Page 16 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
‘You wouldn’t believe what five-year-old twins can get up to when they put their heads together.’
Once they’d said goodbye to Matt and the twins, who’d made him promise that they could come back to help with the chairs another day, Oliver and Patsy headed up the stairs to inspect the projection box which had been cleaned. The room didn’t look that different because although it smelt better and, thank goodness, the floor wasn’t covered in poo, it was still so dark in there. The light from the window was sucked up by the black walls as soon as it passed through the glass.
‘There’s not much to see, is there?’ Patsy said as she wandered in, further than she’d been before now that no birds were going to frighten her to death.
Oliver was examining the projector and peering through the small window in the wall which looked out into the auditorium. ‘I don’t know, I think it’s quite exciting. I can understand how your man, Ed, finds all this interesting. I might hang out with him and find out a bit about it, if that’s not going to cramp your style.’
‘You’re such an idiot, Ollie. He’s not my man, anyway.’
‘Not yet.’
‘Oh, for god’s sake.’
‘I saw the way he looked at you when you were making coffee. He was watching your every move. He likes you.’
‘He was probably just desperate for a coffee. And he hasn’t been in touch or anything so he’s obviously not interested.’
‘Give him a chance Pats, he’s probably trying to play it cool. Or he has no idea what he’s doing, which wouldn’t be that surprising for one of those nerdy types.’
‘I’m not sure either of those excuses make him ideal boyfriend material. And even if I did like him, he’s the first man I’ve even thought I might be interested in for years. I don’t think I’d be lucky enough for him to feel the same way.’
‘Well, we’ll see, won’t we?’ Oliver said. ‘You need to let yourself go, have a bit of fun with him if that’s what you want.’
‘I might not have had much luck with men in the past but I think I can set my sights higher than having a bit of fun.’
‘Definitely, Pats. I was only suggesting not to take it too seriously when, like you said, maybe he’s not going to be the love of your life.’
But what Patsy was wondering again, was how it was possible that in the same week she had met Ed and felt that spark of attraction, she’d also noticed Matt. She couldn’t say that she fancied him in the same way that she felt something for Ed, it wasn’t an instant attraction, obviously, but there was definitely something about him that intrigued her and she was beginning to enjoy their sometimes barbed exchanges over the plans for the cinema, maybe even looked forward to them. Perhaps Ed had somehow awoken something in her that had been dormant since Dan and now her attraction beacon was working again. It sounded ridiculous but that was how it felt. Maybe Oliver was right and she shouldn’t think too hard about it all, just see what happened and do whatever made her happy. It made a nice change, anyway.
It had been a couple of weeks since Ed had been to Croftwood and Patsy hadn’t heard from him since. Having tentatively arranged that she would let him know when things were underway, now that the projection box had been cleaned felt like the ideal time to get in touch.
It’s done and all the pigeon poo is gone so we’re ready when you are! X
She immediately regretted the kiss. It felt too much. She was used to almost exclusively texting Oliver, so it had been automatic.
Great, can’t wait to get started!
He hadn’t reciprocated the kiss. That meant he had actively decided not to and her heart sank a little bit. He probably wasn’t interested.
I’ve got the day off on Sunday. Cinema at 11am? I’ll bring the coffee! X
It was important to sound breezy. And not to look as if she’d rethought the kiss.
Works for me. See you then.
Hopefully he’d assume the kiss business was something that she did all the time. Feeling that she had nothing to lose after all, she texted a reply.
Looking forward to it :-) X
8
ON SUNDAY MORNING, Patsy called in at Oliver’s to collect coffees for her and Ed on her way to the cinema. It was her day off and the place was quiet now that the Sunday morning brunch crowd had thinned out. It had been drizzling on and off which was probably persuading people to stay indoors and embrace a lazy start.
‘Two lattes, please,’ said Patsy, as she helped herself to two pain au chocolats and a handful of sugar sachets.
‘Help yourself to the pastries, Pats,’ said Oliver, rolling his eyes and smiling at her as he started steaming the milk. ‘What are you up to this morning?’
‘I’m meeting Ed at the cinema. Now that it’s clean and pigeon free, he’s keen to get started. Is it okay to give him a spare key?’
