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Her head was full of music. She was hardly able to answer.
"I don't- What- Whatever you like."
He looked at her and stopped dead.
"God, Jo. You’re in tears.”
Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he began to dab at her eyes. It was an unexpectedly intimate gesture that took her completely aback. Her eyes met his, holding their gaze. The lobby faded away. All sound went still. The crowd parted and re-formed around them. In this moment, she was conscious of no one but him.
She didn’t know what would have happened next if she had not suddenly heard a familiar voice screeching her name. Jo whirled about to see her hairdresser, whose name seemed to always escape her head. The moment was now lost as she found herself instead engaged in meaningless conversation about time spent doing makeup for the performers.
Once she was gone, Jo turned back to King, who seemed to have retreated again.
"Let me get you a drink," he said. "Wait over there where it's quieter, I won't be long."
Jo hid behind a column until he came back with two glasses of champagne and a small plate of petit fours.
"Here, this should cheer you up," he said, giving her one of the glasses and offering up the plate of sweets for her to make a choice.
Jo managed to smile. “How did you know I liked these? And chocolate too!”
“Telepathy. Eat it quickly, the bell’s going to go any minute.”
The second half of the opera passed her by. Her mood was ruined in a way she couldn’t quite grasp. To his credit, he sensed this fairly rapidly.
“It hasn’t been a very good evening, has it?”
“Of course, it has. Thank you for asking me. I enjoyed the opera."
King eyed her sideways over the steering wheel.
"No, you didn't. Next time, I'll take you to lunch. We’ll go somewhere quiet and just talk."
Jo nodded, unsure of what he was playing out. The rules seemed to be changing, or were they. It seemed each time she thought that, it only ended up smacking her in the face with regret.
“What have you accomplished at the new place?” he asked.
“A good bit, really. The side area is enclosed finally, so the interior work can begin. I will be moving into the livable part this week.”
“Do you mind if we swing by and I get a look? I’m interested to see what you’ve done.”
“Really? Sure. Okay.”
They made their way to the house where she had first met him, and she found it all a bit surreal. It was hers now, and he was her visitor. They made their way into the large rolling door and flipped the lights on. It still appeared pretty industrial, but now, there were walls, and that was an improvement.
“Tell me what you plan to do here now that you’ve had time to sort it all out,” he said curiously.
Jo walked him around, showing him what her intentions were with each portion of the completed area.
“And the other area? Have you made changes there as well?”
“No, not yet. I’m not sure I will. I like it the way it is, other than the fireplace. I may return it to its original status as a wood burning structure rather than the gas insert.”
“Yes, I always thought it should be that.”
There was a hesitation, or so she imagined it, and she found herself asking him in for a drink.
"No, I don't think so. Not this evening. You're tired."
He bent his head and kissed her on the cheek, as he had done at the beginning of the evening. "Just don't fall into bed and cry yourself to sleep over the opera." Then he kissed her again, a third time, on the mouth.
Jo didn’t know what compelled her to take a step forward and kiss him back. Partly exhaustion, partly unhappiness, partly curiosity. Partly because she hadn't forgotten the moment they had before they had been interrupted during intermission, partly because she felt miserable that night and merely wanted someone to hold her. There had been things going on under the surface for weeks. This seemed as good a time as any to find out if they were real or he truly was so cold beneath it all.
Right now, she didn't give a damn about houses and agreements. All she wanted was for him to kiss her. And he did. His mouth opened under hers, and his arms went around her small frame. For a moment, she lost track of time and place. A loud noise sounded behind him as a partition inexplicably fell over and hit the floor, sending them flying apart.
They looked at each other in surprise. She moved back against him and slid her arms around his neck. She liked the feel of his lips. She liked being near him. All she wanted was to go on kissing him.
