Bette and Tina’s quiet evening was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. When Bette opened the door, she was startled to see Helena.

“Hi Helena, what brings you here at this hour?”

“Why, can’t I even see my girlfriend?”

“I’m not your girlfriend.” said Tina, walking over to the door.

Helena caught hold of Tina’s hand.

“Tina please, come back. You said the house was spectacular and so I bought it. I even reserved a room especially for you.. and the baby.”

“Let go of me, Helena! You are hurting me.”

“You heard her, Helena. Let go of her. “

Tina struggled to free from Helena’s strong clutches while Bette pulled onto Helena’s hands.

“What are you trying to do?” questioned Bette.

“I’m just trying to get back what’s mine. Between Tina and you, it’s all over. Face it, Bette.”

“No! I love Bette and she’s the only one I want to be with.”

“Tina! Bette is jobless! CAC fired her! She cannot afford to bring the baby up with you!”

“You fired me, you mean!” flared Bette.

Helena gave Bette a poisonous look.

“So what even if I did? I am rich, I am powerful. Who do you think you are, to fight with me?”

“I don’t care even if Bette doesn’t have a job. I love her all the same. I don’t care even if Bette cannot afford to support the baby and me. I’ll face it together with her. I rather face all the difficulties with Bette than to enjoy a life of luxury with you. Do you understand me Helena? I love Bette so much. Even if it means living poor with her, it doesn’t matter because I’ll be happy all the same.”

“Then have you considered about the baby, Tina?”

“It’s none of your concern. We can face this ourselves.” replied Tina.

Helena nodded her head and looked at both Bette and Tina. Then she backed away from their corridor.

“You will regret this, Tina! And Bette, I won’t lose to you! I won’t lose to anyone! That baby is mine!” Helena screamed.

Bette shut the door and held onto Tina while Tina trembled in fright.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay.” Bette whispered to Tina.

Bette lifted Tina’s head, tilted hers and they kissed. They kissed hard and passionately. Slowly, they led each other to the bedroom and made passionate love to each other.

When dawn break, the couple was still in bed, their arms around one another.

“Good morning, sweetie.” Bette whispered while caressing onto Tina’s cheeks. Tina, with her eyes still closed, smiled and held onto

Bette’s arms tighter.

“Let’s go check out on Angelica, darling” Tina said.

They got dressed and went into the nursery to check on Angelica.

“She’s so beautiful.”

“Yes, she is, Tina.”

“Shall we bring her out today? To the mall.”

“Good idea, we could shop for some groceries and buy more milk and pampers for our darling too.”

Meanwhile, Dana was sitting on her couch, pondering over the Lara-Alice issue. She had sat there the entire night, thinking about the two of them. Ultimately, it wasn’t her mind that led her to a decision. It was her heart. She decided that Lara and her could have a better shot and Alice and her could very well remain as friends……. for now at least. She reached out for the receiver and was about to call Lara when her doorbell rang.

“Coming!”

“Well.. Al!”

“Hi Dana. Can we kiss?”

Before Dana could reply, Alice pushed Dana in and shut the door. She started kissing Dana passionately and her hands were tight on Dana’s hips. Dana paused for a second and then responded. They then began to undress each other and Alice pushed Dana to the couch. She reached into her colourful bag and pulled out a *****. She smiled at Dana and they began to work on it.
By the end of it, they were both spent and exhausted. Alice held onto Dana while Dana displayed a worried look. Alice noticed and she begun to speak.

“Dana, I know you want to be with Lara. I just couldn’t control myself earlier on. I want you to know that this doesn’t mean you are obliged to be with me.”

“I know, Alice. As much as what just happened isn’t a mistake, we will need to refrain from it, okay?”

Alice nodded her head reluctantly. They got dressed and then Dana went to look for Lara.

“Lara, I want you to know, that I want to be with you.”

Lara looked at Dana and smiled. They hugged tightly.

“Look D, I gotta go for work now. We’ll talk tonight? I love you baby.”

Dana nodded.

“I love you too baby.”

Dana drove Lara to The Planet. They went in together and caught sight of Shane, Jenny and Alice. Dana headed over to their table.

“Hey Dana”

“Hey guys”

“We were just talking about female ejaculation” said Shane cheekily.

“Yeahh! We know you had one, Dane. With Lara. Tell us about it all over again.” said Jenny.

“What’s all this? Why do you suddenly bring up the topic?” asked a confused Dana.

“Well, apparently, our friend Jenny here wants to know how to get Marina to ejaculate.” laughs Shane.

“Shut up! Don’t pretend that you don’t wanna know” Jenny retaliated.

“Al, why are you so quiet?” asked a concern Shane.

“Nothing! Female ejaculation, you were saying? Great. I would love to hear about it too.”

Shane drew a picture of the ***** and showed the rest.

“Okay everyone, let’s all list our sensitive parts.”

They observed the picture and then

“Mine’s #1″

“Mine’s #7″

“Mine’s #5″

“Woah, looks like everyone has a different sensitive spot, eh? Jenny, what bout Marina? Do you know?” Shane said half-laughingly.

“What bout yours, Shane? Where’s yours?”

“#12345678910″

“You horny *****.”

“Look, that’s Bette and Tina and baby Angelica” gestured Alice.

“Hey Bette, hey Tin. We haven’t seen your faces for such a long time! What have you been busy with?”

“***** all week long, am I right? I bet it is.”

The both of them smiled.

“Where’s Kit?” asked Bette

“Kit’s on a holiday” said Marina, walking over.

“What?”

“Benjamin Bradshaw came last night.”

Bette nodded her head. She got the picture. Her sister needed some time alone.

The door banged open.

Everyone turned their heads towards the entrance.

It was Helena.

She walked over to them and smiled. Then she turned to Tina.

“Tina, look what I’ve bought for our baby.”

Helena reached out into a bag and pulled out many toddler’s toys.

Tina and Bette looked at her exasperatedly. The rest only stared in confusion, and amazement.

“Helena, what do you mean your baby?” asked Alice.

Helena reached out for Angelica who was sleeping peacefully in a pram in between Bette and Tina.

“Don’t touch her!” cried Bette.

“Why can’t I?! It’s my baby isn’t it?!”

“No, it isn’t, Helena. We’ve said this before. This isn’t your baby. It belongs to Bette and I.”

“NO! It belongs to me. It belongs to me and you. We are a couple, remember, Tina?”

“Stop it Helena!”

Helena reached out for Tina and Bette shoved her away.

“THAT IS MY BABY!!!!!! WHY ARE YOU KEEPING ME AWAY FROM MY BABY?!”

Marina, upon hearing the screams, got out of the counter and took Helena by her shoulders. She and Shane pulled Helena out of The Planet.

“What a *****.” said Shane when she came in.

“Thanks Marina.” said Tina.

“You’re welcome.” Marina smiled at them.

She went back to the counter and busied herself with the overflowing queue of customers.

“What was that? You guys ought to do something about it.” said Alice.

“Totally agree.” said Dana, nodding her head while sipping her drink.

“What can we do? I mean, she’s been to our house this morning and made such a big fuss over the baby too.”

“Better be careful, guys. She’s a devil” said Jenny.

“Alright, thank you for your concerns. Would all of you like to come over to our place for dinner then?”

“Love to!” they all cried in unision.

“Marina! Would you like to join us?” Shane called across.

“No, no I won’t be free tonight. Enjoy yourselves.” said Marina.

Shane caught the disappointed expression on Jenny’s face and shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay, I need to go to the radio station.”

“I need to go for a jog.”

“Looks like everyone’s leaving. Alright, Bette and I better go home and whip up something good for tonight.”

The gang dispersed eventually.

Jenny walked over to the counter.

“What are you doing tonight, Marina?”

“Well, I have a date.”

“A what? Did I just hear you say a date?”

“Jenny, what’s up with you?”

“Marina, I thought, we were together.”

Marina paused for a moment.

“Look Jenny, we are not in a monogamous relationship. You are free to date anyone you want and I am free to do so, you understand?”

“No! I don’t! I mean, I thought we loved each other?”

“I like you, Jenny. But it doesn’t mean we need to be together. Look at Alice and Dana. They are friends.”

Marina reached out for Jenny.

“Jenny, listen, we are friends, we are lovers, we are girlfriends, we are everything. Just like companions. But that doesn’t mean we need to be just having ***** with one another. I’m tired of monogamous relationship. I’m tired of belonging to just someone alone. I want to be myself, I want to be alone and have ***** as and when I like, with whoever I feel like it. I like you, Jenny. Very much. But not right now. Right now, I don’t want to be in a relationship where there’s only you and me. I hope you will understand me, Jenny.”

“I can’t believe you just said all these, Marina. I thought we had it all. I thought, we were in this relationship. I thought, you loved me. Why are you doing this to me? Do you actually know how much I feel for you? The moment I saw you til today. I haven’t loved a woman before you. I certainly wouldn’t have ended the relationship with Tim for any men, much less a woman. Do you know what you have done to me? To my life? Everytime I see you, I feel something I have not felt before. It’s so real, so intoxicating. You are like a strong magnet, drawing me to you. I love you with every single breathe I take, Marina. Since the very day I saw you.”

Jenny paused for awhile, as if she was thinking, then she continued.

“I’m not going to hold it against you that you aren’t in the right state for a monogamous relationship. I’m not going to get angry and ruin this beautiful relationship between us. I think I jumped to the conclusion that we are together, in a relationship but we haven’t really talked about it and now we have, and I know you’re not prepared, all I want you to know is that, I love you and I always will, Marina. I’ll give you all the time you need in the world. I believe in miracles. Look at Shane and Carmen. It’s amazing. It’s so beautiful, the bond they share between them. And most of all, I believe in you. No matter how many hurtful things you’ve done to me, deep down, I know, you have a heart and I want to be the one to reach out to it.”

Marina was lost for words. She could only gaze at Jenny. Jenny smiled at Marina.

“I’m going back to write. I hope to see you soon.”

As Jenny leave The Planet, Marina went back into her office, sat down on the armchair and pondered. She have been caught in a big trap before. Twice, to be precise. One by her rich ex-husband, another by her rich ex-girlfriend. She was, at the moment, feeling slightly commitment-phobia. But Jenny, oh Jenny. She had been so sweet to her. No anger, no resentment. Just patience and love, and more love…