Page 44 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
‘What’s happened to Ed?’ Oliver asked when the lights came up.
‘He went to talk to the projectionist.’
‘We’ll find him then because I arranged with the manager to have a look up there after the film. Come on.’
The three of them headed up the stairs, against the flow of people coming down.
Oliver knocked on the door of the projection box and went in. There was no sign of Ed and none of them asked whether he’d been up there. Patsy tended to agree with Matt that Ed’s interjection was probably not going to be welcome and by unspoken agreement it was better not to align themselves with him if they wanted to keep on the right side of the cinema. After all, they were far enough away from Croftwood to be useful allies rather than rivals.
Knowing now what she did about the projection system they had, Patsy was interested to see that this cinema had something close to the setup at Croftwood and even managed to ask a couple of questions about it, which their projectionist was delighted by. They also had a chat to the duty manager who explained a bit more about how they ran things, what they’d learned about which films tended to be popular, what timings worked for them and plenty of other useful information.
There was still no sign of Ed when they came out and by this time, the cinema had emptied with only the staff left inside.
‘Do you want to give him a call Pats? Find out where he is?’ suggested Oliver.
Patsy was fuming. What was he doing? She called him as they walked in the direction of the bar Oliver had planned to go to but he didn’t answer so she left a message telling him where they were heading. She wasn’t going to let him spoil her night out. She’d enjoyed the cinema and was happy to carry on having a nice time with Matt and Oliver.
The rest of the evening was a cocktail-fuelled affair, at least on Patsy and Oliver’s part. Matt was sticking to beer and Patsy was managing to skip one cocktail for every two that Oliver drank. There was more to it than Amy not wanting to come and Patsy knew that Oliver was putting a brave face on things, only the amount he was drinking giving away his real feelings, and then only to her.
Matt was surprisingly good company, telling them funny work-related stories, talking about his children with plenty of love in his voice and smiling eyes, even though he admitted it was hard when he had them with him because of the hours he worked. By the time they left to go back to the hotel, Patsy had almost forgotten to wonder about where Ed was. If Matt and Oliver thought it was odd that he’d not come back, they didn’t say anything, escorting Patsy back to the hotel with their arms linked through hers.
‘Thanks guys, what a great evening,’ she said when they got to the hotel.
‘You going to be alright, Pats?’
‘I’ll be fine.’ She kissed them both on the cheek and headed upstairs while they headed into the bar for a nightcap.
She let herself into the room and found Ed asleep in bed. She didn’t want to talk to him now. It could wait until tomorrow.
19
ED STOOD IN the foyer of the cinema in Birmingham. There was nothing that annoyed him more than an out-of-focus film. So much so that he didn’t consider what he’d think if someone knocked on the door of his projection box and pointed out the same to him. He was on edge, feeling out of his comfort zone, particularly now that Matt had turned up. He knew that Matt had been Patsy’s knight in shining armour the day that her ex-husband had turned up and that didn’t sit well with him, especially because he had been in the building at the time. It could so easily have been him that had come to her rescue, if only she’d screamed or something, he could have swept down the stairs and now Patsy would be looking at him the way she looked at Matt. He’d thought she hated Matt, although her complaints about him had stopped recently. Now that they had that shared experience, something had changed between them. Something that he had no chance of replicating and tonight was the first time he’d seen it for himself.
Quite rightly, now he thought about it, the projectionist gave him short shrift and Ed was annoyed with himself. And embarrassed because they were supposed to have a tour afterwards with the manager, then the others would find out that the bloke thought he was a dick. He couldn’t face that.
He went back inside the auditorium, planning to feign a headache or something so that he could go back to the hotel at the end of the film but when he headed over to their seats, he saw that Matt had moved into his seat and was now sitting next to Patsy.
It was a knee-jerk reaction but he couldn’t think straight and he immediately walked out of the cinema. He stood outside and exhaled, the fresh air clearing his head but making him feel no differently. It was as if the afternoon he’d spent with Patsy had never happened. An afternoon where he’d felt something shift between them. Had he imagined that?
He wandered through the streets, meandering around to avoid people who were spilling out of pubs, groups of hens in high spirits, and Deliveroo bikes, eventually finding himself back at the hotel. He checked his watch, a part of him wondering what Patsy would do when she realised he was gone. It was a test of sorts and he knew in his heart of hearts that she was going to fail it. Yes, it was unfair and if he was a better person, he would have gone back into the cinema, sat down next to Oliver and given Patsy a reassuring smile. But he wasn’t that man. He was self-aware enough to know that he lacked the confidence to be sure that he would be chosen over Matt, or even Oliver. These two men were better than him. Confident, comfortable in their own skin and more accomplished at chatting and joking with Patsy than he was capable of.
The hotel bar was busy, with a low-level buzz of conversation, laughter and people having a good time within the socially-accepted limits of a posh hotel. Ed took a seat at the bar and ordered a double whisky on the rocks. He took a slug, the reality of the situation beginning to dawn on him. He’d basically abandoned his girlfriend without a word. She was with her friends and he never would have done this had she been by herself, but even so, he was starting to feel like it had been a monumental mistake. Now that she’d sat watching that film without him for a good hour, there were limited options as to how he could come out of this with their relationship intact. Because if there was a relationship worth having, why had he got himself into this ridiculous situation in the first place. It was self-sabotage; he’d seen Patsy with Matt and his subconscious told him to get out before she pushed him. Christ.
When Patsy woke up, she stayed still, trying to gauge whether Ed was in or out of bed, asleep or awake before she made a move. It was going to be awkward whatever happened because what reasonable explanation could there be as to why he walked out of the cinema and came back to the hotel without a word?
She’d actually had a pretty good time last night, despite Ed. Or maybe because he wasn’t with her, she wasn’t sure. The afternoon they’d spent together seemed almost other-worldly now, in the face of the weirdness and she wasn’t sure which was the real Ed. Attentive, sexy, afternoon Ed or dismissive, aloof, dickhead, evening Ed. It was very confusing.
No longer able to stare at the glass of water on the bedside cabinet without wanted to gulp it down, she reached out, knowing that it would signal to Ed — who she was pretty sure was still in the bed — that she was awake.
‘Morning,’ he said, and she turned to face him once she’d put the glass down.
‘Hi. Did you sleep well?’ she asked with a heavy undertone of sarcasm.
‘I’m so sorry about last night. After I’d seen the projectionist, they wouldn’t let me back in. I think you or Oliver must have had my ticket.’
Patsy frowned. That seemed unlikely. ‘I did have your ticket but I’m sure Oliver nipped out to the loo with no problem.’
‘Well, I don’t know what to say. I tried to get back in and to be honest, I was so pissed off, I left and decided to wait in that bar that Oliver had mentioned we’d go to afterwards.’
