Chapter 15: Movie

For some reason, Sean was in a bad mood after he returned from the restroom. It wasn't like she took hours on that selfie. It was their first date!She wanted the picture she posted to be good. What was he sulking about, anyway? And before he whined about her millennial behavior a while ago, might she remind him that this was a fake relationship. And it's not going to work unless people knew about it! But his silence made her hesitant to confront him. One thing about Sean, she realized, was that he wasn't awed by her. Most of the guys in her industry looked up to her. This was new.

They proceeded to the cinema in silence.

But when the movie started, the story drew Dell in and thoughts of Sean's bad mood flew from her mind. She had been looking forward to this movie. It was a typical Romeo and Juliet story but set in a fantasy world where two clans vying for throne to the Fire Empire had to deal with the forbidden love of their eldest children. Her tears were in full force when they reached the part where the Prince's father was dying.

"Akahi..." The old King whispered.

"Father!" The Prince screamed. "Do not make me swear to you on your deathbed. If you love me truly, do not make me swear here and now that I will leave her."

"Even at my death... you will choose her over me?"

"No," the Prince whispered, his tears streaming down his cheeks. "If you make me swear here and now, I will obey you... Because you are my King and you are my beloved father. And I will leave her to honor your last wish. And no woman can stop me from doing so."

There was a pause.

"But..." The Prince continued in a voice barely above a whisper. "Leaving her will rend my heart in two. That's why, please, Father. Do not make me swear."

Dell was sobbing. Good thing she always carried a pack of tissue with her. But she heard a sniffing beside her, too. She glanced beside her and saw Sean teary-eyed, staring at the big screen.

She offered him the tissue pack she was holding. He took one with his right hand and turned back to the screen. But to her surprise, his left hand sought her right hand. Dell quickly looked at him, but he was engrossed watching the screen, and still sniffing away. So very not manly, but why did she feel so warm and comfortable beside him.

"Leave us," the King commanded. But in the darkness of the theater, Dell continued to watch Sean's profile as his expression changed with the unfurling of the story before him. This expressiveness... She didn't see this side of him very often.

Max and Tina and the rest of her friends didn't have to know. In the cover of the darkness of the theater, she squeezed the hand that held her and allowed the warmth the spread.

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