“I’m sorry, Bette.”

“For what…exactly?”

“For…”

“Because from what you said last night, you made a choice to lie to me, to hide things from me and to be disloyal to me. Also from what you said last night, it sounded as though you were sticking by your choices of deceit and betrayal. So, James, why exactly are you sorry?”

Bette glared at James. James did not lose eye contact. 

“I’m sorry you’re in pain and I’m sorry the part I played in all of this didn’t alleviate your pain but added to it.”

Bette folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. 

James knew Bette wasn’t going to simply let this go. He also knew that Bette knew that he knew that she wasn’t going to give him a pass without some form of punishment. She was going to torture him for the foreseeable future.

“Fuck you, James. Now, get out of my sight and go do something. Preferably something that doesn’t involve any sort of manipulation on your part.”

James conceded with a nod. Bette continued to glare at him as he scurried away. She was going to forgive him eventually. It just wasn’t going to be today.

Once James escaped around the corner, Bette stood in front of Forgiveness and started to analyze every inch of the painting. 

***

“It got pretty volatile. Bette was not happy with any of us. James took the brunt of it. But she won’t fire him. She’s more bark than anything…I hope.” 

“I am so proud of you, Tina. You could have not said anything and proceeded with dating Bette. It shows how much you value her and your relationship.”

“I guess. I just made it that much harder to win her back.”

“Possibly. But think of it this way, rebuilding your relationship with Bette from the ground up could prove to be more rewarding than you could have ever dreamed.”

“Yeah. You’re right. It’s just that…that there’s a possibility I won’t win her back.”

“There is that possibility.”

“You know, Julia…sometimes when I say stuff like what I just said, I wish you’d say something like, “of course you’re going to win her back” even if you don’t really fucking mean it.”

Tina rolled her eyes.