‘I broke up with Eric.’ Tina hadn’t meant to blurt it out so tactlessly and more to the point, so loudly. She felt Alice turn towards her and became very aware of the other people in the queue. She wasn’t interested in any of them.

‘I.. I just… ha… umm, I wanted you to know that.’ She stuttered as she frantically stared at the back of Bette’s head. She had felt the connection fade as Bette turned to order and panicked that she would lose whatever it was they appeared to have.

Bette remained silent. What can I say to that? She couldn’t express the way her heart sprang when she heard Tina utter those words, words she had dreamt about her saying for nights on end. She let them echo around her head and took pleasure in bathing in their meaning. The possibility of being able to share something with Tina that wouldn’t be tainted and dirty was euphoric. She too became aware of the people surrounding them and turned back to Tina, moving them away from the queue into an isolated area of the café.

She looked into Tina’s eyes and couldn’t think of words that would be able to do justice to how she was feeling.

‘You don’t need to say anything. I just wanted that to be out in the open. I would have said something later, but as we ran into each other now…’ Tina trailed off. It felt surreal to her how she didn’t need to wait for Bette to say anything and yet felt completely in tune with what was going through her mind.

‘T’ Bette uttered. Finally finding her voice as she was captivated by the intuition Tina appeared to show. She leant forward to pull Tina into her arms, hoping to be able to hold her without guilt for the first time.

‘Hey Bette, how you doing this fine morning? I was going to text you but… shit…’ Shane had chosen this moment to interrupt the couple, not realizing the scene she’d just walked into.  ‘Hey, listen guys, sorry. Uh, yea, I’ll catch you later.’ She waved her hands in front of her before turning round and running them through her hair as she walked away. ‘Too fucking cute.’

‘Great timing as always’ Bette laughed as she stared at Shane meeting up with Alice. ‘Perhaps we could continue this… conversation later? That is if you still fancy dinner?’ Bette recovered from the intrusion and decided to turn on the Porter charm. She smiled seductively at Tina and enjoyed seeing her eyes darken.

‘Dinner, definitely. Like I said, my place.’ Tina grabbed her phone from her pocket and tried to control her breathing. Her head was screaming and she wasn’t surprised to notice her hands shaking as she pulled out her phone to text Bette the details. ‘I will text you my address now… shall we say 7.30?’

Bette smiled. She had noticed Tina trembling which sent a wave of nasty and amazing thoughts through her head. ‘7.30 sounds perfect. Well I better get back to my friends and let you re-join yours.’ She covered Tina’s shaking hand with hers, leaned in to place a soft kiss on Tina’s cheek and held her position for just bit longer.

‘Until later’ she whispered into Tina’s ear as she pulled back and turned leaving a weakened Tina behind her.