By the time Alice reached the ladies room, Tina was at the sink reapplying her lipstick.  Hi Alice, she called out, greeting her surprised friend. 

Tina, are you ok? I mean you must be totally upset with Bette for leaving you out of the speech, right?

Alice, its all right.  This was a big night for Bette – Im sure she was just nervous.

Nervous my *****, thought Alice.  She had seen the disappointment in Tinas eyes as it dawned on her that Bette was really forgetting all about her.  She covered it up quickly, Alice had to give her that.

But Tina

Alice – enough.  I dont want you to make a big deal out of this.  This is Bettes night.  With that Tina left Alice standing in the bathroom, mouth hanging open at her friends cavalier attitude.

Back at the reception hall, Bette had found Dana and Shane who were now nervous about the whole thing.  Hey guys! Howd I do? Wheres Tina? Did I sound all right?  Its hard to know if youre projecting when youre up there.  Did you see all the people that are here?  Bette went on and on as Shane and Dana could only mumble a Yeah you were great.

Tina and Alice met up with them and Tina immediately gushed, You were so great baby.  Did you hear how loud the applause was?  I was glad you decided to throw in that quote by Diego Rivera.  Have you seen all these people?

As Tina went on and on, Alice decided that she couldnt believe what was going on.  Here Tina was gushing to Bette about how wonderful she was while Bette had committed an awful faux pas.  Well, if Tina wasnt going to get angry then Alice would do it for her.  Damn that Porter.  Always so self-involved, she thought.  Alice decided she would steer Bette away as soon as she could and give her a piece of her mind.  That moment came soon enough when Tina moved across the room to speak to an old acquaintance.

Porter, what the ***** is your problem? Alice demanded.

Alice, what are you talking about?  Do you mind? I am very busy here.  Ive got to secure contacts for potential donations to the CAC.

Jesus, Bette! Can you not think about your job for one second? Instead think about your wife – whom you forgot to include in any part of your long-winded, rambling, I almost couldnt understand it acceptance speech?

What?! *****! Bettes mind reeled; she replayed her speech in her head and realized that Alice was indeed correct.

Oh my god. Is she all right? She didnt cry did she? I cant handle it when she cries.

Shes hiding it well. I think she doesnt want to put a damper on your night as she called it.

Bette scanned the room for Tina. She felt so terrible. She saw Tina standing there talking to some woman who looked vaguely familiar to Bette. Bette felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. How horrible, she thought, for Tina to have to smile and keep up appearances even though she was probably hurting inside.  She loved her T more than anything.  She often had a hard time expressing the depth of her love.  Mistakes like these didnt help matters.  For even small matters such as temporary memory loss or tiny slights and insults can add up to enormous pain and emotional scarring in a relationship.  She wanted to go right over and kiss all the bad feelings away.  Unfortunately, she couldnt right there in the hotels ballroom. She would, however, let Tina know that she was sorry and that they would talk later.  That was the least that she owed her.  She walked over to Tina, the urge to cry for a moment overwhelmed her.