Bette sat there stunned, as she unconsciously dug her nails into the soft material that covered the sides of her seat. She was in a state of disbelief and somehow she thought that feeling the chair’s fabric through her fingers would suddenly bring her back to reality, ‘Did she just say dinner?’, she checked with herself, thinking that perhaps she had heard wrong. In a cruel world where a single, rushed yes or a well-thought of, complicated no can change the rest of your life, Bette wasn’t quite sure how to respond… yet again her mind was failing to find just the right words for her, and although she took extra care not to let Tina see beyond her confident facade, it still didn’t make things any easier on her behalf. Thankfully it didn’t take her very long to realize that this wasn’t rocket science; but rather this was the opportunity of a lifetime… ‘Say yes you idiot!’ she urged herself, thinking it considerably rude to leave Tina there hanging, waiting for such an obvious answer.

“I’d love to.” Bette responded, eagerness visibly showing through her voice.

Tina felt the tense knots in her stomach loosen up and slowly untangle, “Great… Should we take my car or would you””

“We’ll take my car.”

Tina smiled at Bette’s interjection, “I was going to suggest we take a walk, but hey your way seems fine too…”

Bette had a satisfied grin on her face, she was going out with Tina Kennard and she was ***** bent on making sure that Tina enjoyed every minute of it. Bette stood up and straightened out the creases of her blouse. She watched as Tina gracefully got off the desk and walk towards her… There was a certain easiness in the way she carried herself. Her movements were fluid and effortless, like the way a silk scarf glides through a gentle summer breeze.

“Should we go?” Tina asked as she made her way past Bette.

“Okay. Let’s go…”said Bette, breathing in the faintest trace of Tina’s perfume, letting the scent overwhelm her senses. ‘Snap out of it!’ she ordered herself as she grabbed her bag and met Tina by the door.

Tina held the door open for her… their eyes connected for a few seconds until Bette smiled and briskly made her way forward so that Tina could properly close the door behind them. Tina watched as the lithe brunette took a couple of strides away from her before turning back with a smile and asking:

“Are you coming?”

“Yeah, just a minute…”

Tina leaned into the door as she took one last look at her cramped and disheveled work place, thinking of the whirlwind day she just had. She turned off the lights and closed the door, taking a deep breath before facing Bette.

‘How can you be thinking of Tina and completely forget that she’s there? God”‘ Bette thought, mentally nagging herself for such thoughtless behavior, recalling that she did the same thing when Tina showed up at her gallery the other night. ‘How can she think she’s special if you keep leaving her behind?’ she demanded, her expression noticably softened when she saw Tina looking at her.

Bette tucked away a few strands of hair behind her ear and came closer to Tina, “Ready?”

“Uh huh.” Tina nodded.
___________________________________

The deep colors of dusk have long since faded, and the night sky was quickly enveloped by a deep, mysterious shade of cobalt blue, with soft traces of silver emanating from the moon and stars. Both women walked side by side as they reached the parking lot, with Bette making sure that this time she didn’t absent-mindedly let Tina trail too far behind her, ‘Keep it together, Porter…’ Bette silently chanted to herself, finally understanding that the root of her problem was stemming out of her own uneasiness. Bette stopped when she found her car, its black paint looking like slick oil under the pale moonlight.

“So where to?” Bette asked while fastening her seatbelt.

“There’s this place a few blocks from here that serves the best Asian food…”

“I’m up for it…”

“Great, Asian it is.” Tina beamed as she buckled up just in time to hear Bette start the car.
___________________________________

Bette heard soft bells chime from above her head as she opened the restaurant doors. It was a few minutes past 7 when they arrived and by the time they got there the place was almost to the point of being packed. But despite the busily bustling surroundings, the restaurant still managed to maintain a cozy ambiance. The sweet smell of food was lingering in the air and Bette couldn’t help but think that her stomach was screaming for even just the tiniest bite of the mouth-watering dishes that the restaurant had to offer. She turned towards Tina:

“Tina this place is” “

“Tina?” Bette wondered out loud, realizing that Tina was nowhere to be found.

“Bette… Over here.” Tina called out from the other side of the room, waving a hand to indicate that she had found them a table.

Bette whipped her head towards the direction of Tina’s voice and slowly made her way towards the table. She sat down in front of Tina, before finally deciding on starting some sort of light conversation with her.

“Tina this place is amazing!”

“Yeah I know, I discovered it when I first came over from San Francisco.” Tina said from behind her menu.

“Oh, so you’re from San Francisco?”

“Born and raised… What about you?”

“I came from Philly actually…” Bette smiled as she picked up the menu in front of her and proceeded to thumb through it. But just before they could get any further into the conversation one of the waiters arrived.

“So are the dumplings here any good?” Bette cautiously asked Tina.

“Everything’s good here.” Tina assured her.

“Okay, I’ll have the assorted dumplings then… and some Canton noodles.” Bette politely said to the waiter.

“And I’ll have the curry rice and…” Tina paused and scanned the menu “…the sweet and sour chicken.”

The waiter took both of their menus and quickly disappeared into the kitchen.

“So how did you end up in L.A.?” Bette inquired.

“I had a couple of job offers right after college, one in New York, and one here.” Tina began moving the candle votive that was in the middle of the table, swirling it around, letting the candle’s light delicately illuminate Bette’s beautiful skin.

“And?”

“And.. I don’t know… There was something about Los Angeles I guess.” Tina said, not wanting to tell Bette that it was Eric who made her move there from the very beginning. ‘Save it for some other time Tina…’ she quietly advised herself.

“How about you? Why L.A.?” Tina asked hoping to steer herself away from hot water.

“I’m not sure really, I think it was because I knew there were tons of talented artists here, and most of that talent was untapped… and uhm… my sister Kit, lives here.”

“Kit? Kit Porter?”

“Yup.”

“Wow, I love her music…”

“Well when I get the chance, I’ll introduce the two of you.”

“I’d like that.”

The food arrived just in time to fill in the odd void of silence that followed. Steaming plates of oriental delicacies were set down in front of them, begging to be picked apart… just waiting to be eaten.
_________________________________

The night stretched on as both Bette and Tina immersed themselves in a series of conversations in between meals. By now they were at the last leg of their dinner, totally absorbed in the kind of talk that both of women couldn’t help but find intriguing, yet somehow they had no idea as to how they got the ball rolling in the first place. Bette was in the middle of telling Tina an old story of hers when each of them were served with sweets.

“You did what?” Tina asked, as she sampled some of Bette’s kiwi mango dessert. Thoroughly amused at Bette’s latest confession.

“I swear to god! There were three of us and I was the only one who wasn’t flagged down.”

Tina started to giggle, but unintentionally cut herself off when she felt Bette’s hand on top of hers.

“I really enjoyed tonight Tina.” Bette said, grazing her thumb over Tina’s soft skin.

“I know Bette… I did too.” Tina replied, leaning in a little towards Bette, watching as their fingers smoothly intertwined.

‘Oh god it feels like we’ve been together for ages…’ Bette thought, there were so many things she wanted to tell Tina right then and there, ‘Stay with me Tina’… ‘Be my girlfriend’… ‘I’ll do anything for you’ … but she knew she couldn’t find a way of telling Tina all these things without pushing the envelope too far. Consequently Bette’s eyes moved away from the blushing blonde and shifted her gaze upon the clock which rested above the wall in front of her, ’10:05? We better go…’

“Uhm Tina?” Bette hesitantly began.

“Yes?”

“Do you wanna get out of here? I mean it’s getting late… and…”

Tina was a little disappointed at Bette’s request. She thought Bette was enjoying the time they were spending together, like the way she did. But as Tina looked at the clock she realized the reason for Bette’s concern, ‘We’ve been talking here for three hours straight?’

I wonder what happens next? Oh well… TBC…