”My work matters,” Tina said.

”It matters, of course, but does it matter to you?” Bette clarified.

”Most of the time…”

”You’re losing your love of what brought you to this profession,” Bette said. ”And your profession isn’t loving you back right now.”

”But it’s always been there for me,” Tina gave a tired smile. ”No matter how dysfunctional the relationship has gotten.”

”I’m here for you too. You’re not tired of me already, are you?”

”If you were no more than you appeared to be, I’d already be bored,” Tina said. ”But you’re altogether different than what I expected.”

”I knew you were smart. I knew you were articulate. If I’d known you were gay I would have pursued you long ago.”

”Until quite recently, I was either in a relationship or not ready to date, so it’s probably for the best that my sexuality was a mystery to you.”

”The inefficiency of the inter-office grapevine actually worked in my favour for once,” Bette said.

”Which reminds me, no flowers, no gifts, no deliveries to each other’s office,” Tina said. ”We’ve been getting careless.”

”As in ‘I couldn’t care less who knows that we’re dating,’?” Bette asked.

”But I do care who knows,” Tina said. ”And is that what we’re doing? Dating?”

”I told the judge we’re in a romantic relationship,” Bette said. ”That’s as accurate as any descriptor I could invent.”

”You’re much more romantic than I expected you to be,” Tina conceded. ”There’s been a lot of romance for only two weeks…”

”And quite a bit of lust, but I didn’t think I wanted to broach that topic in chambers.”

”I thank you for that,” Tina laughed.

”It’s good to hear you laugh about our situation,” Bette said. ”I thought you were getting cold feet.”

”I don’t want to stop seeing you, if that’s what you mean,” Tina said.

”But you don’t want to stay tonight?”

”I need a night at home, in my own bed,” Tina said. She paused for a moment. ”Do you want to stay over?”

”At your house?” Bette asked. She was unable to hide the surprise in her question.

”We’ll have dinner first, I’m not just going to drag you from your bed to mine,” Tina said.