One Way To Spend A Lifetime

Chapter 1

"Any expectations?"

"Well it had better be good, because I've waited a year for this thing!"

For our first anniversary, I bought us tickets to see the film adaptation of The Dreamer. It didn't sound like much of a date, but she'd been on the edge of her seat, waiting for this film since she'd first read the novel. I wanted to treat her, so I thought I'd surprise her with this.

"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything, baby. I'll make it up to you, I promise!" She said, putting on an adorable pouty face and puppy dog eyes.

What I didn't tell her, was that she already had. I lived for her heart-stopping smiles and the luminous twinkle in her deep brown eyes.

She was the kind of person who wasn't hard to please. She didn't ask for very much, but when it came to me, that's exactly what I aimed to give to her. How could I not, when she's the only thing that makes me want to get up every morning? Cliché, I know, but this woman is the only rush of caffeine I ever need.

"And I don't doubt it," I said, chuckling, "but if you keep making me promises we'll miss the start of the movie," I pointed out, just as the line into the cinema was starting to move in. She didn't even reply before she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside with her.

As we descended into the dimly lit theatre, her excitement only grew. Once we found our seats, she said nothing, but I could see that her mind was running with the possibilities of how this film would render. She was unconsciously shaking her leg - a habit of hers - and staring into the blank cinema screen. She was deep in thought, so I didn't bother disturbing her. Instead, I reclined in my seat and sat patiently until the movie began.

Once the opening credits began to roll, she stopped shaking her leg and took my hand in hers, squeezing it hard, with all of her excited energy.

"You know," I whispered, "I'm going to need that hand later." She just shushed me and continued to hold me in her death grip.

To be honest, I had little interest in this film. I hadn't read the book, nor did any research. But that didn't bother me, because I couldn't turn my attention away from the woman beside me, whose features were illuminated by the faint blue glow of the cinema.

Her eyes, now bright and shining pools of light, hungrily took in the film before her. Her long lush hair looked ethereal as it fell down her shoulders and onto her chest, each strand dancing to its rise and fall.

The glow also stripped her of the small crinkles in the corners of her eyes, that only seemed to deepen with more laughter, and the dark circles that developed from hours upon hours of overtime at the hospital. She looked younger, more alive.

I tried to get into the storyline of the film, but it was no hope. I was constantly distracted by her mindless fiddling with my hand that lay on the armrest, or the twirling of her hair around her finger.

Beep, beep, beep.

The noise quickly jolted me out of my daze. It seemed to be coming from me, but I couldn't see what.

Beep, beep, beep.

"Turn it off!" She whispered to me, with urgency. It wasn't my watch, nor the phone in my back pocket.

Beep, beep, beep.

I turned to her to send a look of desperation, to ask her for help. But when I looked up, she had disappeared.

I looked around to see where she had gone to, only to find that the movie had stopped, and the screen was blank. Suddenly, all the lights in the cinema flicked on with extreme intensity, trapping me like a deer caught in headlights.

Beep, beep, beep.

I squinted against the light, searching for help. But there was no one here. I was now hopelessly alone in the cinema.