Tina :

For the past fifteen minutes she had been sitting in the passengers seat of Erics car looking distractedly through the window, without uttering a sound.

Tell me again Eric, Why couldn’t you arrange this thing with Bette yourself? Why do I have to be there? She asked breaking the silence.

You know baby, If we are going to live together it is important for us to start doing this kind of things together too. I know its just a painting but…. Eric went on talking, but Tina wasnt paying any attention anymore.

Living together? And how exactly did that happen? She thought.

Baby…Tina! Are you even listening to me? Eric asked when he noticed that his girlfriend hadnt listened to a word of what he had said.

Uhm, Im sorry baby, I guess Im just tired Tina apologetically said.

Yeah, me too

As Eric started rammbling again, this time about the party of the previous night, Tina allowed herself to get lost, once again, in her thoughts.

Did she really want to live with Eric? She didnt know.
Tina Kennard had always been proud of being a woman who played no games. She didnt like to lie and she never did. But lately, she had been feeling as if she was lying to Eric.
She felt Eric was trying to move their relationship forward much too fast. She knew she was simply letting Eric do this because she wasnt sure she could tell him the truth.That she wasnt ready for all this, that this was not what she wanted.
What she wanted… That was exactly her problem : She didnt know what was that she wanted. Did she wanted to be with Eric at all? She loved him, she really did. Nevertheless, she knew she wasnt head-over-hills in love with him, it had never been that way between the two of them.
Tina had known Eric for pretty much all her life: They had been childhood friends, classmates, they had even dated unsuccessfully a couple of times in their high school days. Eric had always been there for Tina, he had seen the best and the worst of her. She felt so safe with him. In Eric, Tina saw someone to rely on, she knew whatever happened Eric would be there for her. Always. She couldnt let her best friend go. But, did she had to date him to keep him?.
And there was yet another thing in Tinas thoughts this Sunday afternoon : Bette Porter. Tina knew she was attracted to bette, and truth be told, she wasnt too surprised. Maybe not as strong as she felt it towards Bette, but she had felt attraction towards women before. The strange thing about this Bette Porter was not the attraction hitself. It was the way tinas heart skipped a beat when she saw Bette for the first time, it was the way she had felt her heart melt when she looked into Bettes mesmerizing chocolate brown eyes, it was the fact that she couldnt stop thinking about her.
Everything about Bette seemed so new and exceptional, overwhelming. It was as if with only one day in her life, Bette already had managed to dismante every security that Tina had, everything that she thought unbreakable.
***

Tina, baby, were here. Cmon, we are fashionably late already, lets go Said Eric as he opened the car door for Tina.

Yeah, sorry. Lets go Tina muttered as she got out of Erics convertible.

Tina held Eric hand tightly and they entered into the gallery, without knowing this was going to be one of the most dazzling, life-altering day of their lives.

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TBC—–