfriend was thinking of her… ‘At least she’s not mad.’ the wistful blonde thought.

“Uhm…” Tina began, as she turned around to face the concierge.

“Yes Miss Kennard?”

“I was wondering if you had a container I can put these in… a vase maybe?”

“Yes, of course, let me get one for you…” and with this he disappeared out of sight.

Tina paced around the room, not quite sure how she should be feeling at the moment… She was so consumed in her own thoughts that she didn’t even hear the door open…

The next thing she knew she felt her vision darken, as a hand covered her eyes and managed to completely block her vision.

“Tina…” she heard someone whisper into her ear, and as soon as this happened panic temporarily ran through her whole system Who could be doing this to her and then it dawned on her…




To be continued…