Chapter 3

Tina sighed and sat down as she read Bette’s response to her earlier text message. She kept her message vague, wanting to discuss with Bette the potential of rewriting Jenny’s version of ‘Bev’ and ‘Nina’. The response was something she should have expected, an underlying humor and affection present, but otherwise it was a short message that she would call later to talk to both Tina and Angelica.

The doorbell ringing broke into Tina’s quiet assessment of Bette’s message. She set her phone on the table in front of her and walked to the door. She looked out, hesitant, as she was not expecting anyone.

“Kate?”

Tina quickly opened the door to find Kate Arden standing smiling, a pizza in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. Tucked under one of her shapely arms was what Tina recognized as the binder from earlier that day, the one that contained Kate’s copy of Lez Girls.

“Hey there,” Tina said with a smile. “Did I forget we had plans?”

“No,” Kate said happily. “I was in the area….”

Tina raised her eyebrows in question.

“OK, so not so much in the area as just passing through.”

“I thought so.”

“I got hungry,” Kate began to explain. “So I thought I would stop at this amazing pizza joint I had heard of, and imagine my shock when I realized it was just moments away from your house.”

Tina looked at the box in Kate’s hand and stepped aside to let her in.

“They do have good pizza.”

“And I couldn’t have pizza without a bottle of wine,” Kate continued. “So really you’re saving me if you agree to have dinner with me because otherwise I’ll be very drunk and fat.”

“So in the interest of saving you,” Tina said with a smirk. “I should share a pizza and a bottle of wine with you?”

“Exactly,” Kate handed Tina the bottle of wine and followed her to the kitchen with the pizza.

“Please tell me that copy of Lez Girls isn’t the entertainment for the evening?”

“I brought it because I made several additional notes and wanted you to look them over before our meeting on Monday.”

Tina took the copy of the script and threw it on the table near her phone. She smiled at Kate as she handed her a plate and a glass for her wine. Kate quickly piled a few slices on her plate and poured herself a healthy glass of wine.

“Is it ok if we eat in the great room?” Tina asked hesitantly. “Otherwise I’ll have to clean up some of this work I was planning on tackling tonight.”

“I would love that,” Kate said smiling and following Tina to sit on the couch and place her wine on the coffee table in front of her. “So what else have you been up to today other than returning my coat?”

“Nothing but playing with Angelica,” Tina said looking away from Kate’s probing stare.

“Uh-huh,” Kate said placing her plate down and picking up her wine. “Give me a little credit Tina.”

“What?”

“You did something else,” Kate challenged. “If we’re going to be friends and work on this crap Jenny calls a story, then stop building walls up and just talk to me like you would any other friend.”

“I was obsessing,” Tina admitted softly.

“About?”

“A message Bette sent me, about calling later, and how I was going to approach Lez Girls with her.”

“Approach?”

“The rewrite,” Tina continued. “I wanted to make sure she was ok with me sharing the details of our relationship before I take a crack at it. She’s very private.”

“And also not happy with Jenny’s fictional version of her life.”

“But it’s still a work of fiction,” Tina tried to explain. “If I step over that line it becomes the truth.”

Kate sat back with her wine and stared straight ahead before breaking the silence that fell over them while both were deep in thought.

“The people that I envision seeing this movie are people that you can help Tina. Think of the stereotypes that we face everyday in society. You can change those by showing that a relationship between two women is not very different than that between a man and a woman. You were with Bette a long time, shared an amazing amount of your life and love with one another, it’s inspiring.”

Before Tina could open her mouth to respond, her cell phone began to ring causing her to excuse herself and walk to the table to retrieve her phone. She looked at the caller id and smiled, her stomach giddy with excitement as the screen scrolled the name ‘Bette’ quickly across it.

“Excuse me,” Tina said to Kate as she flipped the phone open to bring it to life. “Hello?”

“Hey Tina.”

Bette sounded tired, quieter than she usually was when they talked on the phone.

“You ok?”

“Great,” Bette said staring at the bathroom door in her hotel room.

Jodi and Bette had finished work for the day and decided to share an intimate dinner together. For logistical purposes, it was easier for them both to shower at Bette’s hotel rather than where Jodi was staying due to the restaurants location. When Jodi had suggested showering together to share some quality time, Bette had politely declined telling her she had to check in on the university and call to say goodnight to Angelica.

“Jodi is in the shower,” Bette admitted feeling uneasy about the direction the conversation was taking. “I guess it’s silly but I just wanted to say goodnight to Angie and talk to you about your text in private.”

Tina swallowed as she felt a wave of jealousy wash over her. She silently reminded herself that she had pushed Bette to make a grand gesture to win Jodi’s heart back, that she had almost forced Bette into the fight, including wording a carefully constructed apology and texting it to Jodi from Bette’s phone while she stood by and did nothing but watched.

“So I take it all went well with Jodi?”

“She was amazed,” Bette said with a tired smile. “I guess I was too, it was so….”

Bette hesitated to gather her thoughts before describing her feelings regarding the afternoon.

“It was so out of my comfort zone to do something like this. I can’t thank you enough for helping me and supporting me while I flailed along trying to do something so far away from what I was used to.”

Tina closed her eyes and forced a smile, hoping it would reflect in her voice. She thought back to their relationship, to the many times that she and Bette had argued, and never once had Bette made such a grand gesture to make things right between them. Even after Candace, the most Bette had done was share her feelings in front of their family at The Planet. That was a far cry from chasing someone to another state with a monument trailing behind them.

“You don’t have to thank me,” Tina said. “I’m happy for you Bette.”

Kate got up and walked into the kitchen to pour herself another glass of wine. She couldn’t help herself when she glanced at Tina’s face to see her reaction as she talked to her ex-wife. It pained Kate to see disappointment and sadness etched onto Tina’s beautiful features, yet there was a part of her that felt blessed enough to be with her and support her through this hard time.

“Do you want more wine?” Kate whispered as Tina looked in her direction.

“Please,” Tina whispered back, forgetting to cup the phone to block out her answer.

“What was that?” Bette asked.

“I’m sorry,” Tina said. “I was talking to Kate.”

“Kate’s there?” Bette asked surprised to find them together at Tina’s apartment.

“She brought dinner,” Tina explained. “And came to discuss Lez Girls.”

“Oh, on the weekend no less. She seems dedicated to the cause.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about actually.”

“What’s that?” Bette asked cringing at the thought of Kate sharing dinner with Tina.

“She wants to rewrite the script. We’re talking kill most of it and start from scratch, specifically with the ‘Bev’ and ‘Nina’ characters.”

“Why is that?”

“To show lesbian life as it truly is,” Tina explained passionately. “To show that you can have a loving relationship that isn’t full of this bullshit Jenny wrote.”

“Why is she rewriting ‘Bev’ and ‘Nina’ specifically?”

“Because no matter what happened,” Tina said as she felt her heart begin to ache. “We had an amazing run full of love and passion and that needs to be shown.”

“It’s fiction,” Bette reminded Tina carefully. “Treat it simply as fiction and it takes the power out of it.”

“It isn’t about it having power, I’ve come to grips with the lies that she worked in page after page. It’s about presenting, to the public, what lesbian relationships really are and representing the community. Anyone can show drama, hate, gossipy women that do nothing but drag each other down. But if you show a loving, committed relationship, a family even, you show people that it can be done. You can take a step toward breaking the stereotypes.”

Bette cringed as she heard the shower shut off indicating Jodi was finished with her shower. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and work to fight the jealousy she felt over Kate being with Tina and Angelica in an intimate setting.

“Jodi is almost done,” Bette said. “I’d like to talk about this more, maybe when I call to say goodnight to Angelica tomorrow night?”

“I need to do this,” Tina said with desperation in her voice. “Not just for me, but for you as well.”

“And if you rewrite it, it becomes non-fiction and I’m not sure I want to share with the world all the mistakes I made in our relationship.”

“It won’t be like that.”

“Can we please talk about it later?” Bette pleaded as she heard Jodi begin to open the bathroom door. “Can I say goodnight to Boo if she’s still up?”

“She’s not,” Tina said sadly. “I hate to do it, but I can wake her up if you want me to?”

“No, I’ll just call a few times during the day tomorrow and talk to her.”

Bette swallowed hard as Jodi made her way into the bedroom, towel drying her hair, in a pair of jeans and a bra. She smiled as she leaned over and placed a kiss on Bette’s forehead and walked past her to borrow a shirt from Bette’s suitcase.

“I have to go, but have a good dinner with Kate.”

“Thanks,” Tina said softly. “Have a good night with Jodi.”

Tina shut her phone and placed it on the table, fighting tears, before she turned to face Kate once more. She offered a weak smile as Kate stood and closed the distance between them.

“What now?” Kate asked as she held Tina in her arms and rubbed her back.

“You must think I’m nuts.”

“No,” Kate smiled. “I don’t think that at all. I think you have a lot going on in your head right now and it’s tough to manage at times. I can only assume things went well with Bette and Jodi?”

“Of course,” Tina smiled as she hugged Kate back, mirroring Kate’s actions and rubbing her back in the same rhythm. “When Bette sets her mind to something, she usually gets it.”

“You were the exception,” Kate pointed out. “At least if I am to believe what Jenny tried to pass off as fiction. Tell me why you’re this upset or is it the obvious?”

“More or less,” Tina said taking one step back but still standing close to Kate. “The more part is that I guess I just realized that I wasn’t her ‘once in a lifetime’.”

“How so?”

“She never did something like that for me when we were together,” Tina tried to explain. “I guess it never was worth it for her to go so far out of her box to express her love for me.”

“Then that makes her the fool doesn’t it?”

Tina looked into Kate’s warm eyes and then to her smiling lips. Her eyes darted from Kate’s eyes to her lips multiple times before she blinked and fought the urge to lean forward and place a gentle kiss on them.

Kate stepped back and put some distance between them, taking her seat back on the couch. She motioned for Tina to sit next to her, aware that Tina was extremely vulnerable at the moment.

“You walked away,” Tina said with a smirk. “Why?”

“Have a little faith in me,” Kate said smiling back. “I said we’d be friends and I meant it. When you’re ready, not because Bette has moved on but because you want to, I’ll be here. Until then, we are rewriting this crap and making this the best movie it can possibly be despite Jenny Schecter being involved.”

Bette watched as Jodi pulled one of her t-shirts over her head and adjusted it so it fell perfectly to her hips. She smiled at Bette and motioned with her finger for Bette to cross the room to where she was standing looking very seductive at the moment.

“Did you finish your calls for the night?” Jodi signed with a smile on her face.

“I missed Angelica,” Bette said as she also signed to communicate with Jodi. “She was sleeping and Kate and Tina were having dinner.”

“I like Kate.”

“She’s different,” Bette signed and gently placed her lips on Jodi’s now that they were standing close to one another. “They were rewriting the script to Lez Girls.”

“How so?” Jodi said as she walked over to the nightstand and began to thumb through the hotel information book that was near the phone.

Bette walked over to her and used one finger to tilt Jodi’s chin upward to make eye contact so they could continue to talk. She fought the urge to end the conversation about Kate and Tina altogether, given her internal battle to keep the jealousy she felt at bay.

“Writing the ‘Bev’ and ‘Nina’ parts to be more true to form.”

“Good for her,” Jodi signed handing Bette the room service menu.

“I thought we were going out?”

“We should stay in,” Jodi signed slowly as she smiled at Bette. “I’m not sure how much time we have together and I’ve missed you this past week.”

Jodi pulled back before kissing Bette to sign another question.

“How long are you staying?”

Bette flashed back to Tina coaching her just before she left to catch her flight to New York. The dialog was something like ‘I bow to your wishes’ or ‘I defer to your superior intelligence’, but instead all Bette could think about was the kiss she had shared with Tina before leaving. She forced a smile and signed her answer back.

“My flight is for Tuesday morning.”

“Cancel it,” Jodi said pushing Bette toward the bed with her hands on Bette’s shoulders. “Stay here longer, work with me.”

Bette stopped the progression toward the bed and looked into Jodi’s loving eyes.

“I have to get back to work,” Bette said slowly. “I have plans with Angelica as well.”

“Fly her out here for a few days.”

Jodi began walking toward the bed once more, pushing Bette backward as she moved forward.

“She can’t fly out here, she’s too young Jodi.”

“Someone can bring her,” Jodi reasoned as she placed a kiss on Bette’s neck. She paused, just realizing what she had said in an effort to keep Bette here in New York. She inwardly cringed, automatically understanding the logical answer to that problem should Bette want to fly Angelica out to be with her.

“The only one that she would do well with is Tina.”

There it was, Jodi’s fear regarding Tina flared up as if someone had added gasoline to a fire. She blinked back tears as she pushed Bette on the bed, determined to push all thoughts of Tina from both her and Bette’s minds immediately.