“Hey, Babe.”  Tina winked as she set down the tray on the side table.  “You look like you were lost in your thoughts.  What’s up?”  She asked, as she settled herself between Bette’s legs, leaning back against her chest.  Bette wrapped her arms around Tina’s waist in a tight embrace, snuggling her chin in the crook of Tina’s neck, inhaling Tina’s scent.

“You’re right, Tee, there is something on my mind.  Something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.  We just haven’t had much time lately.”  Bette responded after a small delay.  Her voice trailed off slightly, followed by a deep sigh.  Tina covered Bette’s hands with her own, interlacing their fingers.

“Is something wrong, Babe?”  She asked, her concern growing as she tilted her head back and saw the seriousness in Bette’s face.

“No, not really ‘wrong’.”  Bette answered with a shrug.  “I’ve just been thinking a lot about work, about what I want to do.”  She sighed again, and Tina felt a wave of relief wash over her now recognizing what was on Bette’s mind.  “You know that MOCA keeps after me to come on board full time.  But the hours probably would be lousy, and I wouldn’t have nearly as much control as I had even at the CAC.  But it would pay really well and would give us the most stability.”

“Do you want to keep working for MOCA full time, Babe?”  Tina asked, reaching her right hand behind her to stroke Bette’s hair, still holding Bette’s hands with the left, caressing Bette’s smooth skin with her thumb.

“I don’t know.  I like the individual projects I’ve been doing for them, but I get to pick and choose.  Going in-house would be different.  But I just don’t know if I can walk away from the financial security that job would give us.”  Bette’s spirits dropped progressively lower the longer she talked about the MOCA job.

“Well, if you could choose anything you wanted, setting aside the money and security, what would you want to do?”  Tina smiled, happy that Bette was talking to her about any of this.  A year ago, Bette probably wouldn’t have included Tina in any discussions about her professional future.  Bette sat quietly for a few moments, lost in her thoughts.  Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of silent contemplation, she felt able to answer honestly.