The Premiere Day

Chapter 10

"And now, what are we going to do?" Diana asked Joe as soon as the red carpet broadcast was finished. He was lying on the couch, still a little nauseated, his head aching.

"I really wanted to watch 6 Underground. Now I have to wait like you, mere mortals..."

"Wow, how dramatic you are!" Diana said, laughing. "Well, since we can't see this now, do you want to watch something else, or do you prefer to rest? Or do you want to order something to eat?"

"Wait, don't you think it's remedy time? I don't know what to do... I have some movies here, but maybe you'd rather look for something on TV or Netflix..."

Diana was astonished. 'Was Joe really asking to take medicine?', she thought. This was something new. Maybe he was in a lot of pain or maybe he had fever. So she decided to check it. She sat down on the floor beside the sofa and put her hand on his forehead.

"What's it?" Joe asked smiling and at the same time looking strange.

"You asked if you had to take the medicine. Admit it, that's not normal." She got up and took the thermometer out of Joe's medicine box, which he had left on the coffee table. "Your forehead is very hot."

"I asked it because my head still hurts..." he replied.

Diana put the thermometer in his mouth and grabbed the pill. She knew he should probably have a fever. She was sorry for him, and wanted to help him. She knew she was still getting to know him, they hadn't been in touch for a long time, and she still could get disappointed by him, but until then she was enjoying his company, their talks, and she liked to think that they could really become friends.

"Look," she said, after taking the thermometer out of his mouth and showing him the temperature.

"Wow!" Joe said, startled. The thermometer marked 100.4 ° F.

"You're going to take the remedy now. You'd have to take it, even if it wasn't the time," Diana said, giving him the pill and pouring some water in the glass. "But you better sit down so you won't choke."

Joe sat down and took the pill. "I don't want to eat anything, but you can order whatever you want, I'll pay, and we'll watch something on Netflix."

"What do you want to watch?" Diana said, turning to pick up the remote and trying to find something on Netflix. "And don't worry, I can pay for my meal."

"No," Joe said, getting up off the couch. "You're here because of me, so I'll pay for your dinner."

"You better sit down, or you may fall," she said, laughing. "And I told you I'll pay for my dinner." She said that and reached for the cell phone, to open the application she used to make her food orders.

Joe delicately took the phone out of Diana's hands and said, smiling, "let's do this: I'll pay your dinner and let you choose the movie we're going to watch."

Diana only smiled and shook her head. She wanted to insist, but she knew Joe wouldn't let her win. "Okay... But just this once, because you're sick."

Joe sat down again because, as Diana had predicted, he was dizzy and would probably fall if he hadn't sit.

"Why don't you eat something, or at least drink something? You're like that because you're weak..." Diana said, sitting down next to him.

"I don't want to eat, that fever took my hunger away..."

"You promised to obey me, and now I'm telling you to drink some of that orange juice in the fridge and then take a shower to cool your body." Diana was now speaking very seriously, to make Joe aware that she wanted him to do everything she said.