Smith clambered onto the bed and thought about it. “Is this okay with you?” she asked Powell. When she nodded yes, Smith announced, “Well, there’s your answer.”

史密斯趴到床上认真地想了想。“你愿意吗？”她问鲍威尔。她点头同意了。史密斯宣布，“好吧，你得到答案了。”

It was not, however, a definitive answer. Jobs had a way of focusing on something with insane intensity for a while and then, abruptly, turning away his gaze. At work, he would focus on what he wanted to, when he wanted to, and on other matters he would be unresponsive, no matter how hard people tried to get him to engage. In his personal life, he was the same way. At times he and Powell would indulge in public displays of affection that were so intense they embarrassed everyone in their presence, including Kat Smith and Powell’s mother. In the mornings at his Woodside mansion, he would wake Powell up by blasting the Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy” on his tape deck. Yet at other times he would ignore her. “Steve would fluctuate between intense focus, where she was the center of the universe, to being coldly distant and focused on work,” said Smith. “He had the power to focus like a laser beam, and when it came across you, you basked in the light of his attention. When it moved to another point of focus, it was very, very dark for you. It was very confusing to Laurene.”

然而，这并不是一个肯定的回答。乔布斯有个特点，他会在一段时间对某件事特别专注，然后突然之间，又去关注其他事情。在工作上，他会在想做的时候专注于想做的事情，对其他事他就没反应了，全然不管其他人多么努力地想让他参与进来。在他的个人生活中，也是如此。有时他和鲍威尔会在公开场合尽情表现他们之间的感情，让在场的每个人都觉得尴尬，甚至包括凯特·史密斯和鲍威尔的妈妈。在伍德赛德那幢几乎没有任何家具的大宅里，清晨，他会放年轻善良的食人族乐队（FineYoungCannibals）的《她让我疯狂》（SheDrivesMeCrazy）的音乐把鲍威尔叫醒。而其他时候，他又会对她视而不见。“史蒂夫会走两个极端，有时高度专注，好像她是宇宙的中心，而有时又表现出冷漠的距离感，专注在工作上。”史密斯说，“他有能力像激光那么专注，当他的光芒照耀在你身上，你会沐浴着他的关爱。而当他的光芒转移到其他关注点时，你就会感觉非常非常的黑暗。这让劳伦感到非常困惑。”

Once she had accepted his marriage proposal on the first day of 1990, he didn’t mention it again for several months. Finally, Smith confronted him while they were sitting on the edge of a sandbox in Palo Alto. What was going on? Jobs replied that he needed to feel sure that Powell could handle the life he lived and the type of person he was. In September she became fed up with waiting and moved out. The following month, he gave her a diamond engagement ring, and she moved back in.

1990年的第一天，她接受了他的求婚，之后他有几个月都没再提这件事。最后，凯特·史密斯向他发难了。他们坐在帕洛奥图的一处沙箱边上。这到底是怎么回事？乔布斯回答说，他需要确切地感觉到劳伦可以受得了他过的这种生活以及他这种人。9月份，她等够了，搬走了。10月，他送给她一枚钻石订婚戒指，她又搬了回来。

In December Jobs took Powell to his favorite vacation spot, Kona Village in Hawaii. He had started going there nine years earlier when, stressed out at Apple, he had asked his assistant to pick out a place for him to escape. At first glance, he didn’t like the cluster of sparse thatched-roof bungalows nestled on a beach on the big island of Hawaii. It was a family resort, with communal eating. But within hours he had begun to view it as paradise. There was a simplicity and spare beauty that moved him, and he returned whenever he could. He especially enjoyed being there that December with Powell. Their love had matured. The night before Christmas he again declared, even more formally, that he wanted to marry her. Soon another factor would drive that decision. While in Hawaii, Powell got pregnant. “We know exactly where it happened,” Jobs later said with a laugh.

12月，乔布斯带鲍威尔去他最喜欢的度假地，夏威夷的康娜度假村（KonaVillage）。他第一次去那里还是9年前，当时他在苹果疲惫不堪，就让助理给他找一个能让他解脱的地方。第一眼看去，他并不喜欢那个地方——夏威夷大岛的海滩上散落着几栋茅草屋顶的小房子。那是个家庭式度假村，所有人集体进餐。但是没过几个小时，他就开始把那儿看成了天堂。那种简单和空灵的美打动了他，以后他总是尽可能地回来。他尤其享受12月跟鲍威尔一起在那儿度过的时光。他们的爱情终于瓜熟蒂落。圣诞节前夜，他再一次、更正式地宣布，他想跟她结婚。很快，另一个因素促成了这个决定。在夏威夷时，鲍威尔怀孕了。“我们确切地知道那是在哪里怀上的。”乔布斯后来大笑着说。