Tina held onto the door as she tried to catch her breath. She had been on her way home when James’ call came. All she heard were the words, "Emergency at the CAC! Bette is freaking! Hurry over! Bye!" She had made a reckless u-turn and sped all the way to the gallery. Her heart was in her throat the whole time. She thought fire! Terrorist attack! Robbery! By the time she reached the CAC, she was imagining all sorts of scenarios that could be scaring Bette. Tears threatened to blur her vision but she resolutely wiped them away. Bette is freaking. She needs me.

She ran in the direction of Bette’s office, looking for signs of trouble. She found James biting his nails at his desk and watching the door like it was going to explode any minute. He took his eyes off it long enough to mouth to Tina, "Candace."

Oh God it’s worse than I thought. Tina’s pulse ran into overdrive. She threw the door open, ready for tears and breakdowns. Bette was just starting to talk to her about her ex. Tina was just starting to hear about what Bette called her Candace Years. At first Bette had been bitter. Then she was depressed. Then she was angry. Just last week, Bette had stared at a dandelion floating in the wind and told Tina that Candace thought dandelions were creepy. Then she had laughed until tears streamed down her face. Now here was Candace, in the flesh. Tina wished she had ran through the park, gathering dandelions to throw at that face, familiar from the box of photos Bette still kept in the attic.

"Bette? Are you okay?" Tina asked her girlfriend, but couldn’t help looking at Candace and noticing that the other woman was physically her complete opposite. And that she was looking at her appraisingly. Tina tried to compose herself. Bette seemed fine.

"Tina, this is Candace Jewell. Candace, this is Tina Kennard. My partner." Bette spoke robotically. The sight of Tina caused a gush of feelings in two different directions. On one hand, she wanted to run into her partner’s arms and hide until the day was over. On the other, she was embarrassed. The embarrassment burned her face bright red. Couldn’t Tina see she was handling the situation? Slowly a wave of resentment built up. "Tina, Candace was just leaving."