Chapter 7

Tina stood outside her hotel door, a bottle of Corona in each hand, and took a deep breath to steady her nerves. She had been rather shocked to see Bette in the bar, surprised that she was alone given Jodi’s request for her to stay in New York and spend some time with her. Physically shaking her head, Tina willed the thoughts of Bette and Jodi out of her mind, deciding that however their relationship functioned was none of her business. She balanced both Coronas in one hand to open the door and greeted Kate with a genuine smile.

“Just in time,” Kate said meeting her near the door to grab the bottles of beer so Tina could shut the door. “I was about to move to something stronger thinking you got lost.”

“Not lost,” Tina offered a smile. “I actually ran into Bette downstairs.”

“Oh?”

“She was having a drink waiting for Jodi to come back from the site.”

Both Kate and Tina sat down on the couch as Tina stared at Kate drinking her beer.

“She said she was going to stop by later and help me get unblocked.”

“Help you how?” Kate asked as she sat her beer down on the coffee table.

“Who better to help write it than the other half that lived it?”

“Interesting,” Kate said hesitantly as she leaned back in the couch.

“Interesting?” Tina asked after allowing a few moments to pass in silence. “How so?”

Kate shrugged and picked her beer up once more, taking a sip of it to hide the small smile that crossed her face.

“What’s the smile for?”

“Nothing,” Kate chuckled as she took another sip of beer.

“Please tell me,” Tina sincerely asked.

“I’m not sure you want to know.”

Kate and Tina sat in silence as Tina stared at her, wanting the answer, but knowing she wouldn’t ask twice. Kate must have sensed this and reluctantly addressed the subject at hand.

“I’m torn,” Kate said as she finished her beer rather quickly.

“How so?”

“As the director of Lez Girls I couldn’t be more thrilled that Bette is embracing the idea of rewriting it. It’s a dream come true that you both work on parts of this to add dimension to both characters.”

“I never thought she would,” Tina admitted. “She’s always been so private about her life, it’s out of character for her to be willing to discuss her private life, especially considering it’s being made into a movie.”

“I don’t care why she’s coming up here,” Kate admitted as she stood up. “I just care that she is.”

“Well what’s the ‘torn’ part?” Tina asked as she stood in front of Kate staring in her eyes.

“As the woman that wants nothing more than to be with you,” Kate closed the distance between them. “I hope that discussing the past doesn’t make her realize what she lost. And I realize that’s a purely selfish wish.”

Tina saw it coming, the look of desire in Kate’s eyes, the way she tilted her head as she leaned forward and brushed her lips against Tina’s. Tina sighed as she felt the softness of Kate’s lips, tasted the beer on them from moments before, but feeling intoxicated from the kiss and not the minimal alcohol they had consumed.

Tina didn’t protest when Kate’s hand wrapped around the back of her neck and pulled her closer. She felt the tip of Kate’s tongue tease her lips, asking for entrance, and being granted just that quickly. Tina wrapped her arms around Kate’s body to pull her closer, enjoying the feeling of their bodies being so close to one another.

Tina ran her hands over Kate’s strong back as Kate’s fingertips gently teased the small of Tina’s back where her shirt had inched up to reveal a hint of her soft skin. Tina felt shivers run the length of her spine as she focused on how good it felt to intimately kiss a woman again.

Tina reluctantly opened her eyes as she felt Kate pull away. She focused on Kate, standing in front of her, running the tip of her tongue over her own bottom lip. Desire reflected in Kate’s brown eyes, her breathing slightly erratic, as she smiled at Tina.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Kate said as she picked up her coat and headed toward the door. “Good luck and just remember…”

Kate’s voice trailed off as her eyes drifted from Tina’s eyes to her lips and she smiled. She opened the door and softly shut it to ensure Angelica wouldn’t wake up.

Tina stood, rooted to the spot she had been standing in when Kate kissed her, for several minutes processing what had just happened. She lifted her fingertips to her mouth, brushing them over her lips a few times, and then dropping her hand to her side. Her eyes caught the clock on the wall, proudly displaying that she had 10 minutes to prepare for Bette’s arrival. Tina picked up the beer bottles, put them near the mini-bar and quietly crossed the small room that served as the living area of the suite. She opened the door to the bedroom and leaned in to confirm that Angelica was covered and sleeping soundly. Once that was done, Tina stepped back into the small living room and slumped on the couch, closing her eyes as she leaned her head back against the oversized cushions.

Bette had enjoyed one additional drink when Tina left, dragging it out to waste time to give Tina and Kate time to say goodnight. She wanted to be sure that she wouldn’t run into Kate, feeling far too vulnerable to see her tonight. As she checked her watch, she admitted to herself that it was a short walk to Tina’s room, one that she could potentially drag out, but not more than 5 minutes. She was desperate to kill time before her 35-minute deadline expired.

Bette slowly walked out of the bar and down the hallway leading to Tina’s room, unsure of what she had volunteered to take on, given her passionate distaste of Lez Girls. Bette checked her watch once more, seeing she had only 2 minutes left, and decided to arrive a bit early, hopeful that Kate had already left.

Bette knocked softly as to not disturb Angelica, feeling slightly nervous at the idea of visiting the past with her ex-wife. Tina opened the door with a puzzled look on her face.

“You have a key don’t you?”

“Somehow it seems strange to just use it and walk in on you,” Bette said stepping inside without waiting for Tina to offer her an invitation. “I wasn’t sure if Kate was still here and didn’t want to interrupt.”

Bette’s eyes quickly surveyed the room, happily seeing no sign of Kate, which came as a relief. She sat down on the couch and smiled at Tina who was standing near the door.

“Come on in,” Tina said jokingly with a smile. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“A bottle of water would be great,” Bette said as she relaxed on the couch.

Tina walked to the other end of the room where the mini-bar was and began to fish for two bottles of water.

“Do you have any ideas on how we should approach this?” Bette asked.

Bette stared as she saw Tina’s body bent over, looking in the mini-bar, her jeans accenting her hips and slender thighs perfectly. She saw the smooth skin of the small of Tina’s back, her shirt riding up as she reached in the back for the two bottles of water.

“I have a few,” Tina said as she turned around with the bottles of water in her hand. “I’m going to owe this hotel a fortune for this mini-bar.”

“Bottles of water from a mini-bar are…what? Bette asked jokingly. “Only like $20 a piece these days.”

Tina laughed and handed Bette a bottle of water as she sat down next to her.

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me with this.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Bette joked. “I haven’t done anything and we don’t know how far we’ll get.”

“It can’t be worse than what I’ve made on my own.”

“What progress did you make?” Bette asked as she sipped her water.

“Well Jenny’s completely non-fictional piece of work started at the party where we invited her and Tim. You remember the one, right after she arrived in California?”

Bette nodded as she rolled her eyes.

“I’ll take that as yes,” Tina said chuckling. “Starting there, I felt, wasn’t the right place to start for ‘Bev’ and ‘Nina’ because that party was about finding a donor. Without telling what we had been through before that party, it minimizes the party to nothing but a party for the sake of having one. Since Jenny wasn’t really in our crowd she has no idea what it was like for us back then.”

“Not to mention she did not one ounce of research to find out what it was like for us back then.”

“I think we should show that struggle and the reason behind the party,” Tina said. “Don’t you agree?”

“I suppose so,” Bette said hesitantly. “Why don’t you tell me what you have so far?”

Tina handed Bette the pad of paper that was sitting on the table in front of them. She watched as Bette’s eyes began to read the notes that she had made in her office to begin the rewrite. Tina was having trouble reading the emotions flashing across Bette’s face as she read Tina’s recollection of the events that led them to desperation regarding a donor.

Bette set the pad of paper down, once again, on the table in front of them. She stared straight ahead, gathering her thoughts, but sitting in silence biting her lower lip.

“Bette?”

“This is how you really saw the last time we tried to use Sean’s sperm?” Bette’s voice reflected a mixture of shock and sadness. “That I walked away from you in the bathroom when you told me you were ovulating?”

Tina was unsure how to answer the question given Bette’s reaction to her notes. She studied Bette’s eyes and saw confusion and hurt shining through.

“Babe,” Tina automatically used the term of endearment. “I didn’t say that to hurt you.”

“I didn’t say that you did,” Bette said defensively. “But I can’t believe that what you wrote is how you felt. I didn’t walk away from you because I put work, or anything else for that matter, ahead of you. I walked away after teasing you to keep things playful, light, so that you weren’t just thinking of the insemination and wondering if it would be like the others for the 6 months before then.”

“Bette,” Tina said as she placed a hand on Bette’s thigh to calm her down.

“I was trying to tease you,” Bette continued. “To bring some of that anticipation back into our relationship, to be playful with you.”

“How was I supposed to know that?”

“I guess I assumed you just knew me well enough to know that was what I was doing.”

“I guess I didn’t,” Tina said sadly. “When we got to Dr. Wilson’s office you were so tense and just…”

“Just what?”

“The complete opposite of playful,” Tina simply said. “When she suggested getting me aroused so the procedure had a better chance of working, you’d have thought she asked you to cut your left arm off.”

“I wasn’t that bad,” Bette scoffed as she got up and walked to the mini-bar to pour herself a glass of scotch. “I just found it difficult to be intimate in such a forced, sterile environment. The steel table and paper sheet, not to mention staff and other patients right outside, wasn’t exactly the greatest ambiance.”

“What happened to us?” Tina asked as Bette leaned against the bar and took a sip of her drink.

Tina watched as Bette held her glass in one hand, tracing the rim with her fingertip. Tina watched Bette’s tongue dart out and wet her bottom lip, savoring the residue from the scotch consumed moments before.

“There was a time where we just couldn’t get enough of each other,” Tina said sadly. “It wouldn’t matter if it were in the pool, on the beach, or in some doctor’s office. We just had those moments where we couldn’t take our hands off each other, even if it were just to give some reassurance that we were together.”

Bette closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them back up to focus on Tina. She took another sip of her drink, the ice cubes clinking in the glass, as she brought the glass to her soft lips.

“I’m not sure when that changed,” Bette said sadly. “I guess I didn’t want to believe that when it was so colorfully pointed out to us.”

“Ah,” Tina chuckled. “Our first session with Dan Foxworthy right?”

“That would be it,” Bette smiled back at Tina lovingly. “When you said our sex life wasn’t perfect.”

“It wasn’t,” Tina defended her assessment. “But I obviously still wanted a baby with you and that was what we were discussing.”

Tina quickly noticed the path Bette’s eyes were making over her body. She had started at her hair, but quickly seemed to take inventory in other places. Tina wasn’t sure how to respond, given Bette was making no effort to hide the fact that she was doing it, and opened her mouth to speak when Bette interrupted her.

“I never stopped wanting you,” Bette said in a soft voice. “Even though we didn’t have sex as much as we used to…”

“The lesbian urge to merge,” Tina said rolling her eyes and chuckling at the commonly used phrase.

“I didn’t buy it then and I don’t buy it now,” Bette said as she finished her drink. “We must have just stopped taking the time.”

“We were focused on getting pregnant,” Tina defended their relationship.

“Not for 3 years we weren’t,” Bette shot back as she poured herself another glass of scotch and one for Tina.

She handed Tina the amber liquid and held up her glass to offer salutations to her ex-wife.

“Cheers,” Tina said back as she sipped the strong liquid. “How can you stand this shit?”

“You get used to it,” Bette laughed thankful for the humor to break the intensity between them.

Bette sat down, patting the couch cushion to urge Tina to sit next to her, as she smiled seductively. Tina arched an eyebrow, certain that Bette didn’t even realize that she was smiling in such a manner.

“Dan Foxworthy was trying to council us about having a child,” Tina tried to rationalize. “We never really got into our sex life and I guess on some level you’re right, an insemination is hardly sexy and loving.”

Bette arched her eyebrow in question causing Tina to squirm a bit in her seat. She smiled as her eyes traveled from Tina’s eyes to Tina’s lips. Tina mentally warned herself that Bette had consumed a few drinks and it was likely just her being playful.

“I remember two separate occasions where an insemination attempt was extremely sexy and loving,” Bette said in a husky tone.

Leaning forward, Bette stretched to reach the pad and pen from the table, allowing Tina a moment to admire the toned back she had always loved so much. As Bette pulled back, Tina quickly shifted her eyes to the pad, watching as Bette added two items to the rough outline that was beginning to take shape. Bette turned the paper toward Tina and slid it into her lap to read. She grinned, noticing a slight flush in Tina’s cheeks as she read the two items Bette had scribbled on the page.

“My contribution,” Bette smirked, before standing and crossing the room for a refill.