GITJ Post 285: A Date at the Movies, p1

“This way, theater eight,” Josie urged, a hand on my left shoulder, pushing me towards the right. Though early on a Saturday evening, the lobby to the local cinema was pretty busy. It was nice to be out, but crowds kind of made me anxious these days. Maybe it was the - eight? ten? - inches I’d lost, that I felt smaller than everyone, or maybe it was something else. Whatever; I was suddenly just feeling strangely glad the two girls were with me.

“We don’t want to miss the previews,” Lakshmi giggled, both her arms encircling my right one, “I love the previews.”

“And Missy is so excited to see you…” Josie added, “like, really excited.”

That made my blood tingle. “Are we going to get some snacks?” I offered, “My treat?” As weird as this was - me, a forty-something year-old physician, flanked by two young beauties and being drawn towards his date with possibly the most luscious woman on earth amongst a bevy of them, all of whom were my employees - I was once again trying to keep a stolid, intrepid face. Stay relaxed, tonight, man, I’d been telling myself all day, have some fun.

“Aww that’s sweet,” Josie replied to my offer, “But the other girls said they bought snacks..."

Uncomfortable, I had felt like I was tagging along, kind of intruding on girls’ night. They all insisted that wasn’t the case, seemingly excited I was joining them for a movie, but still I felt out of place. The promise, though, of being with Melissa - even if we were surrounded by her gaggle of girlfriends - was just too great. I felt awkward, yes, but my heart was racing just picturing what Melissa might be wearing, or recalling the scent of her perfume.

I shivered. The AC must be on really high, I figured, it’s pretty chilly in here. The news had said it was 65 degrees, a warm night for early-November, for sure, but I was kicking myself for not wearing a jacket. I’d been cool on the car ride over, Josie and Lakshmi having picked me up, but it was even chillier here in the theater. The girls had also bought my ticket for me online after they heard I’d be coming along. I haha didn’t even know what movie we’d be seeing, and the girls were doing their best to keep it a surprise. They covered my eyes at opportune moments as we made our way through the lobby to our theater, my ears at others. They wanted to make sure I didn’t get clued-in by the marquees or an errant ticket-clicker. They giggled, obviously excited, and I tried to ignore the feeling that most everyone in the crowds was taller than me.

They led me into the semi-dark theater, hushed as these places are while they’re still playing ads and whatnot, and immediately we looked for our seats (8F, 8G and 20C - the nice big cushy, reclinable type) and where the rest of our group would be. My seat, I guessed, was the one way in back. But, I was informed in half-whisper by Josie - “you’re not sitting there.”

“Yeah come with us-“ said Lakshmi. She looked really pretty tonight, in a simple tee and black leggings that hugged her ample lower curves. She had a white sweatshirt around her hips.

“B-but..?” I was confused. Where would I sit? The movie was pretty packed; I’d be sure to be taking someone else’s seat. Indeed when we found our crowd - there must have been nine of them, girls from the office, Katie and Shanette and Stephanie and a host of others seated in a big group, all now looking over to me and cooing their greetings - I was told of the situation. “That’s Melissa’s spot,” the platinum blonde Amelia told me, “just sit there. She’ll be back soon, just getting more popcorn.”

“But then where will she sit?” I asked, obtusely.

“Men are so cute when they’re out of their depth, aren’t they?” asked the red-headed Julia, tossing a junior mint a couple feet through the air into Randi’s weirdly wide mouth, in the seat in front of her. The pack of us were seated in three rows and now that Josie and Lakshmi had sat, dead in the middle lay one sole, empty spot.

I was starting to get the picture.

I stepped into the row, passing Shanette, and sat to wait for my date. Lakshmi was on my left, and she offered me some peanut M&M’s from a box that was being passed around. I declined, and shivered anew. “Awww are you cold?” she asked me, with honest tenderness in her voice and already unwrapping the sweatshirt she had tied around her waist, “Here take my hoodie…”

“Thank you,” I replied, just as the house lights went down. I pulled the thick, white, oversized sweatshirt up over my torso, like a blanket. It smelled nice. I was just again starting to wonder about Melissa’s whereabouts when-

“I’m back..!” I heard, looking up to my right and seeing- whoah…

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Thanks to Migsanch for the original morph in the first image, and J2 for that in the second