"I’m fine, Kate.  I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure.  Take it easy TK," Kate had nearly made it out of the office before she turned around and sauntered back over to Tina’s desk.  She pulled a pen off of a file and wrote a number on blank sheet of paper,

"212?"

"This is the number for Jane Hoyt at Focus in New York.  The two of you are a lot alike and she has an eye for talent.  You should give her a call."

"Kate, I…"

"Look, Tina.  Aaron is a prick with his head up his ass half the time.  You are wasting your time here.  You should go to a studio that will value what you do.  I think it would be a good fit.  Tell her I gave you her number."

"Why would you do this for me?"

"Because you’ve stuck your neck out for me numerous times.  Because you fought for me to get Twisted Forrest.  And because you’re one fucking amazing woman, and if there’s someone out there that you love so much you’re a wreck without her, then you deserve to be where she is."

"Her name is Bette."  Tina held the number tightly in her fist.

"Bette.  Hmmm…I like it.  She better not break your heart.  Tina, just promise me one thing before you get outta this hell hole."

"What’s that?"

"Tell Aaron to get fucked" 

***

She was making good time.  The morning air was brisk, yet she could feel a drop of sweat trickle down her back.  Harder, she thought to herself as she picked up the pace.  Her body astounded her.  It had taken nearly a month to get back into a groove, but her tolerance and speed was building with each run.  I felt good to be out there again, the pain and soreness a nice distraction from the internal pain she felt on a daily basis.  She rounded the corner toward home and knew she had another mile or two to push even harder.  She could hear the thwack of her running shoes hitting the pavement in a comforting tempo.  If you had asked her a year ago, she would have told you that her running days were over, but a certain blonde had managed to light that fire again, and it had turned into a full on blaze.  She ran in the morning, after school, and sometimes in the evening when she couldn’t sleep.  The mornings were her favorite time to run, though, in the quiet stillness of the morning, the cool, dewy air was intoxicating.  She thought back to Tina’s email, sent by the blonde at 1:30 that morning.  They hadn’t had a chance to speak at all yesterday, Tina’s time was monopolized by one meeting after another and it seemed, as of late, that whenever Tina had a free moment, Bette was tied up in a class, or staff meeting; the time difference just added to the insanity.  Bette swung her arms low and hard by her side; she used the momentum to pull herself forward.  She could barely breathe and her chest ached, but it reminded her that she was alive.  It reminded her of that morning with Tina.  Tina.  She could repeat that name over and over and it wouldn’t be enough.  There were even times she used it as a mantra when she had to push through some of her more difficult runs.  Tina’s email had been rushed, full of apologies for her lack of calls.  Her job stress was out of control, which was clear from Tina’s ramblings.  But there was no doubt that Tina missed her.  How the hell are we supposed to make this work, Bette thought to herself.  She knew in her heart Tina was probably asking herself the same question.  The pain of them being apart seemed astronomical to Bette, and it had only been 3 weeks.  What about a month from now?  Would they even see each other in a month’s time?  Bette tried to push those thoughts away as she saw her house yards ahead of her.  She dug in her heels and pushed herself, nearly collapsing in her driveway at the feet of a very amused blonde.