Tina: (loving Bette calling her ‘Baby’ and ‘T’) “Sure” (answering the phone) “Hello?”



Caller: “Jesus! I almost filed a Missing Persons report with the LAPD! Where the ***** have you been?”



Tina: (glancing nervously at Bette) “UhI’m sorry I am”



Caller: “In deep ***** and should be sorry! You still owe me some beans!”



Bette: (looking puzzled) “T, who is it?”



Tina: (handing phone to Bette) “It’s uh” (Tina has a confused expression, holding phone to Bette) “someone looking forbeans?”



Bette: (releasing her hold on Tina’s hand to grasp the phone, sighing) “Hello, Al.”



Alice: “Bette? Whom the ***** was I just talking to?”



Bette: (smiling
at Tina) “The person you spoke to? Yeah, that would be someone in need
of therapy judging by the fearful look on her face. I see you are
charming, as always.”



Alice: “Hey, I am charmingso much so, I once charmed your pants off, Porter!”



Bette: (rolling her eyes) “I just had breakfastdon’t make me ill in my precious car, Al.”



Alice:
(huffing) “Yeah, whatever. Well, despite your horrendous sweet-talking
this morningthe girls and I miss you. We just wanted to get togetherI
mean, if you care to grace us with your presence, oh royal Princess
Porter.”



Bette: (laughing) “I’d like that”



Alice: “So, we’ll meet up tonight?”



Bette: (teasing) “Oh.actually, I meant referring to me as Princess Porter.”



Alice: (yelling) “Smart *****!”



Bette: “That would be a Yale grad gifted ***** of royalty, Al.”



Alice: “Argh! You’re impossible! I’ll call you later to set up plans.”



Bette:
“Okaytalk to you later.” (turning to Tina once she pushed the button
to hang up the phone) “So baby, how would you feel about meeting my
friends tonight?”



Tina: (unsure what to say) “Are theyuhall like the one that just called?”



Bette:
(laughing and squeezing Tina’s hand to reassure her) “No. Alice is just
a little crazy sometimes but once you get to know her, you will love
her.”



Tina: (sighing in relief) “Okay. Have you known her long?”



Bette:
(hesitating for a moment to talk about her relationship with Alice but
deciding that honesty is the best policy) “Alice and I have been
friends for a long time. We actually were a couple for a while but we
decided that” (laughing) “we were just a homicide waiting to happen.
We’re much better off as just friends.”



Tina: “Was that hard?”



Bette: “Not at all.”



Tina: “Soyou really want me to meet your friends?”



Bette: (smiling) “TI want you to be part of my life and that means meeting my friends.”



Tina: (smiling) “Okayif that is what you want.”



Bette: “I only want it if it is what you want, baby.”



Tina: (smiling) “I think I’d like to meet your friends.”



Bette: “So when I talk to Alice later, can I tell her we will meet them at 7:00 p.m.?”



Tina: “I think 7:00 p.m. is fine but I will have to meet up with you.”



Bette looked over at Tina with a puzzled look on her face.



Tina: (softly
laughing at Bette’s puzzled look) “I had intended on going in to work
this morning to check on one my projects but somehow I gotdistracted
and spent the night away from home.”



Bette: (laughing and pretending to be remorseful) “I am so sorry.”



Tina: (smiling) “I bet you are, Ms. Porter.”



By the time
that Bette pulled into the parking lot of Tina’s apartment complex,
they had worked out the logistics of meeting up that evening. They had
agreed to meet up with the gang and spend an hour or so with them,
before spending the rest of the evening alone together.



After Bette
parked the car and turned off the ignition, they both just sat there
for a moment in the car. Both women hated for their date to end and
enjoyed the last remaining moment together, before reluctantly opening
their car doors and getting out.



Bette: (walking along beside Tina) “So I will call you and tell you where we are meeting, once I talk to Alice.”



Tina: (as they
arrived at her apartment and she began to unlock the door) “Okay. Just
make sure and let me know early enough that I know whether I need to
dress casual or get dressed up.” (then teasing) “After all I don’t want
to commit a fashion faux pas the first time I meet your friends.”



Bette: (softly laughing) “I don’t think there is any danger of that, besides like I told you before you look ***** in anything.”



Tina: (blushing slightly and softly laughing) “Are you trying to charm me again?”



Bette: (smiling) “Not at all, just stating the facts.”



Tina: (pushing the door open) “Bettedo you want to come in for a minute?”



Bette: “Yes but only for a minute. I have something I need to tell you.”



Tina: (a little puzzled as they made their way inside and shut the door) “What do you”



Tina didn’t get
to finish her sentence as she found Bette’s lips on hers and she felt
herself being pulled into Bette’s arms. Tina smiled as she began to
kiss Bette and relaxed into her arms. What started out as one kiss
turned into a series of kissesconsisting of a mixture of soft gentle
kissesslow long lingering kissesmouth devouring passionate kisses. By
the time they broke the last kiss, they were both a little out of
breath. Bette was reluctant to break contact with Tina so she laid her
forehead against Tina’s as she tried to catch her breath.



Tina: (breathing a little heavily) “How do you manage to do that?”



Bette: (breathily) “What?”



Tina: “Manage to take my breath away.”



Bette: (smiling) “Baby, it isn’t me. It is us being together.”



Tina: (smiling) ‘Well whatever it is, I think I could get used to this.”



Bette: (smiling broadly, as her heart swelled after hearing Tina’s words) “Goodno better than that, great!”



Tina: (gently
kissing Bette for a long moment before pulling back) “Thank you for
last night and this morning. I really, really enjoyed our time
together.”



Bette: (running
her hand down Tina’s cheek and then letting her thumb linger near
Tina’s mouth) “I did too and I look forward to tonight.” (now rubbing
her thumb across Tina’s lower lip and pulling at it slightly as she
softly spoke) “I need to get out of here so you can go and get ready to
go to work but I find myself not wanting to leave.”



Tina: “BetteI”



Bette: (interrupting Tina, as she leaned in to replace her thumb with her mouth) “One more kiss and I promise I will go.”



The kiss that Bette gave Tina was a slow lingering kiss that was filled with the promise that they would share many more.



Bette: (slowly pulling back from Tina) “Bye, baby. I will call you when I find out where we are meeting.”



Tina: (smiling) “Bye. I’ll be waiting on your call.”



Bette turned
and walked out the door. After she pulled the door shut behind her, she
leaned back for one second and stood there thinking ‘I am totally in
love with that woman and I can’t wait until she is ready to hear those
words from me.’


By the time
that 6:30 rolled around, Bette was on her way to meet Alice, Dana and
Shane at a club called Milk. She had phoned Tina earlier to give her
the name of the club and to provide her with directions.



Bette had not
mentioned anything yet to the gang about Tina. She had arranged to meet
them at 6:45 so she could explain before Tina arrived. Alice, Dana and
Shane were already there by the time that Bette arrived and found them
at their table.



Bette: (smiling) “Hi, everyone.”



Alice: (looking up at Bette) “Is that botox smile permanently in place now?”



Bette: (just shrugging before laughing) “Wouldn’t you like to know?”



Alice: “I told you I was with the BBC”



Dana and Shane: (in unison, with puzzled expressions) “British Broadcasting Company?”



Alice and Bette: (in unison, laughing) “Bi-sexual Bean Collectors!”



Alice:
(reaching over and gently grabbing Bette’s chin and turning her head
towards her) “Spill, Porter before I decide to use torture on you.”



Shane and Dana
had been watching the interaction between their two friends and
wondered for a moment if they should step in but both opted to just
watch the show.



Bette: (laughing and pulling her chin out of Alice’s hand) “Ooooh..should I be afraid of big bad Al?”



Shane and Dana laughed at Bette’s words. Alice turned around and flipped them off, before turning her attention back to Bette.



Alice: (pretending to sigh heavily) “Don’t make me hurt you, Porter. I am giving you one last chance!”



Bette:
(checking her watch and seeing it is almost 7:00 p.m. relents) “Okay, I
will spill but not because you threatened me with torture. I am
spilling because there is someone I want you guys to meet and she
should be here in about 5 minutes or so.”





Alice: (rubbing
her hands together and smiling broadly) “I knew there had to be a woman
involved for you to have that botox smile. Is she the one that answered
your phone this morning?”



Bette: (just
shaking her head and laughing) “Yes. Al, will you please try to be on
your best behavior? I don’t want her thinking I hang out with a bunch
of lunatics!”



Shane and Dana once again laughed.



Alice: (pretending to be shocked) “Moi? A lunatic? Never!!”



Dana: “Yeah right, Al.”



Shane: (looking around the club, sighing) “This is depressing, isn’t it?”



Bette: “What is?”



Shane: “Same womenno fresh blood.”



Alice: “Truebut to clarifyyou mean, no fresh blood that you haven’t already sucked onVampire Stud!”



Shane: (throwing a wadded paper napkin at Alice) “Grow up!”



Tina made her way into the club and was standing near the front entrance waiting for Bette.



Dana: (noticing a blonde walking through the door) “That’s the kind of fresh blood you want?”



Alice: (taking a look, sitting up) “That’s what I’m talking about!”



Shane: (eyeing the blonde) “That’s a fresh of breath air!”



Bette: “That’s
Tina!” (getting up from the table when she saw Tina and walking away)
“Best behavior or I am going to kick your *****, Al!”



Alice: (nodding yes to Bette, turns to Dana and Shane) “Why doesn’t she ever threaten to kick your asses?”



Dana: (giggling) “Must be a thing against dirty bi-sexual bean collectors!”



Shane: (laughing) “Yeah, contact affirmative action about that one, Al!”



Alice: (sinking into her seat and throwing the two the bird) “Shuddap you twos!”