The Beautiful Truth

// 44

"Don't look now, but I think that's Vinny Chase," Barton said under his breath as we walked back into the fading sunlight after just watching the first of two films on our itinerary.

I looked just in time to see Adrian Grenier cross the street within arm's reach. I grinned up at Barton. "Awesome. It's like mini-Hollywood here."

"Right," Barton agreed. "Except with snow."

We had already seen Mila Kunis and Adam Brody while we walked to the theater, and then discovered Jordana Brewster and Zooey Deschanel in the viewing with us. Very exciting. I had to wonder if this is what happened to Talyn every time he walked out the door. That is, until I realized people probably told their friends they saw Talyn, too.

"How'd you like that one?" Barton asked, grabbing my hand as we headed up the street toward our second show.

"Honestly?" I stalled.

He laughed softly. "Yeah, it was a little slow there in the middle."

"Totally gonna need some coffee before the next one," I said, yawning right on cue. "You're right—but it wasn't like...Godfather slow-in-the-middle slow, where it built the story; it was just brutal slow. All that could have been summed up in about fifteen minutes."

"Oh God, I know," Barton complained. "Like why did we need to see him grocery shopping and all that? He lives in New York, he's still lonely. Done."

I laughed at his succinctness. "Character development, I guess. But it would have made a better book. When you can see what's going on, you don't need all the descriptive...representative action. I mean...I don't think, anyway. We probably just saw the next Academy Award Winner for Best Picture."

"Right? It was good, yes, but it dragged."

"Agreed."

"Starbucks?"

"Ohhhh," I sighed. "Please."

Barton smiled and led me across the street for my caffeine fix.

"You want to keep the receipt?" I asked him, grinning as we walked back out to the sidewalk with our drinks in hand. The cashier had handed it to me when Barton was putting the honey in his green tea while I waited for my drink.

He looked at me and I could have sworn he was blushing. I couldn't be sure—he usually seemed imperturbable, and his cheeks always had a slightly warm glow.

"Nah," he finally answered, stopping on the corner to wait for traffic to pass. "There will be plenty more trips for coffee for us if I have anything to do with it."

I reached for his empty hand and squeezed it in mine. "Thousands."

The Kate Bosworth, Third-Rock-Guy movie was much more entertaining. Barton and I left the theater much more invigorated than we had after the first show.

Checking the time, we decided to head back to the condo and meet Micki and Alex for their second round on the slopes. When we got there, Alex and Barton set about making sandwiches for dinner. I found Micki in her room—finally I could get her alone.

"Hey!" she beamed upon seeing me in her doorway. "How were the movies?"

I smiled at her. I loved that she was so happy. "Um, the first one was OK...I mean, it was good, it just dragged in parts. The second one was really good. You should go check it out when it hits theaters."

"Yeah, I think we're gonna go do some of the film festival stuff tomorrow night. Gotta take a break from the slopes at some point. I'm already sore," she sighed.