Page 18 of Christmas at the Movies
‘She didn’t mean that,’ said James. He went to give Sarah a hug, but she shrugged him away.
‘She’s right,’ she said.
‘What?’
‘Holly has no respect for me because I stopped writing. I gave up on my career.’ Sarah choked the words out.
Geraldine raised her eyebrow and James knew she was struggling to bite her tongue. His mother-in-law had objected when Sarah had quit her job at the BBC.
‘Don’t be daft. Of course she respects you. It’s just normal teenaged stuff,’ he appeased. ‘It’s a stage all adolescents go through.’
‘Well, actually, Margaret Mead’s study,Coming of Age in Samoa,showed that adolescence in the South Pacific wasn’t marked by conflict and rebellion,’ remarked Geraldine.
‘Not helpful, Geraldine,’ said James. Sarah had told him all about the clashes she’d had with her mother when she’d been a rebellious teenager. He put his hands on his wife’s shoulders. ‘I’ll speak with Holly. Get her to apologise.’
‘A forced apology is meaningless,’ said Sarah miserably. She looked as if she was going to cry. James wanted to comfort her, but wasn’t sure how. ‘Will you be home for dinner?’ she asked him.
‘I wish I could be,’ said James. ‘But I need to stay here until closing.’
‘Quelle surprise,’ muttered Sarah. ‘I’ll deal with Holly on my own. As usual.’
Taking her mother’s arm, she headed for the door.
‘Sarah!’ James called after her. ‘Wait!’
But she didn’t turn around.
He wanted to join them for dinner. Of course he did! But it just wasn’t possible. They’d had to cut back on staff costs, but there always needed to be at least two people on duty for health-and-safety reasons. James couldn’t afford to take on a night manager, so most nights it fell to him to work late. What else could he do? Didn’t Sarah understandthat he was just barely keeping the place afloat? That he was trying to provide for his family?
They’d had several full-time employees when they’d first opened the cinema, but now they could only afford part-time staff like Aaron. So James wasn’t just the cinema’s general manager, he also sold tickets, made coffees, restocked toilet paper in the bathroom, scooped popcorn and swept up spilled kernels after the show had finished. He did whatever needed to be done.
And right now, the café area needed tidying. A cleaning company came in every night, but it was up to staff to keep the cinema looking good during the day. So James swept up the biscuit crumbs and collected the empty teacups that the Golden Oldies had left behind.
Once the next movie was underway, James slipped into the auditorium to do a screen check. The picture was still slightly off-kilter and the sound was crackling. He winced.
So far, he had managed to repair the sound system’s problems. At some point soon, though, they’d need to install a new system. And those didn’t come cheap …
He went into the office and checked his emails. The code for a new action-adventure film opening tomorrow was in his inbox. Back when they had first opened the cinema, films would be delivered in heavy metal canisters. Now, all he needed was a code to unlock the content.
There was also a message from the manager of a cinema in Evesham. The Picture Palace and a few other independent cinemas in the Cotswolds had formed a consortium to share resources. They were all struggling, and banding together would hopefully make them stronger. Because of his IT background, James had volunteered to build a website for the group. Though he wasn’t exactly sure when he was going to find the time to do it.
The final new message was from the managing director of Valley Vistas. James clicked on it in nervous anticipation, assuming the email was about something his mother-in-law had done. But instead it was an enquiry about whether he would consider selling the cinema to turn it into more retirement flats.
James stared at the message in surprise. They had been approached by interested parties before, but had always turned them down. Nobody was ever bothered about keeping the Picture Palace a cinema.
He quickly typed a response:Sorry, we’re not interested in selling.
To sell the cinema would be to admit defeat. He and Sarah had put all of their savings – and all of his dad’s savings – into this place. He’d persuaded Sarah to leave London and her successful career at the BBC, for the sake of his dream. If he failed now, then what had it all been for? No, he had to keep going, for his family, for the community. He had to press on, even if it felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
James closed his email. A screensaver photo of the whole family beaming on a sandy beach filled the laptop screen. Nick, only about five, was holding a bucket. Holly was wearing seaweed on her head, as if it was a long mermaid wig, and striking a dramatic pose. Sarah was laughing, her hair blowing in the wind. It had been taken on holiday in France years ago, when they could still afford to take holidays. A holiday that had started badly, but they’d got through it as a team. James studied the picture. When was the last time he’d seen Sarah smile like that, making the gold flecks in her eyes sparkle?
It wasn’t just their argument today, or the one yesterday. Things had felt off between them for a while now, like afilm where the sound and picture were out of sync.We just haven’t been spending enough time together,thought James. They were always so busy with the cinema and the kids – and now Geraldine as well. Whenever he’d tried to talk to Sarah about the growing distance between them, she’d claimed she was just tired. It was true that she was sleeping badly. But James knew his wife. There was more to it than that; he was sure of it.
When the film was over, James went up to the projection room and rebooted the system. He tested the output and nodded with satisfaction. That had fixed the problem – for now. James had always been good at fixing things. He just wished he knew how to fix whatever was wrong between him and Sarah.
As he turned the dial on an amp, he glanced at the gold wedding band on his left hand. He still loved his wife just as much as he had on the day he’d married her. If only there was a way he could reboot their relationship …
11th May 2003
