Page 20 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
He laid the end of the film on the floor then briefly switched the projector on. Patsy was surprised at how quickly the film ran through, making a loopy pile on the floor. Once there was enough film to reach back to the platter, he switched it off and picked up the end he’d laid on the floor ready for the next step.
‘See, once it starts running, it’ll wind back onto the platter with the start of the film in the middle ready for next time,’ he said as he wound the end of the film around the centre circle. ‘Saves rewinding it. That’s one of the main disadvantages of a tower, the rewinding.’
He switched something on and the film tensioned between the projector and the platter.
‘Now we need to put the lamp on and we’re good to go.’ He pressed a button on the projector and a loud buzz signalled that the lamp was lit, as well as light escaping from a tiny window in the back of the projector. Ed turned the lights off in the room.
‘Is it time?’
‘Just waiting for the go ahead from front of house. But we’re ready.’
They stood together in the small space next to the projector. The sense of anticipation was palpable. Patsy could feel the adrenaline radiating from Ed and she understood why he liked it so much. Everyone in that auditorium was relying on what was going on in this box. It had to be perfectly executed and the pressure involved in pulling it off seamlessly was clear. There were so many things to know and remember and Patsy imagined that it would be easy to make a mistake.
‘Okay, we’ve got the thumbs up,’ Ed said as he looked out of the window. ‘Everything will happen at once so stay there and don’t move for a sec.’
‘Okay.’
Ed flicked the projector on and it whirred into life. He turned some buttons, flicked something on the projector and did another dozen things all at the same time. Then he looked through to the screen and at the same time was adjusting something on the projector with his left hand.
‘There, all done.’ He turned and grinned at her. His eyes were bright and Patsy thought he’d never looked more confident. Maybe that would translate into him finally telling her if he liked her.
Ed pulled a bottle of wine out of his rucksack. That was a good sign.
Patsy took out her chocolate.
‘We’ve got the refreshments covered between us,’ said Ed. ‘Shall we?’ He gestured to the door.
‘Is it okay to leave it?’ With the film travelling back and forth across the room, Patsy felt like it would all go wrong unless Ed stood next to the projector for the duration of the film.
‘Yeah, it’ll be fine and we’ll be watching it so we’ll know if anything goes wrong. We’ll get booed, which will give us a clue if we don’t notice.’
‘Don’t even joke about it. I had no idea all of this was going on every time I go to the cinema.’
‘Well, it doesn’t go on in many places anymore, all the big cinema chains have gone digital.’
Patsy led the way out of the projection box, realising that she still didn’t know what the film was going to be.
Ed closed the door, laughing at Patsy’s worried expression. ‘Honestly, it’ll be fine.’ He picked up two plastic cups from the refreshment stall and quietly opened the door at the back of the auditorium. He let Patsy into the back row first and then sat down next to her. His eyes were on the film straight away, as if he was checking it, then he gave Patsy a thumbs up and poured the wine for each of them. He handed her a cup and they silently chinked them together before settling down to watch the film.
It was Jaws of all things. Patsy didn’t think she’d ever seen it all the way through and even though everyone laughed when they saw the shark which did look like a big plastic prop compared to the CGI wonders they could produce now, there were still plenty of jumps and screams. Each time, she and Ed looked at each other and laughed and near the end, the part when they were on the boat, the calm before the storm, she felt his hand slip into hers and she knew she’d been right to give him the chance to tell her before she jumped in ahead of him. Tonight was on his terms. It was his place, his passion and he’d needed that to give him the confidence to take the leap.
Patsy’s heart swelled in the darkness as she squeezed his hand and felt a squeeze in return. This was the start of something. The first time in a long time that she’d felt special to someone and the first time in a long time that things had felt so right. The only person she’d been close to in the past three years was Oliver and their friendship meant everything to her. But this, with Ed, was something else entirely and right in that moment when the lights were still down, before they could spoil anything by having to talk about what had happened between them, she was so happy she thought she might burst.
10
ON MONDAY MORNING, Patsy was still on a high after Friday night when Ed taking her hand had told her everything she wanted to know. They’d both been on cloud nine after the film and had said very little to each other while Ed switched everything off and locked up. He’d walked her into town to get the last bus back to Croftwood, holding hands the entire time and they’d had the briefest of kisses before she got on the bus and went home, feeling as if she was the luckiest girl in the world.
She’d been holding the fort at Oliver’s during the morning rush while Oliver went to the weekly site meeting at the cinema.
‘Oh my god, Pats, you’ve got some weird dreamy look on your face,’ he said, taking his coat off and hanging it behind the door to the flat. ‘Did he finally sweep you off your feet?’
Patsy could feel herself blush. Was it that obvious? ‘What are you talking about?’ she said defensively, knowing that resistance was futile because Oliver could read her like a book.
‘He did. Well, good for Ed. It was about time. Spill the beans then, how does a nerd proposition the woman of his dreams?’
‘He’s not a nerd.’
‘Ah, so he did proposition you! I knew it!’
