Film buffs
Two movie fans are drawn to each other as they wait for the lights to dim and the magic to begin during the 1987 release of Dirty Dancing.
He was Brenda’s when he leaned over the back of his seat inside The Grand movie theater and whispered, “Do you mind if I join you?” He timed his question well, just as the lights dimmed and the popcorn music started to play. His angled jawline, blond hair, and leather jacket certainly helped ignite a little spark, but it was his directness, his curiosity, that captured her attention.
Even before he made that bold move, she noticed him as he casually walked into the warm glow of the vintage movie theater with his friend for the late matinee of Dirty Dancing. She was sitting in the back row a good 10 seats away from the entrance so she could count people attending the first showing of this much anticipated film. It was a strange job she found browsing the PennySaver that summer in 1987. She barely understood the purpose of the job, but it gave her free access to movies and took her out of the doldrums of working as a cashier at the hardware store. And, of course she was there to see Patrick Swayze dance!
She watched the young man and his friend choose a seat a few aisles ahead of her. She felt protected in the shadows, sure he couldn’t see her glancing his way again when he went back out to the concessions. When he returned, their eyes connected again as he slowly walked by her aisle with an armful of popcorn, sodas, and junior mints. He looked a little like Patrick Swayze, but with a more narrow face. He smiled. She couldn’t help but smile back.
She turned quickly back to her clipboard, fussing with the forms and instructions that had arrived in the mail earlier in the week. She adjusted them on the clipboard she bought in order to make her look official when she gave the box office her free pass. Her heart beat faster. Did he just smile at me? She wondered, feeling like she was in her own movie. I mean, I was counting people, so maybe he’s just curious? She shook off her imagination and reminded herself she had a job to do: count patrons as they streamed into the old theater. And love at first sight was for the movies, not her own life.
She started to read the demographic questions. How many patrons are over 50? How many adults? How many children? Male? Female? She had to watch people closely in order to determine these answers. She knew his demographic already: Male, under 30.
When she looked up again as more patrons streamed in just 10 minutes before the start time, she noticed the young man standing above his friend explaining something. Then he walked up the aisle and turned down the row directly in front of her, smiling as he walked in her direction. She looked down at the clipboard again, pretending to do something official, when he said, “Hi,” as he walked by in front of her, and sat a few seats away.
All she could mutter was, “Uh-huh.” She smelled his leather jacket and a faint hint of Old Spice. Her eyes rested for a beat on his thick hands resting on his knee, then moved to the back of his hairline, finely trimmed as if freshly cut. She swiped a few beads of sweat from her upper lip, thinking, What do I say if he talks to me? I hope he talks to me. Is the AC on in here?
Then, as if he heard her thoughts, he turned around slowly, and gently rested his chin on the edge of the seat next to him as if he were 10 years old, “I noticed you’re taking notes, are you here to review the movie?” He asked.
“Oh, um…” She gulped; her heart racing faster. Oh God, he’s talking to me! “No. I mean, I wish, but no,” she managed to mumble.
He nodded. “Yeah, that’d be cool. I write a little myself. I just thought you might ‘cause you seemed to be writing.”
Words found their way to her mouth. “Oh, yeah, that. It’s a job,” she said. Her heart slowed down a bit. He’s just curious about the weird girl with a clipboard, she assured herself. Nothing to panic about here.
“A job?” He asked.
“Yeah, I know, it’s kinda weird. I wasn’t sure if it was real, but yeah, I’m here to count people.”
“Count people? I mean, don’t they do that already?”
“I know, that’s what I thought,” she sort of giggled, then noticed him turn his chest toward her more, showing his concert t-shirt with the crew neck cut out, and a little peek of his bare chest. “I think they’re like, like just getting more information” she stuttered, feeling the heat from him somehow. “You know, like how many adults, how many men, how many women, you know, stuff like that.” She wiped away more beads of sweat.
“Oh,” he said, nodding, not moving from his position.
Then the theater lights started flashing, giving everyone the five-minute warning that the show was about to begin.
“They’re about to start,” she said under her breath, as if reminding herself that she was there to count people. She quickly looked at the entrance for more people, and jotted a few more hashtags as people rushed in with bags of popcorn and boxes of candy. He looked back at his friend, then turned to her again.
“Do you mind if I join you?” He asked.
Yes, please! She thought.
“Sure,” she said, pushing back in her seat, as if making space for him in her mind. Then, as the lights dimmed, she watched his silhouette walk slowly toward her as the popcorn music started, and her heart leaped inside her.