Page 109 of Absolute Certainty
She shrugged her shoulders. “Just curious.”
“You run cold, don’t you?”
“How’d you figure?”
“I saw you eye the AC the second you got into my car, so I put it down for you. You’re also holding a jacket, and it’s eighty-eight degrees out.”
The observation made her smile. “Okay, well, first, the jacket is for later. Second, good catch. I’ve got nothing to counter.”
“How’s your ankle?” he then asked.
She moved it a bit under the dashboard. “It really is better. I don’t feel a thing right now.”
“Is that the painkillers talking?” he asked, concern hanging onto his voice.
“No, honestly. It felt better this morning, and the swelling’s gone down significantly. I took painkillers as a precaution.”
“You can elevate it again once we’re at my place. Or, use my dash if you’d like.”
“I’m good right now. Promise.”
For the remaining duration of the car ride, they discussed the most random things, getting to know each other through favorite foods and drinks, and letting the playlist she’d curated forEvery Speck of Dustdrive them to his place.
28
JAY
He’d sent her the beginning of the finale the night before, and Sahar had read the back half of the episode while he’d gathered drinks and snacks for them, as well as a pillow to prop up her ankle.
When he finally sat beside her on his gray sectional, her eyes were fixed on the remaining few words on the page. Something about his laptop propped up on her thighs made for an image he wanted to sear into his brain.
EXT. WOODLAWN BEACH - TWILIGHT.
“So this is the final scene, yeah?”
Jay nodded.
“What’s stumping you?” she asked.
Sighing, Jay pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I can’t settle on how to close the shot or even how to approach the scene. It feels like we have too many stories that end with two people looking out into the distance together. Lord knows I’ve done that before. Yet, a kiss doesn’t feel right either. But I want something that makes the reunion after all that time apart palpable.”
Sahar rounded her lips in thought. Jay kept his gaze on her.
“I think Henry would be in a state of shock,” she started to say. “He wouldn’t be expecting her there, would he? But even while she’s standing in front of him, I think he’d take a second to react—to really process that Katherine’s right there—real and whole. It’d be a quiet sort of shock while contentment starts to spread through him.”
Processing her words and her presence in front of him, the very same contentment she spoke of rolled through him. He took the glass of water in front of him and drank.
Swallowing, Jay’s eyes flicked back to her. “I think he’d hold her and never let go again.”
Sahar’s expression was picturesque. “Yes! The kind where they linger in each other’s arms,” she specified, releasing an exhale. “There’s something so healing about hugs, and I don’t think we give enough credit to them. Plus, it feels so right for Henry and Katherine.”
Jay agreed. “At this point, I don’t even know if it needs dialogue. If we have two great actors, every word I could write would be reflected in their performances.”
She nodded, her eyes full of contentment. “Exactly.”
He looked at her then, Sahar’s eyes were glistening, something indescribable squared in their center. He had to tell her. “Sahar, I— I have a confession to make.”
“Go on.”
