Captivation

Captivation Part 41

They walked back toward the cinema talking about trivia in many respects as they tried to lighten the mood after having spent the last half an hour talking about sad events in their lives. He mentioned a documentary that had recently aired and they began to discuss some of the points that were voiced in the programme. So the short walk back to the cinema passed without incident and centred on a discussion that did not involve the sharing of intimate information.

It was Caitlin who headed for the ticket booth. "Vouchers?" She turned to him, then stepped sideways to let him get to the booth. Jared handed the woman two vouchers and explained which movie they'd like to see.

Tickets issued, he turned and grinned as he teased, "Ok. Do I get popcorn or do you?"

"I don't like popcorn." She replied frankly.

"You'd burn a date out." He said and taking her elbow steered her toward the cinema door.

"What do you mean by that statement?" After their easy going chat on their amble back to the cinema she was expecting the rest of the evening to pass without incident.

"You're difficult to please." Jared told her without any preamble. He figured she could handle his blunt assessment.

"Thanks."

"You did ask!" He told her and then explained, "I mean, it's a simple deal, two of us going to the pictures. But this far we've had a drama about the fact that it is you and me. A protracted discussion on what to see. My foot in mouth about Douglas talking to you. A snarl about popcorn." He whispered as they made their way up the short alley toward the usher.

"I didn't snarl." She hissed quietly as they neared the usher by the door.

"Not much." He replied. She stayed silent. "And now, after you asked for and have been given the truth, I can see that I am going to have to deal with an obvious case of sulking." He was about to hand over the tickets when she stopped him.

"No." She took one of the tickets. "You won't have to deal with anything." With that she pivoted and headed for the door. Jared glanced at the usher, shrugged and then took off after Caitlin. He caught up with her as she was about to approach a family.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving." She retorted flatly.

He took her arm, and moved them closer to the corner, "What's the problem now?" It was like being on a rollercoaster. Just when he thought he had her measure and had earned the rights to tease her, she took umbrage!

"No problem." She said and before he could say anything said, "I'm going home."

"Aren't you being melodramatic?" Jared challenged.

"Definitely. Is there anything else?" She asked huffily.

"You really are steamed." He suddenly realized that she was rather angry with him. Then he grinned. She narrowed her eyes. "I was just teasing you earlier." He said quietly.

"You don't know me well enough to tease."

"Clearly." He ran a hand through his hair. Ok, he was going to have to think before he made any other assumptions. "Lets start again?" He waited, then added, "I want to go out with you."

"Yeah, right. I might look stupid, but believe me I'm not." Caitlin grumbled. She wanted to believe him. Wanted to believe that he genuinely wanted to go out with her.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have, not once, but several times told people my father could not pay you enough to date me, you've spent the last few seconds suggesting I am a petulant, sulky shrew, and now all of a sudden you want to go out with me? Give me a break."

He figured now was not the right time to remind her about that scorching kiss. Surely that should have signaled he wanted to go out with her. That kiss was practically dynamite as far as he was concerned. "I'm sorry I offended you." He waited.

Caitlin sighed.

"Look. We have two tickets. Why don't we do the movie." He waited. "Let's just go in, sit down, watch the movie and then, well, we'll see. " He suggested. She hesitated. "We don't even have to talk once we are in there. " Though he fully intended to talk after the movie. Douglas was right. Jared needed to talk to Caitlin. They had a lot to talk about. They needed to iron out just where they stood, and the assumptions they had made about each other. They needed to talk about that kiss and what it meant for them. They needed to talk about their future.

Caitlin hesitated. "Fine."

And so once again they made their way toward the usher. At least the minor diversion had meant that they missed all the adverts, and entered just before the end of the final trailer. In silence they took their seats. Two hours later the credits rolled and they both sat and watched it until the lights came up.

"Not bad." He said as he got to his feet. She nodded. Jared hoped this did not signal the end of the date. "It wasn't like the others in the series."

"I haven't seen the others."

Jared looked surprised. "None of them?" She shook her head. "Would you like to go for a coffee?" He reached for his jacket. "I could tell you about the ones you missed."

She laughed and teased. "If I agree to coffee, will you promise not to tell me about the ones I missed?" He helped her on with her jacket.

"Sci Fi not your thing."

"Some of it. I'm just not into the gore stuff." She explained. There were moments in that screening that she had wanted to all but bury her head in his shoulder to avoid looking at the screen. Instead she had closed her eyes and hoped the scene would conclude quickly and before anyone noticed she wasn't watching.

They made their way down the steps. "So coffee?"

Now that he had suggested it for real, now she was nervous. After coffee then what? "Maybe another time." She shuffled from foot to foot, "Thanks."

"What for?" He thrust his hands into his jacket, "The tickets were free."

"True."

She buttoned up.

Once outside she smiled ruefully at him. "Well goodnight."

He leaned forward and kissed her lips. "Good night Caitlin." When was he going to start taking control of this situation between them? When was he going to ask her whether she genuinely believed he was out of her league? When was he going to tell her that he thought she was too good for him? Clearly tonight was not the night. Another opportunity went begging. Telling her about his childhood was not exactly going to encourage her to get involved with him! Why would she want to be with someone with so much emotional baggage? Why would she risk building a future with a man whose past involved what was at best a dysfunctional family? His family was not typical. As far as Jared was concerned, his family consisted of Doug, Ryan, Ailsa and Doug's grandmother, and in reality only one of them was actually related through blood, and even then, she was a half sister. Jared walked back to his car, his shoulders hunched, his hands in his pockets, his head downcast as he thought about their earlier conversation.

She hadn't run. She hadn't voiced platitudes, hadn't been flippant, when he had presented information about his childhood. She had listened. And asked probing questions about his childhood. She did look sad when he described certain events, but he thought that was because felt for him. She seemed to be genuinely interested. It was the first time they had talked about matters that were truly personal. He'd heard about her mother's death, knew from asking around that her father had brought up the two girls on his own after his wife was killed during a bungled burglary attempt. He knew that from other sources, but it was different listening to Caitlin tell him about that time in her life. For Caitlin's account showed how much she trusted him given she was talking about her feelings about a life changing and intense event. His shoulders straightened and his head came up. Surely talking about things that private counted as progress. Surely.