Ending #3

In which we find the third installment of an ending for something that has not been written.


When the movie ended, I sat in my seat for awhile longer and watched the credits fade in and out of view. The old couple that had been sitting a few rows in closer to the middle of the theater helped each other stand in a way that made me think they'd once been dancers. There was a certain grace between them. The man in the wheelchair wheeled smiled and nodded at me as he passed. 

I knew that the weather outside was cold; snow had been falling all day, and the wind was forecast to pick up throughout the night. When the credits were over, I sat alone in the middle seat in the middle row. The lights came on and a young man entered the theater with a broom and dustpan. He seemed surprised to see me. "I've got to clean up," he said. I smiled and nodded in the same way the man in the wheelchair had done to me. When I didn't move, he shrugged and started sweeping up the empty popcorn boxes and soda cups.

"Have you seen this movie?" I asked. 

He didn't stop working. "Nope. I just clean."

"You should watch it," I say.

"No time."

I didn't push it. I knew how time worked. "Can I just sit here through the next showing?" I asked. I knew it was a rude question, that I was putting him in a tough spot. He might have been sixteen. Scrawny and a little awkward in the way most kids are at that age.

He kept working. "I don't think so, Mister. Besides, it doesn't start again for another hour. You don't want to sit here for that long, do you?"

I did, actually. I didn't feel like going out into the cold, and I didn't want to drive home to where Ines was. We'd had a rough year, and now everything was at a point where balance was important. The scales could tip either way based on what we heard from the doctor in the next few days. 

"What's your name?" I asked the kid.

"Alan."

"I'm going to leave in a couple of minutes, okay, Alan? I won't get in your way, and I'll be out of here before you know it."

"Okay. That's fine. I'll clean the other rows first, and I'll get to yours last. When I get there, though, you have to leave. We have rules about people being in here."

"That's fine, Alan. That's fine. I won't get you into trouble. My wife and I usually come here together, but tonight she stayed home."

"Yeah," Alan said.

He was getting closer. The theater was small and I knew I didn't have much time left. When he got to the row in front of me, he stopped. "There's nothing to clean in this row, Mister."

"You need to clean my row, right?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

I stood. "That's okay, Alan. I'm leaving. Have a good night, okay? Thanks for letting me stay."

As I walked through the lobby, I avoided looking at anyone. I just wanted to get it over with, to be outside in the snow and wind.  As I drove out of the parking lot, I told myself to drive slowly so that I'd get home in one piece. Ines and I had some things to discuss as we waited.