I met him in May. He and my father were sitting on top of the box truck changing the marquee for the theatre.
     "Hey Angela!" My dad called down. "This is David." I stood with my mother on the sidewalk, shielding my eyes as I looked up to them.
     "Hi David," I said. He smiled.
     "Hey Angela." Pause.
     "How's it going up there?" We laughed. Mother told dad that we were going to dinner. Dad said that he'd be right there, as soon as he climbs down from the truck.

     Mother and I walked away and dad soon caught up.
     "He's cute, isn't he?" Mom said.

     It wasn't long after that I started working at the theatre.

     On Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday, the theatre didn't open until 4pm. There were only 2 people scheduled those days, open to close, and it was often David and I on Wednesdays when I was in training.

     I recall once when David was seriously craving Dunkin' Donuts.
     "Do you want anything?" He asked.
     "Sure, I could go for a donut."
     "What kind?"
     "Oh, I don't know. Surprise me."
     He came back with a bag of 4 donuts. I nabbed a boston creme.
     "How much do I owe you?" I asked.
     "Nothing," he said. "I went to school with the guy that was working; he only charged me five cents." I laughed.
     "That's awesome." I licked the chocolate off my fingers.

     One night, a manager called and said he couldn't come in the next morning. I volunteered myself to open.
     "Are you sure you'll be okay alone?" Jana asked. I was still in training.
     "Yeah, I think I have the hang of it."
     "I meant with Eileen," she said. I laughed.
     "I can manage it."
     David thanked me profusely for going in. He left his phone number on the office desk with instructions to wake him up - call, let ring three times, hang up, call back.

     "Ohh, you get the secret code," my mom joked.

     Starting movies by myself wasn't too bad, until the platter wouldn't spin. I rushed to the office to get David's number, let it ring three times, and hung up. When I picked up the phone to call back, there was someone on the line. A customer wanted to know what time a movie started. I rushed through the conversation because I was eager to hang up and get this movie started.
     Dialed David again.
     "Hello?"
     "Hi, David?"
     "Yeah."
     "Hi, it's Angela. I'm having a bit of a problem."
     "Y'know, I heard the phone ring and then it stopped so I thought it was you, and I was about to call to make sure everything was okay."
     "Yeah," I laughed, "When I went to call back someone had called."

     I told him the problem. He went through a list of things that could be wrong, but nothing was working.
     "I'll be right over," he said.

     I stood antsy by the ticket counter, waiting for his red Explorer to pull in the parking lot.
     When he pulled into his space and started walking to the theatre, my heart jumped. I couldn't stop staring at him, watching his stride, seeing his hand reach for the door and come inside. The thought that he came over to help me.

     I led him to booth five, where he went through the film as I stood behind and watched.
     "Ah, I see. Come here." He stuck his head into the space above the middle platter. I stood next to him. "Come here, I want to show you something." I stuck my head next to his.
     "See this?" He showed me a part of the movie that I had threaded wrong, and I laughed.
     "That's it? Wow, I'm an idiot." He smiled.
     "No, it's okay, we all make mistakes." He fixed it and started the movie. We went back into the lobby. "I'm going to dunkin donuts, you want anything?"
     "No thanks, I'm good."

     He brought me back a bostom creme. I ate it, of course.

     David & I were working one Thursday. It was slow, and we talked and laughed and tried to keep ourselves busy. My father instructed me to make a sign with the theatre website to put in the window, and my he told me to use a piece of plastic we apparently had lying around. David & I were searching the back room for this said plastic, and he eventually found something that would work.
     I had purchased white vinyl letters, and were placing them oh-so-carefully on the plastic, trying to get the letters lined up. David continued to look over my shoulder.
     "Wow, that's really crooked," I said, holding it up. He laughed.
     "Maybe no one will notice." I looked around.
     "How am I going to put this up? Do we have any tape?"
     "Ohh!" He said. "We have spray adheisive... but I don't know where it is." I rummaged through the drawer and found some clear splicing tape.
     "Will this hold it?" I asked.
     "It's better than nothing."

     I taped the ends of the plastic strip onto the window. We concluded that it looked really ghetto, but would fit right in with the rest of Middletown.

     When I was walking up to the theatre the next morning, I noticed that it looked even worse from the outside.
     I was bringing in a couple of mylars. When I went to open the door, it was locked. Thursday. We didn't open until 4:00. I was about to leave until I saw David inside, walking toward the door.
     "What are you doing here?" He asked, unlocking the door.
     "Well, I was going to drop these off and I waited until there was a break in the schedule, and when I get here I remember it's not Friday."
     "Good thing I was here then."

     He was wearing a pair of jeans and a yellow plaid shirt. He was supposed to be changing the lights in the exit signs. We stood in the lobby and talked for a half hour. I was wearing my sorority letters.
     "I didn't know you were in a sorority!" He exclaimed. I blushed.

     I had his phone number sitting on my desk ever since the day he gave it to me. Granted, he gave it to me for work purposes, but I was determined to call him one day.

     David worked with my dad for a while. He was to be his assistant.
     "I'm an apprentice," he would say. "Like a blacksmith."

     I was woken up one morning by my mother and the cleaning lady talking in the kitchen. As I was trying to fall back asleep, I heard my dad call, "Are you decent?" Mom yelled back, "No, I'm standing here talking to Ingrid without any clothes." They laughed.
     "Come on up, David," my dad said.
     "Hi David," my mom said. "How are you?"
     I buried my face in my pillow and tried sleeping again, but instead sat at the window when I heard them in the driveway. I watched as David's Explorer turned the corner.

     We worked together the next evening.
     "I worked with your pop yesterday," he said, proudly.

     "Y'know, I was awake when you were at my house," I said. "I was going to come out and say hi, but I was still in my pajamas and hadn't taken a shower." He laughed.

     We were standing at the concession counter staring off into nothing when he asked, "Do you watch Seinfeld?"
     "Sometimes," I said. "When I catch it."
     "Man, I love that show. I have the entire first season on tape."
     "Now that's awesome."
     Most people would have said, 'hey, we should watch it sometime,' but no. Not me. I kept that phrase in the back of my head if I ever needed it again.

     “Have they taught you how to count inventory?” He asked.
     “No,” I answered. “But I can probably figure out how to count.”
     “Come here.” David led me to the storage cabinet, where he opened the door and pointed to a stack of cups. “Child and small are in stacks of fifty; medium and large have forty.” He motioned to the water refridgerator. “When the top shelves are filled to capacity, they have forty-two.”
     “Okay,” I said. “I think I can remember that.” He pulled popcorn bags out of the cabinet. They were bundled together with a rubber band.
     “Each bundle has twenty-five, and the tubs are stacked in piles of fifty.”
     “Whoa,” I said. “This might take me a while.”
     “Okay, I'll quiz you.” I laughed, but he placed his hand on a stack of cups. “How much is here?” I stood and stared at him.
     “Seriously?”
     “Yes! How many?” I stared at the cups, first trying to figure out what size they were.
     “Fifty.”
     “Good!” He said, smiling. He put his hand on the next stack.
     “Fourty?”
     “See, you can do this.” He handed me the inventory clipboard.

     The air conditioning wasn't working one afternoon. We were standing in the ticket booth, crowded around the one fan that worked.
     "It's so hot in here; I'm going to melt," He said.
     "Then we could sell you at concession," I said.
     "Yeah," He smiled. "Would you like a small, medium, or large?"
     "I'll take a large David, please." We laughed.

     I went to the beach for a week in June. The theatre site had to be updated, and David was the only other person I knew with any skill whatsoever with computers. I gave him a disk with the website files and a 'readme' document.
     I called Friday morning, while I was still on the shore, to see how the updating went.
     "Well, I couldn't figure out how to connect," He said. "It wouldn't let me. But it's okay! My friend is coming over today to help me. But other than that it was easy. Your instructions gave me a good chuckle."
     "That's good. And I am paying you for this."
     "No, that's not necessary, it's okay."

     Next time I saw him, I handed him an envelope containing $20.
     "What's this?" He said. "I don't want it."
     "Yes you do. Take it."
     "There better be a letter in here."
     "It's a love note, David." His eyes brightened.
     "Ohh, a love note!" He took the envelope from my hand.

     I talked about him a lot at home. My dad talked about him a lot at home. I guess that's what happens when you both work with the same guy. But my mom told me time and time again - "David has problems." That's all I heard. But that didn't change my attitude toward him.

     I was about to leave work one afternoon. David was relieving me and I was telling him about the issues of the day when he interrupted me. He was staring at my keyring.
     "Is that memory?" He asked. I laughed, holding up my keys.
     "Yeah, it's RAM." He took it from my hands.
     "Did you put a hole in it?"
     "No, it comes like that."
     "That is so cool." We continued our conversation, but he was sidetracked by the pins on my bag. "Is that the Matrix?" he asks, pointing to one.
     "Well, it binary code."
     "Awesome!"

     That's when we learned we were both obsessed with that movie.

     I went to see Bruce Almighty one afternoon. After the movie, I walked through the lobby toward David to talk to him. He turned around and jumped.
     "When did you get here?!" He said.
     "I came to see a movie," I laughed.
     "We can never keep you away, can we?"

     I heard that phrase numerous times from him. I said it myself on occasion as well.

     His birthday was approaching. He came in to the theatre all excited because the radio station called him, saying to listen Friday morning for the birthday announcements.
     "I don't know how they got my birthday," He said.
     "Oh, someone out there must like you," I said.
     "Was it you?" Eileen asked, turning to me.
     "What? No!" Well, it wasn't.

     Friday morning I awoke at 7:00 to hear his birthday announced. I then fell back asleep.
     Later that day, I stopped at Carvel and picked up an ice cream cake. I walked into the theatre.
     "Where's David?" I asked Eileen.
     "He is no longer with us," She said, morosely.
     "What? You're lying! His car is in the parking lot."
     "He's in four, I think." I left the cake at the ticket booth and went up to booth four.
     "David!" He was standing at the platter fixing a brain wrap.
     "Hey Angela! What are you doing here?"
     "You need to come to the ticket booth."
     "I can't," He said. "I have to fix this." I ascended the stairs and helped in unraveling the film.
     "Well," I said, "at dinner last night, my mom said, 'when it was Jana's birthday she got a cake..." David laughed.
     "No, don't." I grinned.
     "Too bad, already did." He stopped and looked at me, blankly. He eventually smiled and shook his head.
     "I'll be right down."

     I broke out the digital camera while he was cutting the cake. Connor wanted to play with it more than I did.
     We had three plate for four people. David ate his ice cream cake off a napkin.
     "Do you want my plate?" I asked.
     "I can be messy," He said, "It's my birthday."

     I went into booth four to check on the film. When I returned, Connor was taking a picture of David and Eileen.
     "What am I doing?" Eileen said. "Angela should be in this picture, not me.” I latched onto David as Connor took the picture.

     We closed together one night. We were talking about our loser status and how we never see our friends.
     "My friends are mad at me because all I do is work," He said.
     "I wouldn't be mad at you," I said. "Actually, I think I work more than you do." He laughed. "I'll be your friend," I said, a childish tone in my voice.
     "Thanks," he smiled. Pause.
     "We should hang out some time," I said.
     "Yeah," he said. "Definitely."

     I stopped by the theatre to drop off paychecks. When I was walking toward the door, I saw David washing the windows. He turned the lock as I reached for the door handle. I pouted and he flashed a stupid grin. I kicked the door.
     "No paycheck for you!" I yelled. He laughed as he unlocked the door.
     “Paychecks?” He asked, excitedly.
     “Yup. But none for you. You're mean,” I teased. He stood, pouting, a paper towel and windex in his hand. “It'll be in the office,” I smiled, walking away.

     It was 6:30 at night. I dialed his number, got the machine, hung up. Did it again a half-hour later.
     "He's not home," I whined to mom.
     "Did you leave a message?"
     "No."
     "Why not?! You should leave him a message."
     "Maybe I'll call later."

     I called again around 8:30. He picked up.
     "Hey, what are you up to?"
     "Not much," He said.
     "I tried calling earlier to see if you wanted to do something, but no one was there."
     "You should have left a message!" He said. "I'm about to go to the bar with my friends."
     "Oh, that's cool."
     "Don't worry, we have plenty of time before the 22nd."

     When we hung up, I was in shock that he remembed the date I said I couldn't work anymore.

     Note to self: Get over answering machine fear.

     Later that week, David approached me at the theatre.
     "Can I speak to you in the office?" He asked. I followed him in. "Take a seat." I sat in the desk chair, the back on the verge of falling off, and he situated himself on a film reel container. "I've noticed a few things," He started. "I've been giving you attention, and you've been a little... smitten with me, and I don't want to get into anything because you're leaving on the 22nd..." I nodded.
     "Yeah, that makes sense." My fist was clenched and I was resting my mouth on it. My words were limited.
     "I mean, you're a great person," he said. "You're funny, you have great parents... and… I don't believe I'm going to say this... but it's not you it's me."
     "David!" We laughed.
     "I know, I know. I mean, you'll be leaving and I'll be... here."
     "I'm sorry." He smiled. "But yeah, it's all right,” I said, “I know what you're saying. It's better than me going off to school thinking what if this, what if that... I mean, thanks for bringing this up, because it's better that way."
     "Yeah," He said.
     "Thank you, David. Really."
     "No problem, Angela, no problem." I shifted around nervously.
     "Don't think I'm going to stop flirting with you now," I added. He laughed.
     "Nah, that's all right."

     I was all right until I drove by his house the next day. I couldn't handle it anymore; I broke down and cried. But I managed to get a hold of myself before going to work.

     "What's wrong?" Mom asked.
     "Nothing." I sat staring at my computer screen.
     "Something's wrong. What is it?"
     "It's not important."
     "Then it is something! Tell me."

     So I told my mom the story.
     "I knew you would like David," she started.

     I was working during the major east coast power failure. After many phone calls to my dad and Jana and many refunds to unhappy customers, I stood in the middle of the lobby and did nothing. I was exhausted. It was nearing 5:00 and the next shift was about to come in. Four of us were standing by the ticket booth when David walked in with his travel mug of coffee.      "Okay, who wants to get liquored up?" He asked. I raised my hand.

     I drove to Pennsylvania instead. He stayed and worked.

     I was leaving for college soon. I put up a note in the theatre offce with my contact information and kept on bugging David to keep in touch.
     "As soon as I set up my email I will," he would say.

     He was scheduled for my last day of work, but we didn't need him that night so he didn't come in. It was my last chance to say goodbye for the summer. As I was driving home that night, I realized I left my glasses sitting on the desk. I didn't know if it was intentional or not.

     He finally emailed me around Halloween. He sent it from the theatre address because he still hadn't figured out his own. It was simple but it made me smile. He talked of working on Halloween and asked if I had seen the new Matrix, but the message was cut short because he needed to go put on a movie. I responded to the address he included, but I don't think he knew how to check it. Either way, his email remained in my inbox for weeks as a friendly reminder.

     When I was home for fall break, I stopped by the theatre to say hi. I was standing by the ticket booth with my back to the office when I hear, "Angela!" and I turn around as David approaches me with a hug. He embraced me again as I was leaving to go home, a big, silly grin on his face. I felt like crap, but for some reason David's smile always made it better. It was addictive.

     It was similar when I was home for Thanksgiving. I stopped by one night and wound up working because David was not feeling well. He sat in the office with his head down as I started movies. He thanked me many times and I said it was nothing, really, because it wasn't.
     "It's been two hours," he said, taking a pill bottle out of the desk drawer. "I can take another Advil."
     "Don't be overdosing on painkillers now," I said.
     "Oh, it's not possible." He downed the Advil and put his head down. I rubbed his back.

     "You're coming in tomorrow at 5, right?" He said.
     "Yeah, do you need me earlier?"
     "Could you? Like, a quarter to five. Because my sister is home and my family made reservations at this restaurant that's an hour away and I need time to go home and shower and get there."
     "I'll be here 4:30." He is leaned over the desk in pain, but I can still see him smile. I stood from my leaning position against the wall to hug him from the back, around his shoulders, and I hardly noticed his hand rubbing my arm because I was too concerned that my hand just knocked into his unshaven jawline.
     “Feel better,” I said.

     As I walked across the parking lot the next day, I saw David standing in the lobby by the door. He ran in the back to get his coat, and as soon as I walked in he hugged me and was out the door.

     Winter break. Dad asked me to drop printer paper off at the theatre. I walked in with a Staples bag and David perked up.
     "Are you coming back today?" He asked, hopeful.
     "I could, what do you need?"
     "We don't have any black ink."
     "Sure, I can do that." He went into the office, and I followed him to drop off the paper.
     "So, have you seen the new Lord of the Rings yet?" He asked.
      "Midnight showing," I grinned.
     "Lucky! I'm jealous, I haven't seen it yet."
     "It's really good."
     "Did you see the third Matrix?" He asked.
     "Yeah, I saw it. I hadn't seen it when I responded to your email, though; did you get it?"
     “Oh, I didn't know you responded; I can't figure it out.”
     “Oh, that's all right,” I smiled.
     "What did you think about the movie?” He asked.
     "I liked it, but that's because I'm obsessed."
     "Well yeah," he said, "I'm obsessed too. But it's not as good at the first one."
     "Oh, nothing is."

     I left and returned an hour later with printer ink. I installed it and he thanked me and that was it. I was on my way.

     David started getting distant. He was supposed to help my father at the new theatre, but wasn't returning his phone calls.
     "I left two messages on your cell phone and one at your house," dad said.
     "Oh," David would say. "I never got them."

     We didn't hear from him for 2 weeks. He wouldn't answer his phone.

     "I think David is going to quit," Jana said. I shrugged.
     "I wouldn't be surprised."

     I wanted to talk to him. I knew I had limited time, but I would never see him.
     I was scheduled to work on my birthday, but Jana took me off and put him on instead. We hoped he would show up.

     "I would write him a letter," I told Jana, "but I don't know what to say."
     "Yeah," she said. "You should, but yeah, what would you say?"
     “I could figure out something.”

     Chris walked into the theatre as I was on my way to the office. He turned to Amanda and said, “So, I hear David quit.”
     “No he hasn't,” I said, dryly, my back turned. I went into the office and stood in the corner, applying pressure to the bridge of my nose.
     “Are you okay?” Jana asked. She was sitting at the desk.
     “Yes,” I stifled. She sat in that rickety old chair, leaning on the desk, just looking at me. “You know,” I said, “he's not even gone yet and Chris comes in and is all like, ‘so I hear he quit,' and how would he know that, anyway?” She sat for a moment, silent, as I stood blinking into the flourescent light. “I can't handle it and it's not even gone.”
     “I'll leave you alone,” she said, rising. “Just come out when you're ready.”

     I sat down at the desk and wrote whatever was on my mind. I said that I didn't want to lose him. I told him that I had been trying to get close to him but it was difficult, and I don't know if I had done my job. I told him that I wanted him to be happy, whatever that may include. I said that if he wanted to talk, he knew how to contact me.

     I sealed the envelope and left it on the desk. He would find it the next morning.

     My birthday was the next day. Dad stopped in the theatre before we went down to the city to celebrate. I was sitting in the car peering through the window. David looked unusually thin and hadn't shaven.
     "Can I talk to you for one minute?" Dad asked.
     "I don't need a minute," David answered. "Today is my last day."

     I cried on the way down to the city.

     I stopped by that night to talk to Jana. We sat in the office and stared at each other.
     "We have to change the manager's codes," I said. I sat at the computer and started adjusting the passwords.
     "We should make a new alarm code," Jana said. "We still have the one from the old owners."
     “Yeah,” I said. “I didn't think of that.”
     We stood by the desk. I kept on glancing at the garbage can. "The envelope is ripped up," Jana finally said. "And I was thinking, 'it's none of my business, I'm not going to look'..."
     "Yeah?"
     "But the letter isn't there."
     "You know," I said, "I was thinking, there are 3 options. Either he ripped it up and didn't read it at all, or he read it and isn't going to respond, or he read it and he'll eventually respond." Jana nodded. “Unless he threw the envelope in one garbage and threw the letter away somewhere else, but who would take the time do that?”
     "Give him some time," she said.

     "'I'm not giving you my keys until I get my paycheck'? What the hell is that?" Dad said.

     He was supposed to come in for his paycheck. I kept the office door locked in case he stopped by; I wanted to be there when he came. But he never did. I went back to help out later that night.
     "You missed him," Jana said.
     "So I heard."
     "I have to ask," I said, "How was he?"
     "He seemed all right," Jana said. "He didn't say anything about the theatre."
     "I expected that."
     "We just talked about new year's eve, and he said, 'well, I should get going, maybe I'll see you later, if not, take care.'"

     "Well," I said. "There goes any chance of ever seeing him again."
     "Don't say that," she said. "You never know."

     We brought on a new manager to work at the theatre. He needed keys. I gave him mine and I took David's.
     I brought home the stuff David had dropped off that night. I took one of his work shirts and wore it the next day.

     Jana and I closed one night and were standing outside the theatre doors.
     “Ohh, I want to lock it,” I said. “I want to make sure my key work. Although I don't see why it shouldn't, because it was David's.” The lock clicked.
     “Did you actually take his shirt?” she asked as we walked to our cars.
     “I'm wearing it now.” She smiled, but said nothing.
     We said our goodnights and drove home for the night.

Written: Winter 2004