“I can’t tell you how important that’s become to me — having you believe in me the way that you do.”

Bette fell quiet. She was drawn to Tina’ s heartfelt honesty and the pure trust clearly evident in her eyes as she talked about how she felt.

It was her turn to squeeze the blonde’s hand.

“T…. no matter what happens, that will always be the case, alright?”

After a long moment of looking into each other’s eyes, trying to feel each other out, and communicate what they couldn’t as yet say, Tina leaned in for another kiss.

Hmmmm, our kisses are getting longer, Tina smiled inwardly, as Bette drew back. I like it, she decided, thinking to herself, as she licked her lips, enjoying the feel of Bette’s lips lingering on them.

With a shared smile, they turned towards the exit, to continue with Tina’s tour. After slowly descending down the staircase until they reached the base of the tower, they crossed the small garden, into bustling Parisian streets. They strolled to the Place de Vosges first, dropping by a few stores to browse the interesting wares set out for sale. Then they hailed a cab, to take them on a quick ride to the main plaza in front of Hotel de Ville.  

As they crossed the plaza, they heard another round of wolf whistles, this time from a group of skateboarders hanging out in one of the corners of the plaza. Tina playfully nudged the brunette’s ribs as they walked more swiftly past the group, pretending to whistle at Bette also, as she did so.

“Whew, check out that reaction. Think we need a cool-down, sexy?  How about some ice cream?,” Tina teased, as they crossed the street.

Bette laughed.  She didn’t know Tina could be such a wicked tease, and realized the blonde was probably going to tease her all day about her outfit.  She smiled, deciding she liked this side of Tina.

“You sure that flat stomach of yours can take it?,” she shot back, winking.

Hmm….good one, Tina thought, as she grabbed hold of Bette’s hand, to lead her to a shortcut to her favorite ice cream place in Paris, the Berthillion cafe. They picked up the pace, but stopped for short kisses at pedestrian crossings, and encircled each other’s waists with growing mutual affection.

They asked to have their ice cream served in cones, so that they could continue with their walk.  After crossing a bridge leading to the Notre Dame, they decided to sit in the garden behind the Norte Dame to finish off their glaces.   They picked out a bench under the trees, shaded from the sun.  After a few minutes of stealing glances, reflectively licking their ice creams, Tina turned to Bette to ask softly, “Remember how it felt like, the exact moment that we met five days ago?”

“Funny… I was just thinking about the same thing,” Bette responded, turning to face Tina.