She finally takes my hand, and an electric current jolts my skin from my fingers to my palm, across my wrist and up my forearm.
Rather glad I’m in a long-sleeve shirt so that she can’t see the gooseflesh rising on my arm.
But I get the pleasure of seeing it erupt on her arm.
Or rather the torture.
Why must the woman I’m most attracted to in years have secret intentions that will likely be disastrous for both of us?
And why must I insist on subjecting myself to the torture?
Ah, yes.
Art.
Art will always be torture, and also worth the torture, even if the attraction will not.
So we’d best get on with it.
8
SURELY NOTHING WILL GO WRONG IF WE ADD BUBBLY TO THE MIX
Simon
I say goodnight to Daphne,and Bea and I step into the apartment hallway. It smells of curry and ginger, and for a moment, I feel as though I’m back in London despite having spent as little time as possible there since my early twenties, before the boys were born. Bea drops my hand and leads me to the lift. When she presses the button, the doors open nearly immediately.
And then we’re inside.
Just the two of us.
In a very small space with ivory walls and the curry and ginger scents from the hallway lingering with a hint of cigar smoke.
Bea presses 1 on the button panel beside the silver doors as they slide shut.
I stand in the middle of the car, unsure of how much space I should give her now that it’s just the two of us and the elephants that she doesn’t seem to realize have also boarded the lift with us.
“Have you lived here long?” I inquire as we begin our descent.
“I moved in with Daph when—when I broke up with someone a few months ago.”
“Ah.”
“How long are you in Athena’s Rest?”
“Through the summer, likely. I’m due in Los Angeles in September.”
“Filming your next show?”
“A movie. They’ve delayed production to accommodate my schedule with the boys this summer, in fact, which still feels rather odd.”
She makes a soft hum of acknowledgment while I tell myself to stop talking.
The lift shudders to a stop, the doors open, and Tank greets us to accompany us out to the waiting SUV limousine.
This is quite a different experience from the last time I dated anyone.
Not that this is adatedate. The real kind.
