There she was.

She was beautiful. She hadn’t changed, except that her hair
was longer. She was standing in conversation with a woman who I could only
assume was Hannah.

I stood and watched her talk for a few minutes. It was
strange, all the tension and nervousness I had been feeling about seeing Tina
had left me. I was pleased to see her. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be filled with
the pain and regret that I thought it would be.

I leaned against the table for a while, taking the sight of
her in. Waiting for her to feel her eyes on me. She looked up from her
conversation, and her eyes met mine.

It seemed that she went through a variety of emotions in
that one look. At first she looked surprised, then happy, and then finally
confused and awkward at what to do next.

She was fighting a battle with herself, should she come
over, should she stay where she was.

I saw her excuse herself from Hannah, who smiled and turned
around engaging someone else in conversation, and begin to make her way over to
where I was standing.

I turned and took a swig of my drink. I was going to need it
for this conversation.

I smiled as she approached. she stood near to me, but not
too near. We were both unsure of what to do, should we hug? Handshake? What was
the level of intimacy you could go to with your ex partner of 8 years?

This was it. She was standing in front of me.

I smiled, “Hi Tina.”

She looked at me, not smiling, looking slightly confused.

“Bette, IWhat are you doing here?”

I laughed, showing her that I was trying to be at ease with
this situation. God that drink must’ve been strong.

“Shane called me, she wanted me to be here for all the
wedding celebrations and things, so of course, I took the next flight out of
New York.”

She exhaled and opened her mouth a couple of times, as if
she was trying to think of something to say.

I know it was a bit cruel of me, but I was secretly pleased
that she was finding this so hard. It made me feel more confident.

It made me realise who I was talking to, how could I be
nervous talking to Tina? I knew her better than anybody in the entire world,
and she knew me just as well.

Time had passed, and maybe we could put everything that
happened behind us.

I decided to help her out,

“You had no idea I’d be here did you?” I laughed.

She smiled, I had really missed seeing her smile,

“Truthfully no. I guess Shane thought that if I knew you’d
be here then I wouldn’t come.”

*****. I began to panicShe must have been really
uncomfortable around me.

I attempted to make light of the conversation.

“UmYeah. I hear you have a house. And a cat.”

I cringed inwardly, what the ***** was that?! God, make a
total idiot of yourself Bette, that’s the way to do it.

Tina fidgeted with her glass,

“UhYeah.”

Just then I was saved by Alice, thank god. She came rushing
up having seen me attempting conversation with Tina, and decided to rescue me
before anything got ugly.

“Hey! Bette! And Tina! Hi! AhumBette, I need you ermover
here to uhmeet someone, come on.”

She grabbed me by the arm and directed me back towards the
seats.

After we sat down I put my head down on the table and
groaned,

“ArgGod that was so embarrassing! Thank you so much for
interrupting Alice!”

I leaned over and gave her a hug.

She smiled, “No problem. Sohow was it?”

“Ughit was so unbelievably bad. I don’t want to think about
it.”

I sighed and leaned my elbows on the table.

“That girl who’s short, with the short dark hair talking to
Tina, that’s Hannah?” I asked Alice.

She gulped, “UhYeah it is. I told you Bette, no competition
on the looks thing. Don’t worry Bette, we’ll get you and Tina talking normally
by the bachelorette party, don’t worry. I have a plan.” She grinned.