“Sure… yeah… let’s go to your office,” There was a sultry tone to Candace’s voice–she had no idea what was coming.

Bette shut the door to her office behind them.

“Can you come with me to lunch today?”

“Yeah baby… Where do you want to go?” She took a couple of steps closer to Bette.

“No… Candace. Not like that. Listen. We need to talk. Tina found out. She knows.” She had promised herself that she wouldn’t cry. Crying is not something you do in front of Candace.

“Oh…”

Bette pulled herself together. “I thought maybe we should talk over lunch. But I guess this will do.” She wiped a tear from under her eye. “We both know what this was, I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”

“So you want to be with her?”

“Yes, Candace. She is my wife. I made a mistake… I love her.”

“And… that means that you and I are over?”

“Yes.” Bette noticed that the overwhelming attraction she had felt to Candace was gone. She didn’t know if it was that she was feeling so terrible she couldn’t possibly feel anything but sad, or if it was that she was seeing Candace for the first time–really seeing her–she was not Tina.

“Okay…” Candace took a few steps towards the door. “I’ll try to keep my distance. I don’t want anyone to talk.”

“Thank you.” Bette smiled slightly. Candace would only be at the CAC through the end of the week anyway–her contract was almost up.

Candace squinted her eyes a little bit at Bette, trying to read her. With that, she turned and left the small office.

Bette pulled up to the curb in front of Alice’s building, still thinking. Candace had kept to her word, Bette hadn’t see her at work at all the day before. She didn’t think it would matter even if she did; her attraction to Candace was gone. In a selfish way, the affair had served its purpose. The place she and Tina were in right now was awful, but it could only get better from this point–it had to.

This time when she approached Alice’s apartment she knocked without hesitation. She hoped that Alice wasn’t at home. She really wanted some time alone with Tina.