Even after the tiring week they had both experienced, their interaction energized the two women and they spent the night exploring each other; finding new and innovative ways to bring a reaction from the other. If Tina had any lingering doubts, they were erased with the first rays of sunshine coming in through her bedroom window as she continued to kiss and caress the woman beside her. They finally fell asleep in each other’s arms as the dawn broke to the start of a perfect weekend.

Tina woke first and immediately a grin made its way onto her face. She glanced over at Bette, still deep in sleep.

“That was the best sleep of my entire life,” Tina said quietly.

She felt Bette stir beside her as she spoke. The bedside clock read 12:15pm – they had slept away the entire morning. She got up to use the bathroom and brush her teeth before crawling back into bed and moving up beside Bette’s naked form. She watched as Bette breathed slowly, still not fully roused from her slumber.

Tina let her eyes rest shut again, but didn’t really expect to fall asleep again. Her bedroom was starting to warm to the extent that she didn’t even want a sheet covering her.

“Good morning,” Bette said, without any indication she was otherwise awake. Her eyes remained closed and her body had not moved.

“Afternoon, actually,” Tina responded as she placed a light kiss on Bette’s shoulder.

“You must have tired me out,” Bette turned her head to deliver a light kiss of her own onto Tina’s forehead.

“I think you were a willing accomplice,” Tina reached to kiss Bette’s mouth when Bette turned her head.

“Sorry, I really have to brush my teeth before I let you kiss me,” she laughed as she sat up in the bed.

“If you must…there’s a new toothbrush in the top left drawer of the bathroom vanity. Help yourself.” Tina responded with a sigh.

“It looks like a beautiful day out there,” Bette motioned toward the window, commenting on the bright sunshine that was making its way into the bedroom.

“And it’s getting too hot in here. I’m going to turn on the air conditioning,” Tina said. She got up from the bed and pulled a t-shirt and shorts out of her dresser to put on before exiting the room.

Bette was finishing up with brushing her teeth when she realized she should check her cell phone for messages. The end of the workweek had been a hectic one, and her assistant knew to get in touch with her on the cell if there was no answer at her house.

“Tina, I just have to check my messages,” she called to the kitchen where Tina had gone after adjusting the temperature in the apartment.

“I’m just putting a kettle on for tea,” Tina called back. “What would you like to eat?”

Bette smiled as she walked into the kitchen, having pulled on her t-shirt and jeans. She had her phone to her ear and was holding up her index finger silently indicating to Tina that she would answer her after the message had ended.

She laughed as she turned the phone off and walked over to where Tina was standing by the counter.

“First things first,” she said as she placed a hand on either side of Tina, leaning her toward the counter top. Tina’s arms made their way up around Bette’s neck as they leaned together.

“Hi,” Tina smiled as their eyes met.

“Hi, back,” Bette couldn’t keep from grinning. She leaned in and lightly touched her lips to Tina’s before backing away again.

“I had a lot of fun last night…well and this morning…,” Tina shrugged her shoulders self-consciously.

“Do you think you might want to do that again sometime?” Bette countered innocently.

“Yes, please,” Tina’s smile lit up the room as she spoke, leaving no doubt in either woman’s mind that the night before was something special.

“Please tell me you don’t have to rush off to work,” Tina nodded toward Bette’s cell phone.

“The message was from Alice,” Bette began, as she rolled her eyes back. “She has taken on the role of social convenor and is getting everyone together to meet you this afternoon at 2:30.”

“To meet me?” Tina asked. “How did she know…”

“She doesn’t know,” Bette explained. “She’s hatched a plan to get us to spend more time together. As far as she knows, I was home asleep at 11 o’clock last night.”

“It’s nice that she’s looking out for you,” Tina observed.

“We could meet them, and then head over to my place for the rest of the afternoon,” Bette replied as she leaned in for another quick kiss.

“I would like to meet your friends,” Tina stated as the hiss of the boiling kettle made its presence known.

Bette turned and removed the kettle from the heat before turning off the stove.

“I’ve met Alice, but I don’t really know anything about her.” Tina said.

“You’ll like her,” Bette said, “as long as you don’t have any secrets you want kept.”

“Is that why she doesn’t know yet?”

“I want to keep this to myself for a while,” Bette smiled as she offered an analogy. “Kind of like letting a great wine make its way over your palate before you finally swallow to achieve complete appreciation.”

“Does that mean I have to keep my hands off of you in front of your friends?”

“Well if you don’t think you can resist, I totally understand…”

“Oh, I can resist, I just don’t think I want to,” she met Bette’s playful gaze with an accepting smile.

“I like that you don’t want to resist me,” Bette said happily.

Tina turned to pour the water over the loose leaf tea to let it steep in the wide pot.

“How about I just cut up some fruit and we’ll have something more substantial when we go out?” Tina suggested.

Bette came up behind Tina again and placed her hands on her hips.

“That’ll give us time to shower before we go,” she said as she leaned in to nuzzle Tina’s neck.

Tina moved to return her embrace.

“Already something for me to look forward to this afternoon,” Tina grinned.

“I should phone Alice back and let her know I got the message,” Bette reluctantly withdrew from Tina to reach for her phone on the countertop.

“I’ll get something prepared for us to eat.”

Bette hit Alice’s code on her speed dial and the phone was ringing momentarily.

“Hello,” Alice was quick to answer the phone at her apartment.

“Hi, it’s me,” Bette said.

“Where the ***** have you been? Some kind of art world emergency?” Alice began. “I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. You must have gotten my message…”

Bette assumed she could ignore Alice’s question about where she had been. “I got your message, Al and I just talked to Tina. She’ll meet us there at around 2:30.”

“Great, Bette,” Alice envisioned her plan unfolding. “We’ll have you two hooked up by the end of the week.”

“Okay, Al, whatever you say,” Bette laughed. “I’ll see you later.”

“Where are we meeting?” Tina asked as she placed a plate of melon, bananas and strawberries on the small kitchen table.

“A coffee shop called the Planet, in West Hollywood. It’s not far from my place so if you want, you can perhaps…pack an overnight bag?”

“This is turning into one really long date, isn’t it?” Tina smiled at Bette’s cautious invitation and sat down to pour them both some tea. “I’d love to pack an overnight bag.”

Bette joined her at the table and picked a strawberry from the plate, popping it into her mouth as she sat.

“Who else will be there besides Alice?” Tina asked.

“I think just Dana and Shane,” Bette replied. “Dana is Alice’s new friend. I’m not quite sure what’s going on with those two. I’ve only barely met her myself.”

They finished their lunch while sharing light touches that felt like they had always shared them.

“Let me wash these up,” Tina stood and gathered the dishes to take to the sink. “It won’t take me long.”

“I’ll help, if it’ll get us into the shower together any faster,” Bette countered as she pulled the dishtowel from the oven handle.

“I like the sound of that,” Tina smiled and set the dishes into the sink.

They finished the dishes in relative silence. It was a comfortable silence, however and they both spent that time savouring the emotions that had erupted to the surface over the last 24 hours.

tbc