‘I’m sorry’ she sighed as she sniffed and held her face in her hands for a few seconds. ‘I am so relieved to hear you say that… I’ve uh, I’ve been having feelings for someone else too.’ She saw the same relief she had just felt mirrored in him as he smiled.

‘Shit really?!’ He asked, drawing back and placing a hand on the steering wheel.

‘Yea, really.’

They spent the next hour and a half talking in the car and steaming up the windows. One of the things Tina had always liked about their relationship was that they could talk about anything. She spent time telling Eric how she had been intoxicated by Bette from the moment she first saw her. That whilst working on the show together and in such close proximity, the feelings had only gotten deeper. He didn’t seem fazed that she had just told him she was having feelings for a woman and Tina thanked him for his respect. She asked him about Sarah and whether he thought there would be potential there for anything other than a working relationship and she found it amusing to see his cheeks colour slightly.

After they realized how late it was, Eric drove Tina home to her apartment. They agreed to stay in touch and arrange a time for respective items to be returned. As Tina gave him a kiss on the cheek goodbye, she couldn’t stop the excitement rising from her stomach.

She bounced up the stairs, through her front door and as soon as it closed let out a squeal of excitement. She cast her bag aside, not caring as the contents spilled out and a lipstick rolled underneath the sofa. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and sent a text to Helena, needing to tell someone at least a nugget of information about what had transpired that evening.

‘Massive news! (Hope this doesn’t wake you) Bette and I kissed! She was soo fucking hot! Meet me at The Planet for breakfast? Oh and Eric and I split but both fine – more details tomorrow. Xx’

She tapped the send button and placed it on the counter in her kitchen, turning away to hang her coat up in the hall. She laughed as not thirty seconds had gone by and her phone alerted her to a new text.

‘OMFG!!! – Damn straight more details tomorrow (today)! See you at 9 Hx’

She chuckled as she clicked the lock button. Just as she put it down to go and change out of her outfit, it buzzed again. She looked down to see who it was from and her heart felt like it stopped. Her breathing froze as her hands began to shake.

‘Hope you managed to get home safely. Looking forward to tomorrow, my sleep seems to be a little disturbed as I appear to be distracted … I can’t imagine why! Bette x’

Tina cradled the phone as she let out the breath she’d been holding. Her beaming face hurt at the corners of her mouth.

She didn’t sleep for what felt like the longest time as she spent the night tossing and turning. For the first time she allowed thoughts of Bette to invade her mind and consume her, completely guilt-free. She spent time planning what to do for the dinner that was now no longer tomorrow but today and carried on grinning into the night.

 TBC…