Ch. 3 – Thoughts of You

As usual, Bette’s day was chaotic. Her gallery was having its first show in two weeks and there was still so much that had
to be done. However, today was even more hectic as she found it very difficult to think of anything other than her encounter
with Tina Kennard just a few hours earlier. She couldn’t believe how their brief meeting could occupy her thoughts so much. There was something about this woman that had Bette’s mind reeling and hoping that she was able to run into her again soon. Looking at the clock on her office wall she realized she only had a few hours left before it was time to leave. Clearing her mind the best she could she sat down and tried to focus on her work.

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Meanwhile, Tina was also having difficulty. As she tried to read through the scripts in front of her, she found her mind constantly wondering as she pictured Bette’s gorgeous face. She had been attracted to women before, but none of them had this kind of effect on her. Tina didn’t know what it was, but she desperately hoped she would be given the opportunity to find out.

Hearing a knock on her office door she was pulled out of her thoughts as her assistant, Sandy, poked her head in. “Hey, Tina.”

“Hey, Sandy.” Tina replied.

“Umm.. I know you’re new here and probably haven’t been out much so, some of the girls and I were wondering if you’d like to join us tonight.” Sandy stated somewhat nervously.

“Where are you going?” Tina asked.

Moving further into the office Sandy said, “Well, there’s this really great club called Milk not too far from here. We
usually go there every Friday night. You’re more than welcome to come with us if you’d like.”

As Tina heard the word Milk, she remembered hearing Bette’s conversation with her friends earlier that morning, and something
about going to Milk later that evening. Tina smiled and saw this as the perfect opportunity to perhaps get to know Bette
Porter. Looking up at her assistant she replied, “I’d love to join you, Sandy. Just let me finish up here and then I’ll come get directions from you.”

Sandy, pleased with Tina’s acceptance simply nodded and said, “That’s great, Tina. I think you’ll really like it.”

“Ya know, Sandy, I think you’re right.”

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At 9:30 on the dot, Bette smiled at her friends as she walked up to their table. The music was thumping and Bette was already
starting to move her body to the beat. After the busy day she had this was exactly what she needed. As she approached the table, she saw Shane get up and move in her direction.

“Hey, Bette. I was just heading to the bar. Can I bring anything back for you?” Shane asked.

“Yeah, Shane. Just bring me whatever you’re having.” Bette replied.

Shane smiled. “You got it.”

“Hey, guys.” said Bette as she turned to face Alice and Dana who had remained at the table.

“Hey, Porter.” said Alice.

“Hey.” Dana said with a little wave.

Bette noticed Alice scanning the crowd and inwardly chuckled at her best friend. “See anyone interesting, Al?” she asked.

“Same ‘ol, same ‘ol. I really wish we’d get some new faces in here, ya know?”

“Yeah, I hear ya.”

“Speaking of new faces,” Alice started, “What was up with you and that blonde this morning at The Planet?”

Bette just looked at her friend. “What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean?!” Alice exclaimed. “Were you not present this morning? We all witnessed your stare fest at the door. So what was up with that?”

Bette sighed and said, “I really don’t know, Alice. I just couldn’t take my eyes off of her.” Bette got a far away look in her eyes and a goofy grin on her face as she thought of Tina once again.

Not one to miss a thing, Alice caught the look in Bette’s eyes and was dumbfounded. “Ok, who are you and what have you done with Bette Porter?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Al.”

“Yeah, right. You look like a three year old that just received their first puppy. Except you’re 27 and the puppy is a hot blonde.”

At that moment, Shane came back and handed Bette her drink.

“Thanks, Shane.”

“No problem.”

Looking back at Alice, Bette replied to her statement. “Look, Al, Tina is a beautiful woman. Even you can see that. So what more do you want me to say?”

“Oh, so she has a name.” Alice said.

As Bette was about to reply her eyes were drawn to the entrance as she heard the laughter of a group of girls. As she focused
on the group that had just walked in her mouth fell open as the very person that had occupied her thoughts the entire day,
and was presently the topic of conversation, had just walked through the door. Alice, noticing Bette’s lack of a comeback followed Bette’s line of vision and mischieviously grinned.

“Well, well, well.” she said to herself. “This is definitely going to be interesting.”