I nod.
I just need to tell them about all of this first.
“And right now, we need to get some B-roll to go along with the footage we got at the library,” Leo says.
“B-roll?”
“Just some footage of us walking and talking, no sound, so that we can use it during the introduction and for promotion. Do you mind walking around the park with me for a moment?”
“Not at all.”
We stroll through the grove of palms.
“So beautiful,” Leo says.
“It is, isn’t it?” I say. “Reminds you of what Palm Springs was before it became such a popular tourist destination. Palm trees, sunshine, blue sky and mountains. That’s it.”
Leo places his hand tenderly on my lower back.
“No,” he says. “I mean you.”
My knees lock, and I stumble. Leo catches me.
“I don’t understand,” I say, turning to him.
“You,” he says. “You’re beautiful.”
The world around me falls away, one piece at a time—thepalms, the mountains, Marilyn, the cameraman—until it is only me and Leo, alone in the universe.
“I’m an old man dressed as an old woman,” I say, confused. “What could you possibly find beautiful about me?”
“Everything.”
Am I being mocked?
“Why are you doing this to me?” I ask. “It’s cruel.”
Leo gently turns my body until I am facing him.
“Oh, Sid,” he says. “I want our community to see you as I do. I wantyouto see you as I do. Your beautiful soul.” Leo glances back at the cameraman, who is standing a few feet away, unable to hear our conversation. “I’ve never done this before during an interview. It’s quite unprofessional. I just think you are a special man. That’s why I’ve been seeking you out.”
“But you’re... perfect.”
“There is no such thing as perfect,” he says. “We’re all the same, broken people with broken parts we try to piece back together into a beautiful mosaic.”
My body begins to shake out of nervousness, panic and excitement.
“Would you like to go out with me?” he asks.
“Why?”
“Those are things you don’t utter out loud.” He laughs. “Just say yes.”
It takes every ounce of strength I have to put aside the feeling I will end up being crushed by this man and to form the word.
“Yes.”
Teddy
