Page 30 of Christmas at the Movies
Holly hurried into the auditorium. The picture was still running but no sound was coming out of the speakers. She ran upstairs to the projection booth and found her father desperately pressing buttons on the sound system.
‘What’s going on?’ Holly asked him.
‘One of the amps has broken,’ Dad said, pulling out a cable. ‘I’m going to rewire another amp to the speaker.’
‘Well, how long is that going to take?’ said Holly. Peering down at the auditorium from the projection booth, she could see that children had left their seats and were running amok in the aisles, flinging popcorn around. Some of their parents were standing up and putting their coats on.
‘Go back down and apologise,’ said Dad. ‘Let the customers know I’m trying to sort it out and we’ll give everyone a refund – and complimentary popcorn the next time they come.’
Holly hurried back down to the auditorium. She stood at the front and clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. ‘Hi, everyone. Unfortunately, we’re having some slight technical difficulties and we’re trying to get it resolved as soon as possible. We’re sorry about this and everyone will be getting a full refund.’
‘Boo!’ shouted a boy, throwing a piece of popcorn at her. The other kids in the audience laughed.
This was bad. Very bad. Holly needed to do something to distract them – and fast.
She glanced up at the screen behind her. ‘How about we sing some of the songs fromEncantotogether – I’m sure you all know the words.’
She began to sing. For a few lines, she was singing solo, but, soon, all the kids in the audience were joining in with a rousing rendition of ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno.’ To Holly’s huge relief, just as they reached the final chorus, the sound kicked back in.
‘Yay!’ The children cheered.
Phew,thought Holly.
As Holly hurried out of the auditorium, Aaron was standing at the back. He held the door open for her.
‘Nice save,’ he murmured.
Oh, God, thought Holly. Aaron probably thought she was a weirdo for knowing all the lyrics to some kids’ movie. ‘It’s not like, my favourite movie or anything,’ she babbled. ‘It’s just that I had to dosomethingand I knew some of the songs—’
‘It was cool – very, very cool.’ His brown eyes held hers and Holly felt like he was seeing her –reallyseeing her – for the very first time.
10th October 2004
‘Happy Birthday!’ Sarah whispered, kissing James’s strong, freckled shoulder. It was peeling slightly, from getting sunburnt on a beach in Thailand. They’d been travelling around Asia for the past three weeks. After roughing it at backpackers’ hostels, living on noodles and banana fritters, they’d decided to splash out for the last stop on theirtrip – Hong Kong. They were spending James’s thirtieth birthday in the iconic Peninsula Hotel, overlooking Hong Kong harbour.
James rolled over to face her and smiled sleepily. ‘Good morning, beautiful.’
‘How does it feel to be old?’ she teased him. Her own thirtieth birthday was still two years off, though she’d found her first grey hair a few months ago in the work bathroom and freaked out.
‘My mum went completely grey by the time she was thirty-five,’ Pari had told her. ‘Of course, having me as her kid was probably a contributing factor.’
Sarah stroked the side of her husband’s face, his cheek rough with morning stubble. There were the beginnings of crinkles around his eyes when he smiled, but Sarah thought he was even more handsome now.
‘Oh, there’s plenty of life in the old dog yet,’ James said, hooking his leg over her thigh to pull her close.
Afterwards, they ordered breakfast to the room and lounged in bed in their towelling robes, eating croissants and a plate of exotic fruit.
‘So, how is your birthday going so far?’ Sarah asked him.
‘Five stars,’ James said, popping a piece of pineapple in his mouth.
‘I could get used to this,’ sighed Sarah, sipping her cup of tea. She had never stayed anywhere so luxurious before.
James’s phone beeped and he checked the message.
‘Everything OK?’ Sarah asked. She hoped it wasn’t his work. Even though they were on holiday, James had taken several calls from his office. Ever since the company had floated on the stock market, he’d been busier than ever. The software company was under a lot of pressure to continue to innovate and deliver strong returns to their new shareholders.
‘It’s just Dad, wishing me a happy birthday.’
