They were both standing on the terrace, enjoying the view on the dark storming ocean. Bette offered to go down to the beach, but Helena said that it’s too dangerous just yet and that they might go for a walk on the beach some time later when the ocean is calmer. Instead, she offered to give Bette the grand tour of her mansion.

It was the first time that Bette came to Helena’s house; when she entered it, she felt thousands of dollars everywhere, under her feet, above her head and all around her. Helena surely didn’t think of saving money on renovation when she moved in.

So far, Helena had shown Bette only the first floor of her house and now they went upstairs so that she could continue her sweet bragging. Helena led Bette through the numerous rooms, with the latter marveling at the art pieces that were hanging in some of the rooms. Helena’s art collection was impressive and Bette couldn’t wait to hear her thoughts on modern art when they had a moment to discuss it.

At last, they settled in one of the rooms downstairs. Bette looked around once again – the room itself was beige and the furniture was light brown to shade it. Two leather armchairs and couches were standing in the middle of the room, encompassing a small wooden table in the middle. A lot of magazines and books were lying on it along with Helena’s legs – she put them there as soon as she and Bette had sat down on the couch. She was wearing a skirt, which fell at her knee and now let Bette see her new friend’s long limbs.

Bette was sitting with her legs crossed, still looking around. It was quite obvious that some top-notch interior designers worked on making the room look as splendid as it did – with its mild colors and moderate sunlight cast through the big windows, it looked like a place where Bette would want to stay forever.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Helena grinned when Bette finally looked at her.

“Yes. Saving money isn’t one of your habits, right?”

“I tend to get carried away,” Helena uttered, leaning back and stroking the firm leather of the couch with her fingers, “I wanted this house to reflect me and it does.”

“Yes, quite vividly… Tina was here too, wasn’t she?”

Helena obviously didn’t expect this question and looked at Bette, taken aback. “Yes, she was.”

“I just suddenly realized it. When you invited me here and then showed me around, it didn’t cross my mind, but now that you said your house reflects who you are, I thought of how Tina and I were searching for the right furniture, the right wallpapers, the right cutlery for our house… we also wanted it to reflect who we are,” Bette smiled sadly at Helena.

“I understand,” Helena said. “It still must be painful.”

“It is. You have no idea… no, I mean, you probably do… but it’s hard to go through it, no? I feel constant pressure of time, of expectations, of wishes and of desires I once had. It’s strange how everything I had just disappeared all of a sudden.”

“It couldn’t disappear all of a sudden, Bette.”

“You know what I mean. One moment you had everything and then you lost it all.”

Bette looked away. Helena gazed at her for some time, studying her perfect features yet again.

“Bette?”

“Yes?”

“What if I told you that I desperately want to kiss you right now?”

Bette raised her eyebrow. “I’d say you’ve got to be kidding me, Helena,” she smirked.

“No, it’s true.”

“What?”

“I really want to kiss you,” Helena whispered.

Before Bette’s mind could process those words, Helena slightly shifted on the bed, moving so close to Bette that she could feel her breath on her cheek. She leaned forward, closing her eyes, and brought her lips to Bette’s. She then opened her mouth slightly and pressed her lips just a tiny bit more firmly against Bette’s. Instinctively, Bette’s lips parted to meet hers, as Helena’s arms slid around her. She pressed her body against Bette’s, and Bette responded by doing the same to her. As their kiss grew deeper, Bette’s head tilted one way, Helena’s the other, their mouths opened wider, and Bette felt the tip of Helena tongue exploring her lips.

Suddenly Bette broke the kiss and almost sprang up from the bed. She brought her hand to her lips.

“This feels wrong,” she whispered.

“Bette,” Helena said standing up near her, “I’m sorry. I… I didn’t mean to offend you or make you feel uncomfortable.”

Bette was speechless, staring at Helena and trying to make her mind analyze what’d happened.

“I’ve had these warm feelings for you for some time now,” Helena continued, “Ever since I saw you in that bar a month ago, actually. You’re so beautiful, Bette… so beautiful.”

“Helena…”

“Every time I see you I feel waves of sheer happiness go through me… I think about you all the time, Bette. And I feel for you. I want to take care of you.”

She made a move in Bette’s direction, standing now only inches apart from her. She took a second to contemplate her dark bottomless eyes before she leaned in for a kiss again, just seconds before Bette made a step back.

“Helena, wait… I’m flattered. I am. It’s just… this feels wrong. I’m sorry. I can’t,” she said stuttering and forcing the words to come out of her mouth.

“I can’t do it.”


Bette was sitting in the kitchen, sipping Sauvignon and examining the half empty green bottle in order to distract herself from what’d happened earlier. But her mind went again and again to the moment that she and Helena’d had – to say that Bette was surprised by her friend’s confession and actions is to say nothing, she hadn’t expected things to go this way and above all, she hadn’t noticed Helena’s feelings before that morning.

The kitchen was semi-dark, since lately Bette had become strikingly intrigued by it, she loved sitting with no lights on, in complete silence, where she could only hear her heartbeat and follow the current of thoughts in her head. She took another sip of wine and leaned back in her chair, putting her feet on the chair next to her. She was feeling emotionally emaciated. She was about to close her eyes and think of something pleasant before going to her bedroom when somebody knocked on the door.

It might be Shane, Bette thought; she wasn’t feeling like having company at that very moment and only because the lights were on in the living room and it was obvious that she was home, she had to get up and go to the door.

She opened it without looking who stood behind and nearly gasped when she saw Tina standing in front of her.

“Hey,” she said. “Are you busy?”

Bette swallowed hard. “No… It’s too late to be busy.”

“Can I come in then?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Bette stepped aside and let Tina in. She then closed the door and went around her to face her.

“Do you want a glass of wine? I just opened a bottle of Sauvignon… I still love it.”

“Yes, a glass of wine would be great,” Tina said.

Bette went back to the kitchen and took a second glass out of the cupboard. She put it next to the other one, and when she was about to pick up the bottle in order to fill the glass with wine, she felt Tina’s hands touching her back.

Tina lightly kissed Bette’s neck, making her gasp. She made Bette turn around to frantically and urgently start kissing her lips, her cheeks, her neck. Bette was motionless, she seemed hesitant and not knowing what to do, she let Tina unbutton her shirt, still kissing her lips. When Tina’s hands stopped on Bette’s breasts to caress and knead them, Bette moaned audibly, not being able to resist Tina’s and now her own desire. As Tina’s hands remained on her breasts, she took her face into her hands, her tongue sought Tina’s as she surrendered herself completely to the kiss.

Walking together back to the couch, Tina moved her body against Bette’s, her hands leaving her breasts and moving to the small of her back, pressing Bette to herself, feeling her pubic mound moving against hers.