Bette’s tone is gentle but firm. She doesn’t mean to bully Tina and she’ll back off if Tina tells her to. She just wants to get this out in the open so they can move on. After a few beats Tina takes a deep breath and sighs loudly before she speaks.

“OK to be honest I got jealous on Saturday night. It bothered me to see all those women approaching you and the looks that Susan was giving you from the stage. It was almost as if she was undressing you with her eyes and imaging that it was your body she was stroking instead of the cello strings. I tried to tell myself that I was being silly. I don’t have any claim on you Bette. You can be with whomever you want. Still when I think of you with Susan or that red head you were attracted to or Sam or whoever … I just can’t handle it. I get jealous. I do. I get jealous and I have no right. I don’t know how to do this Bette and I can’t … I can’t …”

“What can’t you do Tina?” Bette asks softly. But instead of answering Tina gets up and walks over to Bette’s lounger. She sits next to the brunette, strokes her face as if memorizing her features. She looks deeply into the depths of her friend’s chocolate brown eyes.

“You’re so beautiful; so caring; so kind. I want you to open your heart to the possibility of ‘us’ Bette but I can’t ask you to do that. I can’t be trusted not to hurt you. You deserve so much more than I can give you right now.”

“I’m not asking for anything Tina. I just want us to be honest about our feelings OK?”

“OK. What are your feelings towards me?”

“I care a lot about you Tina. I love you as a friend. I think I want more than friendship with you but the truth is … I’m not as evolved as you. When I saw you with Eric at the opening the other night I didn’t like how it made me feel. When you told me that you broke up with him today I have to admit that I felt a little bit of joy but it was short lived because even with Eric out of the way it doesn’t mean that you’ll want to be with ’just me’. I know everyone comes into a relationship with a history of past lovers but hearing about Kate and Sam and thinking about the other people you’ve been with in ‘open relationships’. Even if you commit to me I don’t want to be that person that’s always wondering if I’m enough for you. I don’t like how it makes me feel when I think about you wanting to see other people. I can’t handle the fact that you ‘want’ open relationships. I just can’t do it Tina no matter how much I want you. I can’t stand the thought of sharing you with someone else.”