Helena knew Tina better than anyone else, and that’s why when she had noticed that Tina wasn’t as happy in her marriage as she wanted everyone else to think she had confronted her. That’s when Tina had opened up to her about Bette and her feelings for her. Bette waas the last person Helena would have expected Tina to fall for. The woman had a reputation, in fact, the whole WEHO knew about her reputation as a player. But the fact was, Helena respected the woman, she was beautiful and smart and she was a damn good business woman. Everything she had, she had worked hard for. She had owned her first company at the age of twenty-nine. She had a smart head for business and was well respected in the work-field.

Tina was having dinner with her parents and Henry at her parents’home. She was distracted. Helena was about to tell her something when Henry had walked in. Helena had left the moment he came through the door. Now Tina was more confused than ever.

Dinner was delicious,and the pot roast lived up to her mom’s standards of excellence. By the time the lemon tarts were served, Her dad was yawning. As soon as her mom removed thethe dessert dishes, he asked to be excused.

“Stay and enjoy another cup of coffee, he told his guests as he stood up. “But I’ll retire. I have to get up early tomorrow”

“I need to say good night, too ,dad. Today was kind of strenous.”

-As they left the dining room, Tina held back and detained Henry. Laying her hands on his lapels, she went up on tiptoe to kiss him tenderly on the lips. “I think I’ll go home ahead of you”

He placed his hands at her waist and drew her closer. “I thought you and I had plans for later this evening”

“We do,but I’m about to ask a favor. Would you please stay and help mom get dad to bed? I know It’s not your place___”

“I- don’t mind at all”

Tina didn’t go straight home.She had never intended to. Using her father as a pawn to delay Henry made her feel guilty, but only a little.She would never deceive them if she wasn’t desperate to rid herself of nagging doubts that had taken tenacious hold on her. She drove to Henry’s apartment and by the time she got to the door her heart was beating hard, and not because of the staircase. She was anxious about what she might find inside.

She unlocked the door with the key she’d had in her possession since the night of her surprise anniversary pary, and remembering where the light switch was she flipped it on. Moving into the kitchen she noticed a spotless dry sink. There were no dishes in the dishwasher, not even a drinking glass. Back in the living room she moved towards the room desinated as Henry’s office. Hands on the doorknob, she paused and said a prayer, although she couldn’t specifically say what she was praying for. She pushed the door open.

In a single glance she took it all in, then slumped dejectedly against the doorjamb. The room looked exactly as they had left it that night. Nothing had been disturbed or changed. There were no paper balls in the thrash can, no reference books with pages marked, no notes stuck to the computer screen or scrawled on paper. Her heart wasn’t beating fast now. In fact it felt like a stone inside her chest as she turned off the lights and left the apartment. She exited the building and descended the steps, lost in thought, her motions listless. She was weighted down with dread for the inevitable confrontation with Henry. When he returned from her parents he would be expecting his his docile wife to be waiting for him at home, eager and ready to make love to him. That’s what she had deliberately led him to believe.

She had led him to believe that she was moldable as clay,gullible, blindly accepting, and he had been easily deceived, because up until recently that’s exactly what she’d been. Meek and mild Tina. Stupid Tina. That’s what he thought of her.But he thought wrong As she reached street level, she saw a passenger alight from a taxi half block away. Tina couldn’t believe her eyes. She was watching the man who had alighted from the cab and jogged up the steps of another building, entering it with the air of familiarity, as though he belonged. Walking briskly, she quickly covered the distance to the other building. She checked the mailboxes . All except one were labeled with a name. Either the apartment was vacant. . . or the tenant in 3b received mail at another location. Tina quickly climbed the stairs , and calmly approached the door of apartment 3b. She rapped on the door.

Nadia opened the door. She was clearly dressed for romance,wearing only a silk wrapper , which appeared to have been hastily tied at her waist as she hurried to answer the door. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. Her hand fell from the door and it opened wider. Tina’s gaze slid past her to Henry,who was coming from a connecting kitchen, with a drink in each hand.

Upon seeing Tina he stopped dead in his tracks. “Tina”

By this time, Nadia had recovered from the shock of seeing Tina. “Oh,shit, this is not what you think”
Tina ignored her. Nadia was insignificant. The only thing she signified was Henry’s bad taste in mistresses. Tina didn’t waste any contempt for her. Instead she directed it to the man she had married less than four years ago.

“Don’t bother apologising or explaining, even if that’s what you were going to do, Henry. You are a liar and a adulterer, and I want you out of my life. Immediately. I’ll get someone to pack your things and you can pick them up at a time when I’m not home.I don’t want to see you ever again Henry”

Then she turned and jogged down to the sidewalk. She wasn’t crying, in fact her eyes were dry . She didn’t feel angry or sad, or even miserable. In fact she felt completely unshackled and lighthearted. She had no sense of leaving something but rather of going towards something.___She didn’t get very far…

Henry gripped her from behind, “please Tina, can we talk about this. This is a big misunderstanding,I’m sorry Tina.”

“About what, Henry? ,cheating or getting caught” Tina pulls from his grip and leaves him standing there looking baffled. Maybe wondering how he could have been busted by his stupid , docile wife.


* * * *

Bette stared at the contents of the wine bottle and analyzed why she didn’t want it. It had been poured from an expensive bottle. She sipped , it was tasteless. She couldn’t appreciate it any more than she appreciated the seductive efforts of her hostess.Candace had stopped by unannounced, and Bette had invited her in, even though she wasn’t in the mood for company. Ever since she got there, Candace had been tyring her best to seduce Bette and talking non-stop. Bette was wound up tighter than a rope. Alice was about to tell her something , when her phone had beeped .She had excused herself from the table and hadn’t returned. Bette had waited almost thirty minutes and then left to go for a run. She had gone home and showered .She was on her second glass of wine.

“You’re not very talkative, darling. Are you in a bad mood?”

Bette shot her a sardonic look. “Actually Candace, I’m a little tired.”

“I’ll bet I can get you out of your bad mood”, Candace poured,as she moved closer to Bette, pressing her body against her back.. Coming up on tip toes , she gentle blew in Bette’s ear. Her hands slid over Bette’s back,around her waist ,down her thighs and rested on her center. Normally,her expert hands could stir Bette to passions in seconds. Tonight her touch only seemed to heighten – Bette’s vexation.

Bette turned abruptly,clapsed Candace’s shoulders harder than she intended to, and pushed her away. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly, when she noted the startled look on Candace’s face.. Immediately she released her hold on her shoulders. She tried to smile .”I guess I’m just not in the mood tonight.”

Candace toss back her head. “Well, that’s a switch.” She said scathingly.

Bette laughed shortly. “I guess it is”

“Usually , I wonder if you even remember my name .I come here . We make love.You say thanks .I leave.What’s different tonight?”

“I’m tired. Have a lot on my mind.” Bette was gradually making her way towards the door to open it, so Candace could leave.She had a restraining hand on Bette’s arm.After all, Bette Porter was a good catch in more ways than one and Candace was willing to suffer a little pride for her.

“I can take your mind off anything.” Candace promised with well glossed- lips. Like a snake her arms coiled around Bette’s neck and pulled her head down for a kiss. She made her body an open invitation. She used her tongue.

Bette felt nothing,not a glimmer, not a spark of desire. Only that bitter dissatisfaction that was like a bad taste in her mouth. Reaching up, she pried Candace’s arms away from her. “Sorry ,not tonight.” she said.

“If I leave now I’m not coming back” Candace said as she head towards the door.”You bitch….Who do you think you are?” t the door she glanced back at Bette . Her fists were digging into her thighs, and her breasts were heaving as she glanced back at her.

“Good night” Bette said as she held the door open.

“Go to hell” She screamed as she stormed past Bette.

“It might be a pleasant change ” B-ette mumbled with dry humor as she closed the door. And opened the windows to get rid of Candace’s heavy perfume smell.

Tina was dumbfounded, she had been sitting in her car how long she doesn’t know. She couldn’t believe what had happened earlier today. It’s as if she was still in a dream. Tina had come to the realisation that she was married to a complete stranger. The man she thought she knew didn’t exist. Henry had assumed a role, that’s all. He’d mimicked a character in a book. He’d played that role well, never stepping out of character. Not once,until tonight. She was jolted by the fact that, tonight for the first time , she had been introduced to the real Henry.

-She’d been rejected by her husband for another woman. She had two choices. She could either succumb to the depression until she whithered up, or she could go on living. She opted for the latter.

* * * *

Bette answered the door for the second time tonight, not expecting a visitor. For several moments she looked at her visitor blankly. Finally she said. “Are you lost?”

“Very cute” I deserved that. Can I Come in?”

Bette hesitated as if thinking it over . Then she opened the door wide and her visitor walked through the door.