Chapter 10

The car began to journey toward Jodi’s worksite as both women listened intently to Angelica babble about her time in the park. Bette drove, her eyes glued to the road, determining what to say to address Tina’s admission.

On one hand, she was thankful her daughter had come bounding up to them, demanding Bette and Tina both slide down the spiral slide and join in having fun. On the other hand, she had witnessed the disappointment in Tina’s eyes when their conversation was cut short. Bette truly was at a loss for how to respond to Tina’s admission, so rather than respond quickly, she valued the time that Angelica gave her to contemplate her answer.

“Bette?”

Tina’s voice registered in Bette’s ears, breaking into her thoughts, as she weighed the different versions she had constructed as her response to Tina’s revelation.

“She fell asleep about 2 minutes ago,” Tina said hesitantly.

“Oh,” Bette said in response, not sure what else to say at the moment.

Bette’s mind was in overdrive, she had several versions of what she wanted to say floating in her head, and not wanting to say the wrong thing paralyzed her from making any response.

“So,” Tina spoke to break the silence between them. She was hesitant to say anything, given that Bette had a chance to at least offer some glimmer of hope in front of Angelica, and yet she didn’t respond either way to Tina’s words. “Are we done or did you want to talk some more?”

Bette swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, listening to the navigation system direct her to the site straight ahead, the ’17 Reasons’ sign seeming larger than life at the current moment.

“I definitely want to talk some more,” Bette said carefully. “I just…”

Bette sighed as she slowed the car’s progression toward the site and looked over to Tina’s side of the car.

“We’re here,” Tina announced sadly. “I understand.”

“I’m not sure that you do,” Bette countered. “I think we need to talk.”

“What about dinner?” Tina suggested. “After we have dinner maybe you can come back to my room and put Angie down with me and we can talk after?”

“That sounds nice Tina,” Bette knew Tina would be disappointed with her answer. “But this morning Jodi asked me to join our breakfast and I said no on the condition that she and I have dinner with Angelica so she could see her and spend some time with her.”

“Oh,” Tina said not able to disguise her disappointment.

“If I would have known…”

“I know,” Tina interrupted Bette’s sentence. “I shouldn’t have sprung that on you in that manner anyway, it wasn’t fair, and for that I apologize.”

“Please don’t ever apologize for communicating with me,” Bette began, sighing as she saw Jodi running toward the car to say hello. “Shit.”

Tina noticed Bette’s reaction to their conversation being interrupted and she had to admit, she felt the same frustration Bette did.

“It’s ok that you made plans with Jodi,” Tina said trying to sound as normal as possible. “You came here for her so it’s logical you’d want to spend some time with her.”

Bette changed gears and put the car in park, turning it off, while looking at Tina unsure of what to say to make her feel better. The moment passed too quickly as Jodi knocked on the window quietly seeing Angelica sleeping in the backseat of the car.

Bette opened the car door and stepped out, barely able to keep her balance, as Jodi pulled her into a surprising embrace. She quickly placed a kiss on Bette’s lips shocking even Bette, and smiled in Tina’s direction after taking Bette’s hand in her own possessively.

“Hi Tina,” Jodi said as she waved and Tina smiled back at her. “It’s good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you too,” Tina said as she approached the side of the car that Bette and Jodi were standing on. “The sculpture…”

Tina was at a loss for words when she saw the sheer magnitude of the ’17 Reasons’ sign that Bette had hand delivered upon her encouragement. She silently berated herself for offering such a successful piece of advice resulting in the picture that stood before them.

“I couldn’t have done half of it without Bette,” Jodi said. “This will always be my favorite piece given that love is what created it. The sign Bette brought down to offer her heart to me was amazing if nothing else.”

Bette frowned in Jodi’s direction, but Jodi cleverly ignored it and continued to talk to Tina about her work of art.

“It really is something,” Tina said sarcastically, knowing that Jodi would only read her lips and not the tone behind them.

“I know it’s not your style of art,” Bette said with a smile remembering a particular trip to a gallery in Mexico where Bette had pointed out the amazing sculptures only to turn around and see Tina behind her making a sour face. “That reminds me of Mexico when we….”

“This isn’t your type of art?” Jodi broke into the conversation expertly.

“Not really,” Tina admitted. “It’s nothing personal, but I tend toward simple paintings rather than large sculptures that are abstract in nature.”

“Not everyone gets art like those that are passionate about it, or that work with it daily, as Bette and I do.”

“Jodi…..” Bette tried to break in when her annoyance with Jodi’s manners hit an all time high.

“I need to get back to the hotel,” Tina announced as Jodi leaned into Bette and made a show of kissing her neck softly.

Tina turned and began to get into the driver’s seat before she heard Bette’s voice call after her. She sat down in the driver’s seat and began to adjust the seat and mirrors while Bette leaned down to look in the car.

“Do you know how to get back to the hotel?” Bette whispered as she saw hurt reflected in Tina’s eyes. “I can give you directions and write them down if you’d rather that than the navigation system.”

“I’ll manage,” Tina said quickly, desperate to get away from the scene in front of her.

“If you get lost…”

“I won’t get lost,” Tina said interrupting once more when she saw Jodi rub Bette’s back lovingly. “I need to get her back so she can get a good nap Bette.”

Tina stepped on the pedal and backed the car up quickly, not bothering to glance in Bette’s direction to see more of Jodi’s blatant display of affection for what Tina was sure was her benefit.

As Bette watched the car drive away toward the main road, she turned to Jodi quickly and shot her a dirty look.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” Jodi sighed feeling more comfortable communicating where she had the upper-hand as she did in signing.

“Whatever you called that,” Bette said as she stepped back to get some distance from Jodi. “You made Tina feel uncomfortable.”

“She has to get used to seeing us together.”

“She is used to seeing us together,” Bette said in anger. “She is the one that encouraged me to come here, flew here when her schedule was insane, just so I could see my daughter.”

Jodi read Bette’s lips, getting the idea that she was angry by her posture and hand movements.

“I’m not sure you know the sacrifice she made to be here simply because I asked,” Bette said as she began to walk toward the site. “And I only asked because you were insistent on me staying here while you were working. I’ve been working my ass off to try to move this thing along, when it isn’t even my project, so we can go back home.”

“That’s your home Bette,” Jodi said as she stopped Bette’s progression by grabbing her arm. “I don’t have ties to anywhere like that. I’ll be going back for you and only you.”

Bette removed her arm from Jodi’s grip as she walked away to the site and began to help the students with the directions Jodi had given out prior to her arriving.

Tina stopped at a light as the navigation system spouted directions at her to turn once the light turned green. She wiped another tear as she angled the mirror to check on Angelica, who still slept in the backseat soundly. Tina fished for her phone in her purse, coming upon it just as the light turned, and pulling it out while she maneuvered the car east toward the hotel.

She flipped through the address book as she glanced up at the road to ensure she was driving safely despite her distraction. She found Kate’s name and hit her call button to place a call to her friend. When Kate answered, she laughed at the amused voice that Kate used to answer the phone.

“Yeeeeesssss?”

“Is this how you great everyone that calls you?”

“Only the people that count,” Kate said with a small chuckle. “The rest of them are greeted with my cheerful voice mail message.”

Tina couldn’t help but smile wider as she listened to Kate tease her.

“What’s up?”

“I just dropped Bette off at the site,” Tina said trying to hide the sadness that was present in her voice. “I was hoping you were free?”

“Right now?”

“No, later for dinner.”

“Well now,” Kate smiled as she moved away from earshot of the people surrounding her, asking her numerous questions about the site they were currently at. “I am actually going to free myself up right now for this offer and we can share a drink beforehand if that’s ok? I need to drink away the day given the incompetence I’ve had to deal with.”

Tina told Kate she was driving back to the hotel now, and given how long it would take Kate to get back to her hotel, change, and drive to where Tina was, it would be just about the time that Bette was to get Angelica for dinner. They made plans to meet a half hour later than when Bette would come for Angie, giving Tina time to get ready, and ensuring that Bette picking up Angelica would be as stress-free as possible.

Once Tina picked up Angelica’s bag, her notes on Lez Girls, and woke Angelica up while trying to move her, Tina knew she had limited time before Bette would arrive to pick Angelica up for her dinner date. She went inside and listened intently to Angelica relay her day again with the same enthusiasm she had before she fell asleep.

Tina was thankful for the distraction of getting herself and Angelica ready for their separate dinners because the small amount of time she had to herself seemed to fly by when the knock at the door broke into her conversation with Angelica.

She went to the door and smiled as she saw Bette standing there, with a hesitant look on her face. She knelt on one knee when Angelica ran to the door, excited to see her, after the short time they were separated.

“Can I come in?” Bette asked as she picked Angelica up in her arms. “I’d like to apologize for Jodi’s confrontational behavior.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” Tina answered stepping aside to let Bette into her room.

“There really is,” Bette shot back. “I’m not sure what she was trying to do.”

“My guess is verbally mark her territory so to speak.”

“What?”

“You were peed on Bette Porter,” Tina said with a smile. “It was very original, but the message was received nonetheless.”

Bette sighed at Tina’s description of what had happened, appreciating that Tina tried to make it easier on her by making the event into a joke.

“What are you doing for dinner?”

“Kate is actually coming here and we’re going to go out to some Mexican place she wanted to try.”

“Oh,” Bette said surprised at the news. “What time will you be back?”

“Before Angelica needs to go to bed so I can meet you here,” Tina said as she busied herself with straightening the room up prior to Kate arriving. She did it as a nervous habit, one that Bette recognized, and tried to get her attention once more.

“What time is Kate arriving?”

“In about 7 minutes,” Tina said as she turned to face Bette. “Unless she is early like she usually is and then that gives me about 2 minutes.”

Bette felt her heart drop as Kate knocked at the opened door behind them. When both Bette and Tina turned to face her, she offered a smile, and opted for saying hello to Angelica instead of acknowledging anyone else.

“I should get going anyway,” Bette said as she turned and faced Tina. “I’ll see you back here around her bedtime then.”

Bette offered a polite greeting to Kate as she stepped past her and made her way down the hall toward the hotel restaurant to meet Jodi for their dinner date. Kate stepped in and sat down on the arm of a chair, staring at Tina before offering a smile and a wink.

“What in the hell did I just walk in on?” Kate asked.

“Tension,” Tina simply said. “It’s a long story, one that involved Jodi marking her territory, and me realizing that whatever I feel for Bette won’t be returned.”

“Why is that?”

“Because it was obvious today that Jodi comes first,” Tina said sadly. “I blurted out that I still had feelings for Bette and before she could answer, Angie interrupted us. When I invited her to dinner to talk, she said she had promised Jodi and couldn’t make it. If she felt the same way, there would be no need to have dinner with Jodi now would there?”

“One would think not,” Kate said as she got on her feet and opened her arms for Tina to walk into. “May the best woman win.”

“What?”

“I said may the best woman win,” Kate kissed the top of Tina’s head. “Let’s get some Mexican and you can drown your sorrows in a margarita while we plan on getting you back to LA.”

“It was hard to see them together,” Tina said through tears. “And as much as I hate to admit that Alice was right, she was, when it came to me coming here.”

“She’s a smart lady,” Kate said with a smile as Tina stepped out of her embrace.

“You would like her; she’s a fan of yours.”

“Then I not only like her, I commend her on her taste,” Kate teased. “I’ll go back with you, since this trip is a bust for locations anyway, and we’ll see what we can do to get ya back on your feet.”

“May the best woman win,” Tina said as she felt Kate drape her arm over her shoulder and escort her out of her room.

Tina didn’t dare chance a look in the hotel restaurant knowing that Bette and Jodi were sharing dinner with Angelica. The image of a happy couple bonding over Angelica signing her desires brought tears to Tina’s eyes as she quickly walked out of the hotel.

The picture in Tina’s mind was hardly the one that was being displayed in the restaurant at that current moment. Bette’s thoughts were focused on Tina’s words from earlier that afternoon.

‘You want to talk about how hard it is for me to support you now as you move on with Jodi when all I want to do is tell you how much I love you and want you back?’

Those were the words that Bette had longed to hear, ever since Tina had admitted that she would pick Bette over the boring life she had chosen just a few weeks ago. Bette couldn’t lie to herself, that when Tina had sat on her couch and admitted that she felt as if she had made a mistake, it was what Bette had wanted for so long. It felt so right to hold Tina and to offer her comfort.

Bette’s focus snapped back to the woman sitting across from her as Jodi placed her hand on Bette’s.

“Where were you just now?”

“Here,” Bette signed back watching Angelica smash her food with her fork and giggle. “I’m right here.”

Jodi focused on Angelica as well, conversation between her and Bette seemed to be a struggle if it wasn’t surrounding her current piece of work. Bette watched as Jodi tried to engage with Angelica, but Angelica wasn’t taking to her well as she struggled to communicate with the toddler.

Bette’s only thought was that no matter how she worded things to Tina later that night, one thing was a certain fact. Jodi simply wasn’t Tina and things between her and Bette, no matter how many grand gestures she made, were more of a struggle than Bette thought they should be at the current stage of the relationship.

When the waitress brought their food, the first thought through Bette’s mind was that it was stuffy in comparison to Mexican, and she wished she were dining with Tina instead. But Bette was also smart enough to recognize that that wish had nothing to do with a preference based on cuisine and everything to do with the company.