ANGELICA- (She’s upset…) “Why? Why do you always have to be that way? I don’t understand.”

BETTE- “I’m not being any way, I just think that you shouldn’t settle.”

ANGELICA- “Settle? Who says I’m settling? SETTLE? For what Mom? Settle for what? You mean settle for a man? Is THAT what’s troubling you?”

TINA- “Angelica!”

ANGELICA- “I can’t take this ridiculous ‘thing’ you’re doing…it’s just…forget it…I’ve gotta go. Goodbye.” (She kisses Tina on the cheek and heads toward the door. Bette discretely follows Angelica with her eyes, which are sorrowful at seeing her love exit in anger, even though she was pretty annoyed herself. Just before getting to the door, Angelica stops, and as she turns Bette looks elsewhere. Angelica walks back to Bette…) “Goodbye.” (She kisses Bette on the cheek and leaves. Tina smiles.)

TINA- “You’re lucky…I wouldn’t have given you even THAT.”

BETTE- “Oh thanks! Thanks a lot.”

TINA- “She loves you beyond anyone I’ve ever seen…it hurts her to have to struggle with you on this. But boy you two…you’ve been at it for weeks now. You always shared a special relationship…and that holds true just as much for the fighting. It gets so intense sometimes.”

BETTE- “It’s not my fault.”

TINA- “Oh no?”

BETTE- “Tina…WHAT am I doing wrong? Because I have her best interests at heart? Because I care who she’s with? Because…”

TINA- “Nooooo….I do all those things and feel all those things too, but what I don’t do is dictate her love life or other important decisions she really should ultimately be making on her own.”

BETTE- “And what the hell is that about him being a man? Do I LOOK like a bigot? Geezus…what’s wrong with her?”

TINA- “Well, she’s feeling you distance yourself and disapprove…”

BETTE- “Not because he’s a man, for crying out loud…I’m not like that…come on Tina, give me a break. She’s just making excuses and coming up with points of rebuttal that don’t exist.”

TINA- “Points of rebuttal? Was is this, a debating game? Bette wake up…she loves you like no one else and you’re threatening that very special bond with her because of someone she’s in love with…”

BETTE- “Please don’t tell me she’s in love with him…how could she possibly know that already? I mean really, how superficial…”

TINA- “Excuse me?”

BETTE- “You don’t fall in love like that.” (Tina is angry and grunts as she walks off to the bedroom half talking to herself have cursing out Bette…) “What? What’s wrong? T….” (After Tina disappears, she gets up to go find her in the bedroom. Tina is standing looking out the window. Bette approaches slowly. She comes up behind her, and slightly to the right of her.) “I…I’m sorry I’m upsetting everybody…”

TINA- “You’re such a hypocrite.”

BETTE- “What?”

TINA- “I can’t believe you…”

BETTE- “What…I’m just saying…”

TINA- “No…you’re just ignoring, or worse, forgetting our own love…”

BETTE- “T…no, I…”

TINA- “What? Are you applying a double standard to your daughter, are you forgetting the most important relationship in our lives, are you ignoring any impact I had on you, or was everything that happened back then not quite as special as I remember it?” (Bette leans forward into Tina and putting her arms around her waste as Tina leans away…) “You just wait until she talks to her Earth Mother…just wait…Alice will tell her all about her mother’s world wind romance, which according to you is a ‘superficial’ way of going about relationships and certainly not ‘love’…”

BETTE- “Tina no…that’s not what I meant. You’re the most important thing and the best thing that’s ever happened to me…you KNOW that…what’s wrong? Why are you talking this like you are? I love you. I always have…”

TINA- “Exactly…”

BETTE- “But that was US…this is…”

TINA- “WHAT? This is what?”

BETTE- “That’s precisely it…this is not US, not what WE had…and that’s what I want for her…a love like ours.”

TINA- (She turns to the side briefly to almost turn and look at Bette but gazes back out the window as Bette leans in holding her and swaying her while her cheek rests on Tina’s head.) “That’s not what you said earlier. You said you can’t fall in love…”

BETTE- “You’re misinterpreting what I said.”

TINA- “You said it’s superficial…you can’t fall in love like that…that’s what you said.”

BETTE- “T…what does that have to do with us? US is what THIS isn’t. That’s my point.”

TINA- “How do YOU know? You’re judging it by the fact that she fell for him so quickly…”

BETTE- “NO I AM NOT…All I am saying…”

TINA- “Do you know what Alice told me about how you were in the days after meeting me?” (She turns around and faces Bette…)

BETTE- (She rolls her eyes…) “God help me…I can only imagine…I assume she told you everything…”

TINA- “She said you told her, and this is in the ‘days’ after meeting me, that I ‘eviscerated’ you…that you just couldn’t stand being away from me…”

BETTE- “She’s such a…”

TINA- “What?”

BETTE- (Smirking…) “Loud mouth…”

TINA- “No, she’s our friend and she told me these things after we broke up those many years ago…to wake me up to what I had lost or might lose forever…the love of MY life was gone and Alice wanted to make sure that I knew what you were to me and remind me of how much you loved me, because it’s not like YOU were doing much to tell me that back then. But SHE persisted…”

BETTE- “Stubborn old woman…that’s what she is…”

TINA- “Well she wasn’t so old back then…none of us were…well, you were always a little bit older but I digress…” (Bette’s eyes widen and Tina smirks…) “I never have forgotten and never will forget the powerful love that we share and our life together and our passion and…”

BETTE- “Tina, sweetie, what’s wrong? Why are you so sensitive about all of this? I feel the same way you do about US, but this thing with Angelica…I just don’t see it. But you…you know you have all of me and always did. What’s wrong? Why is the past haunting you so much suddenly?”

TINA- “I don’t know. It’s the way you’ve been dealing with this thing with Angelica. I faced doubters and nay sayers in my life too…I faced your father, as you might recall. I just…hearing you talk of love and somehow dismiss our own…”

BETTE- “My God Tina…never…I never ever would do that…” (She takes Tina’s face in her hands…) “I love you, I’m yours, I’ve never thought…not once, of life without you…what I felt those first days stayed with me for ever and I’ve never doubted it.” (Bette slowly moves in to take Tina’s lips and as she does so she feels the same thing she feels whenever she has joined Tina’s lips with her own…it ignites her soul most every time and always had…especially that first time…standing here behind Tina, in front of their bedroom window, she envisions the beginning of the rest of her life…it was a long time ago…

Over 25 years ago, Tina stands naked, gazing out the window in the middle of the night. Bette opens her eyes and they fall upon the site. Seeing Tina stilled her heart. This woman had caught her by surprise…destabilized her like no other and nothing else…she cut right through her…eviscerated her…heart and soul…Bette was at a loss but blissfully so. She gets up slowly and walks over to Tina, loud enough so that she hears her approach. Bette’s body made contact with Tina’s back and this enlivened her senses like nothing she had ever felt…it seemed to her that every contact with Tina would be like a first contact…she wondered whether that feeling could possibly ever wear off. She put her arms gently around Tina and kissed her neck. Bette’s face leaned up against Tina’s. She whispered to her new lover…)

BETTE- “Are you ok?”

TINA- “No.”

BETTE- “What’s wrong? Was that too much? Maybe we should have waited…I’m sorry T…I didn’t…”

TINA- “No no no…I wanted to…but…”

BETTE- “It was wonderful…it was like nothing I’ve ever experienced…”

TINA- “Hey, that’s MY line!” (Bette chuckles. She kisses Tina on the side of the head and turns her around gently…) “I’m at a loss. I feel so close to you. Bette…I’ve never felt like this…with anyone…”

BETTE- (Moving her hands from Tina’s arms to her neck and then taking her bosom into her hands…) “I love you…”

TINA- (Her eyes close as she sighs…she shakes her head…) “You don’t know me Bette and what if…what if this is…”

BETTE- “Real…this is real… and it’s now …and it’s forever if you want it to be.

TINA- “I’m in love with you…that’s all I know.”

BETTE- “That’s all I need to know.” (Tina thrust forward to grasp Bette’s lips and inspire a joint embrace that compels Bette to gently spin Tina round in a slow dance to the bed. She gently guided her into the center of it. Bette resumes the suckling of Tina’s lips and her hand steadily strokes Tina’s right leg, which has placed a hold on Bette’s lower body as the two newest of lovers face each other on their sides. Bette rolls Tina onto her back and they head into destinations unknown but which they will find together.

Over 25 years later, Bette is kissing the one who professed love to her and to whom she gave her heart in this same room so many years ago. As her mind races through the memories and the current sparked by those visions and the feel of the woman in her arms moves through her entire body, Bette is gripped with emotion, with passion, with love, with everything but doubt…and then, suddenly a slam of a door is heard…)

TINA- (Slowly stopping the frenzied lip dance…) “What was that?”

BETTE- (She turns her head in the direction of the sound…) “She’s back?”

TINA- “I better go see. That was a loud slam. Something’s wrong.” (Bette follows Tina as they go to the kitchen. Angelica is in the living room. She’s crying on the couch.) “Sweetie?” (Bette’s heart sinks. Tina goes to Angelica and Bette follows but stands a few feet away. She’s preparing herself for what she’s about to hear and if her love is hurting this much…she has a feeling she’s going to be extremely angry at the source…)

ANGELICA- “He…”

TINA- (Sitting next to her and putting an arm around her…) “He left…I just…I just called him. I was supposed to meet up with him…he’s leaving me…he’s going back to Yale but moving out.”

BETTE- (‘Prick’, she thought to herself… ‘I’m gonna pay my alma mater a visit and that little pissant while I’m there…’) “Angie…what happened?”

ANGELICA- “What do YOU care? This is what you wanted isn’t it? Happy now? That you were right or made sure you would be right…are you HAPPY NOW!”

TINA- “Hey, that’s not fair. You know Bette would never want you to be hurting like this or do anything to hurt you.”

ANGELICA- “He’s gone. I can’t believe it. He’s gone. It’s over. How did this happen Mom? I love him. I thought he loved me. I don’t understand.”

TINA- “Sweetie what did he say? I know you guys were having some difficulty but…”

ANGELICA- “SOME difficulty? You try being in love with someone who has a mother who can’t stand you…a mother who’s name happens to be Better Porter.”

TINA- “Angie please honey, that’s not fair.”

ANGELICA- “Not fair? You saw what she put me through. Have you any idea what that’s like?”

TINA- “Angelica I do…I was in love with someone who had a father named Marvin Porter…and let me tell you, that’s wasn’t much easier than having his daughter as a mother.”

BETTE- “Tina!”

TINA- “They’re stubborn, this Porter clan. At least your aunt Kit is reasonable.”

BETTE- “Ok this is just NOT fair. I can’t believe you’re saying these things.”

TINA- (Looking up at Bette over Angelica in her arms…she glares at Bette and signals her to play along…) “Honestly Bette…but Angelica, your mother loves you very much. She wants the best for you. She would never do anything unless she thought it was in your best interest.”

ANGELICA- “Well maybe she should mind her own business.” (Bette’s looking very hurt and defeated at this point. She feels so very drawn to Angelica right now while simultaneously weathering the blows her daughter’s words are delivering to her heart.)

TINA- “Easy does it Angel…it’s ok…shhhh…everything is going to be ok. Shhh…” (She strokes her and sways her, comforting her in every way she knows how. Bette moves closer, and as Tina is stroking Angelica’s hair, Bette steals a few strokes unbeknownst to her daughter, but causing Tina to hold back a tide of emotion in her throat at the site of her Bette facing the pain of the distancing between a mother and daughter, who all their lives have known, next to Tina, no greater love than the one they share.)