Do you remember when… Chapter 2

Tina glanced at the clock as she began stirring the sauce she was concocting, her mind formulating how long she would have left to prepare the rest of the meal, shower and change before Bette came home from work.

Her fingers held the bunched thyme as her hand and wrist flicked the knife as she deftly chopped the herb.  Scraping the blade sideways across the cold marble chopping board her palm caught the neatly hashed fragrant plant and she tossed it into the slow simmering sauce.

She absentmindedly wiped her hands on the back of her jeans, flicking her hair behind her ear as she walked to the refrigerator, picking out the fresh vegetables and tuna steaks, her thoughts passing over their hurried phone call earlier in the day spurring Tina into the quick decision of the how she had wanted to make sure Bette had a nice relaxing evening, following her hectic day at work.

The phone call came from Bette as she was gulping down a quick sandwich before an urgently arranged board meeting, receiving the tender words of concern from her love as Tina whispered her support for the stressed woman, the promises of a relaxing evening and time spent together, making it all better as the rushed words of endearment ended the call.

Bette felt the stresses immediately lifted from her as the quite words from her partner floated through her ear, she momentarily halted the pacing in her office as she heard the blonde woman whispering that everything would be okay, that there was nothing to worry about and above all, how much she loved her.

As the conversation once again played through Tina’s mind, she was unaware that the front door had opened, her busy thoughts finding many subjects to cover while preparing their meal.

As Bette opened the door, she moved to put her bag and jacket on the chair, dropping her car keys silently onto the plump cushion.  She turned slowly, seeing the busy blonde flitting from one worktop to another, the kitchen towel thrown over one shoulder as she aimlessly worked on the vegetables, completely engrossed in the task at hand and completely unaware that she was being intently studied.

Bette stood… watching, admiring, smiling, her heart swelling with love as she looked on at Tina’s dreamy, deliberate attention that she was paying the courgettes, the red and yellow capsicum, the celery and finally the red onion.  Bette watched as the stinging fragrance from the onion had its affect on its decapitating owner, she smiled as she saw the familiar wipe of the back of Tina’s hand across her eyes, the sound of the sniff as the watery eyes sneaked into her nasal cavities.

Bette slowly walked up behind Tina and slipped her hands around the slim waist, the gasp coming from the woman in front as she registered the intrusion.  Bette pulled her in tight; slowly rocking side to side as she nuzzled the blonde hair, kissing the base of Tina’s neck as she slowly melted into the unexpected embrace.

“You frightened the shit out of me Bette… I didn’t hear you come in!”

“Mmmm, I’m sorry baby; you seemed so engrossed in what you were doing…”

“How come you’re home from work this early, I wasn’t expecting you for at least another 45 minutes.”

Bette continued with the nuzzling, the small kisses being planted along the base of Tina’s neck, along the sensitive hair line and toward her ear, “Well… the meeting finished earlier than I expected and I just thought that I’d rather come home and kiss you than sit at my desk looking at notes I made during the meeting…”

Tina held Bette’s hands and pulled the arms around her tighter, leaning her head back, resting it on Bette’s shoulder as her partner continued paying attention to her fleshy lobe, kissing, whispering, sucking, “Mmmm… I’m glad you came home, that feels good babe.”

“D’ya know what I think we should do later T?”

“Uh… the way you’re going babe, I’m not sure I’ll be able to wait until later…”

“I’m sure we can manage that too, but I was actually thinking…!”

Tina interrupted, her breathy voice laced with humour, “you mean you didn’t come home to seduce me…?”

Bette chuckled into Tina’s ear, the warmth of her breath sending shivers down Tina’s spine, the evidence apparent as she gave a quick shake of her shoulders, the movement being met with another chuckle as Bette’s mind accepted the effect she was having on Tina.

“I was only going to say I think we should play the game tonight…”

“Which game would that be Bette?” Tina teased.

“I think you know which game…” Bette continued to nuzzle the creamy neck.

“Trivial Pursuit?”

“No…” Bette’s tongue became stronger against the skin, flicking the lobe as Tina continued the teasing, which she was matching in her own unique way.

“Monopoly?”

“No…”

“Pictionary?”

“No…”

“Naked Twister?”

Bette stopped.

Tina smiled.

“We haven’t played that in quite a while T, I like that idea…”

Tina laughed, knowing her suggestion had halted Bette’s train of thought, also knowing exactly which game she wanted to play.

“Which event did you want to remember babe?”

Bette smiled, “I think we should play naked twister…”

“We could ‘remember when’ we played naked twister for the first time, or we could carry on from where we left off last time!”

“So it’s between ‘naked twister’ or ‘our first date’?” Bette asked; her kisses momentarily halted as her mind processed the options.

“So…” Tina asked, turning in Bette’s arms to come face to face with her partner, “…what’s it to be babe?”   .

“Can we do both?” Bette asked hopefully.

Tina shook her head, her face smiling at Bette’s child like pleading, “one ‘remember when’ at a time…”

“Spoilsport!”

Tina wrapped her arms around Bette’s neck, pulling her in close, nudging her nose against Bette’s, followed by a delicate kiss on her lips, “what about we remember our first date… and maybe, if you’re good…” Tina smiled, kissing the tip of Bette’s nose, “… maybe we’ll get the twister mat out later…”

Bette caught Tina’s lips with her own, “I think I can cope with that…”

Their lips caressed one another’s, slowly, deliberately, time of no essence as they enjoyed the closeness of feeling their partner in their arms around one another.

Tina broke the leisurely kiss, “you wanna take a shower before dinner?”

Bette smiled, only one train of thought coursing through her mind, “only if you join me…”

Their eyes met, no words needed as their communication skills from the past seven years continued to be honed into one another’s intuitive look. 

They took the short silent walk to the bathroom, their eyes continued to be locked, the mischievous look reflecting back from Tina’s eyes.

As the shower head sprinkled the steaming hot water over the entwined bodies the stove continued to bubble, the temperature continued to rise, continued to build as the simmering liquid began reducing and reducing, until the flavoursome concoction began to sizzle, to dry, to slowly burn…

Bette had finished getting dressed in her most comfortable clothes, the promise of a relaxing evening easing away any stresses from her earlier day, the intense board meeting now forgotten, her mind floated past the dealings that would be waiting for her when she sat at her desk in the morning, her thoughts were suddenly interrupted as she heard Tina’s raised voice.

“Oh shit…, Jesus…fuck…”

Bette rushed toward the kitchen upon hearing the expletives, “T, are you okay?”

Bette turned the corner to find Tina holding a black saucepan, her wet blonde hair tucked behind her ears as she looked from the pan to Bette, back to the pan, a small smile creeping onto her face.

“I need to remember to turn the stove off in these situations!”

Bette laughed as Tina joined in, “T, we can buy a new pan, it’s not a problem.”

“Do you know how many pans I’ve tried to clean recently and had to throw them out?”

Bette raised her eyebrows, her killer melt smile penetrating Tina’s concern.

“Was it worth it?”

“What?” Tina asked quizzically.

“Was the reason the pan burnt, worth it?”

Tina smiled, her mind recalling their shower together only a short few minutes ago, her quiet voice answering the question, “absolutely…”

With a fresh pan, a fresh sauce duly made, they devoured their meal with a slow relaxed demeanour, taking their time to talk, to share and to enjoy.  With dishes cleared the evening awaited, the sofa awaited, their game awaited.

Tina relaxed as Bette poured the wine, bringing two glasses of their favourite Merlot, handing one to Tina and sitting herself beside her partner with Tina motioning for Bette to sidle up between her legs.

As Bette leaned back she felt the familiar feeling of her partner’s lips on her temple, sliding her eyes closed she allowed her body to melt into the perfectly fitting jigsaw of the two piece puzzle, which was Bette and Tina, Tina and Bette, or just plain Tibette.

“Mmmm…” came the lazy whimper.

Tina smiled, her mind taking in the sight before her, looking down at the woman lying against her, her feet outstretched, her hands linked on her stomach, and her eyes closed, she was sure that she hadn’t seen Bette quiet so relaxed in a long time, their weekend of pleasure and talking had done them, as a couple, more good than either realised, they’d had a close call, and though it was tough, they’d made it, the result of which was them being closer than they had also been in a long time, they now had an openness about them that they were both cherishing beyond all else.

Their thoughts of a family was still in the fore front of their minds, but the focus was on them spending quality time together, enjoying each other, their family would come in time, when it was ready to happen, it would happen.

“You okay Bette?” Tina quietly asked.

“Never better…”

“What are you thinking?”

“About our first date…”

“I think maybe I should have chosen a different date for our first…”

“T, it was perfect…” Bette looked around at Tina’s face, hearing the scoffing noise in response to her reply.

“God, I was so nervous, I can’t even believe I stood in the gallery that morning and asked you out to dinner.”

“T, if you’d hadn’t of asked me, I would have asked you, I already had your phone number remember!”

“Did you have any plans to do that when you came to collect your earring?”

“Well, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about you if that’s what you mean?”

Bette turned her body so she could look directly at Tina, “did you come to the gallery to ask me out?”

“I don’t know, it just kind of slipped out when you stood in front of me…” Tina smiled coyly, bending her neck forward to capture a kiss from the beaming woman in front of her.

“God, it was a long two days to wait until the date though!”

“Very long, I’m so glad you called me at the office though, your quick call to make sure I was okay turning into a two hour phone call, I hope you realise that I didn’t get any work done for two days…”

“Me neither T, I actually think James thought I was on some kind of drug…” Bette laughed remembering how concerned he was at her strange behaviour, “…he kept asking if I was alright, I kept walking around with this stupid great ‘fuck off’ grin on my face, and nothing or no one was going to dampen my mood…”

“Yeah but he did suss things out…”

“That’s only because I spent two days talking about a woman named Tina, the painting I bought for you and making the arrangements for it to be delivered, and then making sure that I had everything organised at the gallery so I could leave early on the Friday evening for our date!”

“You know he didn’t even ask who was calling when I rang you on the Friday morning; he just coolly said ‘Oh Hi Tina, I’ll just get Bette…’” Tina laughed remembering how James had helped her out on many occasions in their romancing days.

“It was so great that we talked on the phone so much before that date, but it still made it the longest two days in the history of the universe!”

“You looked gorgeous when you picked me up that night!”

“T, I was completely over dressed!”

“No you weren’t…”  Tina remembered how she her heart had began to beat faster than she had ever known as she felt her knuckles knocking on Bette’s front door, she braced herself, taking a deep breath, looking down at her Levi’s and the low cut, clinging tee shirt, her black boots peeping out from under the hem of the faded denim.

“T, when I opened the door I could of died, there you were standing in the most sexiest jeans known to man, with a cleavage that nearly had me fainting on the spot, and there was me…”

“Looking gorgeous…”

“Over dressed!”

“Bette, you weren’t overdressed!”

“Tina, you looked amazing, casual and so fucking sexy, and there was me, dressed as if I was going to some high class restaurant…”

“Bette, your face was a picture…”

“I didn’t know what to think; maybe we should have talked about where we were going!”

“That was my fault, I was so nervous and so excited that I didn’t even think to mention that maybe we should do something informal and relaxing…”

“I just made an assumption, that’s all, and I could have asked T, I just thought that instead of asking or saying anything, I would just go with the flow and try not to feel out of place, at wherever we were going!”

“Bette you looked gorgeous, you always look amazing in black, and those trousers were very fitted and I managed to notice how great your ass looked in them, and the black silk blouse…” Tina raised her eyebrows, remembering the view as her eyes made the journey toward the valley between her breasts, “…I like the view the blouse gave me!”

“You know T, for a straight girl, you sure managed to get a good look!” Bette laughed; knowing how she had lapped up the visual attention Tina had paid her that night.

“Bette, for a straight girl I was still able to appreciate the fine figure of a woman, and I was in the company of the finest specimen that has ever walked this earth!”

“Yes dear!” Bette said in her own unique sarcastic way.

Tina smacked Bette’s arm at her remark, “you know the straight girl comments don’t work on me anymore babe!”

“Okay, okay, so come on; tell me what made you think of choosing that as a first date for us?”

“You already know that Bette…!” Tina scoffed.

“T, this game was your idea! Your idea for us to talk about all the facts…” Bette raised her eyebrows at Tina, who had her own unique way of moving the goal posts, when it suited her.

Tina gave her sarcastic smile in response, “God Bette, I was so nervous, I asked you out and had no idea where we would go, I didn’t think that far ahead when the words left my mouth, and then when you said you would, I thought… fuck!”

Bette laughed, remembering the expression on Tina’s face when she had replied to her question, the combination of elation, a deer caught in the headlights of a car and such a confused look that Bette couldn’t, at the time, decipher.

“So what made you come up with the choice?”

“Well, it just seemed like a good idea at the time!”