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âWhen?â
âWhy not right now, this morning?â
âOkay, let's do it.â
âWhile you get dressed Iâll go get my car.â
âGood idea.â
Three minutes later I was making my way across Rittenhouse Square on my way to get my Miata out of the Liberty Place parking garage. An overnight rain shower and quickly passing cold front had provided crisp early summer air and a mild breeze.
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***
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We arrived at the Kimmel Center around 11 a.m. and parked her car across Broad Street in a parking garage. Cyn held my hand as we walked the block to the entrance. Cyn went with her Goth look; another black corset-like top, a sheer multilayered black skirt and black mid-calf lug-soled boots with long laces.
As we got closer, Cyn became quiet and her grip on my hand became tighter. I realized she was frightened and thought about how I could make her feel more at ease. I just continued to hold hands.
The Kimmel Center is a new music hall in center city Philadelphia with a large main theatre and several smaller theaters all under a clear glass semi-cylindrical roof. The center occupies a full city block and is very modern. Inside it is an impressive world of dark wood walls, brass railings and fixtures, smoked glass windows, and terracotta tile floors.
I asked Cyn where they entered the Kimmel Center that night in February and she directed us toward the main entrance off Broad Street. Cyndie then walked ahead and showed how they strutted into the building. I followed and we were soon standing in the center of the lobby. From there, we looked around and I noticed that this was a very open space. There were four stories with many doors off the multi-levels around and above us.
There was a musical event of some kind with about two hundred people, mostly elementary school children, milling around the lobby. Andi pointed towards the main theatre, which opened ahead of us.
Cyn said they first headed to the bar, which was left of the entrance. We walked there and saw the table and chairs.
I asked Cyn, âOkay, now where was the lounge?â
Cyn froze and said, âUp the escalator one floor and then down that hall a little way.â Cyn pointed up to the left.
âShow me.â
Cyn walked around the bar and headed to the escalator. We rode up one flight and started down a narrow hall heading back toward the Broad Street entrance. I followed and then she stopped until I caught up. We walked holding hands.
After about 60 feet, Cyn stopped, turned and pointed towards a dark walnut colored door, and then said, âI think this is it, Stevie. Notice how private this whole area seems? I didn't see any one up here that night. Okay, let's go in, but you go first, Stevie.â
I turned the door knob and found that it was unlocked. I pulled the door and we entered. The door was on the left side of the front of the room. The room opened to the right and was at least as large as Cyn remembered. It had white walls and recessed, circular lights in the ceiling. The bar was on the left wall. A glass-paneled door on the back solid-glass wall led to the patio that overlooked Broad Street. The floor was covered with good quality off-white industrial carpet. The room had a white leather chaise lounge in the middle with two black leather side chairs. In front of the chaise lounge was a black coffee table and there were two black end tables at each end of the lounge. There were about five metal padded chairs along the back wall.
Cyn gasped when she saw the chaise lounge again and re-held my hand.
I asked Cyn, âIs this the room?â
âYes it is, Stevie.â
I spent a minute or two looking around, evaluating the lounge. Even though the back wall was glass, its dark smoke shading, the subdued interior lighting, the wide patio, and lack of tall buildings across the street, created a very private lounge. No one outside had a clear view of this interior. Then, I asked Cyn if she would mind
Lee Iacocca, Catherine Whitney