Mae feels her inside start to spin as she watches the veiling fan twirl lazily above her. A combination of boredom and heat led her to her current position. If her whole body wasn’t sticky from the lack of air conditioning in July she might be tempted to move to take a cold bath or anything else that might pull her from her cathartic state. She closes her eyes before the nausea can settle it.
It only took Justin two days after the ‘big boom’ to inform her that her services would no longer be needed. The news wasn’t really a surprise to her, but it stung a little none the less. Mostly because she had thought that he was past the point of hating her on principle. But the biting tone in which he delivered the news pushed that idea quickly from her head.
It has finally wrung true in her life that you don’t really know how much you appreciate something until it’s gone. Not only was her job with Jonah helping keep her in her mildly tolerable apartment, but it curbed her need to worry about her ever present student loans. Now that it had all disappeared she was forced to go back to worrying at least part time.
“You staring at the fan isn’t going to make it work any better,” Sara Jane states. Mae opens her eyes and tilts her head a little to look over at her roommate. One a lot of level Sara Jane is more successful than Mae. She skipped the whole college step and went straight to working full time, something that has paid off in the end. She now manages a deli down town and seems to be making more money than Mae. At least that’s’ what the Coach purses tell her.
“Can’t blame me for trying,” Mae replies. Sara Jane chuckles a little and falls down on the bed next to her. The old box springs groans under the added weight. The number one reason Mae hasn’t brought home a boy in years, the whole complex would know within seconds.
“So is this what you plan on doing with your time now? Watching this rickety fan spin round?” Sara Jane teases.
Mae smiles at the way her southern drawl pulls at the words making the insult sound more pleasant than if she had uttered it. Even more disturbing the accent brings to mind two men with almost matching twangs. One of which is not on her good list, but the other. She’s a little irked that the thought of him brings a smile to her face.
“No, I fully plan on moving to the living room later to give the air conditioner a good stare down,” she quips. She glances over just in time to see Sara Jane roll her eyes.
“I called the super yesterday and he said that he would try to get some on out here tomorrow,” Sara Jane offers. Mae groans and throws an arm over her face. It would seem like good news if he hadn’t said the same thing every day for the past week.
“So we’re stuck in this muck for another day?” she verifies. The bed protests loudly as Sara Jane pushes her self up and off of it.
“You. You are stuck here. I have work and thank God the deli is air conditioned,” Sara Jane corrects. Mae glares at her from under her arm. She begins to push herself into a sitting position, but moving only makes the heat more apparent so she falls back onto her back.
“Do yourself a favor and get out of this hell hole. Go shopping or something. Go visit your grandma,” Sara Jane suggests.
She’s left the room before Mae can verbally shoot down all her suggestions. Since her current cash flow has stopped shopping is out of the picture and her grandma left two days ago for some kind of retreat involving single adults. The crazy old woman still likes to see what’s out there. Mae loves her gall.
The front door serves as the only goodbye Sara Jane offers. Mae winces her eyes shut and tries to think of any good reason to move. She rolls a little to the side and chuckles when the crackling of paper breaks through the silence. Lifting her body a little she pulls the newspaper from under her. The movie listings stare back at her and a slow smile creeps across her face.
The words ‘dollar’ and ‘theater’ jump out at first glance, but then she quickly discards the idea when the best offering stars Nicolas Cage, she doesn’t particularly like Nicolas Cage and that’s being nice. Reluctantly she dcides to splurge and pay full price. With a little effort she rolls off the bed and when her feet hit the ground she almost retreats to her former position.
Pushing past the sticky feeling to move across the floor she reaches her closet. Empty hangers greet her. She crouches and searches through the piles of clothes on the floor. She’s still getting used to having enough time not only to wash her clothes but put them away all in the same go.
As she pulls a t-shirt from the pile a whiff of Jonah’s baby lotion hits her. She holds the shirt to her nose and settles back on her calves. Eventually she won’t miss being thrown up on a daily basis, eventually. Deciding the pile is dirty and pushing any sadness to the bottom of her stomach she grabs a green tank top and pads to the bathroom.
She turns the tap on cold and gazes into the mirror. Her face is damp and the hair around her face is stuck to her face in wet curls. She splashes cold water on her face before shucking her high school swim team t shirt for the tank top. She glances down at her short and decides against anything than would require more effort. Theaters are dark anyways.
As she slips into her car, she mentally scolds herself for not leaving earlier, the car at least has air conditioning. The air pumps out hot at first, but she’s willing to wait because the moment it turns cold will be heavenly.
The theater parking lot if sparse, but she wouldn’t expect less on a Tuesday afternoon. She parks carefully under a tree hoping that will prevent the interior from turning into a sauna.
She bypasses the ticket counter and instead opts for the small self service terminals. Even though she doesn’t mind going to the movies alone she still doesn’t like the look on the cashiers faces when you pay for one. Her fingers glide over the screen and she smiles as she taps all the appropriate places. Pushing buttons had never grown old for her. She still gets a small thrill when she’s the first person to the elevator and gets to do the honors.
Cool air hits her as she pushes into the lobby of the theater and her eyes close with the sensation. She would have paid just to have sat in this cool haven for a couple of hours, forget the movie. After a few minutes of cooled bliss the usher in front of her clears his throat a couple of times.
“Isn’t it amazing in here?” Mae asks as she presents her ticket. The teenager twitches under her gaze before offering her an awkward smile.
“It gets old after a couple of hours,” he manages. Mae continues to grin at him while he struggles to tear her ticket.
“Still, its so much better than being outside.” When he finally manages to pull the two perforated pieces apart and offers it back to Mae. She casts a quick glance around the theater satisfied that he only people there are a few workers and a young mother struggling with a toddler.
The woman struggles to keep her daughter in her stroller while balancing a coke and popcorn. When the little girl tosses her bottle over the edge the mother’s face falls. Mae bends down and picks up the rolling object offering back to the small girl. She offers her a grin and chuckles when the baby reciprocates.
“Thanks,” she mother says.
“No problem.” She smiles once again at the baby before approaching the snack bar. If she’s going to splurge for a $9 ticket she might as well get all the trimmings as well. She shifts her weight from foot to foot as she waits for her order.
A chorus of voices enter the theater breaking her pervious nostalgia of being there alone. A heavy sighs leaves her body and the kid behind the counter suddenly can’t move quickly enough. She finally pushes the popcorn and water across the counter and Mae is plagued with the decision of whether to escape the voices approaching her or to pause to add butter.
Her taste buds win as she places the small bag under the spout.
“Look who it is.” Mae jumps at the voice and then frowns at the spilled popcorn on the floor. When she turns to face the voice she has her revenge ready.
“If it isn’t Mr. Lonely himself,” she muses. Trace glares at her slightly. Mae glances behind him at the small crowd waiting a few feet behind him.
“I swear to God if you start singing that song right now you will regret it,” Trace hisses. Mae arches an eye brow and contemplates doing it just to piss him off. She decides against it chalking it up to doing her good deed for the day.
“I wouldn’t want you to lose face in front of you posse,” Mae agrees. Trace glances back at the people behind him holding up a single finger to appease them.
“So what brings you here today Idol? Hot date?” Trace asks. He looks around for the other person he is sure is there. Mae. Keeps her gaze on him a small smile on her face.
“Actually I’m just mooching some air conditioning,” she answers. Trace nods but waits for her to add something. Mae cocks her head to the side.
“And I’m here alone,” she adds. Trace’s mouth drops open slightly.
“Who the hell goes to movies alone?” he hisses. Mae chuckles a little and kicks at her lost popcorn on the floor. The reaction is something she is used to. But its something she started during her undergrad when she needed a break from her nymphomaniac roommate. And after awhile she grew to love it.
“I do.”
“You couldn’t find anyone to go with you?” Trace concludes. Mae shakes her head.
“Actually I wanted to come alone thank you,” Mae argues. Trace motions to the girl behind the counter and orders a popcorn. Mae fights back the urge to glare in jealousy. The girl moves a little faster than she did with Mae, or at least that’s what she tells herself.
He takes the popcorn and plucks a few kernels off the top before handing it off to Mae. Her mouth drops in shock but she pulls it to her.
“Give me a minute?” he asks. Mae nods and begins to take a kernel at a time from the fresh bag. She watches as he approaches the group and then shies back as all their eyes turn to her. They head in the opposite direction as Trace approaches her again.
“Ok. What are we seeing?” he asks. Mae pulls back a little.
“What do you mean we? Didn’t I say I was going by myself?”
“No one wants to go to a movie by themselves. I’m doing you a favor. Consider yourself lucky,” he answers. Mae scoffs at the reply and is glad that she probably chose the last movie Trace would willingly see. When the name of the movie comes into view Trace halts.
“You can’t be serious,” he balks. Mae smiles and does her best to put on an innocent look.
“Hey, I didn’t ask you to come,” she reminds him. He mumbles something under his breath before pushing forward to open the door. Mae chuckles as she follows.
He picks a seat too far back for Mae’s liking but she doesn’t argue. It’s nice to have a little piece of her previous life close to her. She settles into her seat and rests the popcorn on the arm between them. Her attention focuses on the movie trivia on the screen and for a moment she almost forgets he’s there.
It’s a comfortable feeling she didn’t expect to find in his presence. And as much as she doesn’t want to admit it she’s glad he’s there.
Author's Chapter Notes:
finally got around to updating this...thank you so much for all the reviews, love em :)
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