It wasn't the only revelation about his wife. “The exciting thing was Kelly had more of an interest in decorating and design than I knew, and I liked that,” Travolta says, “although I would have been fine, too, with someone having less,” he chuckles, “so I could dominate. But I couldn't, so we had to negotiate. Creatively, I was only used to dealing with her as an actor, because we met when we were making The Experts in 1987.” (The two are currently teamed up for the second time, shooting Gus Van Sant's Standing Room Only.) “I knew how she worked as an actress but not in other artistic areas.”

Playfully, Preston interrupts, “What else? Keep going, John, what other good things?”

“In fact, she's so great on holiday decorating that I just leave her alone.” A holiday maven, Preston decorates her home for each, “but especially the Fourth of July and Christmas,” spending nine days putting up Christmas decorations that include a tree in each room. “She leaves me alone when it comes to airplanes and cars, the machines,” says her husband. “We negotiate atmospheres where we both have to live.” (Besides Travolta's three Gulfstream jets, which he pilots, the latest addition is an eighty-five-foot yacht, also decorated by Boshears.)

As for what the thirty-six-year-old Preston has learned about her husband, she is clear. “That John has superb taste – a great sense of style and space. He knows exactly what to put where. Though we both have strong ideas, we'll each compromise, and we'll work together on every aspect until it's right.”

A decorating metaphor for their marriage, perchance? Mr. and Mrs. John Travolta look at each other and laugh: “Exactly.”