This was Tina’s domain, her sanctuary. But when she tapped her passcode into the door lock, she felt no sense of peace.

They’d agreed to leave the party separately, to avoid arousing suspicion. How long would it take Bette to get down here? Not long, was Tina’s guess. She was pretty pissed off. 

Tina opened a root panel on a crop of Wasabi japonica, to check for turgor. It looked healthy, but you couldn’t ever let up. She moved on to the spinach. 

It was a bummer, though – she  hated being at odds with Bette at the best of times and, ironically, that’s exactly what this was. They should have been joyful tonight! Basking in their hard-earned success.

Footsteps behind her. She turned, saw Bette, but continued to move from crop to crop.

‘So, you wanna start by telling me what happened yesterday?’

Bette sounded impatient. Tina lifted a leaf cluster and looked beneath it carefully before she replied. 

‘Karolina sent Angie down with a request for me, to prove a point about how lousy I am at responding to her on the zapper.’

‘Well, you don’t know that was her intention, and you are, but go on.’

Tina glared at her wife.

‘I know you were there, Bette.’ 

‘Where?’

‘When Karolina gave Angie the message. Angie told me she was helping you at the time.’

‘So?’

‘So, you let her treat our daughter like a lackey. And she ignored the system, and you were just fine with it.’

Bette sighed and folded her arms. ‘What else? Why did Karolina quit?’

Tina went back to fussing with the plants. ‘I went up and told her not to do it again. She said some things, I said some things, and . . . she quit.’

‘And?’ 

‘What?’

‘Well, she’s still here.’

Tina felt herself flush. Then she said, ‘I went after her and got her to stay.’ 

‘How did you do that?’

‘How do you think?’ Tina snapped. ‘I apologised. I said I’d be better at picking up her fucking tickets.’

Tina’s heart was thudding. She knew this was an escalation, a provocation Bette would never be able to resist. But she wanted this fight, she really, really wanted it.

‘You mean you promised to be a reliable colleague in a job you agreed to, a job that I and Helena and Dylan and Concetta count on you to do?’