CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Tina was relaxing at her apartment, waiting for Bette to come home, but that was still a few hours. Lately, she had spent a lot of time writing again. She didn’t write deep and difficult stories or essays, but just what was on her mind. Every now and then, she worked on a silly lovestory set in Boston. Apart from that, she was working on something serious. It was a story set both in the Victorian era and in the Interbellum-period in Great Britain. It consisted of two stories that were connected to each other in a way the reader would only know the true extent of at the very end. It was based on what her and Bette had gone through to be together. Of course, it was not done to come out as a female couple in Victorian London, her favourite city in the world after New York, altough she had to admit that she had taken to New Haven as well. She had grown to love her characters and she found that she enjoyed writing this the most. It combined her passions: history, literature and her love and endless devotion to Bette.

Every now and then, Laura would stop by for a cup of coffee, helping Tina with new insights. Laura was an avid reader herself and had read so many books that she was able to tell what was going to be too predictable and what wasn’t. She had declared herself unable to write anything, she had tried in the past. She was just getting on her way when she met Brenda, who had taken all of her time and energy. Now, Brenda was gone, but Laura still couldn’t concentrate on writing long enough without being overwhelmed by the longing to read. Laura was very spontanous, but not in the way Brenda had been. Tina was glad that Bette liked her, unlike Brenda who she couldn’t stand. That made it difficult for Tina, because Brenda would always show up at the wrong moments and whenever Bette came home to find the whiny neighbour there, her mood was ruined for the rest of the evening.

Tina was so glad that her mother was so fond of Bette. She hadn’t expected there to be any problems at all, after all she knew both her mother and her girlfriend very well. But she also knew how straight-forward her mother could be and she was a little bit scared that in all her harshness and forwardness she would wake up the insecure side of Bette. It was really a sight to see, Bette being self-confident and just so content with her life. What a contrast it was to two years earlier, when they still were in that phase where both were in love, but neither knew. It was a weird thought that only three years ago, she was still meeting up with Tim from time to time to fulfill certain needs.