I want a HUG
He's finishing up the paperwork on a tricky case. She's killing time with an old movie from the library. They plan to go out for dinner as soon as he's finished.
Looking up from his files, he sees her sprawled on her sofa. The TV is out of his view line but he can tell from her posture that she is bored. He'd better hurry up. A bored Bordey doesn't bear thinking about!
A little while later, he hears a noise. She is sitting up, looking more interested. Oh, good, he has more time to complete the forms properly. Something good must have happened in the movie. Lucky him.
A bit more time and he notices she is sitting on the edge of her seat now, leaning forward. A strange look is in her eyes. She looks worried but totally invested in the movie now.
Almost done, a few more signatures and… he's free. He stands, stretches, lays down his pen and goes into the living room. The credits are playing but she is just sitting there, looking dreamy and a bit bereft.
"Camille? Are you OK? Was it a rotten ending?"
Slowly, she looks up at him, "Oh, Richard! It was so sad and wonderful. They hugged and the camera just stayed on them. At first I thought it was a mistake but then… the look on his face! You could see exactly when he realized that he loved this woman and he was scared, then he took courage and even though he didn't move you could see him really take her into his arms... THEN…" She blinks and sighs, "Oh, I want a hug like that!"
She leaps to her feet, "Hug me," she whispers.
He didn't know what else to do so he steps up, "OK. Like this?" and hugs her.
"No, no, no! Like you don't know you love me until seconds later, then you're afraid I'll sense your love and maybe reject you, then you realize that I DO love you and I want you too, then you accept our love and just hug me."
He ponders this, "In other words, you want a 30 second recap of the last 2 years… in mime?"
She nods.
"OK. Right. Let's see. First I have to get into character. I'm a hopeless git, clueless about women, who's found his soul-mate but is too daft to do anything about it. Something brings us together… some disaster… maybe a near-death experience… and now I hug you in relief. Is that about right?"
"Yes, in a nut shell."
He dredges up all the loneliness and pain and despair of his former self and hugs her. It went on for a long, long time. When he steps back, her eyes are shining, "Oh," is all she can say.
"Always happy to please, madam. Now, are we going for supper?"
She halts his start for the door, turns him back to face her, "Not quite yet, darling. There's another scene to re-enact. Upstairs."
"Any stage directions involved with that too?"
"No. Improvisational theatre is a wonderful thing."
END – I want a HUG