Page 85 of Sit, Stay, Love
Toby: It’s right behind you!
She laughed, squeezed the phone back into her tiny bag and tagged along behind the crowd as they shuffled towards a row of ushers. A young man wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the movie’s logo checked her ticket.
‘You’re in the main cinema,’ he said, pointing.
At the door, she received a gift bag, then another young man led her to her seat.
She scooped up the water bottle sitting on the cushion, sat down, stuffed her handbag between her knees and looked around. Everyone had a tub of popcorn in their seat’s popcorn holder, so she pulled hers into her lap and shoved a handful into her mouth, dusting away the crumbs and salt that dropped into her cleavage. Then she opened the gift bag and rifled through it. There was a hat, a t-shirt, a messenger bag and what appeared to be binoculars, all of which she’d give to Toby, and a small stuffed T-rex, which she instantly earmarked for Buffy.
Then she put everything onto the floor, shoving it under her seat, and waited.
When the cinema was almost full and Ethan still wasn’t there, she started to worry. She dug out her phone from the tiny bag and checked her messages, but there was nothing. She put her thumb to her mouth and chewed her nail. Lifting herself up using the arms of her seat she twisted around until she could see the door. Then flopped back down again, smiling awkwardly to the vaguely familiar man sitting beside her.
Was she in the wrong cinema? Had she fucked up? Was he sitting somewhere else, wondering where the hell she was? How would she ever find him?
Then the lights began to dim, and just as darkness engulfed her, she heard his voice.
‘Excuse me. Sorry. Excuse me.’
She put a hand to her stomach and breathed out a relieved sigh as he dropped into the seat beside her.
‘Having fun?’ He took a handful of her popcorn and tossed it into his mouth.
‘I thought I was in the wrong cinema or something,’ she blurted.
‘Sorry, babe. It took longer than I thought.’
Her eyebrows bunched.Babe?That was new and she wasn’t sure she liked it, or how casually he dismissed her worry.
The theme music began.
‘Here we go.’ He leaned over and kissed her cheek.
She pressed her lips into a line and turned to face the screen, wishing she was on Toby’s couch with a slice of greasy pizza and her feet in his lap.
Ethan took Sera’s hand as they made their way up the stairs of the night club that was hosting the after-party. Red carpet covered the floor, and tiny lights pulsed along the edge of every step. Music was blaring, thumping with such an intensity that the framed art on the walls vibrated.
Ethan squeezed her hand and glanced down at her. ‘ARE YOU OKAY?’ he yelled.
She leaned forward, squinting as she tried to hear him, nodded, and yelled back, ‘IT’S VERY LOUD!’
As they approached the popping lights of the press line, Ethan’s name rang out over the driving beat.
‘Ethan!’
‘Ethan, this way.’
‘Ethan, over here!’
Her heart throbbed in time with the music. ‘Should I just see you in there?’ she yelled as they stopped on the top step.
‘Ethan, photo please?’
‘You don’t want to get a photo with me?’ he yelled back. ‘We might make the Sunday papers.’
She shook her head. ‘It’s your night. And besides, I don’t love having my photo taken.’
His handsome face darkened with a frown. ‘You seem okay taking a million photos with Toby.’
