A text came in from Logan’s driver as they boarded the elevator.  He was waiting downstairs.  Thank goodness Logan had offered his car to them this week.  With all the errands and back and forth trips between their rented apartment and the duplex in order to move personal things – it would have been well nigh impossible to get everything ready without Logan’s car and driver.

Tina stole a quick glance at the brunette as they rode the elevator to the lobby, and smiled to herself. Bette was still holding the single red rose Tina had surprised her with when they woke this morning. Tina had written on the scroll tied around it,

“Alone with our madness and favorite flower, we see that there really is nothing left to write about.”

“Or rather, it is necessary to write about the same old things… In the same way, repeating the same things over and over.”

“For love to continue, and be gradually different.” 
John Ashbery.

Tina shook her head in silent wonder: despite all the exhausting work getting everything in the duplex ready over the past two weeks, Bette appeared for all the world to be as refreshed as always, as if just returning from a vacation in the Maldives, glamorous and well-groomed, even at this hour of the morning when most people could barely ran a brush through their hair or wash their faces.  Not a hair out of place, her so-called casual look today decidedly upscale, highlighted by a black faux-fur oversized coat secured by large old-fashioned leather-strapped buckles that she wore over a romantic ruffled knee-length white shirt, wool tights, and thigh-high low-heeled boots.

“Do I have a zit or something that I need to take care of?,” the brunette smiled, querying Tina, noticing the blonde’s stare from her peripheral vision.  Bette was thumbing through messages in her cell from the concierge service that was helping them pull the Valentine’s Day party they were hosting. Thus far, the overnight messages confirmed arrangements were on track.

Tina laughed, shook her head, but didn’t look away from Bette.

With satisfaction, Bette clicked her mobile shut, dropped it in a side pocket of the coat, and turned to Tina to give her a kiss.

“What is it, T?," taking another sniff at the rose Tina woke her with this morning.