It didn’t take long for Tina to feel that Bette’s needs overshadowed hers once again. When Kelly suggested opening another Gallery in New York, Bette jumped at the idea.  Tina thought Bette made this decision on her own and without putting any thought into the impact on their relationship and the parenting duties of their daughter.  Slowly Bette became immersed into the Gallery development.  She always had an excuse for not picking up Angie on time when it was her turn or leaving early in the morning with a meeting that she had to rush out to attend.  When Angie finally went to school, Tina had hoped things would settle down and she would have more time to focus on her job and herself.  She had already passed up two opportunities to Executive Produce a movie, something she greatly wanted to do to move her career along.  It required location work and Tina didn’t think leaving Bette responsible for all of Angie’s needs was a good idea.  She started to believe Bette didn’t have it in her to make room for anyone but herself and from there the arguments grew.

”Bette, I can’t always be the one to manage Angie, it’s just not fair.  My job is important too.  When we decided to move to New York, you agreed to take on more responsibility.  I need some help,” Tina had pleaded.

”T, you know how important the investors are to a new business, I have no control over how long or where they want to discuss plans.  I try to schedule things, but they keep changing at the last minute.  What am I supposed to do.”  Bette had countered.

It wasn’t all bad, there financial situation allowed for a very comfortable life.  They were eventually able to agree having a nanny would help with the childcare issues, which it did.  As Angie got older, her needs were less time consuming, allowing Bette and Tina to spend more time at their respective jobs and things that were important to them individually.  Their relationship seemed to improve as they were not arguing as before, but the physical intimacy had declined, over time it became essentially nonexistent.  It wasn’t that they didn’t desire each other, that had never changed. Tina could still see that look in Bette’s eyes, but the emotional turmoil began to take its toll on both of them.  The one thing that had surprised Tina the most during that time was that Bette never strayed.  But it wasn’t enough for Tina, she felt what she felt and at the heart of her perceived problem was Bette.