Bette’s phone had been ringing for a pretty lengthy amount of time, but finally, she heard it and then grabbed it and looked at the caller ID. She didn’t recognize the number, but she went on ahead and answered it anyway.
%%%Back with Tina%%%
She stood outside while the phone rang waiting for Bette to pick up when, just then, Helena, after a few minutes, had come outside after her. As Bette said “Hello?”, Tina hastley said, “Sorry, wrong number.”, and hung up, leaving Bette a little puzzled because of the undeniably similarity that that person’s voice had to Tina’s. But Bette excused it and continued on her way.
%%%At the Restaurant…%%%
Helena: Come on sweety, I thought about it and I can’t let you take a cab home when I drove. I can get something to eat at home, let’s go.
Tina: Oh umm…okay. (Tina said as she followed Helena a few feet behind her.)
Tina knew that she didn’t want to go home with her and that she really wanted to be with Bette right now but she knew that she really needed a little more time, more time so that she could eventually break up with Helena officially before she was going to be able to try and pursue anything further with Bette. Tina, because of her morals, refused to let Bette become the “carpenter” so to speak, in this situation, she was going to make sure that things were completely and totally over between Helena and herself. Despite how much she disliked her at this point, she wasn’t going to let the same thing go down between them as it did with Bette.
The car ride back home was almost completely silent and seemed like it was lasting an eternity, but Tina didn’t mind though because it gave her the time she needed to do some real, in depth thinking as to how and when, she was going to end it with Helena.
By the time they got back home, it was late and so Tina didn’t feel like getting into anything with Helena, but her heart felt heavy from trying to ignore her feelings for Bette in order to try and stick it out with Helena.
“Okay, I can’t do this anymore.” She thought and so, she went and found Helena in the bedroom, eating her dinner when she was about to speak, but, Helena beat her to it.
Helena: Baby, I really think that we need to talk about us.
Tina: Oookay…what about us?
Helena: Well sweety, I think that you are super sweet and kind and you have a caring, nurturing way about you, and that’s all good and everything but you know… sometimes you overdue it and it turns into smothering. You’re very dependent on me and I’m completely the opposite, very INdependent. So, if we were to honestly examine our relationship, do we really see it going somewhere further down the road? Now, I don’t expect you to answer that because I know right now that you’re probably too shocked and heartbroken to speak.
Tina: No…yeah, you’re right. I can honestly say that I definately did not see that one coming. (She said as she tried not to let the fact that she found this situation quite humorous show on her face.)
Tina WAS shocked and heartbroken. Shocked in the sense that she was caught off gaurd and wasn’t expecting this sudden turn of events to occur, and heartbroken because she was disappointed that she wasn’t going to be able to have the satisfaction of kicking Helena to the curb.
Helena: So sweety, I guess what I’m trying to say is, I think that it would be better, or actually, best, for the both of us if we went our separate ways. That’s only romantically speaking of course though because I would still like for us to remain friends.
Tina: Uhh yeah, okay…umm, I…I guess that that would be fine with me.
Tina said that in the best possible way that she would be able to fake being devastated because she knew that that’s what Helena was expecting her to be upon receiving the news because she was so self inflated. Whereas, in actuality, she couldn’t have been more relieved and excited to be available to Bette now.
Helena: Okay well good. I’m glad that you are going to be able to get over this eventually. But hey look, if you want, you can still stay here until you find another place and tonight, you can sleep on the couch.
Tina: Okay, thanks alot, I am truly grateful. (She said sarcastically.)
Helena: Okay well I have alot of business meetings that I have to go to tomorrow so I should really be getting to bed. See you later?
Tina: Yeah I’ll be out in the family room so I’m pretty sure that you will.
Helena: Okay, good night hun.
Tina: Good night.
The next day, Helena didn’t have her meetings until later that afternoon so she let Tina borrow her car for a little while.
Tina was on her way to meet everyone at The Planet but then decided to change her plans a little bit, and instead, went in the direction of the CAC in hopes of catching up with Bette.
On the way there, she stopped by that take out place on the corner that she knew Bette liked so much and ordered her favorite thing on the menu and proceeded in going to the art center. Once she got there, she went in and made her way towards Bette’s office. As she was walking down the hallway, she started getting excited all over again, ready to tell Bette how she felt about her and that that was how she had been feeling despite the split. She was indeed, more than ready to reconcile, until, what she saw made her think that Bette felt otherwise. As she came up on Bette’s office, she looked and noticed that Candace was in there sitting at her desk. Tina felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach as she turned and went the other way.
Bette wasn’t in the office, in fact, she hadn’t even been at work at all today, Candace was in there remodeling and she hadn’t had any form of contact whatsoever since the last time that she’d spoken with Bette on the phone and to which, she had made it very clear that it was definately over between the two of them. But Tina wasn’t able to reason anything as to why Candace was there, she figured that Bette just hadn’t broken anything off with her. So, Tina left out, and this time, she was heartbroken for real, and went to the impound lot to get things squared away with her car.
The whole ride she could only think to herself, “How could you let this happen? Why were you about to put yourself out there again for someone who obviously doesn’t give a *****?”. As she arrived to the lot, she went to go and speak with the man who would be receiving the payment in order to get her car back, but much to her surprise, when she tried to give him the money, he informed her that the car had been paid for already and had just been released as he handed her the keys. “Everything’s still in there.”, he said. Tina asked him if he remembered who paid for it and he just pointed, to a person with dark, long curly hair.
Tina was absolutely stunned when she found out that Bette was the one that put her car back in commission, and even though Tina was feeling kind of upset about earlier, she couldn’t let Bette go without her showing some gratitude for a favor like that. So she called Bette before she could pull off.
Tina: Bette! Hey Bette! Wait up!
Bette: Tina hey. What are you up to?
Tina: I just wanted to say thank you.
Bette: For what? I didn’t do anything.
Tina: Bette come on, seriously, you didn’t have to do that.
Bette: Tina, it was my pleasure, that’s the least that I could do for you.
Tina: Well thank you for that. You wanna know something funny?
Bette: I’m always in a laughing mood, so go ahead, shoot.
Tina: Well it’s not too “ha ha” funny but I went by your office today to surprise you with some lunch…
Bette: Aww Tina you shouldn’t have.
Tina: Yeah, I wish that I didn’t…but anyway, when I got to your office, Candace was there.
Bette: Oh yeah?
Tina: Yeah she was.
Bette noticed some slight anger mixed with hurt in Tina’s eyes and concluded that some sort of misunderstanding was happening here.
Bette: *****. You know Tina, I don’t blame you at all.
Tina: For?
Bette: For thinking that she was there for a different reason other than what she was really there for. You think that her and I are…
Tina: You’re not?
Bette: God Tina no. I told you in the beginning that I didn’t know what came over me and that I ended it then. She’s only there because she was hired by Helena to do some renovation work on everything, and actually, that’s why I’m not at work right now because everytime I see her, it makes me sick to know that I lost the person that meant more to me than anything else in this world does because of her participation in the matter. With the exception that she’s doing work in my building, she’s completely out of my life, I have positively no more dealings with her, at all.
Tina was ready to almost start crying, but she held the tears back, but was extremely happy to hear the true story.
Tina: Wow Bette, I am sooo sorry that I doubted you. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions like that.
Bette: Tina, it’s okay. Your concerns were valid. I mean, I didn’t exactly give you any reasons not to think that that would be the case.
Tina: Yeah I guess so, but I am sorry though and I want us to forget that this conversation about that happened okay?
Bette: Fine by me.
Tina: Well all except for the part where you mentioned that I meant more to you than anything in this world. (Bette smiled.) Well hey, can I ask you another favor?
Bette: Sure what is it?
Tina: I have Helena’s car and she has some places that she needs to get to today so I really need to get her car back to her. Do you think that you could follow me back to her house and then bring me back here to get my car?
Bette: Oh yeah absolutely, anything for my T…well, you’re not really mine I guess, since you’re taken.
Tina: No, I want to be. Bette, I want to be your T again. Helena and I broke up and I want us to try again. I can explain everything on the way back here, and even, over a bite to eat since I did buy all this food.
Bette shed a few happy tears and agreed, and they were on their way.