Do you remember when... Chapter 6

Bette stirred the bubbling concoction, the fragrant spices filling the steamy air in the kitchen. 

A smile spread across her face as she heard the low hum of an engine in the driveway, she glanced at the clock, noticing how Tina arrived home at the time she had promised, Bette had, unbeknown to Tina, arranged to leave work early and had come home to cook dinner for them seeing as Tina had been coerced into shopping with Alice. 

The front door creaked open, she pretended to stay busy in the kitchen, knowing that the last place that Tina would look for her would be the slaving over the cooker.

Tina dropped her bags and keys on the chair, she raised her finger to Alice, commanding her to be quiet, Tina’s nostrils instantly becoming aroused as the smell of her favourite meal wafted throughout the house, she followed the aroma, the knowing smile getting bigger the closer she got to the kitchen.

Bette heard the heels on the wooden floor getting closer, she felt the familiar quickening pace in her chest, the same feeling that always washed over her when one of them came home from work, when they had spoken during the day, whispered the endearments into one another’s ear, sharing the fact that regardless that they had seen one another mere hours ago, neither could wait until the evening when they would once again be in each others company, in each others arms.

Tina turned the corner with a look of surprise on her face at seeing Bette having their dinner completely organised, she stepped behind Bette as she was stirring the sauce, her arms slid around her waist as Bette leaned her head back, a tender kiss being shared.

“Hey baby… this is a nice surprise...”

“Hey T…”

“It smells real good babe…”

“I just thought you might appreciate your favourite after having spent the day with Alice…”

“Oi, I heard that Porter…” Alice poked her head around the corner, seeing the Tibette loving in mid flow, “do you guys have to do that all the time?”

“Hello Alice, and do what all the time?” Bette gave her exasperated reply, thinking and hoping she was going to have Tina to herself for the evening.

“You two, being all kissy all the time, look at you…” Alice screwed her face up at the display.

“Al, we’re in our own home and we can, and will, do whatever we want, and if you just admit it to yourself, you’re just jealous!”

“Of you Porter, I don’t think so…”

“Guys, stop… be nice…” Tina pleads, looking from Alice, to Bette and back again, her eyes speaking to Alice in silent messages not to wind Bette up, her eyes speaking to Bette in silent messages not to rise to Alice. She rolled her eyes, feeling like the referee in a child’s playground.

“T, you know I love her really…”

“Yeah yeah Porter,” Alice retorts to Bette with a wink and a smirk.

“What sort of curry are you making babe?”

“The one that you always tell me melts in your mouth…”

“Mmmm monkfish…”

“I missed you today…”

“Ahem… I’m still here…” Alice smirked.

“Then make yourself useful and lay the table, I presume you are here to scrounge food?” Bette threw back in a sarcastic quip.

“Actually, Tina invited me in for dinner, she didn’t know you were cooking Porter, and anyway… the curry actually smells good,” Alice blew a kiss back at Bette, which was met with a smirk and a nod of the head toward the dining room.

Tina raised her eyebrows to Alice before nuzzling Bette’s neck as she pulled her arms around her waist tighter, “okay, now she’s gone for a couple of minutes, I missed you too babe, and I bought you a present today…”

Bette turned her head slightly, managing to kiss the tip of Tina’s nose, “I like presents…”

Tina loved seeing this side of Bette that no one else got to see, the childlike glee and excitement of being bought a present, “you wanna know what I got you?”

“Uhuh…” Bette turned in Tina’s arms, her hands meandering around to cup the perfect bottom, in the perfect jeans on her perfect partner.

Tina laughed, “Not telling…”

“You are such a tease…”

“Me….?”

Bette began placing kisses across Tina’s face, along her jaw, down to her neck, “Yeah you, but… I’ll forgive you…”

“And why do you forgive me?”

“Because you have such an amazing ass, that’s why…” Bette squeezed the cheeks in her hand

“Bette?”

“Yes baby?”

“I love you…!”

Bette smiled, she liked to hear impromptu endearment, the words that Tina spoke so randomly at times, and yet other times, all they had to do was look into one another’s eyes.

“I love you too honey,” Bette leaned forward to capture Tina’s lips in leisurely kiss, her body taking part in the kiss while her mind was conscious of the bubbling saucepan to her side.

“Do I have time for a quick shower?” Tina queried as Bette turned to once stir the sauce and check on the wild rice.

“Not really babe, I only have to pop the fish in this sauce and its ready, anyway, I have an evening of relaxation planned in the bathroom…”

Tina raised her eyebrows, wondering what Bette had in mind, considering the sparkle in her eye, “then maybe I can give you your present after…”

“I’ll look forward to it T.”

“Still here…” came the faint voice from the dining room.

Tina rolled her eyes at the surround sound, but smiled in response to Bette’s eagerness over her present, she wondered what reaction she would get when Bette realised that she had bought her a candy thong that she had every intention of eating while insitu.

With the table laid and the meal served they settled in an idle chatter, covering the obscure day that Tina and Alice had spent together, Bette rolled her eyes as Tina recited how Alice had asked to try out the various implements and accessories as she had dragged Tina into the ‘Bean Box’ lesbian sex shop.

“You know Bette, this woman of yours got kinda excited in the Bean Box, you should’ve seen the basket of goodies she took to the counter!”

“Al, you are such a liar…” Tina said in mock horror.

Bette looked from Alice to Tina, Tina to Alice, watching the shared looks, knowing there was something behind the banter.

“Okay, T, what did you buy?” Bette asked with raised eyebrows, knowing these shops were not something Tina frequented.

“Chocolate nipples and a present!”

Bette burst out laughing at the coy answer, giving Tina a wink, reaching under the table, squeezing her knee.

“What about you Al?”

“Oh not much…”

Both Bette and Tina looked at her, forks poised in the air, their chewing halted.

“Well, I only spent a little bit…”

“How much?”

“too dred five.”

“Didn’t quite understand that Al!”

“Oh, does it matter… two hundred and fifty!”

“You spent two hundred and fifty dollars in the ‘Bean Box’?”

“This meal is amazing Bette, you really are the curry master in this house…!”

“That was a swift change of subject Al, but thanks…”

“Do you remember the first curry I made you T?”

Tina raised one eyebrow, giving Bette ‘the look’, which in turn caused Bette to burst out laughing.

“Is that a yes, T?”

“You know what it is Porter…”

“I think there is more to this than meets the eye, spill Kennard!”

“Nothing to spill…” Tina gives Bette a glare, daring her to go any further.

“You are so lying!” Alice became excited, knowing she was about to find a secret of Tina’s.

“Nothing to tell, Bette made a curry when we had been going out for a while, that’s it.”

“That is so not it!” Alice was becoming more intrigued by the minute.

Tina looked to Bette, her eyes giving Bette a silent warning of ‘don’t even think about it’.

Bette raised her eyebrows, the smirk on her face confirming that Tina was just blatantly lying, and she knew damn well that Tina was currently squirming under the curiosity of Alice’s gaze.

Alice watched the silent communication in fascination, knowing there was a story to tell. 

Tina poised her fork in mid air, her silent threat to Bette.

“Bring it on baby!” Bette teased.

“You dare Porter or you get curry on the expensive suit…”

“Bette, its fine, I’ll pay for the dry cleaning…” Alice piped in.

Bette smirked as she looked from Alice to Tina.

Tina looked more defeated as the moments went on, she tried another avenue, “no orgasms for a month, Porter!”

Bette laughed as she looked at Alice, Alice reached for her bag from the ‘Bean Box’, waving it in the air excitedly, “we got that covered too!”

Bette and Alice both laughed at Tina’s exasperated expression, she flopped back in her chair, looking to the ceiling as she knew that she would have to sit and go through Bette’s recital of the first curry.

“You ready for this Al?”

“Oh yeah, bring it on, I just love hearing things about the super sweet Tina Kennard.”

“Al, I’ll have you know that my dear girlfriend here, is far from super sweet!”  Bette winked at Alice as she uttered the words, hearing the gasp from Tina, realising that she wasn’t sure whether she would be feeling annoyed or just embarrassed.

Bette had planned an evening of a home cooked meal and a relaxing Friday evening when she had talked to Tina mid week, hearing how her new girlfriend had been having a trying week at work.

They had been going out together for a couple of months and they were completely smitten with one another, spending every Friday, Saturday and Sunday together, with the odd weeks days thrown in too, the feelings that were beginning to become apparent that it was never enough, and the time they were apart was spent talking on the phone or sending one another text messages.

The time they had spent from a Friday had become the routine of Tina finishing work and coming straight to Bette’s for an evening of relaxation, making love, and learning new things about each other’s life. 

One Wednesday evening Tina had called after one of the worst days at work she could remember, just the thoughts of hearing Bette’s voice had motivated her to leave the office and go home, sit with a glass of wine and the phone in her hand, the instant her ear had heard Bette’s voice her day had all but been forgotten.

Bette had picked up on the fraught mood that Tina was in as soon as they began to talk, as the conversation had continued Bette had managed to withdraw all the stresses from Tina’s mind, having quizzed her and questioned her in order to allow Tina to unload the things that were occupying her mind.

“How do you always manage to do that?” Tina had asked when she suddenly realised she now felt more relaxed just by talking to Bette than she had all week.

“Do what baby?” Bette had whispered back into the phone.

“I can be stressed up to the eyeballs and all you do is talk to me in that sexy voice of yours and you just get me to spill it all out and suddenly it never seems to be as important as I thought it was.”

“Honey, it’s what I’m here for, if you can’t tell me what’s on your mind what use am I to you?”

“I think you are far more use to me than that Bette?”

“And what use would that be T…” Bette whispered as she had lain in bed talking to her gorgeous blonde girlfriend.

“Bette, I can’t remember what my life was like without you in it…”

Bette was taken aback by the tender words, her mind not formulating a reply for a moment as she tried to remember what her life had consisted of just a mere eight weeks ago.

“Are you still there Bette?”

“Yeah, I am babe, I was just trying to remember what my life was like pre TK, and the only thing that comes to mind, is that it was pretty empty.”

Both beings became quiet as the realisation of the words they had both just uttered sank in, all Bette wanted at that very moment was to have Tina in her arms.

“T…?”

“Yeah…?” Tina spoke quietly, her heart momentarily stopping as she waited for what Bette was about to say.

“I really, really love you…”

Tina gave a small smile, her heart beginning to beat faster than it did moments prior, “I really love you too.”