Till We Meet Again | A Bette-Tina Beginning Chapter 36

8 am

Helena woke up the next morning feeling nauseous and ill. Her stomach did not agree with her as she threw up repeatedly. She searched her brain, trying to remember what had led to this condition, but the last thing she remembered was dancing with Tina. She tried calling Tina, only to receive her voicemail.

“Of course, she must be with those darn kids in school. I don’t know why she continues to work there instead of coming back to our studio,” she thought out loud, her tone bitter and caustic.

She considered bunking work but Alice was coming back today and she missed her terribly.

“I need to get everything ready. I need to see her and tell her about Bette.”

Helena would wait no more to reclaim what she thought belonged to her.

Earlier at Marriot Marquis
7:45 am

Tina walked, almost skipped, down the hall, a wide smile adorning her thoroughly-kissed lips. Her body was sore, drained, exhausted even and yet she had never felt so alive. The feelings Bette aroused in her coursed through her entire body, making her feel light and giddy. She kept coming back to Bette and their pillow-talk this morning.

“Is it always going to feel like this?” Tina had asked, running her hands down the magnificent body in front of her.

“Like what?” Bette replied sleepily.

Tina thought for while, trying to convey her feelings into words.

“Last night made me feel so close to you, and yet I want to get closer. I feel so weak in the knees every time I look at you, but in your arms, I feel so strong and secure. We shared a few moments but I would choose those sweet moments over a life without you. If you were to stop breathing, I might suffocate. Your heart beats in your chest, but I feel the blood coursing through my veins. I can have anything in the world, but I only want you. And …”

“And?”

“I have this crazy thought that if I jumped off the Empire State Building, you will catch me,” she continued with a blush.

“I may. Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“You won’t actually jump. Your weight will crush my other leg. And we will both…”

“Bette!!!”

“…end up 50 feet below ground-level.”

“I hate you!!”

They had a small pillow-fight followed by a tickle-fest before Tina had to call in sick at work, retrieve her clothes and leave to catch Peggy Peabody. Bette decided she needed breakfast and coffee more than sleep, especially if she needed to get through the day with her less-than-average students. They both promised to meet back at the hotel room.

She neared the door of her suite and composed herself, armed only with a tape recorder that contained Helena’s confession, hoping it would be enough. But she still couldn’t wipe the ridiculous grin off her face; 2 more hours before she would see Bette again. She knocked on the door. God, this was going to be bad.

“Come in…”

Tina saw the door open and an immaculately dressed, sophisticated Peggy Peabody rushing back into the suite. This must be her lucky day. She spied a small, adorable Dalmatian lying idly near the fireplace.

“I must apologize, I am running late, but Rex here has been fed and…Wait, you are not here to look after my Rex.”

She looked long and hard at the blonde, trying to place her.

“No.” Tina stepped forward so Peggy could get a better look at her. “I am Tina Kennard. I am a friend of your daughter, Helena. We met last year at…”

Peggy waved her off. “Oh, you are the friend who has been trying to have a baby!”

Tina stared at her, shocked. How the hell did Ms. Peabody know that? Had Helena betrayed her confidence in social circles?

“Oh don’t look so surprised. Helena told me all about how she was trying to help you. What I don’t get is how you found out about my whereabouts, why you are here at this time, without an appointment.”

“I know you have a tight schedule. But this is regarding Helena and I was hoping to have some of your time. It is very important.”

“My dear, everything I do is very important. I have a board meeting I need to leave for right now, where decisions concerning millions have to be made, so if you would excuse me and make an appointment…”

“Please, I swear this is important. Helena could be in trouble with the law.” Tina interjected, holding up the tape recorder as evidence.

Peggy eyed the tape recorder and looked back at Tina, noting the sincere desperation on her face. She also knew her daughter was not beyond doing ridiculous things, from years of experience with the kind of situations she got herself into. From statutory rape to illegal-poaching of wildlife to hit-and-runs, Helena seemed to have done it all.

“Fine. You have 5 minutes. Here, take Rex and walk me to my limo.”

LAX Airport
8 am

“What do you mean you can’t put me on this flight? I have a business class ticket here for this flight! Look!” Alice shoved her ticket into the face of the customer service representative.

“Yes, madam, I realize that. But according to our system, you cancelled your place on this flight and took a later one. I can either put you on standby for economy class on this one or you can catch the plane at a later time.”

“What the friggin’ frack! I didn’t make any cancellations! I want to talk to your manager!”

“Yes, I will call her. But you still cannot board this flight unless we can ascertain that a seat is available. From the looks of it, this flight to New York is full.”

“Ugh, just who do you think you are?!”

Alice dropped the argument and moved away from the counter, luggage in tow. Maybe Helena had called and changed her seat to the next flight. She stormed to the priority customer waiting area and sat down in a huff, seething about the delay.
“Hello…” Alice turned when she heard a familiar voice greeting her.

“Eric! What are you doing here?” She gushed in surprised, drinking in his moussed hair, clean-shaven face, tinted aviator shades, his body clad in a sharp Armani suit.

“Nice to meet you to. Having flight trouble? I am selling chickens. What do you think I am doing here?” He took off his shades and winked at her mischievously.

“It’s nothing. I just got put on a later flight. It is too early in the morning. I have spent two weeks in Los Angeles and not once has my wife bothered to call me. I need coffee. No, maybe a sedative. My head hurts. I need sleep. I botched up an assignment and might be quitting my job. An international tennis star is in love with me. And I think you are following me,” Alice ranted away.

“Wow, that’s a lot for nothing. But since you are the one joining me on the next flight, aren’t you following me?”

“Very funny. Want to grab some coffee?”

She was really in need of good company and conversation, her head swarmed with so many uncertainties.

“And get a headache due to your constant banter? Wait, are you asking me out?” His eyes twinkled, remembering happier days when his jealous wife had beaten him up over a small misunderstanding.

Alice stood up and pulled him out of his seat.

“Yes, I think we should finally have that affair.”

Diva Headquarters, New York
10 a.m.

Helena had turned her office upside down by now, looking for the incriminating photos of Bette and Tina, evidence of their affair. She could not believe she had misplaced them on the most important day of her life.

She had it all planned out: With Alice gone away on assignment, Bette and Tina would grow closer and Tina would be the goose that laid her a golden egg. When Alice came back, Helena would enlighten her with this ‘breaking news’ and then comfort her after the emotional breakdown. Bette would happily walk away with a settlement and Alice would be free for Helena. And Tina was handsomely compensated with the best medical doctors to ‘fix her.’

In her head, Helena saw nothing morally wrong with her plan. Everything and everyone fell perfectly into place. It was better than dirtying her hands by killing Bette.

“When you have to rid the world of someone to turn out results in your favor, you have already lost all your creative sense,” she muttered to herself.

“I would say you have lost much more than that Helena.”

Helena swiveled around at the unexpected voice. Bette stood at her door clad in a white tank top, denim jeans and her trademark black coat. But it wasn’t her clothes that drew Helena’s attention. It was the fuming look in her eyes.

“Bette Porter. I certainly wasn’t expecting you here today.”

“Hello Helena.” Her voice was low and grim, almost dangerous.

She had sneaked out of the hotel room after Tina left, going home to change her clothes before coming to see Helena. Bette would not shy from facing her culprit and tormentor.

“Have a seat please.”

“I didn’t come here to sit down Helena. I know what you did to me, what you are doing to Tina. I came here to warn you. Stay away from my wife.”

Shit. Had Tina spilled the beans? She was the weakest link in her grand plan. Helena tried to remain calm even as Bette appeared to burn holes through her.

“That’s rather hard, considering I employ her. Would you rather that I fire Alice, so neither of you can earn a stable income?”

Bette winced visibly at the reminder of her inability as a breadwinner.

“You can’t have your cake and eat it too Bette.” Helena continued, referring to how Bette was playing with two women at the same time.

“I know that. But YOU are not worthy of her and there is no way that I will let you get anywhere close to her.!”

“Bette, now that everything is in the open, lets be honest here and make a deal. You do not deserve Alice. I do. Back out before you get hurt.”

“Yes, I don’t deserve Alice. But you don’t either. And once she hears all about your diabolically evil, mind-warped plans, she won’t come near you,” Bette stated confidently.

After all why would Alice want Helena who had brought so much pain into their lives?

“Fine. How much do you want?” Helena figured now was the time to take Bette out of the picture by paying her off.

“What?”

“Winston Churchill once said ‘Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge.’ How much money do you want to back out of her life and not utter a word about our little arrangement? You don’t love her Bette. You have nothing to lose. I will even throw in compensation for your knee.” Helena shrugged, pulling out a check book. Money was like air for this Peabody, she inhaled and exhaled without thought.

“Oh now you are trying to buy me with your money? No thanks. I won’t let a psycho like you come anywhere near Alice or continue to hurt Tina. You belong in a mental institution Helena.”

“1 million?”

Bette folded her arms, unwavering.

“2 million?”

Still no answer.

“5 million?”

“10 million, a 5% share in Peabody Inc. and a contract to head up our new gallery in Manhattan, New York,” Peggy declared, choosing this time to make her presence known.

“Mummy! What are you doing here?” Helena exclaimed, rising to her feet as her mother appeared in the doorway.

“Fixing your mess.”

“What? I haven’t…”

“Spare the details. I already heard them from the lovely Tina Lively. Name ring a bell?”

“Tina has lost her mind.”

“That would not be any of your concern starting immediately. Pack up here and at the mansion, you have a one-way ticket back to Britain. I will not have your criminal activities become front page news and malign the great philanthropic empire that I have built.”

“But mummy, the statute of limitations on a hit-and-run in New York is three years. Bette can’t bring criminal charges against me even if she has evidence,” Helena smirked.

“My dear dumb child, what you tried was a willful, deliberate, and premeditated attempt at murder with a maximum sentence being life in prison. There is no statute of limitations for any offense carrying a life sentence. I will hire the best lawyers to prosecute and send you to prison if I have to do so. I will also disinherit you of course because there is no place for a criminal Peabody in my family.”

She turned to Bette who was apparently fixated by her.

“Hello, Ms. Porter. It is such a pleasure to meet you. I love your work and would love to discuss in detail how we can work together in the very near future. I hope you find my offer enticing enough to accept it.”

Bette shook her hand, still dazed about being in the presence of Peggy Peabody, one of the greatest art collectors alive.

“Mummy…” Helena tried to cut in.

“Are you all packed up and ready to leave Helena?”

“You know what disappoints me, mummy? You always taught me, ‘If you want something done right, do it yourself!’ I was doing it myself.”

“Correction: You were doing it using the Peabody name. Without our family name Helena, who are you, really? You are not even worthy of a second glance. I will give you half an hour to get out of here while I speak with the lovely Bette Porter here. Your flight leaves at 5pm. Don’t try to miss it since that would mean losing all the privileges that come with the Peabody name, including your bank accounts and inheritance.”

She turned back to Bette again, leading her out of the room.

“So where were we again, Ms. Porter…”

Back at Marriot Marquis
10 a.m.

Tina entered their suite after her meeting with Peggy Peabody. The sophisticated and understanding billionaire had assured her that she would take care of Helena swiftly and decisively while compensating Bette to the physical and emotional grief. In return for her generosity, Tina promised to seal her lips about the illegal activities that Helena had indulged in and not bring negative attention to the Peabody name. Peggy had also offered Tina her old job at their studios, which she turned down.

“That’s very generous of you but I am at crossroads in my life. I can’t really take this offer up right now.”

“Then maybe after you give birth…”

Tina smiled and was about to deny that her decision had anything to do with her desire to become pregnant. And then it hit her.

The nausea, the periods of exhaustion, the extra-sensitivity in her breasts, and the absence of her period. Could she be pregnant? How was that possible? Memories of the night Bette had first kissed her came flooding back. She had slept with Eric. And that was more than two weeks ago.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Suddenly, Tina did not know how to think and feel. She did not know whether her world was collapsing or whether to celebrate in elation. She apologized and excused herself, making her way back to their hotel to find Bette.

Her love was gone, leaving Tina a note on the table to meet up after her lecture class.

“Damnit…”

How would Bette react if Tina was indeed, pregnant?

LAX Airport
9 am

Alice spied a couple giggling away in front of them at the Starbucks counter.

“Ugh, why are people in Los Angeles so happy?”

“I don’t think happiness has anything to do with geography,” Eric sighed wistfully, missing Tina.

“Right, they are probably happy since they haven’t tied the knot. Marriage is the root of all our problems,” Alice said, definitively.

“You may be right. They go home and get lucky. We go home today and we get more unlucky.”

“We go home to a grouch—the grinch who steals the day all year round—who doesn’t like anything, let alone like anybody,” Alice said, referring to Bette.

“They also don’t like us at times,” Eric quipped, thinking about Tina.

“Tell me Eric. Why did we get married?” She leaned into the table towards him.

He reciprocated. “We were insane.”

Alice banged her hand on the table. “Right! WE—you and me—should be single.”

“Single!” Eric proclaimed.
They were oblivious to the stares of everyone at Starbuck paying close attention to the commotion they were wrecking so early in the morning.

“Singles the way to be!” she shouted.

“I wanna be single,” he chimed with a grin.

“I wanna be single too,” Alice smiled triumphantly.

“And you know what?” Eric was also shouting now

“Yes?”

“WE are lying!”

“Yay… Oh.” Alice caught herself and looked down, studying her coffee intensely. The glares and stares faded away as everyone went back to their boring reality.

Eric shrugged helplessly. “I really love her.”

“I really love her too.” Her eyes brimmed with tears and Eric reached out to hold her hand to offer what little comfort he could.

In New York
12 pm

“I love you Bette.”

“I love you too Tina. I am heading to class now in 5 minutes. Where are you?”

“Back at home. Thinking about you. Why did you leave the hotel this morning? I missed you.”

“I remembered that I had an appointment. To be specific, did you miss me or did you miss …?” She left the question open, grinning like a Cheshire cat into the phone.

“If I had to be specific, I would say I missed both,” Tina blushed into the phone.

“Will I see you after my lecture, in my office?” Bette held her breath.

“I will be waiting. There’s something I need to tell you.” Tina eyed the positive pregnancy test on the bed beside her.

“There’s something I need to tell you too babe.”

Bette scanned her resignation letter once more before sending it to the printer.