She placed the picture back on the mantle and thought to herself, this is getting me no where.  A car was picking her up at 6:30 the next morning and Bette knew that she needed to finish packing.  Kit was coming over and bringing some dinner.  She didn’t want Bette to spend her last night in LA alone.  She walked into the bedroom, surveyed her work, and set to finishing the task at hand.  She was just about done when the doorbell rang.  Bette got that quick acceleration of her heart, just like when the phone rang, hoping against hope, that it might be Tina.  She walked to the front door and opened it to a smiling Kit.  The expression that briefly passed on Bette’s face was not lost on Kit.  She knew that Bette was hoping that there might have been a chance that it was Tina and it broke her heart to disappoint her.  As quickly as that, the expression was gone and Bette was welcoming Kit into the house.

They enjoyed their evening together.  They shared stories of growing up and their time together in LA.  It was getting late and Kit knew that Bette had an early flight out the next morning.

Both women rose, knowing that the inevitable was here.  Bette walked Kit to the door and when Kit turned to hug her, there were tears in Kit’s eyes.  Bette watched the tears fall and grabbed her into a hug. 

“Please Bette, it’s not too late if you want to change your mind.  Please Baby sister, just think about it.”

Bette felt the tears starting as well, but held them back.  There had been enough tears in the last six months, and enough was enough.

“Kit, shhh, don’t do this.  All I have done is think about this and it is the right thing to do.  You are going to be ok and I am going to be ok.  Six months from now, we are going to be laughing at this.  You’ll see.”

“I don’t see laughing at this six years from now, much less six months.  As you have said, you are a grown woman and I respect your choice.  I do want something from you though.”

“What is that Kit?” Bette asked, looking directly into her eyes.

“If you change your mind, if you decide that you don’t like New York, if you decide that you made a mistake, you have got to promise me that as difficult as it would be for you to admit it, you will do just that, admit it and come home.”

Bette looked at Kit and said, “You have not only my word but my promise”.

“OK” said Kit.  “Enough said, I guess”.

“Yep, enough said”.

“You’ll call me when you get to New York?”.

“As soon as we touch down”.

“Good bye Baby sister.”

“Good bye Kit”

“Remember that I love you and will hold down the fort here.”

“You do that Kit, and I love you too”.

With that, Kit turned to leave, waving as she pulled away.  Closing the door behind her and leaning against it for support, Bette released the breath that she had been holding.

“Please, oh please, let me be doing the right thing”, she said.

With that, she heaved her tired body off of the door to go to her bedroom for the last time in the foreseeable future.  As she got into bed, she realized how tired she was.  The last six months had taken a toll on her not only physically but mentally.  She felt that part of her spirit had been taken away, but was determined to get it back.

The morning would bring a new life to Bette, one that she welcomed and feared at the same time.  She fell asleep, dreaming of nothing, just aching for the escape.