Page 19 of 7+Us Makes Nine

“Well then, tonight’s on me.”

“Why?” she asked.

I parked the car in the ‘owner’ parking space before I turned and looked at her.

“Why what?” I asked.

“Why are you taking me to the theater?”

“Do you not like the theater?”

“I’ve never been. But…”

I could tell there was something she wanted to ask. A question she wanted clarification on. I unbuckled my seat belt and turned fully towards her. I wanted her to ask. I wanted her to open up to me. I wanted to take this time we had together and make the most of it.

Because I knew she would be the children’s come morning time.

“You look really nice in that suit,” she said before she shoved herself out of my car.

I sighed and let myself out before I walked around towards her. I offered her my arm again and we walked inside. People were dressed in their finest outfits and donning their most expensive jewelry. Champagne was moving around the floor, bussed by waiters holding silver trays. I plucked a couple off a moving tray and handed one to Catherine, and I watched as she gawked around the room.

“Wow,” she said.

“Do you like it?” I asked.

“Are all theaters like this?”

“No,” I said. “Which is why I want mine to be like this.”

She looked over at me with a light in her eyes that made my chest surge with pride. This was what I’d missed. Giving people experiences they would never forget. It was why I bought the theater. I wanted to give the people of California an immersive experience that would keep them coming back time after time. And by the look on Catherine’s face, I could tell I was giving her just that. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the beauty of the theater I’d tried so hard to preserve.

“To a wonderful night out,” I said as I held up my glass.

“And to making new memories,” Catherine said.

I bumped my glass against hers, then the two of us headed up to the balcony.

It was the best seat in the house, reserved only for myself. I sat down with Catherine as we sipped our champagne and gazed down at the stage below us. She crossed one long leg over the other and I watched her dress part against her thigh. The slit fell farther and farther open, baring to me that milky skin my fingers wanted to dance against. Catherine was a beautiful woman. A free soul not meant for the decade we were in. My eyes scanned up her body and I watched her lips wrap around the edge of the champagne flute.

The veins in my pelvis lurched to life as I watched the movement carefully.

“So what made you want to buy the theater?” she asked.

I forced my gaze up to her eyes when she looked over at me.

“It was an investment I made when Anya and I got married,” I said.

“Why?”

“Our schedules clashed so much and I knew how much her career meant to her. She was at the top of her game and my career had just blossomed. I knew she wanted to adopt and I wanted a family, so I knew one of us would have to be stationary.”

“You gave up your acting career to be a stationary businessman?”

“I did. And in retrospect, it was the right move. I enjoy traveling, but not for business. For pleasure. Going to all those places for three months just to spend it on two acres of land filming scene after scene? It’s no way to experience the world. I was able to use the reputation I’d built up to breathe life back into this place, and I’m all the better for it.”

“So you don’t miss acting at all?”

“I do sometimes. I’m lucky that the movies I did make seem to transcend time. Like Pulp Fiction or the Rocky movies.”

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