Bette goes to answer the phone…
Bette: Hello?…Candace?
Candace: Don’t sound so excited to hear from me.
As Bette is on the phone with Candace…
%%%At The Planet%%%
Tina is still in the bathroom, in a stall, on the phone. It had started to ring, her heart was racing…
Alice: Tina? Are you feeling okay?
(Tina, startled, whispered to herself,) *****..*****,(as she closed her phone,)
Tina: Yeah Al, I’m fine. I just all of a sudden felt a little nauseated, but I’m okay now.
%%%Meanwhile%%%
Bette: Hey Candace, could you hold on for a second, I have another call…(Bette clicks over,) Hello?…Hellooo? (she clicks over again,) They must’ve hung up.
Candace: Yeah, wrong number or something.
Bette: So, Candace Jewell. It’s been over a month since we’ve talked last. I thought that we had an uspoken, mutual agreement to sever all ties with each other after what happened. What changed?
Candace: Well since we’re skipping the formalities it seems…(she says sarcastically yet jokingly,) number one is because Helena Peabody has hired me to do some work, renovating the galleries and the offices at the CAC. So since that would include your office, I just thought that I might give you the heads up in case you wanted to run for the hills.
Bette: Really? Is that so?
Candace: Yeah, how unfortunate for you right?
Bette sat silently on the other line, not really knowing how to respond. Finally, the thought came to her.
Bette: Yeah, sure, you could say that.
Candace: Ouch…thanks for the brutal honesty.
Bette could sense that Candace was being flirtatious in the way that she would joke with her which gave her incentive to hurry up and try to end the conversation.
Bette: Sorry.(She said insincerely.) Well look, I have to get going soon, is that the only reason why you called?
Candace: Well I guess that that was the was the primary reason.
Bette: And the other…?
Candace: I guess it’s really unimportant at this point.
Bette: You might as well tell me now since you have me here.
As soon as Bette said those words, she’d wished that she could take them back, because she’d feared what Candace’s other reason might be after all of this time, if it wasn’t work related.
Candace: Well Bette, I know that we didn’t exactly start things off the right way, but while I don’t know for sure what it was for you, whether it was love or lust, I can only speak for myself and let you know that while yes, I was and am, very attracted to you physically, that time that we spent together…well, I believe that I’ve fallen in love with you, and I really think, that if we gave it a try, then it could work out.
(Bette, taken back a bit by Candace’s confession, thought about tact at first but then decided to tell it like it was.)
Bette: Candace, I’m sorry, I can’t. I still love Tina, very much. She’s the only one that I want to spend my life with. I mean, honestly, I wouldn’t be able to TRY and tell you if I TRIED, because I have absolutely, no clue…none whatsoever…as to what came over me those times that we were together. I don’t mean to be harsh, but I can assure you that it was unexplainable lust on my part. And actually…(Candace interrupts,)
Candace: Okay, Ms. Porter, I can take a hint, no more shut downs are needed. And as much as I don’t want to let this go, I respect you. So I guess that it’ll just be a business relationship huh?
Bette: Yes, definately, if even that much.
Candace: Okay, well it was good to hear your voice again Bette.
Bette: Thank you.
(Candace, finally letting go of all hope,)
Candace: Alright, see you around.
Bette: Yeah, around. Goodbye Candace.
Candace: Bye Bette.
Bette hung up the phone, wondering why it was so hard for her to dismiss her like that in the first place and avoid so much heartache and pain.
%%%Back at The Planet%%%
Alice and Tina made their way back to their seats.
Dana: So Tina, where’s Lena? (she says with no pun intended, as Alice tries to contain some giggling but lets some seep out, Shane gives her a light kick under the table.)
Tina: Oh yeah, she couldn’t make it. Something like meetings with art moguls or something like that.
Shane: Aww, that’s too bad, we would have loved to have her.
Tina: Yeah, I’ll tell her that you guys missed her but I think I’m gonna go, I just got really light headed all of a sudden. I’ll see you guys later.
As Tina got up and walked out, everyone said their goodbyes.
Alice: Has anyone else noticed how sketchy Tina’s been acting lately?
Dana: Sketchy? How?
Alice: It just seems like she’s always running, and whenever she is, there’s always an excuse.
Dana: Oh yeah…but no I hadn’t noticed.
Shane: Yeah I know what you mean, it’s almost like we’re not the only ones that miss Bette.
Dana: But yeah guys, okay, but really come on, what Bette did was selfish and coniving, and not to mention, she totally did not practice what she preached.
Shane: Yeah that’s true Dane, but I mean with all of that said, she was, and I’m sure still is, an avid supporter of that still. I mean, who are we to judge her? There could be some underlying issues there that we don’t know about.
Alice: I just know that I want the two of them to put their differences aside and work on getting back together. I mean, to me, there is no Bette without Tina, or Tina without Bette. It’s like they’re soulmates, truly life partners, and it feels like it’s not meant to be any other way.
Dana: Yeah you’ve got a point there.
Shane: Yes, Amen.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
As Tina’s driving in her car, she doesn’t really know where she’s going. She’s just trying to find a quiet and alone place where she can face her thoughts that she had been avoiding for so long. She eventually winds up at an old vacant space that is for lease. Tina gets out of the car and goes up to the building as she thinks to herself…”So this is where it all began. ‘The Bette Porter Gallery’ used to be here. Was this a sign of what was to become of our relationship? Was it destined to eventually become non-existent and desolate? This is crazy, is Bette suffering as much as I am?”
For the first time in a long while, Tina had admitted to still being in love with Bette, that she was suffering without her around, despite all that she had been put through. Was Tina going to do something about it? Was she going to take steps to try and trust Bette again?