Reduced to Ruin

Chapter 33

In the weeks that followed, the two of us played a lot with the kitten. I felt she helped James and I smooth things over. We decided to name her Lucky because he kept saying how lucky the kitten was to receive so much attention. It seemed at least one of us was loving on her at any given time of the day. So, Lucky it was.

And with that olive branch, James was really trying to loosen up. About a week later, James was reading the newspaper during dinner. That was a little uncharacteristic because James usually focused on conversation and didn't bring items such as his cell phone to the dinner table.

After flipping through the pages for a few minutes, James said, "Hm, I wonder what good movies are playing right now?"

I couldn't believe how rude he was being. Was it not enough that James would go without me, he'd have to discuss it in front of me?

"Oh, I see here in the paper that the new Chris Pratt movie just came out. I could go see that. I hear the reviews are really good."

I looked down at my plate of food, wanting to throw it in his face.

James let out a big sigh. "But, I don't know. I think seeing it without you would be pretty depressing."


I looked up to him staring at me with a smirk on his face. I glared at him, crumpled up my napkin and threw it at James's face.

"What an awful trick!" I said. "That was so mean."

He burst out laughing.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," James said.

Then the realization kicked in. I was going to a movie. Out. Out in public. In a theater. In public. With people. Regular non-kidnapped people.

"Wait a minute. I really can go?"

"I think it's time," James said. "But, there are some rules. We're going to the latest show. No snacks or drinks. We just walk in, sit, see the movie, then leave. No bathroom trips, either, or else we'll just leave and use the bathroom here. Understand?"

Wow, so many rules. But I didn't care. Finally! This was such a big step in my plan. Finally.

"I completely understand. And I don't have any problems with that. I'm just so grateful you're willing to give me a chance."

James began clearing the plates into the kitchen.

I cut him off and said, "Thank you."

He gave me a tentative smile, took my plate, and kissed me on the lips.

"Don't blow it," he warned.

"Never. Never."

* * *

I couldn't say if James had fun that night, but I sure did. I didn't plan any big escape for that night. Oh, no. I was going to have to massage this, groom it until the most perfect time when his guard was completely down.

James seemed to be really tense. So much so that when we walked into the theater and he was holding my hand, I had to tell him to loosen his grip. He had subconsciously squeezed so hard, I could feel my fingers going numb.

The tension only got a little better during the movie. We sat in the very last row. And since the movie had been out for a few weeks, we were one of only three other groups of people. So, James was able to relax a bit once the movie began. But I tried not to focus on him. The whole experience was liberating to me, a complete affirmation I was on the right track.