Bette sat at her desk. She had fielded several calls from faculty and sat through two meetings. She was trying to read her email, but could not stop thinking about last night and that kiss. She had tossed and turned most of the night, and when she finally fell asleep, she dreamt about a hot and steamy reunion with the woman in the next room. She woke up wired, but exhausted. She and Tina said very little at breakfast, exchanging glances and smiles along with small talk about Angelica. Tina noted that she was spending the day at home for the most part, planning their date tomorrow night and going over things left undone by Helena.


‘How did I go from wanting a kiss to wanting to make love to her so quickly?’ Bette stood up and crossed the room. ‘I can’t remember the last time we kissed like that. I can’t remember the last time I wanted her so badly.’ Bette paced across the room, lost in her thoughts. ‘So what do I do now? What do we do now?’ Returning to her chair, Bette sits down and sighs heavily. ‘I know what I WANT to do, but is it too soon?


Sitting up in her chair, Bette pulls up her schedule on her computer. She looks at her Blackberry and dials a number. “Yes, this is Bette Porter. I have an appointment with Dr. Milner tomorrow, but I was wondering if she could fit me in today?”

——–

Tina sat on the couch staring at her laptop. She couldn’t believe that she was in charge of an entire studio. Angelica had been great all day, playing in the floor and having a good time, so Tina was able to accomplish a lot by phone and email. She looked down at a notepad and crossed off several things. Just then, her cell phone rang.


“Tina Kennard…. Linda? Were you able to secure those reservations for me? I know that I’ve been a pain about this but this is very important. Thanks for doing this despite the last minutes changes I made. So, the reservation is for 7:30? Great. Yes, I’ll be in the office in about an hour for that meeting. Call me on my cell if anything changes.”


As Tina hung up the phone, Angus appears at the door. Tina waves him in.


“Hey, Angus. Thanks for watching Angelica while I go and take this meeting.”


“No problem. I thought she and I could head out to the park for a while.”


Tina picked up Angelica. “Do you want to go to the park with Uncle Angus, sweetie?”


“Park” replied Angelica. Tina hands the little girl to him. “I should be back home by 5:30, Angus. If you need anything you can reach me or Bette by cell.”


“Everything will be fine.” Angus takes the diaper bag from Tina and heads for the door. “See you later.”


“Bye, baby girl” Tina watched them leave before turning to change for her meeting.


————-

“Thank you so much for fitting me in, Dr. Milner.” Bette sat back on the leather couch and looked around the therapist’s office.


“Call me Donna. It was no problem, Bette. I had some free time this afternoon, so it worked out well. Is there a reason you needed to see me before your scheduled appointment?”


“I need some help thinking through some things. I guess I should tell you what’s going on.”


Bette launches into the abbreviated history of Bette and Tina. She explains the last few years, telling Dr. Milner all of the details of what went right and wrong in the history of their relationship. As she recounts the most recent events, she tells the therapist of last night’s dinner and events.


“So I gather that you’re worried that things may be moving too fast?” Donna asks.


“I don’t know. Part of me says that I should still be angry about what Tina did, but part of me just wants to get on with our lives.” Bette shook her head. “Is that crazy?”


Donna smiled. “No, it’s not. It’s obvious that you were badly hurt by Tina’s actions over the past year, but you also don’t wish to dwell on it. But I believe that you’re questioning whether you’re forgiving too quickly?”


“Yes. I don’t want to be hurt again. I know that Tina says that she won’t hurt me again, and I do believe her on some level. It’s just that part of me wants to avoid ever feeling that way again. I don’t know if I could stand being hurt by her like that again.”


“Bette, you did say that part of what went wrong in your relationship was that Tina did not forgive you and held on to her anger for so long. Are you worried that you will do the same?”


“Yes and no. I feel like I should still be pissed off after all of the things she did. But I can’t believe how easy it is for us to feel comfortable together. It’s like we’ve really gotten past all of the bad things we’ve done to one another. I can almost forget about what she did.”


“Almost?” inquired Donna.


Bette smiled slightly. “Well, if I completely forget, aren’t I setting myself up to be hurt again?”


“Do you think about it?”


“When I’m alone, sometimes. But not much over the past few days. All I can think about now is how much I want her.”


“Do you feel that it’s wrong to want to be with Tina now?”


“No, I don’t. I know that we can’t go back to the old ‘us’, but I feel that we can build a bigger and better life together. I just don’t think that holding on to the pain of the past will help.” Bette shifts in her seat. “I just don’t want to react out of physical need and mess things up by moving too fast. Yes, I want her, but is it too soon?”


“Only you can answer that question. Your heart and soul knows when the time is right.” Donna smiled. “Not the answer you wanted, right?”


Bette laughed. “Right. It’s funny. I work in the art world, where opinions and conclusions are so subjective. But there are so many times in my life when I want a clear yes or no. Art is about feeling, reaction, spirit.” Bette closed her eyes for a moment then opened them. “So is love. Why can’t I get that sometimes?”


“You feel the need to protect yourself. Tell me more about that, Bette.”


—————-

Tina walked into the conference room. Linda followed close behind her.


“Here is the proposal Mr. Powell and his associates drew up for the project.” Linda placed the report in front of Tina.


“Thank you, Linda. Please escort Mr. Powell in as soon as he arrives.”


Tina leaned back and reviewed the report in front of her. ‘Christian Powell. Where have I heard that name before?’ Tina flipped through the report hoping for a picture to match with the name.


Linda re-enters the room. “Ms. Kennard, Christian Powell and his team are here.”


Tina stood and turned to greet the visitors. “Welcome to Peabody Shaolin, Mr. Powell.” Tina looks at the man standing before her. “I’m sorry. Have we met somewhere previously?”


Christian Powell looks at Tina for a moment and smiled. “I believe so. I think it was at a showing at the Bette Porter Gallery several years ago? I think that Bette introduced us. You two were together, right?”


Tina shook her head. “Of course, I remember. You were one of the up and coming artists Bette showcased at the time. Your work was stunning. And from what I have seen in this report, it continues to be magnificent.”


“Well, thank you. I had no idea that you were the head of this studio. Why are you sitting in on a meeting about art for a film?”


Tina laughed. “Well, my new position was a very recent development. But I wanted to take this meeting to finalize the art for the Thompson film project.” She looked at Christian for a moment. “But once we settle that, I would like to run something by you.”


Christian nodded. “Well, shall we talk business?”

————————-

Donna looked up at her clock. She and Bette had been talking for more than an hour. “Well, Bette, our time is almost up for now. How do you feel about things?”


Bette thought for a moment. “Okay, I guess. It’s funny. I have always trusted my own decisions, until I made the decision to sleep with Candace. I haven’t felt good about myself or my decisions since then. I think that I have been second-guessing myself since then about everything. Especially about Tina. When things fell apart again, I felt like I had no idea what was right and what was wrong. But one thing never changed. I love her, and I don’t want to stop loving her. I don’t want to live my life without her or our daughter. The last few days have taught me that I can get past what happened and we can have a future together. Yes, I’m still scared, but I think that I can work through that.”


“Good. Do you want to keep your appointment tomorrow?”


“If you don’t mind.” Bette laughed. “Unless two days in a row is too much.”


“It’s no problem.” Donna replied. “We do have some work to do.”

———————

“Well, that settles the business part of things.” Tina signed the contract and gave it to Linda. “Do you have any questions, Christian?”


“No. I am grateful for the opportunity that you offer for me and my associates.”


“No problem. Now about the personal business that I wanted to talk to you about…”


Tina moved closer to Christian and began to talk low.

————————–

Tina and Christian exited the conference room. Tina walked Christian to the elevator. “Christian, you don’t know how much I appreciate this.”


Christian stopped and looked at Tina. “It’s really no problem. I’m glad it worked out so that I could help you. I’ll call you in the morning with the final details, and if you need anything after that, just give me a call.” Christian stepped on the elevator. “Oh, and Tina?”


“Yes?”


“Send my love to Bette. She helped get me where I am.”


Tina smiled and watched the elevator doors close. She turned and started towards her office when she remembered that she no longer inhabited that office. She turned again and walked to her new office space. As she passed Linda’s desk, Linda jumped up to follow her boss into the room. Tina sat down and wrote down a number.


“Linda, I owe you big for helping me with all of this. Here’s the number for the second reservation I need. All of the details are there. Once this is set, you can have the rest of the week off.”


“Really?” Linda’s eyes were big as saucers. “Thanks, Tina. I hope that everything goes as you hope tomorrow night.”


Tina looked up and Linda and smiled. “I hope so, Linda, I really do.”