Three weeks after our morning fuck session, and after the final in Foundations of Chinese Medicine, I got a call from Joy on a Saturday afternoon. The New American University of Chinese Medicine was on their academic break. Caren was on a trip to Delaware to visit a friend and I had been working extra hours for a slightly larger paycheck. So, while I wasn't expecting Joy to contact me, I was very happy to hear from her.
"Hey, Adam! What's up with you? Wanna come see a movie with me tonight?" She asked excitedly.
"That sounds like it could be good. I've got nothing else going tonight," I responded, "What did you want to see?"
"I was thinking about a documentary film playing at an art theater near Los Feliz. It's about two two Chinese healers—so, it might be interesting," she told me.
"You're right, that might be interesting. What time is the show?" I asked.
"At 7:45. You pick me up, and I'll buy your ticket?"
"Nah, I'll drive and buy the tickets. That way if it's really terrible, I'll be okay walking out," I countered.
"Great! That'll work for me," she laughed, "See you at 7?"
"I'll text you when I'm there so you don't have to wait on the street," I said, "See you then."
At about five-minutes-to-seven I pulled up in front of Joy's apartment complex in West Hollywood's eastern edge. This area hadn't been gentrified the way that the areas to the south and west had been, so the rents were still reasonably affordable, according to Joy.
I picked-out a quick "I'm here" text to Joy, and about three minutes later I saw her coming out of her building, carrying her usual over-large purse and a small, folded gray blanket. The evening she was wearing three-quarter length, black leggings, a large white t-shirt with the collar cut out, that she had tied to the side at her right hip, and a white tank top under that. Rather than her signature very thick soled flip-flops that she loved 'cause they gave her an extra three inches of height and were "insanely comfortable", Joy was wearing a pair of black patent leather, platform high heels that had to have made her about five inches taller and, I noticed, really accentuated her already spectacular calves and pert, round buttocks.
Opening the passenger door and getting in, she greeted me with a cheerful, "Hey!"
"Hi there. Those shoes are pretty insane, are they new?" I asked.
"No, I've had then for about a year, but I haven't had a good reason to wear them out," she said, "Plus, you're tall and I thought these might even things out some."
"Well, they look great, so I'm happy you could wear them, but what's with the blanket?" I asked.
"It's one thing with two uses," she told me, "If it's cold in the theater I can wear it, or if I can't see the screen, 'cause ya know—short, I can sit on it."
"Smart," I said, "Now where are we going?"
Joy gave me directions to the theater on Sunset, right near where Hollywood ends. Traffic on the surface streets was its usual mix of too many people, people who didn't know where they were going and people who don't know how to drive. All this to say, what should have been about a ten-minute drive took just under twice that. We found parking on the street, and arrived at the theater with about fifteen minutes to spare. I purchased our tickets and we went inside.
This particular theater was an old one that originally had only one screen and huge audience area that some-time in the past had been divided into four smaller screens; two downstairs and then two upstairs in what had been the balcony originally.
Our show was upstairs in one of the smaller screen. This screen had its seats set up almost stadium style, probably following the original layout of the balcony, and seemed to have been recently had some renovations done. Rather than the uncomfortable plywood-and-thin-padding seats I was expecting I was pleased to see high backed, cloth covered newer seats with wide armrests with a circular cup holder at their ends.
We were the only people in the theater.
"Where would you like to sit?" I asked Joy, hoping that she wouldn't want to sit right up front.
