“Bette?”

Pressing the stop button on the voice recorder, Bette hesitated before looking up.  She wanted this to be real, to be Tina, and not someone who sounded like her asking if she was using the other chair.  She looked up and saw her partner.  Tina looked so lovely and Bette did nothing to hide the grin that filled her face.  “Tina, hi.  Are you alone?”

“Yeah, I thought you might be here.”  She took a seat without waiting for an invitation.  “Thanks for the note the other day.  It was sweet.”

“I thought maybe you didn’t see it,” Bette said quickly while she pushed the photographs into her case, and cleared the table for Tina.  “Do you want anything?”

“I just placed an order.  They’re going to bring it over.”

“’kay.  Good.  You look great, Tina.  Really, really great.”

“Thanks.”

“Are you meeting someone or going somewhere?”  Tina was wearing a dress Bette hadn’t seen before.  It was a cream-colored batik, A-line dress with hand painted geometric designs on it.  The three buttons at the neck were casually opened.  It was simple, natural, and pretty, like Tina, Bette thought.

“No, I’m working again.  Oscar had applied for this grant and it came through.  He had enough to hire an office manager and I jumped at it.  I need to bring in some money and pay you back the two thousand I withdrew and…”

“Tina, you don’t have to think about that.  How can your money be a loan?  How are you living?  You haven’t made any withdrawals except that one.”

“My family’s helping me.”

“You told them?”  Bette was even more ashamed.

“Not all of the gory details.  Just that we’re not together.”  Tina’s coffee and scone arrived and she added sweetener and cream as they conversed.

“I’m sure they blame me.” 

Tina looked at Bette as if to say, ‘you are to blame.’

Bette said it aloud.  “I am to blame.  I know you’re sick to death of hearing it, but I feel like I need to say it for the rest of my life—I’m sorry.” 

Neither woman noticed Dana, Alice, and Shane enter the restaurant.  The three friends glanced at each other when they saw Bette and Tina together, but they fell silent as they quickly grabbed a table as close to the scene as possible without being intrusive.