“And I’d like to meet again, as soon as possible.  I know the two of you are extremely busy, but if you can make time for a next appointment to happen sooner than next week, that would really help.  We’ll work with whatever common slot that you can find between the two of you.  I’ll let them know out front,” he said, smiling at both with encouragement.

As they left the building of Dan’s office, Tina turned to Bette, “Do you need help with that?” she asked pointing to Bette’s roller bag.  The brunette also had a travel laptop case slung over the frame of the roller bag, as well as her own large, baggy travel handbag over her shoulder.

“No, no, thanks , it’s okay, I can handle it,” she smiled quickly at Tina, while dipping her hand into her coat to get her mobile, which had started ringing.

Bette stopped walking to answer it, glancing over at Tina quickly, “Besides, I know you have a meeting in half an hour all the way down in Chelsea, right?  I’ll just see you later.”   She smiled at Tina again, before turning away to head back into the building, to pick up the call.

Twenty minutes later she walked back out, and was turning left to go up half a block, intending to cross Park Avenue to head towards their rented apartment.

As she was turning, she saw Tina standing a few feet away, leaning against the wall of the building, stomping on her feet to keep warm.

“T!” Bette called out in surprise.

Tina smiled, and turned to look at Bette when she heard the brunette call out, “Hi, yeah, I called to cancel my meeting, then found I could reschedule it to Saturday.”  She reached for the roller.  Bette let her take it, this time, smiling.

Tina asked, “Do you want to go to Elaine’s or something, get a drink or a bite to eat?”

Bette looked back at her, and Tina saw a touch of sadness around her eyes.  What’s happening to us?  Tina asked herself.  Am I making Bette sad?

“I’m beat, T,” Bette answered, hooking her arm around Tina’s.  They started walking slowly together, unmindful about getting bumped by people rushing by. “Why don’t we just head back home, order in, put up our feet, and just relax?” the brunette asked.