Part of me wanted to correct them—to assure them that no, we weren’t together, that they should believe that the rules of the universe that keep everyday and beautiful people apart were still very much in place—but the other part of me wanted to take his arm and snuggle close to him. Just to fuck with them.
As we sat, I felt more and more out of place, especially when several people turned to do the classic “stretch and stare” move. They weren’t fooling anyone, especially when I saw one of them do a double take. It was half hilarious, half insulting.
I hunched my shoulders, wishing I was shorter.
“I don’t belong here,” I said under my breath.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gabe said.
Apparently, I hadn’t been quiet enough.
“You’re impressive,” he said.
I blinked.
“Me?”
“Yeah, you,” he said. “You write all these articles and you have your blog and you’re also doing lots of other stuff too. You’re smart and creative. That’s impressive.”
I wanted to argue with him. Wanted to tell him that among my peers I wasn’t impressive at all. I didn’t have a book contract, I didn’t have a readership. I had to scramble and hustle for every single interview I got, had to prove myself each and every time.
But the expression on his face was so genuine, so earnest, that I held my tongue and let his words sink in. And when I did, I realized, with a certain pleasant surprise, that to someone like Gabe, I might actually seem impressive. Because I made my living off my writing. It wasn’t a good living by anyone’s standards but I was surviving. I didn’t have to work a day job. My writing was supporting me just enough that I didn’t need to do anything else.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Thank you” is what I finally settled on, just as the lights went down.
Film Fans
BREAKING OUR SHARED HEARTS
[excerpt]
By Evan Arnold
There’s something that all us cynical, stone-hearted reviewers seem to agree on when it comes to the latest Oliver Matthias film: Bring tissues. The movie is a tearjerker to the highest degree and it earns each and every one of those sniffles it pulls out of you.
If you saw him in Tommy Jacks and thought, Wow, this is acting, well, viewers, you haven’t seen nothing yet.
Shared Hearts is a lush romantic film with an astonishingly talented cast, but Matthias stands out. He always stands out.
He will break your heart as Jonathan Hale, a down-on-his-luck salesman in postwar Britain, who stumbles into an ill-fated romance with Barbara Glory, who may or may not be a former spy.
Matthias is making a point with this movie. He’s telling the audience—which presumably contains the very same people that made the world’s worst casting choice—“This could have been your Bond.”
One can only imagine the regret they’re feeling right now.
Chapter
13
The movie was amazing.
“You liked it?” Gabe asked as we were pulled into the crowd of people leaving the theater.
My hand was against my throat—had been there for the last thirty minutes. By sheer force of will and a lifetime of learning how to suppress the embarrassment of public tears, I’d kept from crying, but I still felt raw after the experience.
“It was…” I swallowed. “It was very good.”
I looked over at Gabe, expecting to see jealousy, but there was none.
“He’s a legend,” he said. “If you think watching him is an experience, try acting next to him. It’s a master class in technique.”
I managed a nod.
“Wanna head to the after-party?” he asked.
I remembered Oliver’s face when he’d extended an invitation to me. Polite, but not really interested. He’d included me because of Gabe, but he didn’t trust me.
“I don’t know…” I said.
“Come on,” Gabe said. “It’ll be fun. And we can tell Ollie how you almost cried. He’ll love that.”
It was hard to say no to Gabe. And the truth was I didn’t want to. I was having a good time.
And why wouldn’t I? One of the most beautiful men in the world—my personal celebrity crush—was treating me like I belonged. It was an intoxicating feeling.
“Okay,” I said.
I also took the article into consideration, even though I was torn. Gabe had given me permission to write about this, but I knew that he had been drinking and maybe it wasn’t quite ethical to take him up on his carelessly offered, ill-thought-out concession.