Chapter four

The next day Bette and Tina shared breakfast at Bette’s apartment and both went to work. They had decided to have a nice and quiet meal at Tina’s apartment for a change, so at 7 o’clock, Bette knocked on Tina’s door. Tina opened the door and left Bette in total awe. ‘God she is beautiful. Not only on the outside, but also on the inside. Her inner beauty radiates from her every time she smiles, just like right now.’ Bette thought. She smiled back at Tina, who just melted. Bette leaned forward and gave Tina a soft but sensual kiss.

Bette: “Hey T.”
Tina: “Hey Bette. Come in.”
They sat down on Tina’s couch and enjoyed some Thai take-out food. When their meal was finished, Bette decided that now would be a good time to tell Tina.
Bette: “T, I have to tell you something.”
Tina: “What is it babe?”
Bette: “I’m going to Belgium tomorrow.”
Tina: “Are you coming back?”
Bette: “Yes, off course, I’ll be back on Sunday. I’m going to my grandmother’s funeral on Thursday and afterwards I’m going to stay at my father’s house for a few days.”
Tina: “Oh Bette, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know your grandmother died.”
Bette: “It’s okay. I wasn’t really close with my grandmother anymore. She brought a lot of misery in people’s lives and we were all actually relieved that she died. I know this sounds harsh, but the only thing she ever did was smoke, drink and hurt other people. She made my grandfather lose a lot of money by spending it on extremely expensive things and when people came to collect money, she was so drunk she paid the same bill three times. When I was a teenager, things started going really bad with her. While my parents were in the middle of a divorce, my mother moved in with her parents again. She has Multiple Sclerosis, so she needs a lot of help, you know? Before she moved out, I had taken over her tasks. My father worked late, so we didn’t see him that much. I did the cooking and helped my mother with simple things like getting dressed or getting something to drink. When my mother found out that my father had been cheating on her for the past four years, she decided to move out. That’s when she went living with my grandparents. She and her father grew closer to each other, my grandfather finally had somebody he could talk to and my mother could start her life again. My grandmother asked my grandfather on numerous occasions to throw my mother out and she even accused my mother of sleeping with my father. She started making these illusions, which drove my mother crazy. My grandmother didn’t do anything else than command my grandfather al the time, which drove my grandfather crazy. She started seeing people that didn’t existed and talked to them. Most of the time, it looked like it were memories of her. She often talked to an invisible me, when I was in another room. She started screaming and waking people up in the middle of the night, until my grandfather decided that they couldn’t continue living like this, especially not when I came over for the weekend, so he put her in the hospital. She suffered from a disease called korsakoff’s syndrome, due to al the heavy drinking. Things got a little bit better and she could actually return home, but when she came home for the weekend once, she drank again. This time she couldn’t handle the alcohol anymore. She stayed in the hospital for a few years. When she finally came back, nobody was really happy to see her. She drank again one night, she found a bottle of scotch and completely drank it. They had to take her to the hospital; she was in a coma for a few years and last week she past away.”
Tina: “Wow. I can’t believe anyone could do those things.”
Bette: “Well, she made it her profession to annoy other people.”
Tina looked at Bette and saw all the pain she had gone through. She just wanted to take it all away.
Tina: “What about the divorce? It can’t have been easy living like that.”
Bette: “I stayed with my father during the week. Every Wednesday afternoon and every other weekend I spend with my mom. I never held anything against my father for cheating on her, off course I didn’t like it that my mom was hurt, but I knew that things weren’t going great between them and the often fought at night. I was glad they got divorced, it was so much better for both of them. I realized that my father really loved the other woman and he was much happier. He married Samantha after a relationship of 7 years, to everybody’s surprise because he had sworn he wouldn’t get married ever again. They had a little boy together, Matty, and are still happy together. Samantha is a wonderful person and she helped me a lot. My mother got married again not so long ago. She married a therapist from the center for Multiple Sclerosis patients, his name is Jason and he’s a nice guy. Everything worked out for everyone I guess.”
Tina: “Do your parents still talk to each other?”
Bette: “Yeah. Even tough my mother was hurt a lot, the pain went away over the years and they decided to stay friends. We all spend the holidays together, which is great because before they got friends, I was always with just one parent for Christmas and one for New Year.”
Bette looked into Tina’s eyes and saw that Tina really cared about what she had to say.
Bette: “Tina, I don’t know what it is but when I’m around you I feel so at ease, I can truly tell you everything. Normally it takes a lot of time to get in my heart, but you just flew right in.”
Tina: “I feel the same way Bette. I know I haven’t told you that much about me, but I feel like I can tell you anything. You’re already in my heart Bette.”
Tina looked into Bette’s eyes and for the first time, she didn’t just see passion, she also saw love.
Tina: “Bette?”
Bette: “Yes T?”
Tina: “I love you.”
At this Bette’s heart skipped a beat and she took Tina’s face in her hands and gently kissed her.
Bette: “I love you to Tina. You’re the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to me. I want you to be the last thing I see when I go to sleep and the first thing I see when I wake up. I want to spend each and every day with you. I know this is al going very fast, but I just know that fate brought us together. I let fate decide for me and it brought me to you. I want you to come with me to Belgium Tina.”
Bette kissed Tina again, this time with all the love and passion she felt deep inside of her.
Tina: “There is nothing in this world that I would love more Bette. I can take a few days of work, my assistant can handle it. I would love to meet your family, to see the wonderful people that raised you to the person you have become.”
Bette: “Thank you Tina. Thank you for coming with me.”
Tina: “No problem baby.”
They both smiled at each other and kissed again. They spend the night at Tina’s apartment, expressing their love. Both women never felt more satisfied in their entire lives than at that moment, when they both fell asleep in each other’s embrace.