GRE General Test: SE-213035 GRE Sentence Equivalence

Although Johnson’s and Smith’s initial fascination with the fortunes of those jockeying for power in the law firm_____after a few months, the two paid sufficient attention to determine who their lunch partners should be.
Select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning