Three hours later, Luke found himself running through the city trying to be on time meeting Cassie at the movie theater. She had called him back a half-hour later to tell him a time and place. The theater Cassie chose was not too far from his office. 

Luke had really wanted to get a head start on work for the new case he received earlier in the day. So instead of trying to run to his apartment and back to the theater, he stayed at the office and worked. It was an interesting case dealing with a problem Luke had not encountered before that required creative out-of-the-box thinking. Working on cases like this, reminded Luke why he became a lawyer in the first place. 

As the minutes turned into an hour, Luke became engrossed in the case. Luke did not mean to work for another two hours and forty-five minutes after he ended the call with Cassie. He just did. He had intended to be early, not rushing across streets just to make it on time.

When he arrived at the theater, Luke saw Cassie facing the street. She had pulled her hair into a ponytail and the wind played with her curls. Her hands were shoved into a brown leather jacket. Luke could not help but stare. There was something about the simplicity of the way she dressed that had Luke captivated. In the past, the women he dated always did themselves up with gobs of make-up, perfume and short skirts or skimpy dresses. Of course, this was not a date.

 “Cassie,” Luke said stopping next to her.

She looked away from the street and turned to face Luke, “You’re,”

“On time actually. See?” Luke said thrusting his wrist under her nose so she could see the time on his expensive, fancy watch.

Cassie rolled her eyes, smiled and shook her head. “Okay then, you’re not late. I didn’t get my ticket yet.”

“Why don’t we get in line?” Luke suggested. He extended his arm gesturing that she should lead the way.

After they bought their tickets, separately of course because this was not a date, Luke and Cassie went inside. They still had a few minutes to kill before they would be allowed into screen five where the movie was scheduled to play.

“Cassie, the movie isn’t scheduled to start for another thirty minutes.” Luke complained.

“Well, I know how you are about being late, so I told you an earlier time.”

“Wait a second. Men usually do that to women, not the other way around.”

“I can’t help it if you are chronologically challenged and need help with time management.” Cassie said seriously. If it were not for the small glint in her eye, Luke would not have known she was joking.

“That’s not funny.”

“I think it is. I just don’t understand how anyone could possibly be consistently late to everything. It’s rude and inconsiderate.”

“Right, remind me to never be late when I’m meeting you somewhere.”

Cassie smiled and changed the subject. “I think the theater is open, we can go inside,” she said.

A large number of people started moving from where they were lingering in the lobby towards the designated theater.

“You know what, I’m going to get some popcorn. Did you want anything?” Luke asked.

“This is not a date,” Cassie stressed, “I can buy my own refreshments.”

“I know it isn’t, but I’m going over there anyway. And it looks like there are a decent number of people going into the same movie as we are. I was being practical. I’ll get food and you can get the seats.”

Cassie tilted her head to the side and looked at him suspiciously before agreeing. “Okay. I want a small popcorn and a Pepsi.”

“What if they don’t have Pepsi?” Luke asked.

“Then, I want a Dr. Pepper.”

“Alright, I’ll see you in there.” He turned around and headed to the concession’s counter.

“Wait,” Cassie called.

Luke stopped and turned around. “Yeah?” He asked.

Cassie handed him a ten-dollar bill, “for my drink and popcorn.”

He nodded his head and she walked off. “Because this is not a date.” Luke said to himself.

Cassie found seats in the theater, that to her, were perfect. They were located in the middle of the theater—not too far from the top, but not so far down that they would strain their necks looking at the screen.

A few minutes after she was situated, Cassie spotted Luke walking into the theater looking around. She raised her hand and waved him over. As he got closer, Cassie noticed he had a tub of popcorn in one hand and a tray of two drinks in the other.

“You couldn’t sit any further down could you?” He asked sarcastically handing her the tray with the drinks.

“What, you like to sit in the nose bleeds?”

“You can see everything from back there,” he childishly complained.

“Well we aren’t moving.” Cassie stated.

“I didn’t say we needed to.”

“Good cause we weren’t.”

Luke smiled and laughed to himself as he sat down. He could tell that some of his boyish actions slightly annoyed Cassie. But she could be just as childish.

“What’s with the tub of popcorn?” Cassie asked handing him his drink from the tray.

“I wanted popcorn too, and I didn’t think you would like it if I ate from your small bag. So I got a tub.”

“You could have bought a bag for yourself.”

“This was the better deal.”

“Wow, never pegged you as being frugal.”

“I’m not frugal, I’m practical.” Luke explained.

“You can call it whatever you like,” said Cassie in a singsong voice.

“But…”

“Shh! The trailers are starting.”

Luke grinned. He did not meet too many people who enjoyed watching the trailers as much as he did. He settled into his seat and ate popcorn from the tub sitting in his lap.

The movie lasted for two hours. By the time Luke and Cassie left the theater, the tub of popcorn was empty and the ice in their drinks turned to water.

After discarding the unwanted trash, Cassie looked up and down the street.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked amused. It looked like she was thinking hard about something.

“I’m hungry.”

“You just ate the majority of a tub of movie popcorn. Besides, that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing,” he laughed.

“First of all, that was not real food. I want real food, so I’m trying to decide where I want to go eat.” Cassie explained.

“My office isn’t too far from here.” Luke said.

“That doesn’t solve my hunger problem.” Cassie stated unsure of where Luke was going with this line of thought.

“Well I left some things at work. So, why don’t we go to my office so I can grab them? Then we can decide where to eat.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

They walked to Luke’s office building. Neither said a word the entire way. When they got up to his office, Cassie leaned her back against the wall between the door and the bookshelves. She folded her arms as she watched Luke shuffle things around.

“Let me check my email and shut down my computer; then we can go.”

“Sounds fine.” Cassie said quietly. She was paying less attention to Luke and more attention to his office space. On the wall to the left of her hung Luke’s Bachelor’s and Juris Doctorate degrees. Underneath the degrees was a low bookshelf with all of his awards and accolades for the work he had done with the firm. It was a spacious room. A mahogany desk and what looked like an orthopedic chair sat in front of a large glass window. “You got a bad back old man?” Cassie asked lightly.

“You’ve got jokes,” he said looking up from his computer.

Cassie shrugged her shoulders and picked up a figurine that sat on the end table by the door.

“I don’t have a bad back. I just think the chair is comfortable. And you know what?  I’m the same age as you. So watch who you’re calling old.” Luke said.

Putting the figurine down, she smiled and rolled her eyes. Cassie moved to look at the legal texts in the bookshelf. When she heard the sound of the computer powering down she turned around.

“Are you done?” She asked.

“Yeah,” said Luke throwing the last files still sitting on his desk into his open briefcase. “Did you have a taste for anything specific?”

“I kind of want a really good hot-dog, or maybe a hamburger and some French fries,” said Cassie as she walked toward the elevator with Luke. “Oh, and a milkshake.”

“Really? Popcorn is not real food but hot-dogs, hamburgers, French fries and milkshakes are?” Luke asked disbelievingly.

They stepped onto the elevator.

“Do you have something against those foods?” Cassie asked.

“No. I just don’t consider them to be real food.”

“Well they aren’t snacks like popcorn.” Cassie defended.

“Yeah…” Luke’s sentence dropped off. He tilted his head to the side and laughed, “but do you seriously consider hot-dogs ‘real’ food?”

Cassie suppressed a smile, “shut-up.”

Luke opened his mouth as if to say ‘what.’

“If you’re going to make fun of me, close your mouth and shut-up.”

Cassie’s words alone would make people assume she was seriously offended, but Luke was reading her body language and not into her words. There was a glint in her eye indicating she thought their conversation was as ridiculous as he did. And the fact she was biting her lips meant she was trying hard not to laugh or smile.

Luke did not say anything the rest of the ride down to the lobby, or on their walk through the lobby. When they got outside, he turned to Cassie. “If you really want that ‘non-real, real food,’ I know this diner that’s not too far from here. They make a good hot-dog and have some of the best milkshakes.”

“What about their fries? Are the fries any good?” Cassie asked.

“Yeah they’re good too.”

“Fine with me, lead the way.”

They arrived at the diner not too long after they left Luke’s office. Luke picked out a booth near the back of the restaurant. They slid into the seats across from each other and began to read the menu.

“They have a lot of milkshake choices.” Cassie noted.

“I know. I’ve tried almost all of them. The only milkshakes I haven’t tried are the ones with strawberries.” Luke said.

“Why, do you have something against strawberries?”

“I’m allergic to them.”

“Oh.” Cassie continued to peruse the menu. “So, what’s good here?”

“I thought you wanted a hot-dog or hamburger?”

“I did. But once I got here and saw that there are so many options, I changed my mind. People do that you know, change their minds.”

Luke shook his head, “women.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, the meatloaf is pretty good.” Luke said avoiding the question. From the corner of his eye he could see Cassie smirking, but he ignored her and continued to talk. “They use a brown sugar ketchup sauce with it. I know it sounds gross, but it’s really good.  However, I have a thing for breakfast. It’s my favorite meal of the day, but I’m usually going so fast I miss out on the good stuff. So, when I come here for lunch I try and order from the breakfast menu.”

“Really?” Cassie asked intrigued.

“Yeah. They use challah bread for the French toast. They also make a French toast casserole type thingy.”

“A ‘French toast casserole type thingy’ is that the official name of the dish?” Cassie laughed.

“For someone who doesn’t like to be made fun of, you do a lot of teasing.” Luke accused.

“I can’t help it. You just make it so easy.”

Luke picked up a sugar packet and threw it Cassie.

“Hey!” Cassie squealed.

“Welcome to Rango’s diner can I get you started with a drink,” asked the waitress that had walked up to their table.

“Yes, I want a banana pudding cupcake milkshake and a water.” Luke said.

“I would like a strawberry cheesecake milkshake and a water as well.”

“Alright, I’ll be right back with those waters.” The waitress walked away and left the two friends alone.

“You threw a sugar packet at me!”

“Sorry,” Luke said smiling.

“But you’re not!” Cassie accused.

“You’re right I’m not.” Luke’s smile grew even bigger as Cassie picked up four sugar packets and threw them across the table. One hit his ear; another hit his nose and the other two landed in his lap. “Okay, okay. Truce” Luke held up his hands surrendering.

The waitress came back and set their waters on the table. She gave Cassie and Luke a look before asking if they were ready to order. After the waitress left, the two of them sat in silence for a few minutes.

“What did you mean when you said movies are safe?” Luke asked. He was curious to know what was running through Cassie’s mind during their earlier phone conversation.

“I never understood how going to the movies made for a good social activity, especially with groups of people. Think about it. You meet say hello to each and then promptly walk into a dark room and sit silently staring at the screen for two hours. And the type of discussions you could have about plot points or poor editing and graphics etc. are strongly frowned upon because you’re not supposed to talk. How does anyone get to know someone in that type of setting?” Cassie explained.

“I never thought about it that way.”

“Of course you didn’t,” Cassie said leaning back as the waitress sat the milkshakes and food on the table.  After the waitress left, Cassie continued with what she was saying. “It would be better to just go to the movies by yourself. But you can’t do that either. People would look at you funny and wonder why you’re being anti-social. Which just brings me back to the point I made on the phone about people being rude.” Cassie finished.

“You have some strong opinions about this don’t you?”

Cassie shrugged her shoulders as she took a bite of her hot-dog. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about things like this over the past year and a half,” she softly said after she had swallowed her food. She kept her eyes on the plate and focused on eating her hot-dog and French fries.

Luke stayed silent for a while as he ate his steak omelet. He was not quite sure how to respond. It was a simple statement. But the way she seemed dethatched from it concerned him. He could tell it was a defense mechanism. He had seen it before, whenever she felt people were getting to close; he could see her walls go up.

“What do you think of the food?” Luke asked. The evening had been going well. He could tell she was enjoying herself, and he did not what things to go badly now.

“It’s a pretty good hot-dog, but I’ve had better. This milkshake though, this milkshake is good. How wrong is it that I’m tempted to get one to-go?”

Luke laughed, “do what makes you happy.”

Cassie smiled as she sipped the last drops of her milkshake through the straw.

The waitress came by and left their checks. After they paid the bill, Cassie and Luke exited the restaurant.

“So,” Luke said.

Cassie stood in front of Luke with her hands in her pockets. She raised her eyebrows questioning him, asking what he wanted.

Luke just smirked, chuckled and shook his head. “Okay Cassie,’ he paused for a moment,  “you should come out with Dani and me on Sunday. We’re going to teach AJ how to play putt-putt.”

“Isn’t he a little young for that?” Cassie asked amused.

“It’s never too soon to learn how to golf.”

Cassie rolled here eyes and began to walk away. “Bye Luke.”

“So I’ll see you there right?” Luke asked.

Cassie turned around and walked backwards for a few steps, “I’ll let you know. Good night Luke.”  She waved before she turned back around and headed to the subway station.

Luke watched as the crowd swallowed her. When he could no longer see her figure, he hailed a cab and went home.