As in:
It did not help Flavian’s confidence, at all, that Astrid’s presence seemed to cause every other male at the Film Festival to alter his behavior in some way. Most would just open their eyes wider and step back, as if they were in the presence of a celebrity. But a couple, including the ticket guy, just straight out solicited, as if Flavian were not even there.
Astrid handled this with dignity and poise, up to the point where she informed the ticket fellow that she already had a date for the afternoon. That surprised the seller as much as it knocked Flavian back on his heels, because even with Chellis’s capable guidance and shaping of the day, the reality of being out with Astrid was, well, dizzying. Indeed, he walked down the aisle of the theater thinking he was only capable of flirting with disaster; that it was just a matter of time before something tragic would erupt from his mouth, or that his deer-in-the-headlights look would betray him.
Chellis managed things so that she and Astrid sat in the middle, with Gardner off her left shoulder and Flavian to Astrid’s right. That way Chellis could steer the conversation and she did this with ease. Flavian didn’t have to lift anything beyond an agreeable nod and a goofy half-smile.
Yet, he was so grateful when the lights dimmed. He felt emotionally exhausted. Gardner had handed him a small bucket of popcorn to share with Astrid and he balanced it on his knee, using his hand to keep it steady. As the movie unfolded, he would reach in occasionally, though when he did he was aware that his hand was vibrating.
On his third try, his hand collided with Astrid’s and to his surprise, she held it, right there, on the rim of the bucket. He was sure she could feel his hand shaking, and he was about to panic and pull it away. And then she squeezed his hand and gently started caressing the top of it, clearly trying to calm him down.
He looked over at her out of the corner of his eye.
She was looking back at him and there was enough light from the screen just then that he could clearly see the look of empathy in her smile and in her eyes.
He would always vividly remember that moment. He would remember it as much as the moment he fell into the Selway River when he was five, and even more than the day before Astrid was about to return to Venezuela, and he somehow gathered the courage to ask her to marry him.
(the end)
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