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Another Left Turn – Chapter 5
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She stopped, then opened her eyes with a dazed look on her face. Dani was staring at her with a kind of admiring affection. Eventually, Bette looked at her.
‘Okay?’ she said.
‘Very okay,’ Dani said, applauding.
‘Now you.’ Bette took a swig of water. ‘Three, two, one—’
Dani took a deep breath, closed her eyes and began. ‘I feel lost without Sophie. I’m angry with my dad. I feel frustrated by the election. I hate where I live. I want Sophie to be happy, but not close to where I live, so it’s not shoved in my face. I’m angry with Finley for taking Sophie away when she probably doesn’t even love her. I envy people who don’t need money. I feel like a fraud sometimes. I worry that I haven’t achieved anything by myself. I wanted to win the election so it would make my career better. I . . .’ For the first time she faltered, distracted by something. Then she carried on: ‘I want a family of my own. I feel lost. I want my father to respect me. I keep thinking that Sophie wasn’t the right person for me, but I still miss her. I don’t trust my feelings. I wonder if I should cut my hair.’
Again, like Bette, when she’d finished Dani opened her eyes and looked around, like she’d just awoken. Bette was smiling at her.
‘Not bad,’ she said, patting the younger woman’s back. ‘Not bad.’
***
Tina drove back to the vineyard deep in thought. The speed of progress with Wendy was startling, but she wasn’t sure how much of that was Wendy and how much of it was her. Not that it really mattered.
Tell the truth.
This had been her constant, ongoing revelation, yet again, as Wendy asked her some perfectly reasonable questions. Why hadn’t she told Angie she was in therapy? Why didn’t she tell Bette she was in San Diego? Her answer – that she was protecting them – quickly gave way to the truth: that she was controlling them.
A queasy feeling swarmed over Tina’s stomach as she remembered that Wendy had asked if Tina recognised a pattern. Oh, boy. And then they’d talked about Angelica. Specifically, how she’d come to be conceived. That was one of Tina’s biggest regrets, not involving Bette in that conception, both ethically and emotionally. She hadn’t even been able to look at Wendy when she described how she’d gone to see a completely different doctor to have the insemination done, taken and disposed of the ovulation and pregnancy tests in secret, in public rest rooms. And then . . .
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Hi Largo,
I wanted to let you know that i am reading your story in secret, not anymore ☺️, after reading the comments on the previous chapters.
I am still depressed and devastated about GenQ and episode 7 , that is why i have a hard time to read anything that is related and i stopped reading this story, i think i commented that on your first chapter. But now i am able to appreciate your story and the journey you take our couple.
It is a great story!
Hi Bibi28! I’m really happy you carried on with the story. I am totally a Tibetter and I can’t stand what GenQ did to them – I realise they may well get them back together on the show in S2, but it was unnecessarily painful to watch them broken up again. So … I hear ya.
So happy to have you on board. Thank you very much for commenting and for the encouragement x
So….Bette and Dani are starting a relationship much the same as Peggy and Bette. And the fact that Bette has said it out loud is a real plus for this story. It is obvious that Bette is not the person she was 10 or 15 years ago. It is obvious that Bette has a good grasp of her age, her stage in life and her desires for her life. And her main desire is Tina. It is also understandable that she is leery of Tina’s actions and motivations. She has been hurt by Tina’s leaving and Kit’s death. And she was devastated that Tina announced she would be marrying Carrie. Now suddenly, Tina has jumped off that train and looking for a path back to Bette. Even though, it is her heart’s desire, the memory of the pain is so fresh and was so harsh, its cannot be disregarded. However, in her heart of hearts, she knows she must allow this opportunity to develop and take a chance that Tina will come back to her and this time for good.
This trip with Dani will be very good for Bette. I think it will allow her to clam the rough waters of her mind and allow her to contemplate the future and what it is that she really wants for her life. Dani is the perfect person for this journey. No attachments and no judgments. And best of all no unwanted advice or suggestions. Hopefully, it will be good for Dani as well. Whatever decisions and clarifications of their life situations will be the result of their own making. There may not have been anyone else except maybe Shane that could have done this for Bette.
I really like this story. Even though, the premise is the Gen Q story line which I hate, I think this is a good natural progression of what it should be. Bette and Tina are women of character and of complexity. Sometimes we don’t understand their motivations. But I for one, believe that they are totally capable of recognizing their own flaws and changing their own behavior if they individually desire to do so. I also believe that they can learn from their mistakes and not continue to repeat them when they are aware of those mistakes and make a conscience effort to do so. That is the part that TWL presents and Gen Q seems to what to dismiss.
I like that Tina’s therapist is asking the simple yet hard questions. What are you protecting others from? She is making Tina understand that some of her own behavior has been just as controlling as the behavior she sees in Bette. This is a huge revelation for Tina. And it very well may be the key to getting her and Bette back together.
Thank you for this story…..thank you for this chapter. I will be waiting patiently for the next one….
Hi Martha, I appreciate your comments and insights. You are completely correct that GenQ don’t know what they’re dealing with here – these are million-dollar characters but they give them two-bit storylines.
I’m glad you liked Bette and Dani getting their relationship clarified. I like attractions between people, of all kinds, so it was fun to explain it. And yes – Shane is the other person who could have done it but Bette wanted to pick over the election, so chose Dani. And you are right about Bette – she is at a crossroads. She’s been reeling with grief for Kit and her marriage, but now she has to live for herself first. Losing the election will be looked back on as a blessing.
And Tina… I think people can change if they’re motivated and they have good support. Wendy is helping her, as you say, by letting her hear herself. Tina needs to hear herself…
Thank you again for the great comments. They are much appreciated! X
I am really growing to love this story and look forward to more posts.
Particularly like how you are taking Bette’s character forward.
I hope you are going to be as sympathetic with Tina.
I love both characters separately but adore them together! A real TiBetter!
SG
Hi SG! I love them together too. :-) That’s where the flashbacks come in, so I can write about them ‘together’ when they’re not quite yet in the main story, haha
I can understand why you say that about Tina. She is going through it a bit, but she kind of has to at the moment. It will get better for her. She’s such a loving person. I loved Laurel’s scene with Angie in GenQ.
Thanks for sticking with it! I appreciate it x
You may just do the impossible and convince me that this crazy couple deserve another chance! Love your story and your writing. Spu
Hi Spu – you made me laugh with this! I soooo get what you mean. And I guess that means I understand where writers who want them to move on are coming from? But I can’t let it go. Their too luminous. I am drawn to them, and to fixing them!
Thank you for the comment. It means a lot. X
This is such a fun story. And I love how you had the therapist lead Tina down the path of why she views her actions as protective when they are harmful and was able to reframe her thinking to show how she tries to control. Ironic given how Bette was always seen as controlling. Hope to see more texts between T and B as their communication becomes more effective. Looking forward to the next chapter…
Hi BK! Thanks for reading the chapter and for commenting. Tina’s motives are good but sometimes people, as you say, can still end up hurting others. It’s hard to see that in yourself sometimes. And she needs to protect herself too, so… difficult all round.
There will be more B&T interaction soon! Thanks again for the feedback. I’m enjoying your writing too! X
Thank you for the chapter!
But Bette in her middle 50 – isn’t she too old even for adoption? If she not planning adopt teenager, than it was 10-15 years before this child go the the college, and Bette will be 65-70 years?
Hi Zhenya! Thanks for reading and commenting. I’m only getting my information from the internet but California has no upper age limit on adoption. Now, as you say, depending on the age of the child, some people might think she’s too old. But consider that if Tina had had another baby at, say, 42 or 43, then that child would only be 6 or 7 years old in the present-day of the story.
But I haven’t decided yet about some of this. It will be in future chapters. Thank you again for the feedback. It is much appreciated x
Great chapter! I loved Bette’s “confession” to Dani, I felt like it revealed so much about her as well as her relationship with Tina and her fears regarding that relationship.
I’m happy to see that Tina understands that she acted really wrong in hiding from Bette that she was trying again for a baby. I never understood the reasoning of trying to protect her from another loss. I can’t see making that big of a decision in a relationship, no matter how strained, alone. Especially one that affects both parties so much.
Her talking about the affair was very painful, especially since it wasn’t about the sex part, or about what Bette did, but about how it made her feel. How she felt she was nothing and didn’t matter. Especially with how low I think she always felt about herself, because of what happened with her sister.
I just love Helena, I’m so happy you brought her back!
I can totally understand Angie’s response to Tina telling her about Carrie, and about her being in San Diego and not Toronto. Since she doesn’t (and shouldn’t) know about everything happening with Tina, it is hard to see your parent acting so irresponsibly, or like a child. And since Tina can’t really explain to her what is going on I think she is responding as well as she could to everything that is happening. From her viewpoint, Tina left Bette and choose to be with Carrie. So if she’s now not with Carrie any more, why did she leave in the first place?
Loved the fact that both Tina and Bette were having a bath, although very different ones :-)
Hi Noa! You love Helena – oh, that makes me happy :-) I bloody love Helena too. And I especially love ‘my’ Helena, the vineyard owner. I have so much fun researching what goes into making wine in Southern California. It’s amazing. And such a beautiful country.
Tina is so courageous in my story. You’re right, it’s painful sometimes, but I hope she’s inspirational too, about the power of love, and self-acceptance. Her conception of Angie alone blew my mind too. I can’t imagine doing that. Only on The L Word, lol
Angie is at that age where she’s not quite a kid and not quite an adult, so her reactions are unpredictable. But I like having the freedom to make her just do a WTF?! every now and then, haha
Thanks you again for commenting. It’s really fun that your reading is taking me back to these early chapters :-) x