Almost One Month later:

Bette and Tina spent the next week virtually inseparable.  They needed time to explore the next phase in their relationship.  After the end of the week, both women finally spent some time apart to tie up the loose ends of their jobs and begin planning the move to a new place in the city.  Bette decided to leave her house as a weekend retreat and make her permanent home someplace new with Tina.  It was all moving so fast for both women, but it never seemed to overwhelm them.  Tina and Bette were strong and independent.  Although each had their own fears about making this work, they also knew that they were old enough and mature enough to take on the challenge.  Bette’s offer of a ring didn’t mean something as serious as a marriage-style commitment.  For both women, that ring symbolized their effort to delve deeper into their relationship taking small steps with big sacrifices.  The first step was admitting their love to one another, the next step would be to live in one place and share one space.  With major personalities like Bette and Tina’s, things were bound to get tricky.  However, their feelings for each other were so strong and irresistible at times that they couldn’t ignore that they needed to be next to each other more than a few times a week.  Both women had their sights set on the long term and for them this meant a huge lifestyle adjustment. 

When Bette broke the news to Alice and Shane they were shocked at the timing, but not so surprised at the decision given Bette’s chemistry with Tina.  This was a new experience for Bette.  Taking on such a serious relationship meant so many changes, but Bette was ready to explore them all.  She needed her friends now.  After some time she finally got a chance to sit down and talk about everything.  Bette made plans for dinner with Alice, Shane and their new friend Dana who Alice was secretly dating, but decided against telling her friends.  Alice just said that they tried and failed at the whole dating thing so they were going to remain close acquaintances.

Alice reserved a nice dinner spot at Carmines in Time Square.  It was a robust family-style restaurant that allowed them to talk loudly and eat great food at the same time.  Everyone arrived except for Bette who was running late.