Chapter 5

Tina sat down with Angelica at the kitchen table and chuckled with each passing sigh that came from Angelica’s direction. She ignored it at first, certain that Angelica would break down and eventually begin a discussion hinting at what troubled her.

Tina’s fingers began to type, one symptom after another, on WebMD to gather as much knowledge as she could before her doctor appointment in the morning. When Angelica sighed, once again breaking Tina’s concentration, she looked up and arched her eyebrow in Angelica’s direction.

“What?” Angelica said catching Tina’s eye, which made sense since she was waiting for Tina to look up.

“I should be asking you that.”

“When is Mama B coming home?”

“After she’s done at work.”

“Why isn’t she ever here when I need her?”

“She normally is,” Tina defended Bette. “I’m curious what this Earth shattering need to have her home right now is though.”

“Homework troubles,” Angelica rolled her eyes. “I need help with my homework.”

“What’s the subject?”

“Social Studies,” Angelica muttered. “We’re studying famous artists.”

“Yep,” Tina chuckled. “You’re better off with her. You can make some effort though and use the resources at your fingers before you give up and assume Mama B will give you the answers.”

“I’ve looked on the Internet,” Angelica whined.

“Look over there,” Tina pointed to an enormous bookshelf full of colorful hard covered books. “There is all the information you’d ever want to know about art if you would just look at them.”

“All of them?” Angelica let a look of dread cross her face causing Tina to chuckle.

Angelica went back to her social studies book while Tina began to read additional information on her symptoms in an attempt to rule out some of the more serious ailments. She skimmed the pages as she rolled her eyes at some of the search results appearing on the screen. She opened a new window and began a new search on another one of her symptoms looking at the page of results and comparing search results with the other symptoms to find common threads.

Bette waited at the light outside the gallery as the conversation with Megan played over in her mind.

“Are you prepared to save the gallery at any cost?”

Bette rolled her eyes not appreciating Megan’s tactics.

“You’ve got nerve,” Bette muttered to herself. “A lot of nerve Megan.”

Bette signaled for her right-hand turn pausing briefly to ensure traffic was clear. She relived Megan’s reaction when Bette said she would call her first thing in the morning with her answer. Bette rolled her eyes once more at Megan’s assumption that she would be jumping at the chance to work with her.

“What’s there to think about Bette?”

“My entire life being turned upside down,” Bette shot back. “With every controversial show there’s an invasion into your life, both professional and personal.”

Bette stopped at the next red light when her phone rang breaking her thoughts.

“Hello?”

“Did she show up?” Alice said eager to discuss the day’s events with Bette.

“I can only assume you mean Megan.”

“Who else would I mean?”

Bette just took a deep breath to calm her nerves and rolled her eyes.

“What did she want?” Alice pushed for an answer.

“To offer me a professional opportunity.”

“Only professional?”

“Disappointed that she didn’t want more?” Bette shot back not appreciating Alice’s assumptions or lack of support to Tina.

“I am,” Alice chuckled. “I’d give anything to see either you shoot her down or Tina engage in some very immature cat-fighting of which I would obviously place all my money on Tina and make a fortune.”

Bette couldn’t help the slight chuckle that escaped her lips.

“If you ask me Megan Freedman needs to get shot down once in a while to gently remove the chip that seems to reside comfortably on her shoulder.”

“I thought you were a fan?” Bette challenged.

“She does warrant some attention,” Alice answered carefully. “However my heart and soul belong to Kristen. She gently reminded me of that last night with several shots of her elbow to my ribs.”

“I remember the move well,” Bette said smiling at how well their relationship was going. She cared about both Alice and Kristen and quickly became the biggest advocate for their relationship.

“I’m almost home so I’ve got to let you go.”

“Are we seeing you tomorrow for breakfast at The Planet?”

“I have no idea Al,” Bette answered as she pulled into the driveway. “If we aren’t there inside our usual 15 minute window just assume the answer is no.”

“Have a good one Bette!” Alice said cheerfully.

Alice hung up before Bette could even say goodbye. She parked the car and got out reaching into the backseat to gather her things and journey inside.

“I hate this art stuff,” Angelica whined breaking Tina’s concentration.

“You better hope your Mama B doesn’t have the house bugged or you won’t survive that statement.”

“Tell me how I’m ever going to use this information,” Angelica rolled her eyes. “I have to match up the artist with their work and some of this is so unknown it isn’t even on the Internet.”

“Try me,” Tina said looking at Angelica.

“Sir William Beechey,” Angelica said rolling her eyes.

“Who?”

“Exactly,” Angelica laughed at the look on Tina’s face.

“Give me one I know.”

“Well I have some of the obvious ones done already.”

Bette walked in the door and Angelica let out a sigh of relief that she was now able to complete her assignment. Tina leaned over and whispered to Angelica so Bette couldn’t hear.

“Don’t assume she’ll give you the answers, she’s worse about that then I am.”

Bette walked into the kitchen and smiled at her family sitting at the table. She first walked up to Tina and kissed her gently on the lips and then smiled at Angelica.

“I need help,” Angelica said quickly.

“I just walked in the door.”

“I have to finish this,” Angelica whined a bit frustrated that Bette wasn’t willing to just engage to accommodate her needs. “When can you help me?”

“What is it?”

“Art stuff, I have to match the artist with their work and some of this isn’t even on the Internet.”

“Did you try my books?” Bette questioned as she slipped out of her suit jacket and poured herself a glass of wine.

“Now you sound like Mom.”

“Well,” Bette smiled. “She’s a smart woman.”

Tina frowned seeing tension residing in Bette’s shoulders, her tone of voice seemed strained, and she seemed preoccupied with something other then the current conversation.

“Who is Sir William Beechey?” Angelica asked.

“A painter that is famous specifically because he became the portrait painter to Queen Charlotte and was knighted for that very reason several years later.”

“Good! Now I can pair him up with the choice of ‘portrait of Queen Charlotte.”

“Angelica can you give your mom and I some time alone?” Bette asked causing both Tina and Angelica to stare at her with worried looks on their faces.

“How am I going to get my homework done?”

“How many questions are there?” Bette asked sipping her wine.

“I have 26 left to do,” Angelica answered as Bette looked over her shoulder at the page of work in front of her.

“Monet goes with ‘Water-Lilies’ and anyone who is breathing should know that,” Bette said still looking at the sheet. “Vincent van Gogh goes with ‘Sunflowers’ obviously.”

Angelica drew a line between the artist and their work not questioning Bette’s willingness to give her the answers.

“That leaves 24 left to do.”

“I’ll do the rest before I go to bed,” Bette promised. “Right now I need to talk to your mom.”

Angelica felt a sense of dread creep in her stomach regarding her latest set of half-truths. She wondered if Bette had seen her kissing Darren in the mall and just didn’t say anything. She quickly shrugged it off, knowing that if Bette had seen them, she surely would have been on the receiving end of a nasty scene at the mall.

“Go watch television in our room Angie,” Tina urged also feeling a sense of dread at what was causing Bette’s somber mood.

“Ok,” Angelica said as she snuck off to their bedroom turning the TV on and desperately thinking of ways to eavesdrop effectively.

“Are you ok Babe?” Tina asked as Bette sat a glass of wine down before her and sat down at the table.

Tina pushed her laptop to the side to give Bette her complete attention.

“Megan showed up at the gallery today,” Bette began without waiting for any reaction from Tina. “The conversation was unnerving to say the least.”

“What did she want?” Tina asked, afraid of the answer.

“She’s doing a show, one for pleasure and not for survival so it can be extremely controversial in nature.”

Tina nodded to show her attention was still with Bette.

“She needs a few things to make it a success,” Bette sighed as she continued. “The common factor among all of those things is me.”

“You?”

“She needs an owner that doesn’t shy away from controversial shows. This one is about pro-choice, a statement against the Government made by a woman that has the audience to impact legislation.”

“Through art?”

“Believe it or not, it’s one of the more influential ways to inspire change. Just look at Angie’s homework,” Bette held up the piece of paper in her hand. “Every person on this sheet has shaped what society is today through influential pieces of art.”

Tina smiled at Bette’s passion for her career, her knowledge of something so dramatic, and her quest to participate in the journey of change through art at any cost.

“She wants to host the show with someone that’s done controversial pieces before,” Bette continued.

“So there will be, yet again, an intrusion into our lives complete with protestors on our lawn?”

“There’s a good chance of that,” Bette confirmed hesitantly.

“I’d say better then good given the subject matter. Add to that the fact that you’re a lesbian and you’ll have an all-out protest on your hands led by radical religious groups that feel the only thing worse then pro-choice is homosexuality.”

“I cover the entire gamut don’t I?” Bette said smiling to lighten the mood.

“You’ve never been one to do anything half-assed,” Tina said smiling. “You’ll be the poster child of all that’s wrong in the world.”

“Megan needs someone with room to begin to sculpt the bigger pieces because she doesn’t have the room for that in her studio. I have that one large gallery in the back that’s empty where she could work and then those pieces wouldn’t need to be moved once they’re complete until after the show.”

“Uh-huh,” Tina said sipping her wine.

“She also needs someone with an eye for making a statement. With my background and two able hands, she thinks I’m the best choice.”

“She wants you to use your hands?” Tina’s eyebrow shot up.

“For sculpting.”

“You aren’t a sculptor,” Tina pointed out.

“True, but I’m excellent at what I do and can pick it up easily.”

“Is that her way of roping you into endless nights of work?” Tina asked in a calm voice.

“She knows who you are.”

“That wasn’t my question,” Tina smiled. “I’m sure she knows who I am which makes it worse if she thinks there’s a chance to rekindle what you once had.”

“We had nothing,” Bette defended herself. “I slept with her so long ago to land a show and put myself on the map. It’s essentially an embarrassing moment in my life Tina.”

“She’s beautiful.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t easy,” Bette chuckled to try to make light of the conversation.
“But we weren’t in a relationship.”

“You’ve already made your mind up,” Tina said seeing the signs in Bette’s eyes.

“I have to do this,” Bette began. “If I don’t land the next big show, I’ll be filing for bankruptcy and closing the gallery.”

Tina sat there with her mouth agape staring at Bette sitting in front of her.

“What?”

“Megan also came to me because she knows I’m financially on my last leg there,” Bette admitted feeling a sense of failure spread through her stomach.

“Why didn’t I know this?”

“Because before I admitted I was failing, I wanted to make sure I couldn’t revive it. I only wanted to worry you if the flies were circling.”

“Uh-huh,” Tina said still in shock over what Bette just said to her.

“That part I resent,” Bette continued. “She knows she has me where she wants me and made that clear. I almost feel backed into a corner and forced to do this show.”

“You have options.”

“I’ve exhausted them,” Bette admitted. “This show can likely set me up for life Tina.”

“I work,” Tina reminded her. “Helena pays me a pretty nice salary where we could live comfortably.”

“And we both know how well I do with having what I view as my role in this marriage threatened.”

“We’re in this together.”

“I want my autonomy so I need to keep a job,” Bette said laughing knowing that statement was always used to mock Tina regarding their first break-up.

“I’m never going to live that down am I?”

“No,” Bette said laughing for the first time in days. “It’s so rare you say something so outrageous that I can’t give it up.”

“You want to take this don’t you?” Tina asked trying to be supportive of Bette’s career.

“I really do, to save the gallery, but also to influence what I can in an unfair policy debate by our Government.”

“You should do it then.”

“If it makes you feel any better, Alice wants you to get into a cat-fight with Megan so she can place all her money on you and be rich beyond her wildest dreams when you win claws down.”

“I never thought I’d say this,” Tina laughed. “But Alice is pretty smart!”

Bette took a deep sigh and leaned back in the chair as she sipped her wine once more.

“I’m sorry I waited to tell you Babe.”

“I’ve come to expect certain things after all these years,” Tina began. “I know why you didn’t tell me, but I still would have wanted you to.”

“I know,” Bette leaned forward and smiled at Tina causing Tina to smile back.

“A cute smile isn’t going to help you out of this.”

“Cute? I was going for sexy!”

“Well, you’ll have to work harder then.”

Bette pretended to be offended but couldn’t hide her smile at Tina’s playfulness.

“I’ll call Megan tomorrow morning and tell her I’ll take the show.”

“I’ll support you even if I don’t like her,” Tina said.

“What were you doing while I was hard at work?” Bette looked at the computer screen trying to catch a glimpse of Tina’s work.

“Research,” Tina said turning the computer for Bette to see her results. “I’ve been combing over WebMD articles about my symptoms.”

“Weren’t you once told to stay off of WebMD by Dr. Wilson when you were diagnosing yourself with rare diseases one would only get from a rare bug bite in Africa or something strange like that?” Bette arched her eyebrow in challenge.

“Touché ,” Tina said smiling and clicking on links to show Bette her research. “There’s one common thread that keeps coming up but I refuse to believe it.”

“Refuse?” Bette sounded worried as her eyes glanced over the screen. “What is it?”

“There’s no sense in even talking about it because I won’t accept that it’s the cause of my symptoms.”

“So we’re not talking about a rare bug bite in Africa?”

“No,” Tina admonished Bette quickly.

Bette grabbed the laptop and mouse quickly away from Tina and began to click on links and read articles that appeared on the screen. Tina finished her glass of wine, blinking back tears, as she looked at Bette’s face for her reaction.

“Are you really this upset about the probability that this is what’s going on with you?”

“How can you even ask me that?” Tina seemed shocked at Bette’s cavalier attitude.

“I just think there are positives to it as well Tina,” Bette said clicking another link and reading the article that followed. “At least we won’t have to worry about the house being turned upside down once Angelica starts this phase of her life. If there was even a small chance you’d be on the same cycle I can guarantee that there’s not enough Prozac for me in the world.”

Bette looked up when her joke was met with silence to see tears streaming down Tina’s face. She stood up immediately and walked over to Tina’s chair. She bent down on one knee and wrapped her arms around Tina’s body and held her as she allowed her emotions shine through after weeks of hiding them.