Previously:

A simple kiss was where it started, quite plain at first, but powerful enough to excite every single nerve in their bodies, as they pressed their lips together. Then suddenly they found themselves wanting more, sliding… licking… nibbling… focusing on every sensation they were feeling. Bette struggled to undo the remaining buttons of Tina’s shirt, running her hands across the bare skin on Tina’s back, before Tina decidedly let it slip off her body. They staggered blindly, making their way around the office, before finally managing to settle themselves on the beige couch beside the door. Bette gave Tina one lust filled look before unzipping Tina’s pants and going in for the kill. Part of her mind wondering if Tina was actually right, what if someone walked in on them? But this thought was quickly overwhelmed for the sun kissed woman’s desire for her girlfriend. Masterfully Bette brought Tina to where she intended to earlier that morning, with her right hand’s expert touch working on her girlfriend and her left hand covering Tina’s mouth, when she saw that Tina could no longer restrain herself from screaming. She felt Tina’s body uncontrollably lash from underneath her, and from then on she knew Tina was finally there, enjoying pure unbridled ecstasy. Bette took her hand off Tina’s mouth and slowly rose up from the couch, letting Tina catch her breath, when a loud knock came from Tina’s door.

“Tina, are you in there? Is everything okay?” A curious co-worker pondered from the other side of the door. Bette looked at Tina expectedly, trying to stifle her laughter.

“Y”yes… I’m here. Don’t worry everything’s fine… ” Tina managed, before giving Bette a dire look. They waited a while for the sound of footsteps to fade away before commencing another conversation.

“I guess, we did a pretty good job of being quiet huh?

“Yeah I guess we did.”
______________________________________________

It was now 1:30 in the afternoon and just about everyone was rounding back from their individual breaks. In the background the repetitive sounds of keyboards being stricken and printers dispensing copies of different outlines could be heard in running unison. Everybody was out and about, working busily… occasionally taking time to chat and comparing what they had for that afternoon… Pizza… Tuna salad… Chicken sandwich… Peanut butter and Jelly…. Little did they know that in the office across the hall two women were conversing, talking about the little “lunch” they just had, or rather the lack of.

“Oh my god I can’t believe we did that.” Tina said still a little out of breath, as she sat herself up on the couch and started buttoning down her shirt.

Bette stared at Tina for a couple of seconds, taking in her every move. “Well I do my best…”

“I know… you always do…” Tina stated as she leaned in further into the fluffy cushions of her sea, “It’s just that I’ve never done anything like that before…”

“Well that makes two of us.” Bette answered nonchalantly.

Bette’s answer caught Tina a little off guard. “You mean to tell me you’ve never done anything like this before?”

“No, nothing this extreme…” the lovely brunette answered with a smile, hoping to hide the rather inappropriate feeling she was experiencing at the moment, as she sat herself beside Tina. Her girlfriend’s simple question caused a downpour of thoughts to come rushing through her mind. Indeed her reputation for womanizing was uncanny… for years she was proud to say that she could take her pick out of the thousands that belonged to Los Angeles’ bevy of beauties and then prowl on to the next with no attachment whatsoever, but now there was a silent nagging inside of her that was wishing that somehow she could take it all back… for somehow she knew that sooner or later her past would come back to haunt her. The truth was as feral as one would claim her to be in terms of handling her relationships, Bette Porter never yearned for someone as much as she ached for Tina Kennard. In fact as haphazard as her flings were, she never found herself acting this impulsively before. Getting out of work for no apparent reason, turning her back on the one thing she had been groomed for all her life… throwing away something she once thought of as the pinnacle of her existence… and for what?….. Lust?….. Desire?…. Longing?”No! All of these emotions were driven out of…. Love….

Tina looked at Bette, wondering where she had drifted off to… After all it had been quite some time since the smile on Bette’s face faded into the deafening sound of silence, which was now hollowly echoing throughout the room… The sound was agonizing, almost unbearable, and Tina wanted to know if something was wrong, if maybe she had struck some kind of nerve that would cause Bette to remain this way… but after thinking it through and weighing her options, she understood that all she could do was wait. Wordlessly she watched as Bette’s radiant, caramel colored skin sharply contrasted her deep, saddened eyes… eyes that seemed intent on not meeting hers. Tina sought desperately to see Bette’s face light up with laughter, to see her smile break the invisible barrier between them… And finally as if the powers that be could read her mind, Tina’s prayer’s were answered… Bette’s brain was finally silenced by the insistent grumbling in her stomach:

“Tina?” she raised meekly.

“Yes?”

“Uhm… I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” Bette said, flashing a smile as if to say nothing happened and that everything was alright, “But can I use the washroom to freshen up first?”

“Sure…” Tina responded sounding a little bit despondent, still a little unsure of how Bette was feeling. “It’s the last door by the left.”

Bette noticed the concern on Tina’s face and before she could get to the door she surprised the blonde by kneeling in front of her… Resting her arms across Tina’s lap, Bette inched their bodies closer, and while doing so she noticed that Tina refused to look up at her, choosing instead to fix her gaze on the tiny threads of the carpet. Moments later Tina felt her breath catch in her throat as Bette ran a knuckle across her jaw line. She glanced up and found Bette’s warm, inviting stare, trying with every fiber of her being to resist the urge to kiss her before she could finish what she had to say.

“Tina I know I’ve told you this before but…” Bette sighed audibly before saying, “I love you…”

“I love you too Bette.” Tina returned sincerely, feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

Upon hearing this Bette caught herself smile, then rambled on, forming an unfinished sentence on top of another in an effort to articulate, “…There are so many things that I haven’t… I mean I don’t… And I know you want you to””

“Bette what are you trying to say?” Tina prodded with a reassuring smile.

“I’m trying to say that I… I think you’re…different… From the rest of the girls I’ve dated.” Tina rubbed Bette’s arm to indicate that they were on the same page, until Bette persisted with:

“It’s just that I’ve realized that all my life I’ve been programmed to be this completely unreachable person. I had to be this perfect daughter, who followed every single rule and got herself a top notch education… the perfect career… the wonderful home… But out of all these things, I haven’t exactly managed to be the world’s greatest girlfriend…”

“I don’t care…” Tina dismissed without a second thought.

“I mean it Tina… When I think about it, now that you’re here, there are a lot of things in my past that I wouldn’t mind forgetting.”

Suddenly Tina’s expression brightened as she took Bette in for a long embrace, feeling at last that she understood what was happening. Though a little stunned, Bette couldn’t help but melt into the other woman’s arms before decidedly tightening her grip. Out of all of the questions that were swarming through her mind, she couldn’t help but think that this simple hug she was so comfortably enveloped in was the answer.

They remained that way for a time until Bette pulled away and said, “I better go and freshen up…” Tina complied and released Bette from her grasp, watching as the lithe brunette made her way out of the room and close the door behind her. Meanwhile Tina tasked herself with preparing the food, noticing they had nothing to drink she exited her office to get some drinks from a near by vending machine. On her way back she was greeted with many pleasantries, and though she taking her time to be polite she made sure not to dwell to much in workplace banter as she trudged the short distance towards her office with two chilled sodas in hand. Just as she opened the door she heard Bette’s voice unyieldingly talking to someone over the phone.

“What do you mean you can’t find someone to take over?” Bette questioned while she paced around the room.

There was a short pause as she listened intently to the person on the other line “But I told you I was busy.”, she countered.

“Fine!” Bette sounded exasperated, “Tell them I’ll be there in 15 minutes…”, and with that she sighed and ended her call.

It was only then that Bette realized that Tina was in the room. “Hey.” she said glumly. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough….” Tina replied as she set the cans of beverages down on her desk. “So I guess you’re not staying for take out…”

“No, my replacement bailed on me the last minute…” Bette had a pained expression on her face.” Anyway I have to go if I want to keep this show from crumbling.”

“Oh okay…” Tina said, barely having time to register what Bette was saying before she saw her walk towards the door.

“Bette…?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for lunch.”

“Anytime.” The doe-eyed beauty remarked, giving Tina a final wink as she left.

TBC, but I already posted the next chapter…”