Bette Porter watched as her ex-life partner snuggled deeper into the couch. Nearby, a coffeemaker was brewing its magical juice. There was a tall, cool glass of water resting on the counter. And as the clock slowly ticked its way into another minute, the dean, the coffeemaker, and the glass wondered how long they would have to wait for the blonde executive to wake up.

            Bette wondered at how Jodi left so abruptly. She imagined that the sculptor would still be there at her house during the morning, thanks to the amount of alcohol and pot that she consumed last night. But it wasn’t meant to be—Jodi left her a note on her bedside table and took off without another word. And now here she was, dressed for work, waiting for Tina.

            Isabella’s words were not only unexpected, but they were also immensely hurtful. While she had been given a lot of time to think about what pushed her to destroy Tina’s trust in her and their relationship, she had already conceded that no excuse would ever be enough to satisfy anybody else’s curiosity. Her general stress, fatigue and vulnerability due to setting up Provocations and Tina’s miscarriage were never an excuse. Candace, for all the harm that she had done to Tina and their relationship, gave her the option to walk away from her. Nothing would ever be able to answer the question. And for once in the recent months, she had been honest about what she felt. She did tell Tina that she never had an answer to those whys. But even at that moment, she knew that she lied to Tina. She was falling out of love with Jodi and Jodi knew it. The note that she read this morning was Jodi’s compassionate way of telling her that she could never act as a standby for anybody else, that she demanded her lover’s complete devotion, and that none of it would affect their working relationship. Jodi’s things were all gone from her house and their relationship would be nothing else but a small blip in both their lives.

            Through what had been recently happening in their lives, Bette found some glimpse of hope. Maybe this was life’s way of telling her that she and Tina were meant to change for the better and then find their way into each other. Maybe they were to collide like two pieces of cosmic dust, never to see each other from that point on. Or maybe it was her turn to try again.