Her List of Kisses

Chapter 20- Bad Movies and Cinema Kisses

It’s true.

Not one other person has decided to choose this time on this evening to see the same movie as us. After our initial celebration, we have decided that this could mean one of two things: 1) that the movie we took so long to choose is going to be absolutely horrendous, or 2) this is just a stroke of luck, an amazing coincidence, or someone upstairs smiling down on us.

Now, we have come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter which explanation is correct because we have the whole freaking cinema to ourselves, and that is enough.

“Right,” says Will, “let’s put our stuff down over here. Yeah, the back seats. Oh, come on, Chloe, we have to have the back seats.”

I laugh and dump my stuff on one of the plush, ‘I’m rich’ chairs that are usually reserved. These seats are more like thrones, all kitted out with extra cup holders and massaging backs. Tonight, we watch the film in luxury. I can’t help but grin. As I go to sit down, however, Will shoots an arm out and catches me.

“Not yet,” he whispers as the screen fizzles into an advert. “Chloe, we have this whole place to ourselves; we need to make the most of it!”

His excitement is contagious. “And how do you suppose we do that?” I ask.

“Well, to start with, do you have your phone?”

“Yeah…?”

“Can you put it on camera? Yeah, like that. And stand it up on the top of the back seat, like so. Good, yeah wonderful. Right, now we set it to self-timer and hope for the best.”

I set the self-timer on my phone to take 5 photos, the first after ten seconds and then one after every five. As soon as I press ‘GO’, Will grabs my hand and sprints down to the very front of the cinema, dragging me along behind him. We stand in front of the screen with only a few seconds to spare. An advert flashes and booms from the big-screen behind us, an indoor thunderstorm, but we are too close to see anything but pixels.

“When the light goes off, jump!” says Will.

The light on my phone flickers.

“Now!” I scream and jump high, throwing my arms out, my hand still locked with his. My phone’s flash as it takes the picture lights up the dark room. The expression of giddy amusement on Will’s face is hilarious, and I burst out laughing as we drop back to the floor.

“Next photo! Quick!” he says.

We run in from opposite sides of the screen, leap up and hi-five right in the centre as the next flash flares. Then the music turns sinister as a darker advert, or perhaps a trailer, begins to play. I mime shooting him, and he throws one arm to his forehead and clutches his heart dramatically, pretending to die.

“2 left!” I am in hysterics.

“Chloe, jump!” he yells, opening his arms. Without stopping to think, I throw myself into them and he lifts me up high, spinning me round and round in front of the screen as if we are putting on a show, performing for an audience of the invisible. The flash goes off and slowly he pulls me back down.

“Last one,” he says.

And then we kiss passionately for the final photo, the final scene of our little extravaganza. Behind us, a new song plays and my heart soars with the music as he pulls me tighter. A burst of light tells us that the flash has gone off for the last time, but we continue kissing for a while after, his arms on my waist and my hands in his hair. We only break away when the screen goes black and the lights dim, announcing the opening credits of the film.