Page 59 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
‘We should have brought some camping chairs with us,’ Patsy said.
He grinned, the weariness that had come over him during their conversation about his children, ebbing away. ‘Or we could drag that roll of carpet in from the foyer?’
They went to the foyer where the plastic wrapped roll of carpet was waiting to be moved upstairs to the circle.
‘Put your back into it,’ he said as they tried to pick up an end each. Patsy started laughing and went all weak, collapsing onto the floor.
‘Hang on, hang on,’ she said, trying to compose herself. She stood up. ‘Okay, ready.’
They somehow managed to shift the carpet into the stalls with Matt carrying the front and Patsy barely managing to keep the other end off the ground. Positioning it across the stalls so that they’d be able to sit on it to watch the film, they both sat down to catch their breath. Then Matt pushed his foot to the floor which made it roll backwards and Patsy squealed as she lost her balance, laughing again when she saw the mischievous look on his face.
‘Oi! I could have fallen off!’ She was trying to be stern but couldn’t stop laughing.
‘Like this?’ he said, tipping it again but catching her firmly as she lost her balance.
They both stopped laughing as they looked into each other’s eyes, Matt’s hand loosening its grip on her arm. She’d never noticed that his eyes were the darkest blue and it was difficult to look away.
The lights dipped off and on again, signalling that the film was about to start. Matt dropped his hand but held her gaze until the lights went down and they watched the silent Star Wars trailer, joined a few minutes later by an ecstatic Oliver and a modest Ed.
‘How amazing was that?’ Oliver sat down next to Patsy and popped the champagne.
‘Pretty cool. It really is a proper cinema now,’ she said.
‘Okay, tonight we christen it.’ Oliver poured the champagne into the plastic cups and they each took one. ‘Here’s to the first of many more film showings at Croftwood Cinema. Cheers!’
‘Cheers!’ they all chorused.
‘Oh my god,’ said Patsy, suddenly remembering that she’d meant to check the stairs. ‘Rosemary told me something that might be quite exciting. Come with me!’
Patsy led the way into the foyer. ‘She reckons the original balustrade is gorgeous and she thinks it was boxed in.’
Oliver tapped the boxed balustrade. It was hollow. ‘Could be true. Who’s up for a bit of late-night excavation?’
‘Me!’ Patsy said, and they all laughed.
‘Okay, let’s find something we can make a hole in with.’
‘Hang on a sec,’ said Ed and went sprinting off up the stairs, returning with a large screwdriver.
‘Go on, you do the honours,’ Oliver said, gesturing to the stairs.
‘Here goes.’ Ed flashed a look of excitement at Patsy before he stabbed the screwdriver into what turned out to be fairly soft hardboard. He wiggled it around until there was a hole around an inch in diameter.
Oliver took out his phone and shone the torch into the hole, then with a grin on his face, held the lens up to the hole and took a picture.
‘Look! It’s still there, just like Rosemary said!’
They huddled into a four-way hug and jumped for a few seconds before breaking apart and heading back into the stalls to top up their cups.
‘Here’s to Rosemary! God bless her interfering!’
‘To Rosemary!’
When they’d run out of champagne, and Ed had shut everything off in the projection box, it was time to leave.
‘I can walk you back,’ Ed said to Patsy as they waited for Oliver to lock the door.
‘Oh—’ Before she could politely object, Matt had stepped in.
