Bette leant back on the chair that she was sat on and took a long swig of beer. It was going to be a long night. She watched as her girlfriend engaged in yet another nonsensical debate with Alice on some apparently high profile actress that Bette had never heard of.
"I'm telling you, she uses a body double!" Alice insisted.
"How would you know? Have you seen her in the flesh?" Jodi asked.
"Look, you can just tell ok. When you see photos of her and stuff. There's no way her boobs are that pert with no support"
"And you're the expert are you?"
"I happen to know a thing or two about tits, yes" Alice smirked.
Bette just rolled her eyes. It was another night, another stupid bar, and another evening of wishing she could be around some intelligent conversation for a change. It wasn't that she was adverse to light-heartedness, it was just that recently everything that Jodi seemed to want to talk about struck her as completely meaningless.
"I'm going to the bar, anyone want anything?" Bette asked.
She was waved away by the women around her who seemed far to engrossed in their latest discussion on how to tell if someone had had a boob job or not to care about where she was going.
When she reached the bar Bette leant over and caught the bartenders attention to order another beer. Just as she did this she felt a hand on her shoulder. Spinning round, she was greeted by the sight of Tina, who she couldn't help but notice looked absolutely breathtaking in a black halter neck that left an inch of her taught midriff exposed above tight black trousers.
"Tina, hey!" Bette smiled genuinely.
"Bored of the celebrity gossip already?" Tina asked, indicating Alice and Jodi with a nod.
"How did you guess?"
"You forget how well I know you"
"How could I ever forget?" Bette smiled again, before silently chastising herself. She almost felt as though she was flirting with Tina. Wait, that was insane. She was with Jodi now. And neither her nor Tina had an interest in each other. Right? She pushed the thought to the back of her mind and tried frantically to come up with a neutral conversation.
"So, how's the film going?" she asked, genuinely interested.
Tina pulled a face "On schedule at least. The less time I have to spend with that bunch of sef-obsessed arseholes, the better"
Bette laughed. Sometimes she really missed the honesty with which Tina spoke. And the way she crinkled her nose when she was talking about something she didn't like. And the way she tucked her hair behind her ears when she was nervous. Which she was doing now. Shit, why was Tina nervous? And why was she thinking like that?
"Err…Bette? Are you okay?" Tina reached out to touch Bette's arm and Bette jumped at the contact.
"Sorry, I was miles away"
"Wishing you were somewhere else?" Tina asked softly.
"Yes…no…I mean, not wishing I wasn't standing here with you. It's just…bars like this really aren't my scene" Bette stumbled over her words.
Tina laughed "It's ok, I know what you mean. I'll let you into a secret" she leant in to talk into Bette's ear in a stage whisper "It's not my scene either"
Bette felt a slight shiver run down her spine as Tina's breath tickled her neck "But I thought you'd be used to all these late nights, drunken parties and suchlike, what with being in the film business"
"Ha, I hope to God I never get used to them. Just coz I am unfortunate enough to have to attend them all the time does not mean I enjoy them. Give me a bottle of wine, a sofa and a good movie any time"
"Cheers to that" Bette chinked her bottle with Tina's.
"Well, at least you have an excuse to stay in"
"What do you mean?"
"Jodi. When you're single, apparently you have no excuse" Tina said ruefully.
"Ah yes. If only she thought like that" Bette bit her lip and looked down.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything"
"It's ok" Bette looked up and tried her best to smile at Tina "I should probably be heading back over there. Not that they'll have noticed I'm gone, I'm sure Kate whoevers breasts are far more interesting"
Tina laughed softly, and Bette was once again reminded of how much she missed that sound. The sound of genuine laughter.
"Would you like to join us?" Bette offered.
"Umm…sure" Tina said hesitantly and followed Bette to the table.
"Look who I found" Bette announced.
Alice and Jodi stopped mid-conversation to glance up at the new arrival at the table.
"Tina! Come here!" Alice got up and embraced her.
"Tina, what a pleasant surprise" Jodi smiled, and Bette couldn't help but be embarassed at her insincerity.
However, if Tina noticed it, she hid it well, and for that Bette was grateful.
"Tina, what's your opinion? We're talking about boobs, and whether there's such a thing as a bad pair" Alice asked enthusiatically.
"I…well, I can't say I've ever had any complaints to make" Tina stole a quick glance at Bette when no-one was looking, causing the brunette to blush.
"See!" Alice said excitedly "I told you, all boobs are good!"
Bette and Tina made eye contact once again and Bette rolled her eyes, causing Tina to stifle a laugh.
"Right, I need to dance. Bette, are you coming?" Jodi stood.
"Erm, not right now. I'm not really feeling it yet"
"Sure"
"I'll join you" Alice jumped up, clearly with far too much energy to burn.
"So" Bette turned to Tina once the other two had left "You've never experienced a bad pair of boobs?"
The two women laughed.
"Well, unfortunately my experience with women is somewhat inferior to the rest of the table. And of course, some have been better than others. But when you've been with perfection, well, it's hard for the others to measure up" Tina winked, and then before Bette had a chance to respond she stood up "I'll be right back"