Primoris, Permaneo quod Eternus

Rating:

Pairing: Bette and Tina

Disclaimer: Not mine, although I'd like to own them both! I suppose that's a bit greedy, I'll have Tina and the person with the nicest review can keep Bette!

Summary: I know it's been done loads before but this is my take on how Bette and Tina proceeded from the 'thing with the ear ring' when they first met.

Chapter 1

It was a normal sunny day in LA, a hot sun was beating down on a fairly quiet downtown street but there was a refreshing cool breeze. It was the perfect day to be out and about in the fresh air, which was exactly what the pretty blond Tina Kennard had planned to do, until she had gone to the art gallery.

Instead she sat in the driver's seat of her SUV contemplating what an earth had just occurred. She dared not try to drive away yet as there was no way she was going to be able to focus on the road. She felt like her head was spinning out of control as her thoughts raced over the events of the past fifteen minutes. She had never been so utterly blown away by a simple kiss before, in fact, she had never even contemplated kissing a woman before. Bette Porter, the elegant, articulate, intelligent and very beautiful art dealer had completely left her lost for words.

There had been something there instantly when they had met the week before. A pull, something alluring in Bette Porter's manner that had made Tina feel ... something. She couldn't quite place her finger on it at the time, she had never felt it before and it had made very little sense. Then last night, at the artist's dinner all these feelings resurfaced again and multiplied. Tina just knew that when the gallery owner had caught that runaway earring for her, that something inside her reacted involuntarily and unexplainably.

When Tina had got home, after shaking of her slightly irritating boyfriend, she had realised that the earring had fell of yet again. She had made up her mind to go back to the gallery the next day and see if it had been found. Partly because they had been bought for her by a very dear friend and was of emotional value, but there was certainly a slight inclination to see Bette Porter again.

So the next day at mid morning (when the traffic is at the lowest) she had drove to the gallery and inquired if the earring had been found. She was glad to hear from the man at the reception that it had been discovered and had been led to a room. That room was Bette Porter's office, inside of which was the lady herself, sat at her desk. She had immediately risen to her feet and grinned, dismissing the young man politely in the process. She picked up an envelope and emptied its contents into her right hand before approaching from around the desk with unimaginable grace.

"I could have sworn I watched you put this back on" she murmured as she came to a halt only a few inches in front of Tina. She raised her hand slightly and opened her palm, revealing the offending earring. Tina remained silent, no words were making themselves readily available and it felt as if her brain had turned to slush. Instead she just slowly reached out her hand to pick the earring up but as her hand closed on the item her fingers brushed gently against the gallery owners palms and she froze. Tiny shockwaves shot up her fingers and into her hand like sparks of fire and before she could fully focus on the sensation Bette Porter closed her hand around hers gently, setting her whole hand ablaze.

Tina's eyes instantly shot to the gallery owners and were held there by deep pools of chocolate and that alluring smile Bette Porter seemed to be so good at. Tina could not look away and before she really knew what was going on the gallery owner had closed the space between their faces and gently kissed her on the lips. It was brief and soft but Tina's lips felt the same sensation that her hands had done only seconds before. Then she felt something in the pit of her stomach, like she was carrying a huge weight inside of her.

The gallery owner pulled away slightly and smiled at her, making eye contact again. Even though Tina felt completely lost she felt herself smiling back involuntarily and wishing for more. They had stayed stood there, looking into each other's eyes for a few seconds until Bette had broken the silence.

"I apologise, that was a bit foreword of me" she stated softly, still smiling and confident, but she removed her hand from Tina's. Tina's hand suddenly felt freezing without the contact and she involuntarily reached out for Bette's hand again and brushed her fingers against the gallery owner's knuckles. Bette Porter smiled warmly and turned her hand so that their fingers brushed against each other, returning the sparks to Tina's hand.

The moment was broken though by the same man who had shown Tina into the office. He knocked on the open door and informed Bette that a Mr Cousin had arrived for their meeting.

"I'll be there in two minutes" the gallery owner told him calmly and he scampered away at some speed. Bette Porter turned her attention back to Tina who was trying to focus and say something coherent as she hadn't even spoke a word yet.

"I better go" was all Tina mustered with limited conviction in her voice. The gallery owner looked frustrated and shifted her weight from foot to foot a couple of times.

"May I give you my cell phone number?" she asked softly, briefly letting their eyes meet again. Tina felt something inside of her lurch slightly, but not in an unpleasant way.

"Yes" Tina whispered in response, and inwardly cursed herself for sounding so fragile and lost. The elegant gallery owner didn't even seem to notice and she quickly jotted down her number on a piece of memo paper from her desk, broadly grinning as she did so. She took hold of the hand that did not have the earring in and placed the paper into Tina's palm, then closed Tina's fingers around it.

"Don't lose it" she said in a sultry voice and flashed Tina a cheeky smile before gesturing out the door. Tina felt the corners of her mouth rise involuntarily again and she turned away slowly and tried to walk in a controlled and vaguely elegant manner out of the office. She had achieved it up until she had exited the building, when she had walked as quickly as she could to her car.

That would be the car she was still sat in, about 200 yards away from the gallery, contemplating why on earth she felt so completely besotted over someone she had only just met. Someone who also happened to be female. Tina had only ever been with men before and had never even considered women. However, she found that although she was shocked, she was not bothered at all by the idea of being with a woman. A fact that now made her life a little bit interesting, did she bin the number and stay with the boring boyfriend, or did she bin the boyfriend and ring the very enticing Miss Porter?