Couchside Romeo

Yesterday I went to see 'Roadside Romeo' with the Wise One and her cub. The theater was small, kinda basic but surprise, surprise... had plush leather couches instead of the usual seats. This is the first time I have been this comfortable while watching a movie. The fact that the screen was small and the audio system pre-dolby surround sound didn't really matter once your butt made friends with the couch.

So there I was, sipping my diet coke, flexing my weary muscles and waiting for the movie to start. In the first few minutes itself I was caught up in the story and found myself pleasantly surprised with the quality of animation. (I later learnt that Walt Disney had done the animation).

Now as is the usual case, there were people who were late. There were the expected shhhs, excuse mes, shuffling, grumbling while people came to term with this interruption. As the line of late comers passed us, a remarkably beautiful lady came in front of me.

When our bodies aligned (and our fates crossed), she lost her balance. Now I swear to you that I had nothing to do with it. I was only being a polite citizen and had even folded my long legs so that no one tripped over them. But sometimes good things happen to good people. So this beautiful lady, god bless her parents, lost her balance and.... plonk... sat down in my lap.

Imagine my surprise! Imagine the lady's good fortune!! For one timeless moment we gazed at each other. Her eyes seemed to ask me, 'Shouldn't I be sorry?'. My smile seemed to tell her, 'Hell no, its cool'. And for that one moment, we were in perfect understanding.

'Ahem, ahem' said the overgrown uncle/husband/jealous male. And with those unholy words broke the spell. The poor lady pretended to be embarrassed. I pretended that to be nonchalant. Like I was used to gorgeous women sitting in my lap everyday.

She jumped up and scurried away. The 'Charlie Anna' who was the villain of the piece glared at me in the dark. What the joker didn't realize was that with the screen to his back, I couldn't make out any of his expressions. Not that I gave a damn. Jealous boyfriends and aggro brothers are something I've learnt to either ignore or deal with a long time ago. This, was an 'ignore the bozo' moment. So I yawned, craned my neck to the side and said, 'Excuse me'. Talk about cool.

During the rest of the movie, I thought of climbing the roof of the theater (you have to see the movie to know what I mean). And am sure she was hoping I would jump on stage like Roadside Romeo and volunteer to get myself killed (again, you have to see the movie to know what I mean). But when the lights came on we went our separate ways. Separated by a mass of shuffling bodies, a couple of rows and one jealous male.

Ah, that is what movies are for. To blur the lines between reality and magic. If you are lucky the movie takes you to the make-believe land. And if you're luckier, the make-believe land comes to you.