Previously:

“Bette, haven’t we been through this before? Why don’t you try calling her? I mean maybe she’s just waiting for you.”

“I… I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Bette shrugged her shoulders “It’s complicated.”

Alice abruptly shifted her gaze from Bette and onto the person who just walked through the restaurant’s entrance:

“Well… speaking of complications… Guess who’s by the door.”

Bette followed Alice’s eyes and felt a swell of hope rising from the pit of her stomach, she let her jaw drop just a little as soon as she saw Tina walk in, beautiful as always, looking as if she were searching for something… or someone.
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Bette unconsciously tapped her fingers on the table’s smooth wooden surface, as this is was costmary whenever she found herself in a situation she wasn’t quite sure she could handle. Ambient music streamed through the restaurant’s high speakers providing a sharp contrast to the rhythm of Bette’s incessant tapping. To say that she felt shaken was an understatement.

Tap… after tap… after tap… after tap… Alice waited for her to say something, but the words never came.

“Oh my gosh can you believe that? I mean what were the chances she’d show up here?”

Finally the tapping stopped as Bette turned to Alice and gave her the shortest reply she could manage, “Yeah I know.”

“I mean it Porter… Come on what were the odds huh? A million to one?”

Bette looked at Alice, shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

“Maybe it’s fate.” Alice suggested.

“Or a stupid coincidence…” as Bette said this, her voice betrayed her, she kind of liked the idea of Tina being there because of some destined twist in life.

“Should we go over there and say hello?” Alice asked, completely unaware that Bette was thinking the exact same thing. But for some odd reason Bette just sat there choosing to keep her thoughts to herself.

“Bette?” Alice prodded.

“Uh… yeah sure just… just give me a minute…” Bette responded not meaning for it to sound like an agreement, but rather she mean for it to act as a signal to her friend, indicating that she had heard every word .

Bette sighed deeply and fixed her gaze on Tina. She watched as Tina gently tugged at the sides of her blouse making sure that every single detail was in place. The deep lavender color of the shirt beautifully complemented Tina’s soft, radiant skin as it’s soft silk fabric perfectly hung over her shapely curves, molding itself onto every contour of her body. Another thing that caught Miss Porter’s attention was the fact that Tina wore her hair down today, its easy waves making her more desirable to Bette, as every lock beckoned her to run her fingers through them, to take in the sweet strawberry scent that coated every single strand. Bette closed her eyes and took another deep breath, ‘Cut it out Porter! God do you see what you’re doing? You’re torturing yourself…’, she silently scolded, knowing that trying to rationalize her actions would just make matters even more complicated. She was just mere seconds from standing up and giving Tina a casual afternoon greeting when she saw something from the far left corner of her eye, something which effectively and painfully stopped her in her tracks.
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In the middle of the restaurant Tina nervously sat herself down, ‘What’s taking him so long?’ she worried, completely unaware of Bette’s presence on the other side of the room. Unaware of Bette’s eyes following her, longing to be there for her. Just before Tina could look behind her she saw Eric walking up to the table.

“Hello.” he said kissing Tina’s hand.

“Hey.” Tina said in return, as Eric gently took her in for a little kiss.
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Bette saw the entire thing and felt her heart break. She looked completely crestfallen and it killed Alice to know that she couldn’t do a single thing to help her. She watched as Bette sank even further into her chair, there was a pained expression on her face like she was trying to channel something. ‘So much for fate…’ Alice thought as she tried to find the right words to comfort Bette. ‘What do I tell her exactly? Should I tell her I’m sorry? Maybe tell her a joke?’ in the middle of pondering she saw Bette get up.

“Bette… where the ***** do you think you’re going?”

“To the office.”

“No stay. We hadn’t even””

Bette shot her an indignant look, “With them here? No *****’ way Alice! It’s too hard…”

Alice exhaled sharply, “Fine I’ll walk you to your car.”

In no time Bette and Alice were already by the door, she took one more glance at Tina, trying her very best to be genuinely happy for her, thinking somehow that this time she didn’t mind failing at such a pointless attempt.
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Eric and Tina sat down and fell from one form of light conversation to another.

They were in the middle of being served their main courses. Tina ordered Fusilli with Shrimp, tomatoes topped with a little arugula, while Eric got his favorite Chicken Scarpariello.

“I’m glad we did this babe… I missed you so much…”

“Yeah um, I feel the same way… but Eric can I tell you something?”

“Of course. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Well I”” Perhaps it was in the mellow music playing smoothly in the background, or maybe the steaming plates of delectable food served before them, nevertheless Tina was having a hard time doing what she was about to do next.

“What?” Eric asked, giving Tina a reassuring smile as he repositioned his fingers over hers.

“Eric this isn’t working…” Tina said pulling her hand away from Eric’s grasp.

“But I don’t understand… we’re doing fine Tina.”

“We haven’t been doing fine for a long time.” Tina said looking Eric in the eye and then proceeded pick her fork through the pasta in front of her.

Eric suddenly found himself wishing he never came to lunch in the first place.

“Is there someone else?” he asked.

At the wake of that question Tina knew that everything she was going to say next would hurt, regardless of how gentle she tried to deliver it.

“I wanted this to work so badly Eric but””

“Is there someone else Tina?”Eric demanded.

“Yes. Yes there is.”

“And do you love””

“Yes I do.”

Eric fell silent and stared downheartedly onto the floor.

“I’m sorry I just… I just wanted you to know that I never meant to hurt you.” Tina said in a weak tone.

“Well you are Tina… you have no idea how much you’re hurting me right now.”

“I do know…I” Oh god I don’t know how I’m supposed to pull this off without it sounding like a big stupid clich? I just wanted it to end now, before we get to the point of… “

“Of what?”

“To the point where in we know we’re kidding ourselves.” To Tina’s surprise she saw Eric smile for the first time since they started their lengthy conversation. The smile meant everything to her, for she knew that it was Eric’s way of saying that he finally understood.

“Come on Tina, dig in the food’s getting cold.”
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Fast forward to a couple of hours later… Bette was sitting in her office, working on some proofs for the upcoming weeks, trying to rid her head of the things she witnessed earlier that day… She wasn’t doing a very good job of concentrating, but nonetheless she still tried her best to keep busy… The clock ticked 3 and she was on the verge of giving up and returning home. Bette listened to the scribbles coming from her own pen as she wrote down some notes onto a little pad of paper, when all of a sudden she heard a slight knock, was someone at the door? There was no voice that followed, no one spoke to seek for permission to enter, so Bette just dismissed it… returning to the sheets of work that waited in front of her. Suddenly the door cracked open, though she was too pre-occupied to notice.

“Hi.” A tender voice said.

Bette looked up and couldn’t help but beam. She couldn’t get over the fact that Tina Kennard was standing in front of her, giving her the greeting she was meant to give the blonde a little while ago.

And here come my favorite letters: TBC… (if you’re nice then maybe I’ll post it later today…)