Movie Time

The rest of dinner went okay, we made small talk till our food came, then we were mostly silent, enjoying the flavors of our meals. This was when I enacted the next step on the plan.

"Do you want to try some?" I asked, holding my fork up that skewered a piece of steak. Kate looked up from her pasta and thought.

"Sure." She grabbed the fork from my hand with speed and gulped it down in one bite. Her sudden boldness caught me off guard, in the past when I offered her a bite of a candy bar or something, she always fumbled over her words. What was happening?

"Do you want to try mine?" she asked, pointing her own fork down at her pasta.

"Y-Yeah, sure." I said, she stabbed down and twisted her fork wrapping a few strands of angel hair pasta around the silverware. She held it out and I took in nonchalantly.

"That's pretty good." I said covering my mouth as I chewed. Kate simply nodded. It was a simple red sauce angel-haired pasta dish, it seemed like a simple dish to get at a fancy restaurant, but it was good and that's all that mattered.

Dinner ended without a hitch and after I played we walked out of the restaurant, once we got outside, I let my unrefined attitude escape, the fancy restaurant was a little suffocating.

"That was so good!" I shouted at the sky as I stretched my arms.

"Yeah, it was, thank you for paying again." Kate said, doing her own little stretch.

"Of course, you ready to go to the movie?" I said, looking down at my phone, the screen read, 7:30. The movie theater was 15 minutes away, so we would get there a little early for the movie at 8.

"Yeah I am." Kate said, as she opened the passenger side door… I forgot to open it for her. Well, that was fine, I got in the driver's seat, and she already had the aux plugged in and was scrolling to find a song.

Once she pressed play, her hand rested on her thigh, with her elbow on the center counsel. The urge to grab it was on another level, over the years we had touched hands or bumped into each other, but just holding hands or long-term contact was never a thing we experienced between each other.

I looked away and focused on driving, that could wait till later for the next part of my plan, operation hold her hand was a go. My plan was during the movie, at some point, try to get her to hold my hand.

Sounds simple enough and I was confident that I would be able to. We pulled up to the movie theater definitely overdressed. "Will you be comfortable in that?" I asked.

"Yeah, I will." Each time she talked it seemed her words were becoming less and less.

"Alright, well lets go." I grabbed the blanket I brought from home and tossed it on Kate. "Could you carry that?"

Kate nodded and got out of the car. We strode inside and I scanned the two of us in.

"Do you want any concessions?" I asked her walking up to the counter with candy and popcorn. Kate looked around and nodded.

"Can I get a chocolate bar?" She asked, I looked back confused. She asked me even after I offered.

"Uh, yeah of course you can, do you want a drink?" She nodded again.

"Water." I nodded and started talking with the man behind the counter, he was a rotund guy but worked quick getting the drinks and popcorn I asked for. It might be time to mention Kate's interactions with others, rather, lack thereof.

In a professional setting, Kate was great, she spoke calmly and confidently for presentations. Outside of that and a few girls she talked to regularly, when I first met her, she was even more closed off than that, but-

"Here you are sir." The man came back with two bottles of water and a large bucket of popcorn.

"Thank you," having already paid, I scooped up the items and we made our way to the theater. Kate happily nibbled on her candy bar before we even sat down, at least she was enjoying that.

It was normal to be quiet during a movie, but with the previews having yet to start, there was some muffled chatter coming from the other patrons.

"Are you cold?" I asked Kate, she wore the outfit she sent yesterday with a jacket when we were outdoors, so I assumed she was cold. Even inside the theater was a little chilly.

"Can I use it?" She asked pointing at the fleece blanket I now had on my lap, Kate handed me it when we sat down while she took the popcorn and started munching.

"Of course you can, it is for the both of us." This asking attitude was new as well. It had happened a few times where I would offer something then she would ask again, until now, she would just take whatever she wanted and use it.

"Then yeah, I am a little cold…" She finally said.

"Is it okay if we share it?" I asked, assuming that would be okay, I picked this blanket specifically to fit both of us if we needed it.

She nodded, "Yeah we can share it." At that, I put aside our snacks and drinks. Draping the blanket over the two of us, before we resorted our snacks. The popcorn is in between us for easy access.

There seemed to be a timing to her consumption of popcorn, after she ate some, there would be a moment of chewing before she would reach in and grab some more. I just had to time it and the ice would break.

As soon as she started reaching in, I looked ahead like I wasn't paying attention and the back of my hands touched. To my surprise, Kate recoiled slightly and looked at me.

"Sorry."

"That's alright, no worries." I said, not quite the reaction I was expecting. Soon the movie started and operation: hold Kate's hand, was a go.