“She is very nice.  Very pretty, I could see you guys together.”

“Oh is that so?”

“Yea mom, I think you guys would be a very pretty couple. She continued apprehensively… Mom….what happened with you guys?”

“Lizzy, do you remember what Bette told Chrissy last night?  There are some things we need to discuss, and that is one of them.  I don’t think it would be beneficial to any of us to bring up that subject.”

“But mom, it seems like you two are getting along so well.  I mean, it couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Sweetie, it’s not bad anymore.  Please, just let it go.  There are more important things to think about…like going to brunch.  Come on, we have to get up and get ready.  Bette and Chrissy will be here in an hour or so.” 

Tina and Lizzy quickly got out of bed and made quick work of getting ready for the occasion.  Both were nervous although they were trying their hardest to hide their anxiety.  Both took time selecting the perfect outfit for the occasion. 

Not wanting to look like she was uncomfortable and also wanting to give Ms. Porter a visual treat, Tina chose a simple outfit.  Her dirty wash jeans which hugged her legs in all the right places and a white polo shirt, keeping the buttons open which gave onlookers a nice hint of her cleavage, inviting the viewer, enticing those who were brave enough to beg  for more. 

Within no time at all, Tina could hear the doorbell ringing from her bedroom.  With one last look in the mirror, she made her way to the front door to find Lizzy opening it up not only to Bette, but to Chrissy as well...

“Heya sis…God, I love saying that…”

Lizzy smirked… “Yea me too!”

“Come on, let’s go get into the car.  Today is going to be awesome.”

As this interaction took place, Bette and Tina stood in silence staring at one another.  As the girls made their way to the car, Bette broke the silence…

“You look…fantastic.”

“Why thank you Ms. Porter.  You’re looking pretty good yourself.”

“Yea, well, anything to get out of those damn suits.”

“Ok see, that is so not the Bette Porter I used to know.”

Bette grinned, “Told you I have changed….”When Bette awoke, she could feel the effects of her tossing and turning and the memory of her nightmare plagued her thoughts as she went through her morning routine of getting ready for the day.  As she stood in the shower allowing the warm droplets of water rain over her face, she contemplated her situation with Tina.  She was sure that she still had feelings for Tina.  Hell, she had always had feelings for Tina.  That is probably why she could never make anything happen with anyone else.  Regardless of the words of forgiveness and sorrow which had been exchanged the night before, Bette couldn’t help but think that seeing Tina again, having her so close, and having her happy and beautiful was a treat that Bette didn’t feel worthy of.  Throughout her morning ritual, she was filled with self-loathing.  She resigned herself to believe that whatever she had with Tina was over long ago.  When the time came, she pasted on her unusually convincing happy face and headed to Tina’s house. 

“I still can’t believe that you are here…that all of this stuff has happened.”  Seeing Tina smile melted away the walls Bette had so easily constructed during her morning activities.  There was no need to fake her happiness, the pasted on smile turned genuine the moment she saw Tina in the doorway.  Sooner or later, Bette would realize that no matter how hard or fast she ran, how hard she tried to hide from it, she would always love Tina Kennard, and regardless of the situation, Tina could still get to her.  But, until then, she would remain in denial, believing that she could never be worthy of Tina.

“I know, I can hardly believe it myself.  I had to reassure Lizzy this morning that she really is related to Chrissy.”

“Yea, Chrissy was the same way.  She tried to drag me out of the house much earlier than we needed to leave.  For some reason, I get the impression that sibling rivalry is not going to be one of our problems.”

“Yes, and what makes you certain that we are going to have problems?” Tina asked skeptically

“Like we said yesterday…it’s us…it can never be simple.”        Bette said, in an almost defeated tone…after a moment of recollection, she took a deep breath… “But enough of that…come on, the girls are waiting…is Annie coming?”

As Tina walked through the doorway and locked it up, she answered, “She had to go and run a few errands this morning.  But, she is going to meet us there.”

“Oh that’s good.  It will be good for her to meet some more people in the area.”

“Got any hot 30ish friends for her to meet?” Tina said suggestively, raising her eyebrows, almost challenging Bette to join her game.

Bette winked and smiled… “Oh so she is on our team?  Bette giggled… “You haven’t met Jane yet…don’t worry, she will be at the Planet as well.”

Both women continued to laugh as they made their way to Bette’s car.  Both girls were already in the back seat, seat belted and ready to go.  Tina looked at the car and all she could do was continue to laugh and shake her head.  There were so many things that surprised her about the ‘new Bette’ and she was loving every new discovery.

Without words, Bette understood what Tina was laughing about.  She grinned, “You should have heard Alice’s first reaction when she saw my car.  I think it was something like, ‘Oh Bette, I wasn’t aware that hell had frozen over,’ or something equally eloquent.  She smiled at Tina and then continued, “It is a good car.  Nice to drive Chrissy and her friends around and to be honest, a sports car isn’t exactly ideal for driving to the mountains.”

Tina had a confused look on her face at this revelation so Bette continued to explain.   “Chrissy and I have a cabin in the mountains.  She really loves it, although we don’t really get to go up there as much as we would like to.”

Bette opened the passenger side door for Tina, but before shutting the door, she leaned forward and whispered so that the girls would not hear…“Don’t worry T, I haven’t changed that much…I’ll have to take you for a spin in my other car.” Bette grinned mischieviously as Tina blushed.  She quickly shut the door and strutted over to the driver’s side, fully aware that Tina was watching her every move. 

As Bette walked around the car, Tina stared while directing a question to Chrissy, “Chrissy, what other car does your mother have?”

Chrissy grinned… “That would be a Porsche.  She loves it.”

“She would.”

The conversation was cut short as Bette opened the door and hopped into the car.  They sat in silence making their way to the Planet, Tina thinking about Bette’s playfulness, Bette wondering why she was being so flirtatious, and the two girls anxiously awaiting the reaction of their aunts at brunch.

The silence was interrupted with the ringing of Bette’s cell phone.  She picked it up, glanced at the Caller ID, rolled her eyes, and hit the ignore button, allowing the call to roll over to her voicemail. 

She glanced over at Tina… “I’ll give you one guess as to who that was.”

Tina laughed  “Alice?”

“Uhhuh”

“You’re right…some things never change.”  Both women smiled and were once again overcome with the comfortable silence as they finished the short distance to the Planet. 

As much as Bette wanted to distance herself from Tina, it felt like it was impossible.  Slipping back into their flirtatious banter was so easy.  It was a game that they had perfected many many years ago.  They had the uncanny ability to turn any innocent conversation into one which was fully charged of sexual innuendos with a simple glance or facial expression.  Driving to the Planet, Bette once again reminded herself that she needed to back off, give Tina a chance to find the happiness that she deserves.   

Bette stopped thinking of her predicament as she pulled into the parking lot of the Planet.  After turning the car off, she turned to Tina, “Ready?”