Since Bette had stopped swinging her around, Angelica looked from one to the other, while Bette held her loosely against her frame. “Mommy?,” she asked, looking at Bette then at Tina and then at Bette again, picking up on a sudden rise in tension between the two.

Tina blew a breath out as Bette gave Angelica a quick kiss on her forehead, whispering “It’s alright, sweetie.”

Bette and Tina looked at each other and, after a beat gave the other a small smile.  “I’m sorry, baby,” Bette started.  “No, honey, I shouldn’t have ….” Tina answered almost at the same time.

Still smiling, they leaned towards each other and kissed softly.  “I just think we should talk about it,” Tina said quietly, as they drew apart. “Yeah, you’re right,” Bette nodded.  “You’re right…”

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Wednesday night after Valentine’s Day weekend, the day after Bette and Tina return to New York.)

Tina released Bette’s hand after they’d crossed the length of the ballroom of a Park Avenue hotel.  After a quick kiss with Bette, she walked in one direction to join a group of film industry executives talking in a circle in the far end of the hall.  Bette turned in the opposite direction to join Mark and Logan, who had waved at her to ask her to join them.

Tina smiled her thanks at a waiter who offered her a glass of champagne just as she was about to join the industry execs.  “Hey, Tina, so a couple of nods for Film Features, huh?” one of them asked, as she joined them.”

“Uh – huh … William’s very happy,” Tina acknowledged, with a smile.  “And congratulations to you, too,” she said warmly to one of the balding men across from her in the circle, raising her glass to him.  They all laughed as he made a joke about the limited chances his studio would have in the two categories where Film Features and his studio were both nominated.  Tina shook her head and smiled warmly at him.  The man’s studio was a behemoth of the industry and usually won most categories it was nominated to get an award for, and it was unlikely that the film from Film Features would win this year.  His studio had released a pretty strong line-up of award-winning films this year. Too bad William seems to want to push more into film areas with broader mass appeal.  Just when the large studios seem to be heading into the films that Film Features used to be well-known for.  She was working to move the studio towards a more blended line-up, though.