“Curious …? Yes, and a little concerned, perhaps.”

Helena chuckled and inhaled the joy she read in Bette’s expression. It pleased Helena greatly to know that Bette would be thinking about her all day long because of the event she had organized.

“Concerned that I … knew what song you’d like?”

“Concerned that you were able to pull it off in so little time. Did you hire a choreographer for that? You had to get that all together within the week, didn’t you?”

Panicking at the notion that Bette was worried about such a thing, Helena stuttered momentarily on her words.

“I … I choreographed that myself.”

Bette stopped and looked at her, giving up her strong façade for a very simple moment with Helena. She smiled, and sighed. “Well, it was beautiful, and I … would like to go to dinner with you.”

Excited beyond belief, Helena couldn’t even find it in herself to tease Bette for the statement. With her eyes wide and her heart heavy, Helena’s infectious smile grew: “Yes … dinner would be lovely.”

“Excellent. You pick the place and I’ll pick the time.”

Helena hurried after Bette as the professor started off again. “How will I let you know? I only have your office number.”

“If you found that song, then you can find my number,” Bette teased, opening a large glass door to the Faculty of Arts and pausing for a moment to look at Helena. “I apologize for my abrasive carelessness, Ms. Peabody. It’s only that I’ve been burned many times before, and I am often harassed.”

There was a long moment of silence before a small group of students were headed over to the very same door.

Bette put on a smile: “Let me know when you decide on a place.”

When Helena couldn’t seem to bring herself to respond, Bette nodded to her and muttered her goodbyes: “Have a good day, Ms. Peabody.”

***

Late that evening, when Bette was wondering if she had been teasing too mercilessly by demanding Helena find her number some other way, she looked down to her cold leftovers and sighed. She hadn’t meant to be so difficult on Helena, but the slender woman was obviously used to getting anything she wanted, and Bette was not about be another one of Helena’s things. Bette did not fall for others easily. On the contrast, because of how much she was pestered, Bette had all but shut others out of her personal life. Only few friends survived her difficult introductions which kept menaces away, but other possible companions out, too.