Seeing Blind |NH|

Chapter Forty Nine

A little bit later, after I had finished the last of my packing, I made my way over to Esta's. Knocking, I heard her footsteps as she made her way to the door, opening it for me. Upon seeing her, I laughed. She had donned the cutest cherry covered apron and chef's hat.

"Oh my god, you're adorable," I said.

She smirked, "I know. Come in, come in. Welcome to casa a la me!"

She made her way back to the kitchen to check on whatever she was cooking for us. "Smells delicious."

"Thanks."

"Did you pick out a movie?"

"No."

"Oh. Is it my turn?"

"I don't know. Probably. But, I was kind of thinking the movie could be later, after we eat?"

"Oh, okay. Sure."

"Great. I thought it'd be nice to actually sit down at a table and eat. Talk. That sort of thing."

"Works for me."

She finished up cooking as I set the table. As I did so, I noticed how everything just flowed. We had spent so much time together and so much time in each other's homes that we knew where everything was. It was sort of this comforting dance we did as we made our way around her kitchen without knocking into each other; somehow knowing when to stop and let the other through or to reach up as she reached down for something.

"There's some white wine in the fridge if you wanna grab it and open it."

"On it," I said.

She plated everything but I took the plates from her, remembering when she nearly dropped a plate at Patrick's. She poured the wine and we both sat down.

We ended up not talking about much. But the silence was okay. And she was right about one thing, she didn't find the need to fill it. And neither did I.

After we cleaned up, we settled in for our movie night.

"How did this become our thing?" I asked, sitting down on her couch.

"You don't remember?"

"I remember you insisting on me watching a movie but I guess it's kind of crazy that this is what we do."

She shrugged. "I don't think so. It's kind of nice. We've been educating each other."

"That's true. So, am I picking or you?"

"Well, it's your last night here for a bit, so you pick."

I surfed through Netflix but didn't come across anything that interested me that would also interest her. I got up and walked over to her entertainment center where she kept her movies. Looking through them, I came across three that I thought would be fun.

"How about we make it a James Dean night?" I suggested, pulling the three films out.

"Uhh, any night is a good night for James Dean."

"Which one first?"

"East of Eden. Duh. You don't do a James Dean movie marathon and not start with the first one."

I giggled at her. "I wouldn't dare."

I put the movie into her player and grabbed the remote. She had already settled herself on the couch with some blankets and pillows. I sat down on what had essentially become my section of the couch. Hitting play, I leaned back stretching my arms out across the back of the couch.

About midway through the movie, she got up to get some more wine and brought me a glass. Taking it, she sat down a little closer to me than she had been. When the first film was done, she got up and went into her bathroom while I got the next one ready. When she came back, she was in her pajamas.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. Jim and Judy let's go." I gave her a look and she rolled her eyes. "The characters names."

"Oh, yeah. Duh."

As the movie started, she scooted even closer to me, curled up her legs, and brought her blankets up over us both. I felt her loop her arm through mine which caused my arm to end up between her legs with my hand on her knee.

"God, I love this movie. Can you believe that they all died such tragic deaths?"

"His was a car accident, right?"

"Yeah. She drowned. And Sal Mineo was murdered."

"Crazy. Movie was cursed."

She leaned her head on my shoulder as I absentmindedly began rubbing my thumb along her knee. Once Rebel Without a Cause ended, Esta got up and put in Giant. When she came back, she once again settled in next to me, this time she lifted my arm to wrap around her while she pulled the blankets up and rested her head on my torso.

As the opening credits rolled, she began playing with my hand and fingers.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Examining your hands. You really should stop biting your nails."

"Yeah, yeah."

She looked up at me for a second before dropping my hand, which landed on her abdomen and turning her attention back to the movie.

"James Dean sure was lucky when it came to his leading ladies. I mean, Natalie Wood and Elizabeth Taylor. All he needed was something with Vivien Leigh and my life might be complete." She laughed a little.

We both got quiet and watched the film. During the course of it, I kept looking down at her. Her eyes never left the screen. She was enamored with it all. It was really quite something to watch.

"How did you get so into old movies?"

"How could you not? They're amazing."

"Not disagreeing. It just seems odd, I suppose."

She shrugged. "Not to me. I love older films. Yeah, sure the graphics of some might not be the best, but if you can't appreciate where film was, how do you appreciate where it is and where it will go?"

"Huh," I said, having not thought about it like that before.

When the movie ended, I looked down and Esta had a far off look in her eye as she continued to just lay there with her head in my lap. I stroked the top of her hair, bringing strands of her hair between my fingers, letting them slip through with ease.

"What you thinking?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nothing really. Just living a few more minutes in that world."

I smiled down at her. She looked up at me and smiled.

Without so much as a second thought, I said, "Come with me."