“Now you,” she said in a childish voice, her eyes full of mischief.

“Me what?” I asked in surprise.

“Now you undress and then we play in bath.”

“No, now you go in the bad and I go make us some dinner. We will have chicken and we will talk about all of this tomorrow.”

“But Tinawina!”
“No ‘but Tinawina’! You’re going to do exactly as I tell you.”

“Yes not-my-mommy Tinawina.”

–

BP narration

“I’m really sorry about yesterday,” I said for what felt like the millionth time. I knew I was horrible when I was drunk. “I just… since we are living together, I don’t spend that much time with my friends and I ran into Shane over lunch at the Planet. We caught up after work and we got into beer, I promise it won’t happen again.”

“You know, Bette, it’s not about that. I know you didn’t go out today and said to yourself: ‘Well, Porter, get yourself drunk today and you’ll be happy.’ It’s just that it would have been really nice if you could call me to tell me you were going to meet up with Shane. And I’m not too pleased with you being drunk, but it’s not like I’m mad about that.”

“So, I have to inform you over every step I make?”

“Of course not. It’s just something housemates do, and we are so much more than that.” She brought her hand to her head. “Look, let’s not have a fight. Just… just promise me you’ll call me if it happens again.”

I looked at the wonderful creature in front of me. She was just so mesmerizing, her blonde hair falling lightly over her shoulders, those beautiful hazel eyes, and that body… but most important, her inside, her personality. She had just taken care of me, not asking any questions until I was sober.

“I promise.” I meant it. I changed the subject immediately, I didn’t want her to change her mind. “So, anything happened lately? At work or so?”

“No, nothing… although there’s one thing keeping me busy. Someone left a message on the answering machine and her name is ringing some bells. Maybe you can help me? It was Jessie Cane or something.”

The name struck me as lightning. Jessie Cane, the first girl I had loved and that loved me back. The one who had broken up because she was moving to Vermont. I had told Tina about her… she must have forgotten.

“Is something wrong?” She asked worriedly, seeing the expression on my face. “Who is she?”

“Don’t you remember, T? I told you about her. Jessie Cane, my first girlfriend who meant it with me? Who moved to Vermont and broke her and my heart?”

Tina’s face changed, it was visibly dawning on her. “Oh my god, yes! Why would she call?”

“Well, you tell me. Did she call all the way from Vermont? And how did she get the number?”

“No… no, she… she’s in town,” Tina stumbled. “She… she said you were easy to find if you knew where to look. And that she would like to meet you. She… left a number.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

An awkward silence fell, neither knowing what to do. Was I supposed to call her back, just for old times’ sake? Or would that be hurtful for Tina? There was only one way to find out.

“Do I hurt your feeling by calling her back? Because if I do, I won’t.”

“I don’t know… she’s your first love, well, your first… girlfriend, you know what I mean.”

I saw what she was thinking. “I’m over her, Tina. I left her behind me a long time ago, long before we met. It would just be nice to see what has become of her. But if you don’t want me to call her…”

“No, no, I think you should.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you really should. I haven’t deleted the message yet, she left her number. Why don’t you call her first thing tomorrow?”

I smiled. This was clear evidence that she trusted me, us. I went to her, put my arms around her and gave her a big hug. I kissed her brow. “Thank you. Thank you for believing in us, thank you for taking care of me.”