Tina walked towards her assistant’s desk with a sly smirk on her face.  Though she loved—adored, admired, would do anything for—her wife, she had to admit to liking the feeling of someone flirting with her.  And for what it was worth, Kate was an amazingly persistent flirt.

“Any calls? Messages?”

“You got one call from your wife.  She didn’t want to leave a message though.”  Tina’s usual smooth skin turn into wrinkles as her nose scrunched up and brow furrowed.

“Okay.  I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

Tina retreated to her cozy office space, pulling her cell phone from her purse in the process.  She had one call from Bette.  She tried to calm herself down, inhaling and exhaling slowly.  It couldn’t be about the baby because Bette would’ve left a message for that.  Besides, if something were really wrong, Alice, Helena, Shane, Kit, and even Papi would be calling.  Lately, everyone had been on Bette’s side if something went wrong.

Tina realized that was because she had something to prove to her old friends.  It didn’t just hurt Bette that she left her for Henry.  It hurt all of them.  It was betrayal to everyone.

“Samantha?” Tina called.

Samantha poked her head through the cracked door, “Yes?”

“Did you happen to tell Bette where I was?”

“Yeah, I told her you went to lunch with Miss Arden.  Did I do something wrong?”

“No.  No.  Thanks, Samantha.”  Tina watched as Samantha closed her door, letting out an audible ‘shit’ in the direction of her laptop.  She picked up her phone and dialed Bette’s cell.

“You’ve reached Bette Kennard…” Though it went straight to voicemail, Tina couldn’t help but smile at how Bette seemed to drop the “Porter” off of her last name and just say Kennard.  It made her entire body fill with a joy she had only experienced twice before—the birth of Angelica and the first time Bette told her that she loved her.

The beeped sounded and Tina left an apologetic message:

“Bette, baby, it’s me.  I don’t know what you’re thinking—actually, I can probably guess what you’re thinking.  But whatever it is, baby, it’s not what you think.  Let me explain.  Please, just call me back when you get this message.”

She hung up and waited for twenty minutes.  When Bette didn’t call back, she called her and left another message.

“Bette, you haven’t called me back.  I’m worried.  Please, call me.  Fuck it, I’m calling your office.  I love you.”

She dialed the office.

“Bette Porter’s office, how may I help you?”

“James?  It’s Tina.”

“Hey Tina.  Bette’s not in right now.”

“Where’d she go?”

“She took off for the rest of the day.  I can only assume she went home.”

“Okay.  Thank you, James.”

“No problem.”

Tina dialed the house, but there was no answer.  She then called Kit.  Kit would know where to find Bette—she always did.

“Hello?” Kit answered

Frantically, Tina replied, “Kit?  It’s Tina.  Do you know where Bette is?”

“Yes.  She’s in my living room.”

“I’m coming over.”

“Don’t.  That is not a good idea.  She is too pissed for words.”

”Did she tell you what happened?”

”She told me that you went to lunch with that Kate Arden broad.  Tina, that was fucked up.”

“I know.  I just want to explain to her.  I want to apologize.”

“Well, don’t come over here and do it because I don’t want Bette to get in a tizzy and hurt the baby.”

“You’re Kit.” Tina paused for a moment, coming up with an idea, “Can you stall her for an hour or two?”

“Sure.  What are you up to?”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” Tina chuckled and hung up the phone.  She dialed the only person she knew capable of pulling off a feat so great.

“Alice?  It’s Tina.  I have a project for you.”