The café owner came over with a plate of cheese Tina had asked him to prepare (earlier, she’d inquired about certain cheeses from the charcuterie next door when she had asked him to pull out some of the wine from his cellar), a bread basket, and the bottle of wine that Bette selected.  He explained the wine was ready to be poured, and that it had breathe enough; then, sensing the two women had serious things to discuss, he bowed slightly and walked back to the bar.

By force of habit, Tina fixed a small plate of cheese for Bette, set it out in front of her, and then fixed one for herself.  Bette picked up Tina’s wine glass, and poured her a glass of wine, tipping the glass slightly as she poured.  She filled it a third of the way through, then set the glass to Tina’s right.  Then she picked up her glass, tipped it slightly, and poured a glass for herself.  Tina had also set out some bread for her, breaking off one edge of the baguette, and set it on the edge of the plate. She left the rest of the bread in the middle of the plate, just the way Bette liked it.  She also prepared some bread for herself.

Meanwhile, Bette had held her glass up against the light, eyeing it as it the wine swirled around slightly, and then brought the glass to her nose.  She inhaled deeply, enjoying the play of aromas breathing up from the dark ruby red liquid.

“Mmmmm…,” she murmured. “Wonderful.”

She looked at Tina across the top rim of the glass, who was smirking.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” the blonde shook her head slightly, as she picked up her own glass, and did the same as Bette had done.  “Look at us…I guess old habits die hard,” she smiled as she nodded her head, agreeing with Bette’s assessment of the wine.

Bette looked down at the small plate Tina had set out in front of her, and then offered the blonde a small smile, as she picked up the piece of bread Tina had broken off for her.  She forked one of the cheese pieces Tina had broken off for her from the bigger cuts of cheese on the main cheese plate the café owner had brought over to them.  “Thanks, T.”