”I’m not lying to you. I told you then that I had never had serious relationships before you, because I hadn’t. Jodi was never my girlfriend, like a regular one. I was just fucking her. End of the story. I don’t care what she had with me, but I had nothing, but sex with her.”

Tina chuckled ruefully. ”For one year?”

”She was always there and I took advantage of it”

”God, you’re such an asshole…”

”Fuck, Tina, why does it even matter?! I never loved her and she’s in the past now”

”She didn’t look like she was in the past the night at The Gyre”

The brunette shook her head in exhaustion. She turned her gaze to Tina and, gesticulating slightly she spoke, her voice firm. ”She. Is. In. My. Past. I have no idea what she was doing at The Gyre, because she had moved to New York–”

”Oh, right, she moved to New York and you were the reason, right?”

”What?” Confused again, Bette asked brusquely. This conversation was getting the best of her.

”I know that you were physically abusive to her, so she left to New York”

”What!!” Bette yelled, rising from the bench aggressively. ”Who THE FUCK told you this horseshit!”

Tina noticed some people staring. Embarrassed, she started to regret for not going somewhere less public.

”Tell me the name of this fucker and I’ll…”

”You’ll what? Kill?” Raising a brow, Tina asked snidely.

The question silenced Bette like a shot. She put one hand on her waist, with another one she rubbed her eyes. Bette was already drained emotionally, even though the conversation was still young and Tina would need to know more without any doubt.

The brunette exhaled before taking a seat on the bench again, only this time the distance between her and Tina was much shorter.

”Tina, look at me” She requested softly before the blonde made eye contact with her. ”You were told a lie. Everything you were told is a tall tale fabricated by a person, who has no idea of what was going on between Jodi and me. I’m telling the truth when I say that we weren’t dating…well, I wasn’t dating her. Jodi had always wanted more from me. I couldn’t give her more, so she provoked me and drove me up the wall by all the existing methods. She stalked me, tried to make me jealous, threw tantrums in public, threatened me and so on and so forth. Yes, I hit her one time after she insulted my father. It was only once, Tina, I couldn’t help myself. Then she spread lies around the community that I had allegedly beaten her to death. She made it seem real by running off to New York, like she was actually running from me.” Bette finished, turning her head away from Tina’s unreadable eyes and leaning her elbows forward on her lap.