“No, how did you guess?”
I took her hand as we walked out of the room and into the cold. Thankfully, it wasn’t freezing, but there was a nip in the air that could not be ignored.
“Oh, they have a movie theater, shall we go check it out?”
I opened my mouth to protest and then closed it, smirking at the titles that were there.
“I think we should. There are a couple of good movies and I can’t even recall the last time I sat through one that was a premier of some sort.”
She eyed the names before rolling her eyes.
“Oh my gosh, you want to see yours, don’t you?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, grabbing two tickets for us, along with two drinks, and a big bucket of popcorn.
Three hours later, I came out of the theater, laughing so hard. I hadn’t watched myself on the screen, other than for special screenings, and I laughed the whole entire time, making Tessy roll her eyes over and over.
“It’s not that funny, you know.”
“It is when you’re on this end. Man, that was one of my first films and I sucked as an actor. How the hell that even scored points in the box office is beyond me.”
“You weren’t bad, Joshua.”
“Yeah, I was. I’ve come a long way though.”
“Well, I guess someone in Hollywood thought you had enough talent to keep casting you, right? Or giving you scripts so you can audition, if and when you do.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, tucking her into my side as we walked down the street, the vendors on full display and the kids dashing from one to the other, trying to see what they could buy.
“Something like that,” I told her, steering her to a booth that had hot cocoa. I got two, handing her one and sipping the other. “Oh, that’s good.”
“It is. I usually don’t like mine too chocolatey, but this is perfect.”
She took my hand, slowly strolling, and I found this to be divine.
Laid back.
Restful.
And up here, I wasn’t worried about my status.
Not that I didn’t think people wouldn’t notice. But we’d be long gone before they actually picked up on it.
“Didn’t you say your sister liked the journal I picked out for her?” she asked.
“Yeah, why?”
I followed Tessy’s gaze to another vendor. We walked over, and I picked up a gorgeous, custom-made journal.
“Because I think she’d love this one.”
“You’re so right. Such a good eye for gifts. What would I do without you.”
“Yeah, I don’t know. Be lost, I guess.”
I paid for the journal, holding on to the bag and taking her hand again.
“So true. I’m hopeless. That’s how my family knew I wasn’t shopping anymore. They often tell me to find a way to keep you forever so that you can do all my shopping.” We paused and I spun her into my arms, making her laugh. “They just don’t know how right they were. I don’t plan on letting you go, ever.”
