Theaters
By Laura
i. The Graduate
Benjamin: Look, maybe we could do something else together. Mrs. Robinson, would you like to go to a movie?
She turns Abe down when he offers to bring dinner to the office and turns him down again when he asks Peggy to come by the paper. He says something about it being a new year and still the same as ever. She tells him she won't be too late and drops the receiver in its cradle with more force than required.
Peggy rifles through the papers on her desk. It's all about Heinz and tomatoes and condiments and she's close to never wanting to see the color red again. She glances at the phone when it rings and tucks her bottom lip under her teeth. It could be Abe, it could be Stan.
"Avoiding someone?"
Peggy looks up at Ted leaning against the doorway to her office. "Yes, actually," she admits.
He steps inside, folding his arms. His eyes scan the cluttered top of her desk. "Making any progress?"
"No, not at all," she tells him. "I've accomplished nothing since the last time you asked." Peggy hears the frustration in her voice, knows she is being cross. She takes a breath and folds her hands on her lap. "I've consumed my weight in ketchup and tomatoes this week but it's not inspiring me."
Ted chuckles and seats himself across from her desk. "Maybe you need to cleanse your palate with something different. Have you had dinner?"
"I'm not hungry," Peggy tells him. Her phone rings, and she wonders if it sounds as alarmingly loud to Ted as it does to her. She flinches and pushes her chair back. When it goes silent, she stands up and says, "I think I need a break."
"Coffee?" Ted asks.
Peggy shakes her head. "Movies always clear the cobwebs for me."
"Ah." He stands up. "Any particular kind of movie?"
"Good movies. Sometimes bad movies. So, I guess… no, not any particular kind." She picks up her purse and drapes her coat over her arm.
"For me it's flying," Ted says.
Peggy almost tells him that she's been wondering what it would be like to travel in his plane. Instead she asks, "Do you want to come with me? I'm dying to see The Graduate. It's supposed to be a very good film."
He looks down at his shoes. He glances at the clock on the wall.
"Oh, well, you know," Peggy stammers, embarrassed at the line she's crossed. "I guess it's kind of late. I should stay and work on this anyway."
"No," Ted tells her. "I'd like to see that."
x
The theater is crowded enough that Peggy and Ted can't find a seat that doesn't require whispering, "Excuse me, excuse me," and climbing over several pairs of feet. They settle in a row in the middle and switch seats when a tall, broad shouldered man sits in front of Peggy.
"Thanks," she whispers.
Ted offers her popcorn and when she takes a small handful, some if it spills onto his lap. She apologizes and he offers her more.
The theater darkens and the screen illuminates. They watch the movie in a state of discomfort – sitting stiffly in their seats, apologizing quietly several times for bumping elbows while trying to share the armrest and once when his knee knocks against hers.
During the finale, while Ben and Elaine's smiles fade after the euphoria of their escape, Peggy catches a glimpse of Ted looking at her. She glances back and he picks at a piece of popcorn on her shoulder. She smiles, shrugs – how did that get there?
As the end credits roll, Peggy and Ted are the first to rise from their seats and shuffle down the aisle. They walk far enough apart that another couple ends up between them, holdings hands and taking their time departing.
"Did that do the trick?" Ted asks once they exit the building, onto the street, out in the wide open space.
"I'll know once I get back to the office. Are you coming?"
Ted looks at his watch and says, "I should get home. But I'll walk you back."
"I'll be okay."
"I'll get you a cab," Ted says. He waits with her on the curb and asks, "So, do you think they end up staying together?"
Peggy's eyes knit closer together. She begins her response when Ted's signaling finally draws the attention of a taxi rolling by. It stops and she smiles when he opens the door for her. "I'll tell you tomorrow," she says. She climbs into the backseat. "Thanks for the company."
"It was my pleasure. Don't work too late, okay, Peggy?"
"I won't. Goodnight."
He says goodnight and closes the door. Peggy settles in her seat, unaware when the driver starts talking to her. She tries to get her mind back to Heinz but she finds herself searching for the answer to Ted's question. So, do you think they end up staying together?
ii. Planet of the Apes
George Taylor: Imagine me needing someone. Back on Earth I never did. Oh, there were women. Lots of women. Lots of love-making but no love. You see, that was the kind of world we'd made. So I left, because there was no one to hold me there.
Peggy leaves her seat, taking her coat and purse, and goes to the lobby. Abe is late and he'll never find her if he shows up when the movie has already started. He'll come in and trip over people and step on their feet and curse. She's about to head back when she sees him run through the door.
"It's about to start," she scolds, reaching her hand out toward him.
Abe catches his breath. "I'm sorry, babe. I've got to get back to the paper."
She sighs. Peggy can't yell at him. It's usually her cancelling their plans. Ever since he left her at the ADDY Awards to tend to the Dr. King story he's been the one working late and bringing work home. "I understand," she says after a long beat.
Abe kisses her and says, "I'm real sorry." He's already heading toward the door when he yells, "You can tell me all about the movie in the morning."
Peggy looks back in the direction of the theater she fled. She considers leaving, or seeing something else, when she feels a tap on her shoulder. "Ted! What are you doing here?"
"The weather is too bad for flying, so I thought I'd give this a try," he says. "What did you see?"
"Nothing," Peggy says. "It's… it's a long story. I was going to see Cool Hand Luke. What about you?"
He shows her his ticket. "Planet of the Apes. Everyone seems to be talking about it. I guess you probably already saw it."
"No, not yet," she says.
He looks at his ticket, over her shoulder toward the doors, into the dark theater where he'll be sitting. "You should see it now."
Peggy looks off in the direction where Abe made his late arrival and hasty exit. "Alright, sure."
He follows her into the theater and it's not very crowded. He lets her choose the aisle and he sits on the end.
Peggy notices the way Ted sits – leaning toward the aisle, giving her the armrest. She notices the way he reacts to intense and exciting parts of the movie, how his jaw tenses and he jerks forward in his seat.
They remain in their seats long after the credits, long after the lights come up. "That leaves a lot to process," Ted says after a while.
Peggy can only nod her agreement.
"I think I need a drink," he laughs, and she does too, and they only get up when a young man walks down the aisle with a broom. "Well? Do you have time for a drink?"
Peggy thinks about the apartment she has to go back to by herself, the hammer and nails Abe has no doubt left in the middle of the floor. "Lead the way," she says.
iii. The Odd Couple
Oscar Madison: You can't spend the rest of your life crying. It annoys people in the movies.
She needs to laugh. She can't talk about margarine anymore. Peggy can't avoid Don in the hallways of Sterling Cooper Draper Whatever much longer.
She waits for the elevator and hears the soft patter of a man's shoes coming around the corner. Ted joins her and says, "Middle of the day. I bet I know where you're going."
Peggy wrinkles her nose. "Sorry. I'm not trying to ditch work, I just-"
"It's alright, Peggy. It's been an overwhelming few weeks for all of us." The doors open and he lets her enter first. He presses the button for the lobby and says, "You go to the movies when you need to be inspired and when you need to blow off some steam. Can I ask which it is right now?"
She smiles. "A little of both, I guess."
"I need to wind down," he admits.
She doesn't know how much of Ted's more rigid demeanor around her has been due to their kiss or the merger, but she senses how stressed he has been. As they exit the elevator into the lobby and head toward the doors, she stops and says, "Why don't you come with me?"
x
The afternoon showing is sparsely populated. Ted's hand, his fingers pressing so lightly to her shoulder that she almost doesn't feel it, guides Peggy to sit on the right side, toward the front.
The lights dim and Ted leans toward her. "Did you want popcorn?" he asks.
She turns to answer him, putting their faces in close proximity, and she's able to smell the trace of mint on his breath. She is reminded of his mouth on hers and Peggy's tongue briefly licks along her bottom lip. She says yes only to put some distance between them.
Ted darts away quickly and returns with one bucket of popcorn. He holds it on his lap and Peggy has to drape her arm over the armrest, reaching across every time she wants some. She finds herself eating over half the bucket.
When Ted laughs, the sound is new and striking and she's glad the movie has so many funny parts. There are moments he looks over at her and they share the laughter.
Toward the end, he sets the popcorn bucket on the empty seat beside him. He rests his arm on the small slant of space Peggy has left open, pressing his arm against hers. The sides of their hands touch and it sends a jolt right to Peggy's core. She holds her breath when Ted's pinky finger crosses over hers and he traces a line across her knuckles. Something makes the audience erupt in laughter but Peggy and Ted are silent, staring blankly at the screen.
She feels the light touch of his hand everywhere. Peggy's toes curl inside her shoes. Her lips tingle. She is dizzy. She misses the last fifteen minutes of the movie and when the lights slowly come back, she has to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye before it can draw a line down her cheek.
iv. Rosemary's Baby (the first time)
Rosemary Woodhouse: This is no dream! This is really happening!
Peggy is excited about Ocean Spray, about the trip she'll get to take in Ted's plane. She's trying not to think about it too much. If she lets it play in her head for too long, imagining too many different scenarios, it will only be that much difficult to remain professional and neutral in his company.
"I'm going to the movies," she tells Phyllis on her way out. "Have a good night!"
She noticed Ted was lingering near her office and she hears him follow down the hall. It's not until he calls her name that she stops. "What movie are you seeing?" he asks.
"Rosemary's Baby."
"Who are you going with?"
Her lips part.
He apologizes. "It's none of my business. I just meant, it seems like a scary movie to see alone. If you were seeing it alone."
"Well, I am," Peggy admits quietly. "But I think I'll be okay."
He leans close to her, lowering his voice. "I'm not ashamed to say that I haven't seen it yet because I'd be too scared to see it alone."
x
They have no choice but to sit near the wall, close to the front, in a spot that seems to be the only two seats left in the theater. The man next to Peggy hogs the armrest and sits too close; she tilts toward Ted to avoid the stranger beside her.
Halfway through, Ted moves his arm and Peggy worries she was leaning against him too much. But she feels his arm slide across the back of her seat, settling around her shoulders, and she's grateful for the warm comfort; what's happening on the screen disturbs her, stirs memories, and at times, makes her skin crawl. The sturdy clutch of his arm, his fingers absently rubbing circles over the sleeve of her dress, relaxes Peggy.
The movie ends and they don't move. Hardly anyone in the theater moves. They blend into the crowd of people remaining in their seats, a little shell-shocked. They stay that way, Peggy nestled against his side, until the rows around them have emptied out.
Ted cranes his neck to see behind them. As he turns back, he brushes a soft kiss to Peggy's temple before standing from his seat. He holds her hand as they step over candy bar wrappers and discarded paper cups, up the main aisle. They let go of each other when they the exit out the main door onto the crowded sidewalk. The noise is disorienting after remaining in the dead-silent theater for so long.
Without a word they join the hoards of people walking down the street, their hands brushing every so often.
v. The Thomas Crown Affair
Thomas Crown: Do you play?
Vicki Anderson: Try me.
She doesn't ask him to go and he doesn't ask if she wants company. It's the middle of the day and the movie has been out for a while and Peggy professes loudly after a meeting that she wants to see it.
Ted steps onto the elevator just as the doors are about to seal shut. They ride down in silence and anyone who spies them in the lobby won't guess they are heading for the same destination. She hails a cab a block away and Ted climbs into the backseat with her.
He buys the tickets and follows Peggy into the theater. It's empty and they sit in the last row in the back. Two minutes before the lights go down another couple enters and sits closer to the front, and after the movie has started a man takes a seat on the opposite side of the theater.
The lights dim to dark and the music plays. It's like a cue – Ted reaches his arm around Peggy's shoulders, drawing her against him as she sinks lower in the seat. She rests her hand on his thigh.
They always watch the movie. This one is no exception. It's clever, sexy, cathartic. But when Steve McQueen kisses Faye Dunaway, when the camera begins to spin around them as they seize one another with a frenzied passion, Peggy loses interest in what's happening on the screen.
Ted shifts in his seat and his fingers slip under the sleeve of her dress, warm against her bare skin. She feels him tense beneath her palm and she slides her hand upward, causing Ted to buck his hips. Peggy looks at him; his eyes are closed, his lips parted. She turns sideways in her seat and sits up enough to surprise him with a kiss.
The kiss builds until Ted is trying to pull Peggy onto his lap, hindered by the armrest between them, by the possibility they are being watched. He grips her hand and stands up, pulling her with him down the aisle and out the door.
They stumble out into the hall and Peggy leans her ear against the door to the next theater. She pushes the door open and it's dark and empty. She draws Ted in and leans against the wall, guiding his hands to her hips. She knows it won't be long before logic takes over; he'll hold her and quietly suggest they get back to the office before they get carried away, so Peggy slides her hands beneath his suit jacket and clutches his belt.
Ted's lips are warm and teasing along her neck. She moans and tips her forehead against his shoulder when his hands slide beneath her dress, stroking her through the binding layers of nylon and cotton.
"We won't know how it ends," Ted whispers gruffly.
Peggy reaches up to frame his face with her hands. "We'll have to see it again," she says before pulling him toward her, capturing his lips in a dizzying kiss as the sound of the movie they abandoned thrums against the wall.