Movie night

Saturday night. The couple was getting ready to spend a quiet evening at home. Ruddy was watching one of his favorite shows, a game show that required a certain intellectual level. He enjoyed and loved anything that stimulated the intellect and broadened his knowledge, a character trait he had in common with Tiana.

She stood in the doorway of the living room, watching Ruddy with a tender look and a smile on her face. He was so engrossed in the game, rattling off answers faster than the candidates themselves. At the commercial break, perhaps feeling spied upon, he turned his head in her direction.

-Going somewhere, sweetheart?

-To the grocery store, to buy a few things for dinner. I'll be right back.

***

-You know this is at least the seventh time we've watched this movie?

Snuggled together on the living room couch, Tiana and Ruddy were digesting their dinner while watching a good action movie.

-When we love we don't count, my sweet.

She laughed softly and heartily.

-I admire the way you twist all the quotes to your advantage, my dear.

-It is you're cooking skills that I admire. The meal was delicious as usual, my sweet.

-Pork with caramel and sweet potato, my specialty.

-With a dish like that, you could become a big name in gastronomy. An internationally renowned chef.

She rolled her eyes and pinched him lightly in the stomach.

-Ouch!!!

-Looks like the half glass of wine has already gotten you drunk. Darling, it's not very nice of you to make fun of me like that, when we both know that of the two of us, you're the one who's got it made.

Caressing the curly hair of his sweet while laughing, he said:

-I'm completely sober and sincere, my sweet. You know what this dinner reminded me of?

-Let me guess...our first dinner for two?

-Bull's-eye. Honey, do you remember that night? The night we had dinner in " tête-à -tête" together for the very first time. The term "tête-à-tête" has a romantic connotation, but it was definitely not a romantic dinner. It was simply the kind of dinner you share with an old acquaintance you haven't seen in a while. Indeed, you had come back to see me after having been away for three long months. You couldn't stand the idea that your ex-fiancé was getting married to another woman, right after your annulment. So you left town.

You had cut off all contact with everyone. Including me. Nevertheless I understood your choice. You needed to be alone, far from everything, to forget the pain. To rebuild yourself, to recharge your batteries, to find yourself. You needed to take this step back to better accept the past, and move forward. I didn't care that you left without a backward glance, without saying goodbye. Without revealing your intentions or your destination. The most important thing for me was that you came back. That you decided to go on living. And knowing later that I was one of the reasons that kept you going only increased my happiness at the reunion.

-It was as we walked away that I realized I didn't really love , the bastard. I thought I loved him because he brought a certain stability to my life. I was attached to the comfort and security of the quiet, well-ordered life we had built for ourselves. Or maybe I was trying to convince myself that I didn't love him anymore to ease the pain. My feelings were quite confused, to tell the truth. Maybe I really did love him; or maybe I did love him, but over time, the real love waned, to be replaced by this platonic, routine love; we had been together since middle school, did you know that? I could understand that he got bored, it would have just been better if he had told me everything from the start instead of cheating on me for so long, and waiting for me to daydream and make arrangements to plan my wedding. My daily life with him was not very exciting, but I was satisfied with my life as it was. Of course, this was without counting on the notorious killjoy that was fate. Maybe he was bored with my routine and orderly life, he wanted to shake me up a bit. And the shock was powerful. In any case, if I had been asked in those moments what love was, in my opinion, I would have said that love is suffering, love is deception. Maybe I was spitting on the soup when I thought that, because I had known moments of happiness before. But what do you want? My heart was still in pieces.

-No one would have blamed you for expressing your thoughts, no matter how negative and radical they were. Personally, my idea of love at that time was not much better. In a three little words: love is shit.

-Speaking of which, do you remember that day? That day when we decided not to fall in love anymore. Each of us having been hurt by this devious feeling. We had sealed that promise with a vengeful little finger, even though we were already 21 and 23 years old respectively. Real kids at heart. Then we slowly but surely climbed the ladder. We went from "friends when you need them", to real friends, to best friends and confidants. We talked to each other without any filter. It was easy for one to read the other and vice versa. It was so easy for us to talk, to confide in each other, to share our joys and sorrows. We understood each other just by looking at each other, even if most of the time, the unspoken words were more obvious than the words we said to each other. But over time, something in me changed. I saw you differently, I felt different.

He didn't say anything more but just kissed her.

-Are we watching the movie, or is the movie watching us?

She laughed and shook her head at Ruddy's dubious humor.

-I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Why don't we go upstairs and go to bed? We'll finish the movie next time.

-Your wish is my command, my sweet.