“And every one of them reminds me of how I let you down.”

Tina swallowed the lump forming in her throat, her. Her instincts implored her to rush home and take Bette in her arms, assuring her it would be all right. Her mind repeated all the reasons why that was a foolish thing to do.

“Don’t do this, Bette” Tina warned

“I’m being honest Tina. I thought it was my lack of honesty that you couldn’t stand.”

“I’ve gotta go,” Tina didn’t like the way this conversation was headed “I’m trusting you to not be there on Wednesday” Was the final warning.

“I won’t disappoint you” Bette whispered before pressing the end button on her cell phone.

It was 10:45am on Wednesday morning before Tina summoned the courage to open the front door and enter the house. She had loitered in the yard lamenting the state of her garden for a good half an hour before forcing herself to take the next step.

Once inside she was struck by how quiet it seemed, not in the peaceful way that she remembered, it felt empty to her now. Everything was in its place but it was as if no-one lived there anymore. She imagined Bette working until ten or eleven at night, eating take-out at her desk and only returning home when she was too exhausted to continue. Moving to the bedroom she saw two of Bette’s suits amongst a pile of clothes lying on the floor next to her side of the bed. She envisioned Bette peeling off her clothes and crawling naked into their bed, an occurrence that she had witnessed numerous times.

Tina noticed her ring sitting next to the alarm-clock on Bette’s bedside table. Walking over she picked it up and closed it in her hand. Clenching her fist tighter she felt the gold band dig into her palm and the pain of it was somehow consoling. Releasing her fist she saw the circle engraved in her palm. She realized that it was prefect but momentary, within a minute or two the mark would have vanished from her skin leaving no trace. ‘Is that all Bette and I were?’ She wondered, perfect but momentary. ‘Will she eventually fade from my life to the point where it’s like she was never even there?’