X-mas eve, NY Subway

Tina sat on the crowded train absent-mindedly thumbing through the latest issue of Diva. The magazine was littered with images of beautiful women, and a meaningful segment of it devoted to lesbian and bisexual lifestyles. She paused as she read the feature article on Rachel Shelley who was boldly stating that she preferred sex scenes with women.

“Oh no, not you too!” groaned a very familiar, gyrating voice.

Tina looked up to see Bette towering over her, in tight blue jeans, a white blouse and black overcoat. Her breathe caught in her throat and her heart beat seemed to have entered the cardiovascular training zone. Damn this woman!

“Hi…don’t tell me you are one of those Diva converts too!” Bette said looking at the magazine in Tina’s lap, not bothering to disguise her disdain for it.

“What…What are you doing here?” Tina finally found her voice.

“…” Bette smirked and glanced around the slew of passengers in the train and then looked back at Tina as if the answer should be obvious. Before she could make another sarcastic remark, Tina had recovered.

“Ok…that was a stupid question, my bad. Here…” she gathered her things to get up and yield her seat to Bette.

“No!” Bette objected, shouting over the noise of the train, preparing to fight Tina over it. There was absolutely no way she would let Tina treat her as if she was handicapped. She was more than capable of standing up in a train, even though her knee did hurt every time the train lurched to a stop and then started to move again.

Tina paused. She was not sure about the extent of Bette’s knee injury. “Are you sure?” she asked and then added softly, “I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I am sure,” Bette gritted through her teeth, “I didn’t catch the last part. Speak up!” Did she just say she did not want me to get hurt? Too late for that T…Bette thought, shaking her head sadly.

“Oh nothing, just that should I be afraid of your weapon there?” Tina said, increasing her volume, eyeing the cane that Bette had used on her.