Tina heard the unmistakable sound of trees rustling in the distance. The city lights were twinkling under the midst of L.A.’s evening sky. She had Bette by her side and together they treaded the short distance towards Bette’s car, the slow rumbling of vehicles driving past them reverberating in her ears. ‘What a night…’ she thought, thinking of the warm food, the lovely company and the unmistakable urge she had to kiss Bette at their table just a few moments ago… a small smile crept across her face, as she slightly shook her head, hoping that the red would soon flush out of her cheeks…

“Hey Tina?” Bette asked pulling Tina out of her desolate state of mind.

“Hmm?” Tina replied, still a little tangled in her thoughts.

Bette shoved her hands into the pockets of her black tailored slacks. They were just mere inches away from her car, and the thought of getting in there and driving Tina back seemed like the equivalent of a devastating defeat. She was mum for a while… the soft, intimate setting that the restaurant offered was no longer there for her to take advantage of… Now it was just her and Tina and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the situation.

“I was wondering if you would like to go for a walk… You know, burn out a few calories from that big feast we just had…” Bette mused hoping that she could at least spend a few more minutes with Tina.

Tina looked away from the asphalt and turned her gaze towards Bette, “Okay… Sure…”

Bette saw Tina flash her a hearty smile and couldn’t help but return the gesture, unknowingly melting away the tension that was so thickly layered upon them.

“Come on.” Bette said, walking past her car and motioning for Tina to follow her. She wanted to show Tina something her eyes came across while driving towards the restaurant. Tina couldn’t help but feel a little perplexed at Bette’s enthusiasm.

“Bette, where are we going?”

“You’ll see…”

She took Tina’s hand in hers and led her along the beautifully illuminated street. A few minutes passed until Bette finally stopped to face Tina.

“We’re here.”

Tina gave Bette a curious look before she focused her attention on the sight in front of her.

“Oh my god… Bette it’s so… beautiful…”

“Yeah… I know…” Bette said, never letting her eyes leave Tina.

Tina couldn’t believe where she was. The place was something of a cross between a huge botanical reserve, and a lazy community park. Wild flowers were growing everywhere, and tall, sturdy trees abided in the distance. Tina had passed it so many times before, even urging Eric to come inside and check it out with her, but for some odd reason they never came around to doing it.

“So will it do?” Bette asked.

“Of course it will…” Tina said, taking in the lush environment before her, she never imagined that the place would look even more amazing at night.

They strolled through the over-sized garden taking in the different sights it had to offer. Once again they settled into another comfortable conversation, and by now Bette was so at ease with Tina that even the weather sounded interesting.

Bette looked up and counted the myriad of stars that starkly glittered above the sky, “I love it when the stars come out like this.”

“Me too.” Tina said following Bette’s lead, letting her words hang for a moment.

Tina stole a small glance of Bette before she decided to continue the conversation. She couldn’t get over how amazing the woman walking beside her truly looked, given the fact that Bette had the ability to take her breath away any time she wanted, there was something about tonight… Random things about the way she appeared caught Tina’s interest, take for instance the way Bette’s soft white cotton blouse hung perfectly over her body, and when she spoke… those eyes… those lips… everything was wonderful.

“I”” Tina stopped when she felt her cell phone vibrate. She smiled shyly at Bette and dug through her purse to pick it up, swiftly raising a hand to indicate that she would try to keep the conversation short.

“Hello?” Tina said sounding like she was in the middle of something. Bette saw the expression on Tina’s face change from something that seemed impatient to one that was completely indiscernible. ‘That must be Eric.’ she thought, feeling jealousy slowly rise from the pit of her stomach and make its way through the rest of her body, every second Tina spent talking to him felt like being stabbed through the heart… over and over and over again… Bette just stood there thinking that she was temporarily disconnected from Tina somehow, her smile, her voice, her laugh, weren’t directed towards her anymore but rather to someone else… All these overwhelming thoughts were swimming through her brain when heard the last portion of the phone call Tina was having.

She saw Tina run her fingers through her hair and say, “No I’m not home… Can’t I just call you tomorrow…” her voice bordering somewhere between pleading and just being plain annoyed. “Okay… bye.”

Tina pressed the end call button and fell silent for a while. “I’m sorry that was, uhm…” she started to say but the awkwardness of the moment kept the rest of the words from coming.

“Maybe we should go…” Bette suggested.

“Yeah maybe we should.” Tina answered reluctantly.
______________________________

They were now in Bette’s car and the drive back to Tina’s office seemed a little shorter than expected. Bette pulled up near the curb, halting the car in the process. Tina looked at her trying to decide what to do next, and then directed her stare towards the dashboard.

“I’m sorry Bette.” she said simply.

Bette tried to keep her cool, praying that what she was about to say next would sound convincing, “Sorry for what?”

“For ruining tonight… That phone call” I never should’ve answered it.”

“Was that Eric?”

Tina wanted to say something else but she couldn’t bring herself to lie to Bette, “Yes.”

Bette bit her bottom lip, she thought against not asking what she was about to ask next, but curiosity got the best of her. She was tired of assuming how Tina felt; now she needed to know. “Do you love him?”

“Yes… I do.” Tina said, more out of habit than anything else.

Bette felt a little downcast from Tina’s answer, but then realized that she was asking the wrong question,

“Are you in love with him?”

Tina took this opportunity to look outside Bette’s car window. ‘No… Not for a very long time.’ she thought. But she never found the courage to utter the words; instead she let the sound of deafening silence wrap around them like a wet blanket. Bette reached for one of Tina’s hands, hoping that if she did, Tina would turn around and give her an answer. Feeling the warmth of Tina’s hand falling into hers made all the sense in the world.

“Thanks for tonight Bette.” Tina said, taking in the Bette’s beauty one last time before she got off the car. She leaned in to give Bette a kiss on the cheek, inadvertently taking in a whiff of Bette’s perfume, which emanated from the pulse points in her neck. Tina pulled away and saw Bette’s eyes travel from hers and wander all the way down to her lips.

“Can I kiss you?” Bette whispered.

Tina closed her eyes and nodded a little. The kiss came almost instantly; it was different from the rest of the kisses they shared, this one definitely felt more powerful, more meaningful than the rest. Bette broke the kiss and smiled.

“Good night Bette.” Tina said as she opened the car door and made her way out.

“Good night Tina.” Bette heard herself saying as the car door gently slammed back into its place.

TBC… Vos mots gentils m’inspirent pour crire (Your kind words inspire me to write…)