Thursday, November 16, 2006

Arthur: Looking good doesn't go unnoticed

I only saw Zoe at the movie theater Friday night, but since she can't run the projectors, there obviously had to be another manager there. Lucky me - it was Stewart.

I haven't seen a whole lot of him since he felt me up - he tends to work days, I tend to work nights. It's one part the perk of being head manager and one part the whole thing about not wanting us small (apparently) female types having to wrestle with platters of film. As I've said before, fine with me. Still, tonight we were both assigned the same shift, and though it was relatively uneventful most of the night, there did come a point where I was up in the booth with him.

"So," he says, "I saw you and Ray Friday night. You looked nice."

I told him it was nice of him to say.

"But it looks like it was for nothing - he was out cold by the time the movie ended. That's got to be rough."

Hey, well, it happens.

"It shouldn't happen to a girl like you. You should have everything you want, whenever you want." He smiles in a way that probably charms a lot of girls, and I notice. In, a non-attracted way, of course - like when you notice a guy in a bar or at a party is really working it well.

"What makes you think I don't?"

"I think I know you better than that. Now, you felt like some down-time, that's cool, but I saw that dress you were wearing. It was a signal. A classy, subtle one, but it said you wanted something more than just falling asleep in front of a movie."

Or, I thought, that my best friend picked my clothes. I was going to say something sarcastic when he walked up, lifted my chin with a finger, and rested his other hand on my bottom. Now, I don't want anyone getting into the idea of "the lady doth protest to much" here, because attracted isn't what I was feeling. But I was curious, and I could imagine what this kind of attention meant to Liz. So, I kind looked into his eyes and gave a little half-smile and said that falling asleep in front of a movie wasn't all bad.

"Ah," he says, "but that means it's not all good, either." A buzzer leads him over to where one of the movies is ending, but he turns around and tells me that we could continue this conversation later - say, at lunch tomorrow? It's been a while since we had lunch.

Now, I know what "lunch" is probably code for. And last month I would have vowed to never eat again. But now... Well, this situation is temporary. And Liz wants to come back to this guy. And it would certainly be a learning experience.

... and if I wake up sane tomorrow morning, I can forget that I said it sounded like fun.

-Art

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd not have thought you to go native so soon, especially after having tried to maintain your own identity as much as you have for as long as you have.

Perhaps there's more to this curse, or whatever it is, than you think. Perhaps it also helps to to become comfortable with your "new" life.

Scary stuff. :-(

Anonymous said...

Go for it Art. Life is meant to be lived. Sounds like Stewart knows what he's doing. That is key.