First, the good news: he hadn’t heard from Magdalene since the night he hung up on her.  Well, in his defense, it’s not like he did that on purpose.  It’s just that his thumb was faster at tapping the hang-up icon than she could speak.  Though he had to admit, he did hear a<i>Wait! </i>before he ended the phone call.<br/><br/>As with all good news, the bad can always be counted on to be lurking somewhere nearby, ready to pounce at the most inopportune of times.  Luckily for him, that hadn’t happened yet.  Anton knew the key word in that thought was the word<i>yet.  </i>It was definitely unlike Magdalene to not make an effort to plead her case, for better or for worse.  He knew it was just a matter of time until he’d need to deal with her, whether face-to-face or on the phone.  If it were entirely up to him, he preferred the phone, knowing what she was capable of in person.  It was bad enough her charms were difficult to resist at face value.  But when she decided to really, truly turn on her sex appeal, he didn’t think there was any man alive who could refuse.  Or any woman, for that matter, if that happened to be Magdalene’s preference.<br/><br/>And then there was the not-good, yet at the same time, not-bad news either.  Anton compared this to<i>medium, </i>which was neither hot nor cold, or high nor low.  Sort of like receiving a grade of C in school.  This, of course, was where Stella came into play.  He hadn’t seen her since their discussion, though truth be told, he really didn’t expect to.  It was quite clear to him that if any future contact was to be had between the pair, he would have to be the initiator.  Hence, the not-good, but also not-bad predicament.<br/><br/>Anton was totally fine with this scenario, as he believed she had already revealed quite enough.  After all, baring one’s soul and feelings to the object of your desire’s face took backbone, and Stella possessed this in spades.  He speculated what, if anything, Magdalene would say about that.  On second thought, best not go there.<br/><br/>He just needed to figure out what she enjoyed doing, other than playing music.  Because she was a musician herself, did she also like to see and hear other people perform live?  The modelling agency he worked for received freebies to all kinds of events, a smorgasbord of choices.  Sports, concerts, plays, musicals, art exhibits were all there for the taking.  Anton needed to check with Chloe, the agency’s receptionist, as to what exactly was available.  For all he knew, it could be something as simple as a walk in the park.  Though as far as relationships went, he knew they were anything<i>but </i>a walk in the park.  He smiled at the irony.<br/><br/>Stella’s schedule had noticeably changed, having taken note of her not being home every night.  Her piano playing had also been curbed somewhat.  Why this was so, he did not know.  Perhaps he would ask her the next time he was around her.  And right there, another conundrum popped into view: how to contact her.  Anton favored direct contact, knocking on her door or meeting her somewhere.  Her altered schedule threw a kink into those plans.  A voicemail or text were other viable options, though he loathed both of them, especially the latter.  It seemed so impersonal.  Before he could decide on what kind of contact strategy to launch, he needed to hear from Chloe first.