February 9, 2015
"This guacamole is to die for," Rami said with a mouth full of nachos, stuffing another one in his mouth. He hadn't even finished chewing the last nacho yet but he didn't care – he wanted as many nachos in his mouth as it could hold. "Honestly. To die for."
"Thanks," Eleanor smiled shyly.
"Can you make this every movie night?" Ben asked, mimicking Rami and sticking a whole nacho in his mouth.
"Only for you two."
"No, what you need to do is make about 100 tons of it and feed it to me intravenously," Rami said.
Ben's eyebrows rose as high as they could go. "That is the greatest idea ever."
Eleanor couldn't help but laugh at the two men sitting at her kitchen peninsula. "I'll have to check if it fits with the Wellness Policy."
"Listen, if Paul tried this, he'd understand," Rami said.
It was Eleanor's turn to host movie night at her condo – a new 'tradition' now that she was friends with Rami and Ben, and now that Rami knew how many "freakin' awesome" movies Ben had never seen. She had been to Rami's apartment for such occasions, as well as Ben's, and now she had to host. She didn't think her finger food would be as much of a hit with them as it was, but lo and behold, they hadn't even picked a movie yet because the boys were scarfing down everything she'd laid out, including the popcorn and most of the contents of the candy bowl.
So far they had watched a slew of movies that Rami designated as "freakin' amazing" that Ben had never seen: Wayne's World, The Breakfast Club, and The Mask. Eleanor had no idea what they would want to watch next, but she hoped there was something they could watch in her DVD collection. Most of her DVDs were still at home in Montreal. They tended to gravitate towards comedies, for obvious reasons – they were much more enjoyable to watch.
"Okay, boys!" Eleanor smacked her hands against the countertop, getting their attention in the only way she could think. "What movie are we going to watch?"
"What do you have, love?" Ben asked.
"Let me go get my DVD box," she said, running into her room and grabbing the small storage box with her favourite DVDs. She plotted it down on the counter and both Rami and Ben started rummaging through it. "If all else fails we can always just stream or download something from -"
"PLASTICS!" Rami yelled, holding up the digitally re-mastered version of 'The Graduate', starring Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross. He turned towards Ben. "Plastics?" he asked as if he was asking him 'Have you seen this movie?'
Ben hesitated. "…Plastics?" he asked back in a confused voice.
Rami slammed the DVD case down on the counter in rage and Eleanor slammed her hands on the counter again. "You've never seen The Graduate?!" they both asked in unison.
Ben rolled his eyes. "Well, I know what we're watching tonight then."
"How have you never seen The Graduate?" Eleanor pestered Ben. "The Graduate is…The Graduate! It's law that you have to watch The Graduate!"
"Not in England."
Rami picked up the tray of nachos and guacamole and set it down on the coffee table while Eleanor prepared the TV and DVD. Ben took the single couch chair, leaving Rami and Eleanor to share the loveseat.
"What's this movie about, anyway?" Ben asked.
"Life," was Eleanor's simple response.
"Ha-ha," Ben laughed sarcastically. "Really, what is it about?"
"She's right," Rami defended Eleanor. "Just watch and you'll see."
The opening credits soon began, much to the delight of Eleanor. She had watched 'The Graduate' more times than she could count or remember, but each time she did, she found something new to love about the movie. She saw that Rami had moved the nachos and guacamole onto his lap and shuffled closer to him so she could get access. He looked surprised for a moment but then smiled at Eleanor and shuffled closer to her. She readjusted her position so that her knees were to her chest; she wasn't quite leaning into him, but her feet were halfway underneath his thighs, to keep them warm.
"You don't mind, do you?" she whispered.
"Not at all," he said.
XXXXX
On screen, Dustin Hoffman was running after his car had broken down, desperate to get to Elaine before she married Carl. Rami always thought that when Dustin was running he looked like a dog paddling in water. In reality, Rami hadn't been paying attention for about the last third of the movie, ever since Eleanor had swooned over something Hoffman's character, Benjamin, had said to Ross's character, Elaine, and laid her head to rest on his arm. He had noticed that Ben fell asleep long ago, and wasn't sure if Eleanor noticed, so, really, it was just them. The tenderness of the position they were in was almost too much to bear for Rami.
As Simon and Garfunkel's "The Sound of Silence" began to play, Rami felt Eleanor exhale considerably. In the movie, Elaine looks at Benjamin to see if he has a similar expression as hers after they have just run away from her wedding, but he doesn't look back at her.
Eleanor looked at Rami, and he was already looking at her. She smiled meekly at him, feeling the effects of the affectionate position they were in. "This movie breaks my heart, but it's my favourite of all time," she told him, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Why?" he asked, leaning into her more.
Eleanor couldn't quite put into words why. She had tried to rationalize it to herself before, even tried to write it down like an essay so she could memorize it and spew it off word-for-word whenever anybody asked her. All attempts proved to be unsuccessful. "I don't know," she said honestly, looking down and playing with her fingernails. "It's the uncertainty. The impulsive decisions made out of love…the fact that they have no idea what to say to each other…that look on their faces is just so haunting. They're so ill prepared for what lies ahead, and they realize it in that moment on the bus…they're not as confident as they were five minutes ago. They're scared half to death about what lies ahead. And like…are they going to end up like their parents because of their decision? It just…it's a metaphor for my life, really."
Rami smiled gently at Eleanor's explanation. He could tell she was nervous by the way she was picking at her fingernails, bearing some of her soul to him, so he remained as quiet as he could be.
Eleanor leaned back so she was lying down on her couch. Rami didn't know what possessed him, but he immediately followed, lying beside her and propping his head up on his hand so he could look down at her. Although he was a 6'1" wrestler, he tried to make his body not too dominating on the couch.
"Rami?"
"Yeah?"
"You…you can touch me, you know."
Rami was slightly embarrassed. "I just…I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Believe me, you won't," Eleanor said.
Rami draped his right arm over Eleanor. Her fingertips dragged over his skin. "How is Benjamin going to handle a marriage if the movie is his reaction to graduating college?" she asked.
Rami couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "I don't know."
Eleanor turned her body slightly so she was facing towards him more. "I was never good with answering that…that 'what now?' question. Especially with my parents."
"I wasn't either," Rami admitted.
"I'm guessing they didn't want you to be a wrestler," Eleanor said.
"My mom's exact words were, 'Enough of your dreams, get ready to go back to school.' But I get it – my career choice was completely unconventional, especially for a child of immigrants. I understand why they would want me to get an office job…be an accountant or an engineer or something. My brothers listened to an extent but I wanted something more."
"Where did your parents immigrate from?"
"Syria. In the seventies."
Eleanor looked down in shame. Her situation wasn't nearly as precarious as Rami's – it's not like she ran off to be a wrestler. "When I was a teenager my main goal in life was not to end up like my parents…I think I've succeeded working for WWE."
"Same story?" he asked.
"No. My parents are French-Canadian…have been for generations," she stopped there. She didn't want to reveal too much; not now, not yet. "But it's the same story in that they wanted me to go into business or law or something. Something I never had interest in. And I don't think they liked me moving out of Montreal either," she confessed. "But I made decisions in my younger years based solely on the fact that they were the opposite of what my parents wanted me to do, so that I wouldn't end up like them. Like Benjamin and Elaine."
"Is your relationship with your family okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.
"It's much better now. As time went on I realized they just want whatever makes me happy. We've always been really close, and we weren't for a while, but it got better and we're back to that closeness now."
"Good," Rami nodded, relieved. For a brief moment he concentrated on the feeling of Eleanor's fingertips gliding along his skin, and it in that moment, it was one of the best feelings he'd ever experienced.
Eleanor focused on Rami for a few seconds, noticing him watching her fingers move up and down his arm. There was a spirit of kindheartedness to his face and his general demeanour that made her so relaxed and comfortable around him. "Can I show you something?" she whispered.
Rami looked at her immediately when he heard her voice. "Of course you can."
She sat up from her position on the couch and stood, adjusting her clothes while Rami did the same. Before he was finished she grabbed his arm and led him across her apartment to the second bedroom. Opening the door, instead of finding a nice bed, chest of drawers, and vanity, Rami was greeted with an easel with a half-painted canvas. There were painted canvasses all around the room of varying sizes, the biggest one being at least the size of Eleanor. Most were paintings of still life – bottles and fruit on tables – others were of bouquets or single flowers in vases, and more were portraits of people. To Sami's amazement, he spotted a few that were even hockey themed; he could point out a Canadiens jersey from a crowd of a million people.
She watched him as he looked at his surroundings. He seemed to be overwhelmed by the amount of paintings but the look of astonishment on his face told her he liked what he saw. "These are incredible," he muttered to himself. "Unbelievable."
"Nobody in my family had time for art," she said timidly, getting Rami's attention again. "I mean, it's not like they discouraged me from doing it or anything, but they thought I should focus my time and attention on something more serious…something that could get me a real job," she air-quoted around real job.
"Don't I know the feeling," Rami smiled, trying to get Eleanor to feel more comfortable, and to open up more. "What made them change their mind?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure most of them have fully changed their mind…" Eleanor thought out loud, bringing her hand up to her face to bite the nail on her thumb. Rami took the two steps towards and raised his hand, pushing hers down, away from her mouth so she wouldn't bite her fingernail. Eleanor felt him hold her hand. "I guess they started to come around when I found a buyer for one and it sold for money. Real, actual money."
Rami smiled at her revelation. "Yeah, that'll do it."
"So I guess ever since then they've kind of just…been silent about it…allowed me to do it. I mean of course it's not a steady source of income or anything like that but it's nice…uh, extra money to save," she said.
"Well, if what I think means anything, I think they're amazing. And I think if this is what you really love to do then you should continue doing it, regardless of what your family thinks or doesn't think about it."
"Thanks, Rami."
"I mean it. A million people would kill for this talent, including me."
Eleanor looked down bashfully in reaction to his words. Everything he said was so sincere – it was a world away from what she grew up with and what she was used to being surrounded by. Actual words of encouragement – not 'Good job' or 'That's nice' comments thinly veiled as 'Be serious, Eleanor'.
She squeezed his hand and began to walk out of the room, dragging him along with her. As she shut the door, she turned around and put her index finger on her lips, telling him without words that he wasn't to tell anyone. He repeated the gesture to her before she grabbed his hand again and led him back to the couch. They lay down together and resumed their previous position.
For a brief moment Eleanor shifted her focus to Ben sleeping on the couch. She wondered if she should wake him up and let him sleep somewhere more comfortable. "He's out cold," Rami said, noticing where she had her focus.
She looked back towards Rami and turned even more towards him. "Rami…will you stay?"
Rami's breath caught in his throat. "I wasn't planning on leaving."
XXXXX
Ben could feel the sun on his face, which he didn't particularly like. He wondered why his curtains were open and the sun streaming into his room – that is until he opened his eyes and did not recognize his surroundings. A wall unit with a TV way too small for his taste; a coffee table that sat higher than his. He saw an opened DVD box and remembered that he had been at Eleanor's condo the previous night for movie night. They had started some movie about some college guy having an affair with an older lady, but that's about all he remembered. Was he still at her condo?
He tried to crane his neck to look around the room, but it was stiff from sleeping in an awkward position. He rubbed it and stretched it as best he could. To his right was the kitchen – nothing there. He looked to his left, and a smile crept onto his face.
Rami and Eleanor were sleeping together on the couch. Eleanor had tried her best to snuggle next to Rami – at least it seemed like it – and had her arm covering his, which was draped over her body. Her head was near his neck, and their legs were intertwined.
Ben grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket and put it on silent, so the sound of the shutter wouldn't wake them. He took a quick picture or two, and laughed to himself. That would definitely be used as friendly blackmail later, if he ever needed Rami to do anything for him.
