I am so excited to see you! Both of you!

Though I do not believe B has earned nearly enough credit required to have the honor of becoming a spice. I am sorry you are so deeply in love darling but this is where I draw the line. It is a privilege afforded to very few who have shown their mettle! I will consider it, maybe, BIG maybe, only after we meet and I've performed my assessment to deem him worthy.

How will you ask him? Have you considered perhaps making it sound as though it's a group date with others? I'm not saying lie, no, of course not. But perhaps a simple intimation to take pressure off the lead-up, where the rest of the group conveniently appears to have bowed out on the night of. You will enjoy one of the box seats. There is a good amount of privacy there, for what it's worth, and two men visiting the ballet is not at all uncommon.

Alternatively, you can pretend you had arranged plans with another but now have this open seat and your dearest ballerina friend will be devastated to notice an empty seat in a premium box. If memory serves, he thinks I'm quite dramatic, doesn't he? I do not mind prolonging this impression of me. It's mostly true anyway

If all else fails, make it an intellectual endeavor. I can show you two some of the wonderful tricks and enchantments we employ for the performance. I showed this to X, an inventor, much to his pleasure (and my wild success).

On the matter of what to call your dearly beloved, please great gods above, call him anything but 'probe'. Beaver is not very flattering though I enjoy it. But he's cute, isn't he? Does he still have curls and all that? In my head I shall refer to him as Queen Bee. He certainly acts like royalty.

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