A swallow landed on the opposite side of the pool, hopping about on the hot stones before taking flight again. Bette shielded her eyes and looked up at the bird, watching its progress until it was out of sight.

The weather was just shy of hot, even for L.A. at this time of year, but Bette didn’t mind. It was probably global warming or some other equally unpleasant effect, and she supposed she should be concerned, but today she wasn’t. She just wanted to recline there, letting the sun beat down on her as it was now, warming her from the inside out. It sure as hell beat hunching over the desk in her office, trying to deal with twenty different kinds of annoyances. She had taken the afternoon off, and she was glad she had. That, Bette said to herself, was one of the advantages of being a dean.

Bette stretched in the sun, dropping a lazy arm over her eyes. She let her mind drift to one of her favorite subjects: Tina. She wondered what Tina was doing right then. Working probably, trotting back and forth between meetings and the set. She wished Tina was here now. Bette’s mind produced an image of Tina on her stomach, prone to the hot sun and Bette’s ministrations. She would rub sunscreen over every inch of Tina’s body, slowly, sensually. Bette imagined herself gliding her hands, slick with suntan lotion, all over Tina’s back, slowly untying the strings of her bikini…

Suddenly feeling warmer than even the sun’s steady rays warranted, Bette moved her arm away and tried to focus on there here and now, rather than such an unfulfilling fantasy. If Tina would agree to move in, Bette would more than likely be able to easily entice her to take the occasional day off, the way Bette had this afternoon. Then she would actually be here with Bette, instead of only in her thoughts.

Bette decided to turn her thoughts to something decidedly unsexy. Laundry. Yeah. There was laundry to be done, Angie’s share of clothes with it… Angie. She missed her little girl always, she wanted her there full-time, along with her other mother. Bette tried hard not to think of the lost time that she couldn’t get back, accumulated months of her babyhood that were gone forever. Bette frowned. If only she could convince Tina to move in. Didn’t she see that they belonged together, as a family? Bette didn’t want to waste any more time.