“Fate?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, Bette. I had made an appointment at a place I usually go to. Then on the news I saw there was an accident on the highway to get there. I had so much left to do that I knew trying to make it there would put me off schedule. I’ve seen Shane a few times on the way to my dry cleaners. I called and made an appointment. I was just happy they could fit me in,” Tina answered.

Bette asked, “You’ve never been there before that day?”

“No. Never.”

“You’d never met the owner before? You’d never met Shane?” asked Bette.

“No. Why? What’s going on?” asked Tina.

Bette shook her head. “Nothing. Just curious.”

“What’s going on with you, Bette?”

Bette sighed. “Nothing. It’s been a long day. A great day. Just long. I miss you, Tina.”

“I miss you too, Baby.”

“Thank you for supporting me right now.”

“It’s the least I can do. I wish things were different. If they were different, I’d be holding you right now.”

Bette smiled and hugged herself tighter. She let the other unknowns regarding Tina slip away, her psyche soothed by the timber of her lover’s voice.

On Wednesday morning at 7:30 am, a man in an expensive black suit and black cap rang Bette’s doorbell. He announced that his name was Harold and that he was her driver for the day. She had been expecting him and followed him out to the black SUV with black tinted windows that was waiting for her. As she slid into the back, leather seat bench, she whispered to herself, “Tina doesn’t do anything subtle, does she?”

She rang her as they pulled off from the curb.

“Hello?” Tina answered.

“Guess where I am?” asked Bette.

“Hmm…where are you?”

“I am in the back seat of a black Escalade, being driven to my gallery.”

Tina smiled and answered, “Great. Harold will take excellent care of you. He’s yours all day and all night if you need be. He’s at your beck and call. I didn’t want you to have to worry about driving or traffic or drinking and driving.”