“Come on, Candace, making that choice must have taken some thought on your part or was it just for kicks?”

Candace rolled her eyes.  She wished she hadn’t come over to console Bette.  She disliked scenes like this immensely and had been in enough of them to know they never turned out with everyone sharing a hug.  “No, not kicks.  I wanted to see for myself the woman who held Bette’s heart; wanted to know what made you tick.  Bette had nothing to do with it and I used poor judgment.  I shouldn’t have accepted the job.”

Alice’s eyebrow arched in appreciation of the good answer, but Tina simply shook her head and turned to her ex-lover.  “Bette, you love me?”

“Yes, Tina.  Completely.  One hundred percent.”

“You love me.”  She processed this and nodded.  “So is it that you just don’t like me?” she whispered.

“Tee, don’t be ridiculous.  I like you more than I’ve ever liked anyone.  You’re my rock, my sounding board, my comfort, my other half, my best friend…”

“Best friend?  Who does this to a best friend?  Who likes someone so much that they destroy everything that person believes in?  Jesus, Bette.  Jesus.” 

Tina walked to the door and pulled Alice’s arm as she walked past.  “Let’s go.”  She flipped her head to give Candace one last look and said to her, “She’s all yours, Candace.   She’s your other half.  You guys are one in the same.”

The door slammed closed and a minute later, Candace and Bette heard the car start and pull away.

Candace walked over to Bette who stood weeping in the center of the living room.  “It’s okay, Bette.  It’ll be okay.”

“I doubt that,” she sobbed.

“What can I do?”

“Go.  Please, just go.”

* * * * *

Bette had returned to the office.  By throwing herself into work, she could push aside her personal troubles.  Bette was not going to be a one-hit wonder at the Museum.  Now that CAC was a leader in the art community, she had every intention of staying there.  She perused every European art magazine to learn what was hot on the other side of the pond.  She had calls out to Berlin, Paris, London, and Madrid trying to book cutting edge shows.  Provocations would be just the beginning of a long and successful ride for her at the CAC.