"Yes," he replied, nodding.

"I'm so glad."

He couldn't wait until it was over. Stephenson found it hard to believe anything on stage could be this awful. It was petrifying. He was also dying of thirst. He was forbidden to chew gum, and in the past, this had always helped. He kept wondering to himself if he could find some kind of an intelligent excuse to get the hell out of the place. On the way to the opera earlier, he'd spotted a brightly lit cafe with a terrace full of people. The moon was full, the air was balmy, and the sweet perfume of the fragrant jasmine had excited him.

Making up his mind, he turned to face Mrs. Staunton, uncrossing his legs. His eyes widened. From the position in which he had been seated, close to the front railing, often leaning on it as he saw others doing, but not draping himself or slouching, as he'd been advised not to, he hadn't been able to see Melissa. The easy chair she occupied was a bit to the rear of the box in deep shadow. She still had a decent view of the stage, but her position also permitted a degree of privacy. From nowhere in the loge or the upper balconies of the opera house could she be seen.

Melissa was relaxed in the easy chair. She had her eyes closed. Her feet were up on a hassock and, as Steve looked at her, her lips were slightly parted, her tongue weaving deliciously across them. Steve could not believe what he was seeing; she had her hand up inside her skirt.

It was moving ever so slowly, casually, meandering around, caressing and stroking her groin. Steve had no difficulty whatever seeing her fingers – which, with her skirt covering them, formed a tent in her lap – glide over and squeeze her sex. She was masturbating and breathing deeply, even sighing as her thoughts drifted.

On the stage below, the entire cast of the dumb opera was bellowing its brains out in a finale to Act One. When the trumpets let out a wild blast and the drums started banging, Steve turned. He shook his head. And, as he did, Melissa's eyes opened slowly. She sighed at Steve. He was once more looking over the bronze railing. She smiled. Then she sighed again to herself. She'd just had a wonderful time imagining him stark naked!