Chapter 35
Both


Annie Joy chuckled and shook her head at Urs’ logic. Now why hadn’t she thought of that? He had given her the impression he had only a nodding acquaintance with computers and saw no reason to become more intimate. She typed in Urs’ password, MeinGott.

Urs stood with one hand casually resting on the computer. “So are you a dance instructor today?” he kidded as she clicked, Log In.

Her eyes remained focused on the screen waiting for the email prompt. “No, today I’m just me, Annie Joy, taking a risk,” she said seriously. She typed in her email address and then turned to Urs with a determined look,” But you can bet whatever I become I’ll be a good one.”

Urs nodded with a smile, “I know you will.”

Her face became a mask of surprise as her thoughts grew legs and suddenly bolted out of her mouth like a headstrong horse. She tried to rein in the words, but it was too late to shut the proverbial barn door. “Gatsby’s at 5:00?” she asked.

Urs found himself struggling not to smile. “Sounds good,” he replied and with that he gave the computer a tap and left.

Urs waited until he was out of Annie Joy’s line of sight before he unloosed a face-splitting grin. He had been right he thought as he bounded down the stairs to his deck. Annie Joy had used her silly, fanciful jobs to cover-up her fear of pursuing her own dream, but not any more. She had her old self back. It was amazing to see her doubts replaced by self-confidence and the courage to take a chance and he had helped her do that.

His message wasn’t new. No doubt she’d heard the same one from family and friends, but he’d been the one to witness her aha moment. He chuckled out loud as he pictured himself as a kind of fairy godfather; then brought himself up short as he thought about what she’d given him. Certainly he had his sense of fun back and he had to admit he was a little less rigid in his approach to life since they’d met. As for taking himself or his job too seriously, he was in no danger of that when she was around. Hell, it had taken him the better part of three days just to convince her he was a singer, let alone a well-known one. He grinned lopsidedly at the thought as he passed the spa and headed through the atrium toward his corridor. She was one of a ki…



Bright flashes of orange caught his eye at the photoshop display and he stepped closer. Throughout the cruise there had been myriad opportunities to preserve their memories with a photo. At dinner, on formal nights, and as they disembarked at each port photographers were there, but he and Annie Joy had always politely declined. His choice to protect his privacy was a given. Hers, he suspected, had to do with protecting her heart.

But there was one time each had been caught unawares: that first day at the lifeboat drill, that day when he’d fallen under the spell of Annie Joy’s blue eyes and dimples. Since it was nearing the end of the cruise most of the pictures from that day had already been claimed. It didn’t take long to find himself. There he was, the poster boy for a bad hair day. Even his pony tail had been no match for the wind. But if no one had recognized him in Armani why would they recognize this wind-blown guy with the orange horse collar? Still, old habits ran deep; better safe than sorry. This was one picture he didn’t want circulated. And they say the camera loves me, he thought ironically as he picked up his photo.

Had Annie Joy picked up hers? He moved over to the next section. There she was. His fingers hovered, then picked it up for a closer look. She’d had a much better hair day. He recognized her excited look: those twinkling eyes and that huge dimply smile. A soft smile lit his face as he gently traced her lips with his fingers, remembering, imagining. He gave himself a little shake and started to put it back but stopped. Before he could change his mind he stepped to the counter. “I’ll take these,” he said handing the photos and his keycard to the photographer.

Just another souvenir, just another souvenir, his stride kept pace with his thoughts. Several women looking extremely satisfied followed by several men looking extremely relieved and carrying shopping bags with the ship’s logo passed him. Last minute shopping, he surmised. Scheisse! Cecile! He’d almost forgotten. She’d be expecting something and not just a souvenir.
While the clerk gift-wrapped the over-sized bottle of perfume, Cecile’s favorite thank Gott, Urs wandered through the shop idly twirling the postcard rack and casually stopping at one of the jewelry display cases.

“Please add these to my bill,” he requested, handing the clerk a postcard of the ship, “and I’d like this gift-wrapped,” he said with a disarming smile as he handed her the other small item.

**********

Urs stood a little behind her and off to the side watching …and trying to steady his breathing. She was working on something in her sketchbook and had just paused to sip her sherry when Urs appeared. To her credit she managed to swallow without coughing but the butterflies were taken unawares by this devestatingly handsome man in full body Armani.

If you’d asked Annie Joy to describe her dress she would say it was a lilac silk strapless gown with a beaded leaf design on the fitted bodice. Below the Empire waist small pleats created a flowing, floor-grazing skirt. The beaded leaf design was repeated on the matching stole.

To Urs it was a long purple dress that sparkled on top, looked so soft and slippery his fingers ached to touch it, and was surely intended to drive him to distraction. And it wasn’t just the dress; it was that damned wrap thing that kept slipping down off her shoulders and revealing tantalizing glimpses of her butterfly to…to anyone. That should be his to see. After all he was her…

Her what, Urs? Her pretend husband? Get a grip, get a drink, and get over it. Stop thinking with your pants. Give her one more night.

So Urs took a cleansing breath, squared his shoulders and prepared to give the performance of his life.

“Annie Joy you look amazing tonight,” he said as he leaned down to kiss her cheek, then settled himself in the chair next to her.

“Scotch, please, Andreas,” he said catching his eye.

“Thank you Ers,’ Annie joy smiled demurely under her lashes, “and may I say you look uber handsome yourself, ” she complimented with a barely suppressed giggle.

Urs looked at her quizzically but let her comment pass.

“This is the last one, I promise,” she said as she tore a page from her sketchbook and handed it to him.

“Another Annie Joy original? For me?”
So that’s what I saw her working on when I came in.

“I thought it fitted you. It’s the last one. Promise.”

Click here: Schubert Lieder

“Now this I could sign up for,” he chuckled. “but how did you…”

“Thank you Andreas,” he paused to accept his drink and took a healthy sip before continuing. “Annie Joy what have you been up to? You haven’t…” Urs voice warned.

“A masters degree for interpretation in Lied and opera, lied being a song set to a German poem for one singer and piano.” Annie Joy ended her recitation, folded her hands in her lap and looked expectantly at Urs.

“You were supposed to be doing research for job opportunities, not reading drivel about me,” he reminded her even as he reminded himself to stop feeling so puffed up that she’d looked him up on the web.

“I did find several things to follow up on when I get home,” she countered, “and I have it on good authority small amounts of drivel taken over time are in no way harmful to the reader. If however the subject of the drivel totally believes or creates more drivel through outrageous behavior this may cause an enlargement of the ego leading to a condition commonly referred to as insufferable ass.”

Urs did manage to quickly swallow the sip he’d just taken before he began sputtering with laughter. “Is that a warning or a promise, Annie Joy?”

“Both,” she shot back confidently. “I’ve decided to become a both person now with an open mind to all the possibilities. It’s so much better than limiting myself with that old either/or stuff. So you see I can do both—research and drivel.”

Despite feeling a bit bamboozled Urs’ logical mind discovered it could still tell time and had a sense of humor. “I hate to tell you this Miss Both but all three of us need to get going before Candi and Paige send out a search party,” he teased as he pulled her to her feet.

“Oh Ers, you are so silly sometimes,” she said over her shoulder as he adjusted the stole to cover her butterfly. The softness of the dress and the warmth of her beneath it were irresistible and his fingers welcomed any excuse to touch her.

“Yes, that’s me Mr. Silly,” he said drily realizing Carlos, Seb, and David, especially David would never believe his new name.