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    Shared Passions

    “Judging from what I see here, she has talent. These will sell easily in the right venue. My favorite part of this business is discovering new exciting artists. It’s the reason I attend so many of these Art Walks. I’m Bette Porter by the way.”

    “Tina Kennard. It’s nice to meet you Bette. I’m sure Valerie would love the opportunity to talk to you. Do you have a business card that I can give her?”

    “Of course. Here’s one for Valerie, and this one is for you. I’d love for you to stop by the gallery sometime. Are you an artist?”

    “Thank you. Maybe I will stop by, and no I’m not an artist but I do appreciate art. I work for an independent movie studio in Burbank. I interned with them all through college and after graduation they hired me into their Young Executives Program. It’s kind of a fast track to Movie Executive. It’s a great program but highly demanding and very stressful sometimes. The upside is that I will hold a pretty high-level position by the time I’m 30. Valerie and I attended the same Fine Arts College. We met in our freshman year and we’ve been friends and roommates ever since. Neither one of us has any family so we look out for each other.”

    Tina: Why am I babbling? I’m not even sure why I’m telling her all this, but I just feel like I want her to know things about me. It just feels natural to open up to her. Am I attracted to her? I’ve never been attracted to a woman before, but I definitely feel something especially when she looks at me so intently like she’s doing right now. She’s so beautiful, but whatever I’m sensing about her goes beyond the physical beauty.

    Bette: God. She’s adorable. I got so lost looking into her eyes I didn’t hear half of what she said. Something about being a Movie Executive, I think. I heard the part about not having family. I’ll just comment on that.

    “I know what it’s like to be on your own. I have a half-sister and some really good friends that have become my family, but it took some time to build that trust and develop those relationships. It’s good that you and Valerie have each other.”

    Comments

      • SassyGran – you’re not the only one that needs to stir the brain cells. I have to go back and read it myself so I can be accurate in the sequel. For example I can’t remember the all the Acts of Love and Kindness. I need to make sure Bette doesn’t repeat any. :-)

        Thanks for going back for a re-read.

    1. I went back and read the entire book preceding this one. It is a great story. The way you handle Bette and Tina’s reconciliation is absolutely wonderful. The therapist Emma is absolutely one of the best. I do not know if you base this on some life experience, but she is certainly someone I would want to see if I needed therapy. The changes in Tina are phenomenal but the changes in Bette are so clear and evident that it just warms my heart. It’s just strange to me that people can and do convince themselves of some false notion or assumption and then conduct their lives based on that notion and destroy their relationships as a result. That is the case with Bette and Tina. Tina’s notion that Bette does not find her desirable and Bette’s notion that Tina does not find her desirable snowballs into eight years of separation and unhappiness for both. And then to finally reconcile when they start to discover the truth – that if they had really talked to one another and acted on what they truly both wanted and needed, the separation might never had occurred.

      I love the fact that Bette is truly a romantic – the 17 random acts of love and kindness was such a great idea and plot line. As of three month ago, they were only up to Act XIV. There are three more to go. The maturity shown by Bette as she reconciles with Tina is absolutely wonderful. Even though she has doubts from time to time, she is not afraid to get help when they surface. Tina shows some temper and doubt from time to time, but she just seems to brush it off and goes forward. But I really feel that Tina is truly committed to Bette in this relationship and will do whatever it takes to make their lives happy and fulfilling.

      I look forward to this continuation….I notice that you use this flashback of their initial meeting from Love will build a Bridge. I am still in hopes that you will complete that story. Its a good one as well with a completely different Bette and Tina.

      Love your stories…..Thanks for beginning a new one.

      • Martha3128- thank you for going back to read the previous story, the sequel will make much more sense since I reference back to some of what happened in the first one.

        Emma is one of my favorite recurring characters. She has done wonders for Bette, and in some cases Tina too. I paired Bette and Emma romantically in one story where Bette and Tina did not reconcile. It wasn’t popular with Tibetters but it was one of those stories that I felt I had to write.

        I appreciate you noting Bette’s growth and maturity. She didn’t cheat in this story but she took responsibility for her failure in the relationship and Tina realizing that running away is not the answer. I wanted to stress how open, honest communication on any level could make or break a relationship. I also wanted Angie to be at the center of the story because too often on the show I think there were times Bette, Tina and audience forgot Angie even existed until they would bring her back for brief appearance. One of the failures of GenQ in my opinion was making Angie 16 years old. I think she was actually 3 maybe 4 when the show ended 10 years ago. A 13 or 14 year old would have really tested Bette and Tina’s parenting skills, and so much more growing pains to deal with.

        Back to this story. You are correct, the Art Walk meeting was one that I re-posted and used in Love a bridge between our differences (with a slightly different conversation). I’ve also used Leigh’s the Angels Watching Over Me exhibit in another story I think. Sometimes when I pull a story down and I don’t intend to re-post I will save bits and pieces that I really like and re-use them. However I am acutely that some readers have great recollection of details even if they read the story 10 years ago so I try to vary it somewhat. As I do the rewrite I will try to change some of the scenarios so it doesn’t sound like a remake.

        As usual I appreciate the time you take to read, and analyze and provide insightful comments. Bette has 3 more Acts of Love and Kindness to complete so we’ll see how imaginative she gets for the finale.

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