Why wasn’t she saying anything? Bette asked herself. She must have something to say otherwise she wouldn’t be here. Relief mixed with anxiety created a heady concoction and Bette didn’t know for how much longer she could remain standing if she didn’t say something. She felt dismantled in her presence.

‘I made dinner.’

Oh God Tina, how can you do this to me? Scream at me. Tell me you hate me. Throw every plate in that kitchen at me. But don’t stand here in our home telling me you made me dinner as though nothing’s happened.

The words were not the ones she had wanted but they were the only ones her voice allowed her to speak. She couldn’t be sure but she thought she saw tears starting to form in Bette’s eyes. This was a mistake, neither of them were ready for this. What had she been thinking? Bette obviously didn’t want to talk to her otherwise she would have called and she would have said something by now. It was her turn to speak now, why wasn’t she saying anything?

Tina felt the heat rising in her face. It was too hot in there. She stood up and took a step away from the table, still keeping her eyes firmly on Bette. The door, it was only a few feet away from her. She could be out of that door and in her car and away from there and she was pretty sure Bette would still be stood in the same spot before she’d even realised what had happened.

She slowly started to move back. Each step taken Bette took one forward, the distance between them always remaining the same. Maybe she could stop her with some words. ‘Dinner is in the oven.’ One step back, another taken forward. ‘It’ll be done in about a half hour.’ Another step back, one step forward. This strange dance to Tina’s words continuing.

Bette dropped her bag where she stood. She didn’t know why but she could see that Tina was making her way towards the back door as she spoke about dinner. ‘It’s chicken.’ Why was she still talking about food? Surely she didn’t come here just to talk about food. ‘I didn’t know if you’d already eaten and it was in the fridge so -’