"Nicholas...would you like to explain this?" She asked, her tone sugary.
He turned back to her. "Explain what, darling?" He replied in kind.
"Oh, I think you KNOW what I'm talking about." She said, placing the magazine on the counter, face down.
"Ohhh...that."
"Yes, darling...THAT."
"What about it? It's just a dumb magazine!"
She raised an eyebrow, her arms folded. "Uh huh...if it's just a dumb magazine...why wasn't I informed of this until now?"
"Because it's not that big of a deal!" He protested, getting himself a drink of water.
"Big deal or not...I would like to think that I would be the first woman to know that my husband is the Sexiest Man Alive."
He rolled his eyes.
"Nick..."
"What?" He grumbled.
"Why didn't you just tell me? I knew that you'd gone to a photo shoot, but you told me that it was something Louis was doing for his studio promotion..."
"Which was true, in part...Louis did use some of the photos, but so did People..."
Lena shook her head, a tiny smile growing. Why was it so hard for her to stay mad at her husband?
"Do you realize I got this from Sam?" She asked, looking at her husband, finally releasing her amused smile.
"What?" He asked.
"Oh yes..."
He shivered slightly.
"Come on...you knew that was a possibility, right?"
"Believe me, I try NOT to think about these things!"
She laughed. "Well...I thought the pictures were excellent!"
He reddened slightly.
"What?"
"Nothing...I thought the pictures were okay, but nothing to write home about..."
"I'm your wife...you should write home about these kinds of pictures...trust me..."
"If you say so." He shrugged.
"I see..."
Nick gave her a confused look.
"I see that you're shy..."
"I am NOT shy!"
"Nick..." She laughed.
He folded his arms across his chest and leaned up against the doorway. "What?" He asked.
"Nothing."
Sighing, he threw his hands up.
"What's the problem?"
"Except for the fact that I don't understand women, nothing..."
She laughed, "Okay...so maybe I'm not making any sense...much like when we were
dating..."
"But you're hot!" She finished as he opened his mouth to say something.
He stared at her for a moment.
"What?" She asked, not being able to remember a time when he had looked at her like that.
He shook his head, smiling as he walked out of the room.
She shook her head, chuckling as she turned back to fixing lunch.
--
Meanwhile, Tony waited in the studio for Elena. The minutes ticked by slowly, and finally, at ten until eleven, she arrived. At the sight of her, he lightly hopped over to give her a hug. "Elena!"
"Hi, Tony." She said, with a sigh.
"Something wrong?" He asked, as he noticed her business-like attitude.
"No." She said, forcing a smile to her face.
"Okay…" He said, realizing that she didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering her…whether it was him or not.
"You're chipper today." She said, noticing his upbeat attitude.
"What?" He asked, genuinely surprised.
"You're in a particularly good mood. What's going on?"
"Nothing that I know of…" He said, puzzled.
"Really?"
He debated about whether or not to tell her about Ria, but decided against it.
"Tony, you're trying to keep something from me…I can tell…"
"I'm not trying to keep anything from you, Elena!" He said, genuinely.
"What's her name?" She asked after a brief silence.
"Now why…"
"I have a sixth sense about these things…"
"Maria Sangford, but everyone calls her Ria."
She nodded, biting down her feelings. "Good for you."
"Elena…"
"Tony, you have a girlfriend. And I'm happy for you." She said, forcing a smile, though the lump that welled up in her throat was hard to disguise.
Tony went to put his arms around her. "Elena…"
"Don't." She said, mournfully.
He sighed. "I'm sorry."
She shook her head as she turned from him to hide her unbidden tears. "No…don't be…"
"You're someone that's very important to me, and I don't want you to be miserable…even if the circumstances that make me happy are the very circumstances contributing to your misery."
She managed to pull herself back together. This wasn't a time to get emotional. "Well…you're happy. And that's all that matters. Now, let's rehearse."
Tony wanted to put his arms around and make her feel better, but something told him that action would have the opposite effect. "Well…actually, Lena ran into an old friend of yours. She thought you might want to see each other, and this was the only time that he had open. He's starting a new studio here, and thought that you and he might have lunch sometime…"
"Tony…I'm okay…you can date who you want, but…don't try to make yourself feel better by setting me up with…"
"Elena?" A baritone voice called, heavy with a Russian accent.
She turned, surprised. "Artem?"
"Elena, I had not heard from you in long time. Thought you forget me…"
"How could I forget you? I…I threw you into the pool." She laughed.
Tony slipped away, allowing the two to speak and reminisce. "You gonna be okay?"
She nodded, motioning for him to go. "It's my old friend, Artem! We'll be fine. Now, you go and say hello to your gorgeous girlfriend…"
"My gorgeous girlfriend, huh?"
"Had to be to steal you away!"
As Tony allowed the studio door to close, Artem looked at Elena apologetically. "I sorry…English not so good…was deported after summer we lived next door."
"No, you're fine." She said, reverting to her mother tongue. "We have an advantage."
He sighed in relief. "Thank you…this is much more comfortable for me…"
"I figured it would be." She laughed as she took his arm. "Now, where are we going?"
"There is a little bistro around the corner. I have been wanting to go to it for a while…do you want to join me?"
"I would love to."
--
Tony got onto his cell phone. "Hook line and sinker." He said, with a chuckle as Lena answered the phone.
"I thought so…Elena's always saying how she wants to talk to him again, and…when Nick and I ran into him, I thought of her immediately!"
"Now, I'm going to call my girlfriend and ask her to join me for lunch."
"She's at the base…I don't think she'll be available…" Lena said, regretfully.
"Dang it! Maybe the kids wanna come with me?"
"I'm sure a handful or two of them would…"
"How about just one or two…I'll catch the others later…"
"Tommy and Nicky are feeling somewhat neglected." Lena said, honestly.
"Then, Tommy and Nicky and I are going to lunch!"
She laughed. "Okay."
"I'll be there to pick them up in a few minutes."
--
Ria walked up to the surface, her coat snugly wrapped around herself as her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Ria, it's me, Tony."
"Tony!" She greeted, enthusiastically.
"How was work?"
"Exhausting." She admitted with a tiny chuckle.
"And just what would you do in Cheyenne Mountain that could make the nursing staff exhausted?"
"You'd be surprised."
"In other words, it's classified."
"Sorry."
"No, it's okay…I guess you don't want to come and practice the waltz, then, do you?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"You've just gotten off a long day, haven't you?"
"Yes, but after I go home and rest for an hour or so, I'd love to be able to spend some time with my boyfriend."
He chuckled. "Great. Call me, and I'll come pick you up."
"Or we could practice in my living room."
"We could do that…but I have a studio space that Elena and I are renting. I thought we'd use that."
"Okay. What should I wear?"
"Comfortable shoes and a skirt, preferably one that flows a little bit for the turns and counter turns."
"Okay, that just went right over my head." She laughed.
She could hear his smile over the phone. "Sorry…it's the technical lingo."
"No, don't apologize. It's cool…"
"Oh, yeah…really cool!"
She laughed. "Well, coolness aside, if you want, you can come by at seven. I should have dinner ready. You and I can eat then or after rehearsal."
"Sounds good."
"Great."
"I guess I'll see you later tonight."
"Yes. I'll see you later tonight."