sign, but I won’t bring that up to add to my argument,” and she said “Ha-ha, all right, enough? you got your laugh,” and he said “And I didn’t trip over that sigh-sign thing intentionally — but that you were — this is the continument; that’s not a word, I don’t think, but seemed apt — the woman I was now living with,” and tears, really just a couple of drops popped out, one from each eye, and he wiped them and said “Talk about silliness?” and she said “What are you doing? — are you a professional actor?” and looked at him in a way where he thought I think I’m winning her over, and said “No, I told you, or maybe I didn’t, but that’d be strange, since you told me what you do, but I’m in something—” and she was shaking her head and started to move off and he said “Don’t go, and notice I’m not grabbing your hand or touching your cheek or using any of those restraining actions or physical and facial tricks — moving closer, looking straight into your eyes soulfully of sorts in an attempt to engender more sympathy from you if that’s what it was and employing to me grandiloquent words like ‘engender,’ ‘employing’ and ‘grandiloquent’ to impress you and strengthen my présentation, and French aussi or aussi français and that drippy stuff with the eye sacs before which I swear I had nothing to do with except to furnish the liquid; they just sprouted, little there was, naturally, but you seem, and here it it comes, despite our respective homelife situations — I couldn’t come up with a better term for it . you know: spouses, kids and place — like at last my ideal mate: mind, body and face, soft voice and ways, interest in lit and involvement in music . that you play the viola and are in a quartet no less . for godsakes, the six Mozart quintets I bet when you add another violinist,” and she said “Violist — don’t take away one of the few breaks our underappreciated instrument gets,” and he said “Humor, skin, everything, sense of this and irony of that plus straightforwardness, the entire corpus, litany and library, that I’m panting in the pants for you, pardon me pa, he does not know what he brays, and even look at our sizes and physiques — we were cut from two different bolts for each other,” and she said “Done?” and looked miffed, and he said “I really overdid it too much, serious as I—” and she said “Please, be done, done, because whether anyone heard you or not I still feel humiliated and embarrassed — why do you think you have to b.s. so? And who knows, if you stopped slinging it I might even be a little interested,” and he said “I stopped, though it wasn’t slinging, at least I don’t think so, but I’m so relieved I haven’t killed it off completely, which your remark implied, and I haven’t with what I just said after I said I was done and had stopped, have I?” and she said “It shouldn’t be but it’s okay and I’ll accept all heretofore as an anomaly, your getting carried away for so indeterminate an end,” and he didn’t quite understand what she meant but let it pass because he knew it wasn’t too critical and she was still standing beside him and he said “I won’t say a thing; can we sit down?” and she said “I don’t know why we should; I must be lonelier than I am nuts. Uh-oh, said too much.” Lunch the next day. After they arranged it and the place he said “Could we also meet later after the birthday party? Or I can pick you and John up at whatever the time — I just want to be with you,” and she said “Tomorrow,” and he said “And of course bring John along; really, I’d love it,” and she said “I wouldn’t, and we went over this: he’s going to the shore with Miriam,” and he looked puzzled and she said “The friend I came with and you spoke to and, honestly, the sole reason I’m here — I dislike parties and huge reunions,” and he thought then the person he’s indebted to but won’t say it because she’ll think that’s just more coming-on. “One priviso though,” she said. “When we do meet tomorrow promise to have toned down and tamed to subaudible and indistinct the words and approach, for you’re much too gusty, rutty and fast,” and he said “Check.” Lunch. Kissed during it. Pushed the bud vase aside, leaned forward and she met him above the table. “Well,” she said, “for half a kiss that wasn’t half bad. But nip it;