Nine

"You're kidding, right?!" Andrea couldn't believe her ears as she licked through her ice cream. Sandy told her about her late-night conversation with John Brady, and Andrea just flipped like a burger. "Oh my God, I envy you so much right now, I could kill you!"

Sandy laughed about it while she cleaned Kevin's shirt from a spill. Andrea went on about it for an hour until she finally remembered to ask Sandy something. She told her that she was hooking up with one of Lucas's friends and she heard about the date Sandy agreed to with Lucas.

"Oh Jeez ... seriously? It hasn't been 24 hours and he already ... How many people know about it?"

"Well ... just me, probably, he sounded so excited about it, what's up with that? You finally caving in on Lucas?"

Sandy exhaled deeply, "I don't know ... is that wrong? I don't know how to tell him to go away ... 'cause he's nice, and we're friends, I don't want to jeopardize our friendship but sometimes he can be exhausting."

"He's a persistent guy ... so it's not like a date or anything?" Andrea made sure.

"No, it's his birthday ... which you're not invited, by the way, it's just a nice gesture, right?"

Andrea leaned on the picnic table, "Yeah, I guess ... he really likes you, I think he's already proposing to you in his head." She laughed. It was not an exaggeration.

"Maybe you can tell him to back off a little bit when it comes to me, huh?"

Andrea shrugged, "Haven't we done that for the past three years? It's amazing how he kept his hopes up all this time ... maybe he's hoping you'll cave in eventually ... as I see you already have," she mocked her.

Sandy threw a cone to her face and ignored her comment.

**********

She prepared a quick dinner for herself and John. He was there earlier than the night before, his training session had finished early. She unwrapped his mangled bandage and cleaned his wrist with some cotton soaked with alcohol. She applied the ointment and carefully wrapped it with fresh bandages. When she looked up, she caught him staring at her, he smiled.

"Does it still hurt?"

"No ... only if I bend it, I still can't clutch my motorbike."

"You might want to take it easy for a few days before you do that."

"Yeah, that sucks ... thanks for doing this, I really appreciate it."

"No problem ... there, you're all done ... do you want some dinner? I made some spaghetti?" she offered.

"Oh, yes please ... I'm starving!" He took a bite of her cooking and was surprised by how good it was.

"This is just about everything I can cook," she laughed. "Well, maybe a few other dishes ... but it's quick and easy ... I don't go out much so I learned to cook the easiest and fastest dish I can for a quick dinner alone," she added.

John was nodding in agreement with his mouth full, "Me too ... I do that too."

"Really? I thought you'd be like going out on fancy dinners and wine every night?"

John laughed at her comment, "Not every night, I do love wine ... I like staying home, I like going out too, mostly by myself, I hang out with friends every now and then but not very often."

"Hmm ... yeah, I love going out alone too, especially to the beach here, taking a stroll before sunset ... there's a kind of peace and serenity to be in touch with yourself, isn't it? Some people don't understand how busy it is in my head ... the conversations I have with myself ..." she stopped herself, realizing she might sound crazy to him.

But he was looking at her in amazement, "People think you're quiet and lonely ... but really, you're just loving your own company?" he finished her sentence. They looked at each other for a brief moment and smiled.

When they've finished dinner, Sandy washed the dishes.

John walked over to her bookshelf, "You read?" He was checking out her book collection. Some of them were familiar to him, others were the kind of books that he would read. He took one that stood out to him, an old copy of Rumi quotes. It had a lot of markings and handwriting on it. It was quoted on love and life, and it seemed private so he put it back on the shelf.

"When I have time ... I read, with music, and coffee, and occasionally wine."

"Sounds like my best nights," he scoffed, "And movies?"

"Yes, movies too."

"Any of mine that you like?"

She had finished with the dishes and walked over to him, "I love the Quantum Realm ... that one is my favorite of yours," she said.

"Hmm ... you like sci-fi?"

"Not really, I didn't see it as a sci-fi ... well, it is a sci-fi, but I think it's about self-awakening, spirituality ... but it was delivered in a sci-fi package to make it more interesting for the general public."

John curved his lips, very few people he met can capture the movie in that light.

"But that's just my take on it, people interpret art in their own way ... I guess as long as it gives meaning to them, it doesn't matter whether their interpretation is correct or not," she handed him a hot cup of coffee.

"I agree, thanks," he thanked her for the coffee.

"What about you? Do you watch your own movies?" she sat on the couch to get comfortable.

"I tried not to," he smiled awkwardly.

"Why?"

"It feels weird looking at myself on the screen, I love making movies, I love watching movies ... but not of myself," he was shy about it.

The conversation went on with John telling her the stories of how he first started out, and she was asking him from one thing to another until they realized how late it was.

The night visits went on every day until the shooting finally started. Even then, John hasn't managed to do his wrappings by himself. Sandy had done a really nice job with it that he trusted her to help him out. It was the basis of their instant friendship, although the things they had in common were the gem that paved the way. They could talk for hours without running out of things to ask each other, and it was rare for both of them.