Well, okay, I guess: "zymurgy" is the manufacturing chemistry of fermentation processes in brewing, a crinoline is a stiff frame worn under a woman's skirt to give it a full appearance (and the prompt was plural). But you know, hey. Whatever cooks your crumpets.
The first movement had been nearly unbearable. Sheldon escaped to the lobby after and drank several glasses of red wine, so he was fairly numb during the second movement. The
legato passages nearly put him to sleep. He did sleep through the second intermission.
Gloria was blissfully silent, although he could tell from her icy demeanor and expression of sheer disgust that he hadn't pleased her much. Fortunately, the final movement was a rousing march, and got progressively louder, so that by the time the concert was over he was almost back to his normal acerbic self. The stood an arm's length apart under the marquee watching in the rain drench the poor souls who had chosen to drive and leave their cars in the parking structure two blocks up the hill.
"Well, my dear," he said to Gloria, while looking for a cab and in a tone of voice designed to avoid the
trap he knew she was setting for him. "What shall we have? Italian, or Thai, perhaps? Or I know this great little Greek--"
"Just shut up, Sheldon. Just take me home."
"But Gloria, my sweet--"
She spun on him. "What the
hell is going on inside that thick
skull of yours?"
"Well, I uh, I am just trying to--"
"Not hard enough." Gloria spotted a vacant cab, raised her arm and dashed to enter it before Sheldon could respond. And in a swirl of rain, she was gone.
"Well, that was fun," he muttered, and walked in the opposite direction, coat collar turned up and shoulders hunched against the downpour. The limit of Gloria's compassion--or her imagination with lovers, apparently--wasn't as broad as the
wingspan of a gnat. She'd been a long shot anyhow, he rationalized. If it hadn't been for his
penury of female companionship, he would have just told her to forget the damned concert and ordered pizza in.
Kashmir
cashmere
tornado
casserole
fleas