“That’s what my girlfriend does!” It was out of her mouth before she even realised it.

“Your girlfriend? Is she doing an extra degree?”

Tina rubbed her neck, blushing. “Uh, no. It’s actually her first degree.”

“She worked a couple of years then?”

“N-no… she’s 18.”

“18? Kinkeh, TK!”

They had only met the day before but already were at the stage of nicknames. Samantha Thompson was already Sam, Thom, Thompson or ST. They both agreed ‘TK’ sounded better, though.

“It’s not like that! She’s really mature for her age, she’s very smart and extremely talented and not like any teenager you ever met!”

“So, how did you meet?”

Tina told the story they had both worked out. They had even called Kit so she knew about it, although it would be weird for someone to call her to check on them.

“Her older sister and I had some mutual friends and she gave a lot of parties at her house, her father wasn’t at home very much. That’s kind of how I met her – in exchange for her silence, Kit would let Bette invite some of her friends as well.”

“Cool. When do I meet her?”

“What?”

“Come on! You’re meeting Dave tomorrow.”

“I have to talk to Bette about it first.”

“Sure.”

Tina decided to change the subject before Sam caught her on her lie. “So, you did Art History and now you’re a…”

“Script writer – I know,” Sam rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t sound logical to anyone. I just… wrote a script once, it sold, I wrote another one… they liked my stuff. I mostly do documentaries on Art, but I also did some cheesy movies. You know, the ones that sell. Boy meets girl, Girl is hard to get, Boy does romantic gesture, Girl swoons, Boy gets girl, the end.”

“And Dave?”

“He does something with computers, I can’t pronounce it, you’ll have to ask him.”

They chatted for a long while. They were only interrupted by Tina’s cellphone. She saw it was her lover and smiled. “Hi babe, what’s up?”

“Hi,” Tina could hear Bette’s smile through the phone. “Are you okay?”

“Sure, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Are you at home?”

“Actually I’m not. You remember Sam, I met her yesterday? We’re having drinks together.”

“Oh,” Bette tried very hard to hide her disappointment but failed. It broke Tina’s heart. “That’s good. Yeah, that’s good. You’re making friends.” The brunette was convincing herself more than she was reassuring Tina. 

“Talking about, how’s your little friends-project going?”

“Fine. I’m trying. I think I’m getting close with this girl Alex and a guy called Walter. Can you believe that? I didn’t know people still called their kids Walter!”

Tina laughed. “Well, it’s nice to know you don’t judge him for it. Listen, are you free tomorrow night?”

“Sure, why?” Bette asked in a suggestive tone.

“Oh – didn’t want to get your hopes up at that. I’m meeting Dave, Sams boyfriend and I thought it’d be nice for you to be there. Sam studied Art History, you know. At Yale. And the other thing… it could be arranged tonight?”

Tina imagined how Bette would be grinning now. “Sure. I’ll be there in an hour, two hour tops. I’m meeting Alexandra for dinner.”

Tina ignored the pang of jealousy. She was clearly overreacting. “Okay. See you tonight!”

“Love you.”

“Love you more.”

When Tina looked up, Sam was rolling her eyes. “You are so getting laid tonight!”

“What?” Tina asked, her face flustered. How did she know that?

“Heh. It was worth a try…”

“Fuck you!”

“I’m sorry to hurt your feelings, but I’ll have to decline. But I’m sure Bette is eager!”

Tina sighed and smiled at the same time. Samantha Thompson was one crazy woman. But she liked her. A lot. As a friend.