“Why does that matter?”

“Because I drove by the house at 2:00 AM, and your car wasn’t there. Did you fuck all night before you told her I was the love of your life this morning?!”

In her fury Tina gets up from the table abruptly and flips it on its side sending all their food and drinks crashing to the floor. Bette jumped back just in time to keep the edge from landing on her foot. Tina brushed passed her and left the premises. All anyone could do including Bette was stand there, watching her go.

***

Bette was brought out of her reverie and found James still standing in her office staring at her. She dismissed him with a warning. “If she fucking calls here again tell her to fucking stop calling. I don’t even want to hear her name spoken or it’s your ass, do you understand me?”

James crumpled the messages and threw them in the trash on his way out of Bette’s office. He didn’t appreciate being talked down to but when Bette got on one of her tirades it was best to just stay out of her way. He set the phone feature on the switchboard line and Bette’s direct line that allowed blocking any incoming calls from unsolicited numbers. He punched in the call blocker for Candace’s home, cell and work numbers all of which she’d left for Bette to call her back. Hopefully that would keep Candace’s calls from getting through so he wouldn’t need to suffer any more of his boss’ wrath.

***

After leaving the Planet that morning Tina arrived for her appointment with her OBGYN Dr. Wilson. As incongruous as it seemed she really wished that Bette was with her. As a matter of fact she’d gone to the house at 2:00 that morning after driving around half the night because she wanted to talk to Bette about what she’d done. As she undressed for the exam she spoke to Dr. Wilson who was standing on the other side of the privacy drape.

“I can’t believe this is happening. When we did this I thought I had a certain amount of security. Whether it worked or not I thought Bette and I were solid.”