Page 119 of Enthrall
I gave another nod as did Richard.
Cameron sat back. “I’ve never seen you so in love with a woman, Booth.”
This felt like some kind of private counseling session and I suppose in many ways it was.Never so in love; could these words of his carry the truth my heart pined to hear.
“Mia?” said Cameron.
“Yes.”
“Well?” Cameron cupped his hand near his ear.
“Go steady on her,” said Richard.
“Like hiding underwater, steady?” Cameron frowned. “Mia, you’ve met the man of your dreams.”
“Have you ever been in love?” said Richard.
“Um, I don’t think so,” I said.
“That’s anothen,” said Cameron. “And for the record that’s what you’re feeling.”
Had my stomach not felt overfull it would have done a flip, yet I’d hardly eaten.
“People go around in a state of emotional flat line,” said Cameron. “Have you noticed?”
“You know the zombie metaphor is surprisingly accurate,” said Richard. “Have you ever walked around a store and really looked at people. They’re all in some kind of trance. I refuse to live like that.”
“We live in the moment,” said Cameron.
“Consciously aware,” added Richard.
Cameron gave a nod. “And we choose to experience the pain that lies here.” He rested his hand on his heart. “And externalize it.”
“Pain also turns us on,” said Richard. “It’s the way we’re made.”
“So you feel pain but no other emotions?” I asked Richard.
“They appear to be returning,” he said, throwing a crooked smile at Cameron.
“You’re ready,” Cameron whispered to him.
There it came again. That long stare between them. That silent way they spoke without words. That mutual nod revealing they’d shared their thoughts.
“Mia,” said Richard softly. “You’ll make the most exquisite submissive.”
A thrill shot up my spine.
Cameron reached into his shirt pocket. “I have a prescription for you both.” He held up the piece of paper for me to read.
Richard took the note. “Planetarium?”
“It’s where I’m taking you now,” said Cameron. “I know exactly what’s ailing you both. And I know the cure.”
WITHIN GRIFFITH’S OBSERVATORY PLANETARIUM, lying on a Burberry blanket that Richard had borrowed from Cameron’s car, we stared up at the three dimensional display of swirling planets.
Cameron had not only made this happen, he’d used his contacts here at the observatory to secure us a private viewing, arranging for Richard and I to have the place to ourselves. Right behind us were row upon row of plush seats, and all of them were able to recline to enable a good view of the planetary display on the ceiling. The show that Richard and I were currently enjoying from our vantage point on the floor, smack bang in the middle of the room. Wagner, according to Richard, was the classical music playing in the background as we witnessed the dramatic intergalactic dance on the curved screen above.
Richard pointed to the planets. “Saturn, Jupiter, and of course Venus.” He beamed when he saw that one.
