Jackson’s Cinema – by Acfex

“Hey honey, good to see you again. This is Dave. Grandpa just hired him to replace Lina.” Diana said as she pulled away from the kiss.

“Hey man, I’m Erik. I work at the music store,” he extended his hand out to mine. I took it and we shook hands. Surprisingly, he did not shake my hand too firmly.

“Nice to meet you,” I replied as he let go of me.

“Hey honey, are we still on for tonight?” Erik turned his attention back to Diana.

“Yeah baby, you know we are,” she said, landing another kiss, this time on his cheek. Erik smiled at her and started walking out of the cinema lobby. He headed towards the music store and opened it up.

“Your boyfriend?” I asked Diana.

“Ah, Duh?” She replied.

“Hey, don’t need to get all feisty on me.”

“Well, your question was pretty stupid.”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?”

“What about you, do you have a girlfriend?”

“Well, I did have a girlfriend in high school but she broke it off. She got a place at NYU and I got in LSE, so she decided that the long-distance thing wasn’t going to work.”

“LSE?”

“Oh, London School of Economics. My dad is a lecturer there and I managed to get in. But, I wasn’t able to get there because my dad is on assignment to Bhutan.”

“What’s he doing there?”

“He’s also a diplomat for the government there, so he sometimes has to go to all these places and I don’t really want to stay in the boarding schools, so I decided to wait another year.”

“That’s cool. Erik and I both got into Virginia Tech but we’re taking a gap year to earn some cash. Student Loans are crazy!”

“Tell me about it.” Just then, an elderly couple came in and bought a pair of tickets to watch a romantic movie that was about to start. After they got their tickets and snacks, another couple came in and bought tickets for the same movie. By the time the movie started there were maybe 20 people in the cinema. When the movie started, Diana shut down the popcorn machine and started packing up the snack counter. She turned everything off and walked towards me.

“I’m going to take a break, you man the fort ok?”

“Yeah sure, when will you be back?”

“I’m not going far. I’m just going to the music store, see what Erik is doing now. Thanks,” she said, as she turned around and walked away.

For the next hour and a half, I sat at the register alone, just passing the time by watching videos on my phone.

“Hey, Dave, help in in the cinema!” Katlyn shouted from across the lobby, at the entrance of the cinema. The movie had ended and Katlyn put me to work cleaning up the cinema. I picked up the popcorn and dusted the seats. When we were done, Katlyn made me take out the trash.

The rest of the day went by normally. Well, as normal as it could. It was so boring I almost passed out. When I got home, I saw a note on the fridge. Mom had to work late and she had made me dinner in the microwave. I heated it up and headed upstairs, turning on my computer.

I ate and played at the same time. Computer games were my escape from the boredom of Willard, but games could only do so much. I decided to go for a short run after eating, a decision I soon regretted but by the time I was in bed, it was nearly 11pm and I was dog tired. I had waited for Mom but she had not gotten back yet. I closed my eyes, praying that the next day would be better.

“Honey, honey, wake up,” I heard my mom call out from downstairs, “you’re going to be late for work.”

I turned to my phone and checked the time. Mom was right. I quickly jumped out of bed and headed for the toilet. I quickly jumped into the car and drove off. When I finally got to the cinema, I rushed inside and headed for the employees’ room. Without thinking, I pushed opened the door. There was a someone inside. It was Katlyn. She was changing and had just gotten out of her clothes. I stood there, paralysed, staring at her. She was wearing a baby blue bra with matching undies.

“What the fuck?” Don’t you knock?” She almost shouted as she picked up her shirt to cover herself.

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry. I was late and I wasn’t thinking and I just opened the door,” I mumbled, still staring at her.

“So, are you going to fucking leave?” angrily, she asked.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” I said, taking a step back and closing the door. I stood there, walking through what had just happened. Then, Katlyn opened the door and gave me a death stare. She walked straight passed me and headed towards the lobby. I went inside and got changed.

When I got to the register, Katlyn was there, going through the sales yesterday. As I walked towards her, I could not help but undress her with my eyes, until she was wearing nothing more than those baby blues.

“Did you look through the cash yesterday? Did it all tally up?” Katlyn asked as I walked towards her.

“Yeah, I did. Everything is in order.”

“And did you manage to see what titles are playing this weekend? We have some new movies playing.”

“No, I haven’t seen the titties yet.” I absentmindedly said.

“Excuse me?” Katlyn was obviously taken aback.

“Oh, I mean I haven’t seen the titles yet. Fuck. I’m sorry.” I said, apologising.

“Well, make sure you look at them and update the posters up front. The posters are in my office so come get them from me later. Don’t come when a movie is playing cause I won’t be there.”

“Sure boss, I got that,” said I as Katlyn began to walk away.

“And, DON’T… forget to knock!” Katlyn turned around just as she began walking away. I set up the register, waiting for Diana to arrive.
Diana came in with Erik that morning. She went to the room to change and when she got back, the cinema opened. It was much quieter that day and Diana and I chatted about what we were going to study in the future.

“By the way, Erik and I were thinking of taking you out this Sunday, after work. We’re closed on Monday and we wanted to welcome you to the Jackson’s Cinema family.”

“Yeah, why not? What do you have in mind?”

“Erik’s brother runs the Tin Shed, we could go there.”
Probably the only good thing about Willard was that although the minimum drinking age was 21, nobody really cared. Even the sheriff’s son used to throw huge parties at his house when we were in high school. Diana got up and grabbed my wrist. She pulled me off my seat and pulled me out of the lobby. We headed towards the music store and went in.

“Hey honey,” Erik surprised Diana from behind, landing a kiss on her as he spun her around, “nice to see you visiting me.”

“Hey Erik, Dave agreed to the night out on Sunday.”

“We’re going to have a blast!” exclaimed Erik, turning his attention to me.

“Ok then, I’m going to bring him to see the others,” Diana said, pulling me out of the store. We headed next door to the pharmacy. There was a middle-aged woman, who was looking at the shelves and counting the stock. She wore a white lab coat and a short dress beneath. She was shapely and had all the curves.

Her dress was low-cut, exposing her cleavage, which was obviously propped up with a push-up bra. She had short, blonde hair and blue eyes. Her face was round and her smile just like any other caring mom.

“Hey Mrs. Laverton, this is Dave,” Diana addressed her.

“Hi Dave, Mr Jackson told me he was bringing in some help,” Mrs Laverton said, extending her arm. I took her arm and shook it, smiling and introducing myself.

“Mrs Laverton, we were wondering if Amy could come with us to a little night’s out on Sunday to welcome Dave,” Diana asked Mrs Laverton, “We already asked her. I shot her a text and she’d love to come.

“Ok, just make sure she gets back on time,” Mrs Laverton.

“Thanks, Mrs Laverton,” Diana said, pulling me away.

“It was nice meeting you Mrs Laverton,” I said as I was pulled out of the pharmacy.

“Who’s Amy?” I asked Diana as she dragged me towards the lingerie store.

“She’s Mrs Laverton’s stepdaughter. She helps her mom out during the weekend. She’s just started senior year in high school.”

When we entered the lingerie store, there was nobody there. Diana led me deeper inside, towards the changing room. Finally, we bumped into the girl who was working there. She was cleaning the changing room, sweeping the place. She looked like a teenager, with dyed blonde hair, tied neatly in a bun. She wore circular, half-frame glasses and had cute brown eyes. She was obviously fit and slim and had almost muscular arms. She wore a tight t-shirt, which hugged her narrow waist but amplified the already large orbs on her chest. She wore high waisted denim jeans and had a beautiful smile.

“Hi Cassie, this is Dave,” Diana introduced me.

“Hey Dave, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Cassandra but you can call me Cassie,” Cassie said, putting down her broom.

“Cassie, we were wondering if you wanted to join us at the Tin Shed this Sunday night. We’re celebrating Dave joining the Jackson’s Cinema family. What do you say?” Diana asked.

“Yeah sure, it’s not like I have anything better to do on Sunday nights. Sure!” Cassie replied.

“Great! We’ll leave from here. Julia, Amy and Erik are coming too. I haven’t asked Katlyn yet but I’m sure she’ll come,” Diana said.
In my mind, I could not imagine why Diana would want to bring Katlyn. She was always so serious and stuck up. How could we have any fun with Katlyn around.

“Dave, I’m going to the toilet. I’ll see you back at the lobby,” Diana said, leaving the store. I was now left alone in the lingerie store with Cassie. There was an awkward silence between us. She was staring at me and I was staring at her.

“So, what brings you here?” She asked.

“I’m taking a gap year.”

“Oh, really? I see. What school are you going to next year?”

“I got into LSE, London School of Economics, I don’t know if you’ve heard of it.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Pretty prestigious I have to say, I’m impressed.”

“It’s nothing.” I explained.

“Ah, I see.”

“Are you like taking a gap year too, or are you studying?” I asked.

“I just graduated this spring. From Ohio State. My mom got a stroke so now I run this place,” she explained.

“Oh, you graduated already?” surprised, I asked, “I’m quite surprised.”

“Yeah, most people think I’m still in high school,” she giggled as she said it.

“Well then, I better get back to the lobby,” I said.