Inspired by an ask sent to fourdrinkamy on Tumblr and the little plot amez-santiago added to it, who so kindly let me use it and helped me with it :)
He meets her on a Friday evening.
Jake is quietly talking with Charles, his best friend/colleague in charge of selling the snacks, when she enters the movie theater. The sound of the door opening startles them out of their conversation – the room was empty until she arrived, and they're not expecting anyone to come in for a while still, the next screening not being supposed to start before another forty-five minutes.
They go back behind their counters, watching in silence as she approaches them. She looks around with interest, taking everything in.
It's the first time they're seeing her here, something odd enough to catch their attention – it's not often they're getting new customers. Indeed, most people who come here, in this old and rather small movie theater in Brooklyn, have been regulars for years now. Jake himself discovered the place as a child, when his father was still around and would take him out to watch movies every week.
She's about his age, or maybe a little younger, with long raven hair and brown eyes that fixate on his. Her smile is bright, growing brighter when she finally reaches his side and greets him.
It makes him smile back, just as widely, her enthusiasm somehow catching, especially when she starts talking.
"Hi! I'd like a ticket for the Harry Potter screening, please."
He can easily tell, from the way she speaks, that she's a real fan of these movies – probably the whole universe around it –, and that she's excited about the idea of such a rerun they're offering at the theater.
"It'll be $10," Jake answers almost mechanically while printing out the ticket, used to doing it by now, after all this time working here. "You can't go into the room yet, though, another movie's still screening."
She thanks him and nods in return, understanding. The place fills with silence then, and the woman leaves him to go on with her first inspection of what's around her, looking at the movie posters on the walls, here to promote the next screenings of the month. Discreetly, Charles joins his colleague behind his counter again, a huge grin lighting up his features, having watched the scene happen from afar.
"This looks like the beginning of a new rom-com…" he says excitedly, which makes Jake roll his eyes.
He wants to reply with something, but can't, because all of a sudden the newcomer is drawing her attention back on them. She's still smiling, though it's shyer now – hesitant, almost.
"I've recently been transferred here," she informs them, and at first, both employees frown while exchanging a quick glance, wondering why she'd let them know of such a thing – they don't know each other, after all, and it's not an information you necessarily share with strangers like that. But she soon goes on, "How's life in New York?"
"Oh, it's great," Charles answers her, his grin back on his face. "The people, especially…" he trails off and nods in his friend's direction, who shoots him from under the counter to make him stop with his stupid innuendos and whatever he may imagine going on between him and their newest customer. It's useless, though, because she seems to take the hint, her eyes meeting Jake's with her mouth half-open.
She looks confused, and he can't help but notice how the tip of her ears have gone red, spreading down to her cheeks in a small blush.
(He can't help but find it extremely cute, too, though hastens to chase the thought away.)
"What my colleague means…" He tries to break the awkward that has fallen upon the room with a small smile. "Is that everyone here is really nice. The city's pretty dope, despite being so expensive. For sure you'll like it here."
It seems to work – hearing this makes her relax, and she even asks a few more questions about New York and Brooklyn, about what to do and where to go when living here.
It's only when people start to enter the theater and Jake and Charles are required to go back to work that she leaves them alone, not wanting to disturb them any longer, thanking them for their useful tips.
"Enjoy the movie!" the two men tell her in a same polite voice. And, as he watches her disappear among the crowd, Jake isn't able to hide his dreamy smile, which only makes Charles tease him more when he sees him.
"Shut up." He tries to shush him by sounding annoyed – there's nothing more to read here than him simply being happy they met a new person when it's so rare in this place to make encounters.
He would lie if he'd say he doesn't wish he'll get to see her again somehow, someday, though.
Jake is happily surprised to see her come back exactly a week later, still far too early and seeming really enthusiastic still, for the screening of the second Harry Potter movie.
It's something his boss came up with, in order to try and gain more new regular customers – to do reruns of each movie of the saga for eight weeks. And, if at the beginning Jake was rather skeptical about the idea – who would want to pay for something they've probably already seen several times and could easily watch for a cheaper price (or even for free, if they own the DVDs) at home, in the comfort of their own house? – he's now very grateful for it, as he watches her get closer to his counter, if it works with her, making her enjoy the place and giving her want to come back often.
It's true they didn't exchange much the first time she came – he doesn't even know her name – but there was something very intriguing about her that immediately drew him towards her while listening to her, wanting to discover more about this new resident of his city. He feels like they truly hit off from the start, and could get along really well, would they learn to know more about one another.
"Do you think you'll come here often?" Jake asks as he prints her ticket, a question which seems to startle her when he looks up and catches a glance at her, frowning. "Sorry," he quickly apologizes, then. "That sounded a bit creepy. I just wanted to say, if you're planning on coming to see a lot of movies, you might be interested in purchasing a loyalty card. You'll be saving a lot of money."
It's only his duty, as the tickets vendor, to push his customers into buying one. He's done this hundreds of times in the past, but never before did he feel so nervous while waiting for an answer.
Because if she declines, it'll mean that sooner or later, he might never see her again.
But if, on the contrary, she accepts…
"Oh." Her face immediately softens at his words, a smile even making its way on her features, curling up the corners of her mouth. She pauses to think, only for a second. "I'd like that, please."
He catches the breath he didn't know he was holding until then, a grin of his own suddenly lighting up his face as he hands her a piece of paper. "Great. I'll just need you to write down some info first."
She takes a pen out of her purse before he has the chance to offer her one, and starts writing what's asked of her. Jake feels like an eternity passes while he waits for her to fill in everything – which is, in fact, not much more than her full name, home and email addresses and phone number –, taking her time to perfectly put everything down in a very neat and stylish handwriting.
"Y'know, at this rate, your movie will be over before you're done with this," he can't help but tease her about it. He can see her lowered head shaking and hear a little chuckle escape her mouth, and it makes him smile.
"Here." She eventually gives him back the paper with an amused smile of her own on her face. "Sorry I like to do things thoroughly," she says as she plays along with him.
Jake quickly checks that everything's in order, getting a glance at her name in the meantime – Amy Santiago. It's a beautiful name, that suits her well, he thinks when he looks back up at her.
"Can I ask you something?"
It's been a few weeks since Jake and Amy's encounter, during which not a Friday evening has gone by without her showing up for a new Harry Potter screening. She's come by early every time, allowing the two employees and their new customer to chat for a moment before each screening, getting stuck in endless conversations, learning to know each other better along the way.
"What's up?" the woman asks with an inviting smile, her elbows on Jake's counter with her head resting on her right fisted hand, looking at him.
"What is it with you and these Harry Potter movies? Why are you coming here to watch them when you could do it at home? It's not like they were new releases."
It's a question he's wanted to ask her for quite some time now, intrigued, but never dared before. He was always afraid, deep inside of him, that pointing it out to her would actually make her realize the fact, and that she'd simply stop coming altogether then, watching the rest of the movies in her apartment. He would hate that – she's grown on him, during the past weeks.
Jake already loved Fridays, before she came along. It means the end of the week and the beginning of his days off, but now he loves them even more – because it means seeing Amy and having all of these conversations with this interesting, funny woman.
"Watching them in a theater is so much more different," she doesn't have to think to give him her answer. "It actually reminds me of the first time I saw them. We are all huge fans of the books with my family – we would buy them on the day of their release and spend all of our free time reading them until we're done, to be the first of us all to finish them. Otherwise, we would always risk being spoiled by one of us about the plot. So the release of a new movie was a big event for us too. We went to see them all together, every time. And then we'd talk about it for hours after, debating about the differences between the book and the movie, complaining about changes and plot holes, and stuff like that. These are some of my best memories."
Jake listens religiously her recall of the past, unable despite himself to feel his heart break a little in his chest. He perfectly understands the nostalgia – that's what brought him here, working in this theater, after all.
The nostalgia of a time when his father still cared about him.
(His love of movies too, of course.)
"Wow, sounds like you guys knew how to have fun," he mockingly answers when she's done with her explanation, choosing not to let his mind linger too much into his own past. "To be honest, I never watched any of them," he confesses.
"You should, someday. If you liked the books you'll most likely love the movies too – they're not as good, of course, but still great adaptations."
"Oh no, I've never read the books either," he corrects, and his words seem to trigger something inside Amy, whose eyes suddenly grow bigger, watching him in shock.
"You've never read any of the Harry Potter books?!" she repeats, incredulous.
Jake doesn't see what's such a big deal about it – they're just books. "Hey, I could judge you too. You're the one who said you didn't like Die Hard the other day, after all," he pitifully tries to defend himself.
He remembers how she startled him, back then, when they talked about their favorite cop movies during one of their usual conversations, and Die Hard didn't even make her #3 list. It's also how he discovered that she's, in fact, a cop herself, and that they have a common friend, Rosa, who works with her and is the one who actually told her about the theater when she asked for an address on one of her first days at her new precinct.
"Unbelievable," Amy gasps. "You can't compare Harry Potter with Die Hard!"
They go on with their banter for a while, so caught up in their conversation, the woman almost misses her the screening of her movie.
"What's going on between you two?" Charles approaches his colleague when he's all alone again, wriggling his eyebrows, a grin upon his face, having listened to their conversation from afar.
"Not this again, Charles," Jake complains with a sigh – ever since they first met, his best friend hasn't stopped teasing him about Amy, arguing that they're made for each other. "I already told you – I'm not interested in her. We're just friendly fooling around, nothing more."
That's what he says, at least, and what he tries to believe in. She's just nice. They're just friends.
There's no way he has a crush on her.
Really, it doesn't mean anything, the fact that she manages to brighten his entire week simply by entering the little movie theater every Friday evening.
"Let me guess. You're here for the last Harry Potter screening, right?" Jake greets her with a grin when she enters the theater that evening.
Amy doesn't have to ask for it anymore – the ticket's already printed, waiting for her on the counter, when she arrives. She smiles back, nodding as she hands her money and her loyalty card, but he only grabs the piece of paper from her.
Amy frowns. "I still have two movies to go before getting a free screening," she informs him.
"I know." Jake watches her, amused. "But this one's on the house, to thank you for coming to every screening. Not many people did, y'know."
Her frown grows deeper, and she tries to argue, but Jake stubbornly refuses to let her pay, no matter what she tries telling him. She's stubborn too, though a line starts forming behind her, forcing her to eventually give in.
"Next time, you better let me repay you," she says, falsely threatening him, before she leaves.
For some reason, it warms his heart to hear that. Because it means she does count to come back here, to see new movies, even when Harry Potter isn't screening anymore.
And he couldn't be happier about that.
(Maybe he does have a crush on her.)
From that day on, despite her arguments, Jake always lets Amy go in for free. "Ask Rosa, I do that with all of my friends," he explains himself with a grin before refusing to take her money.
And, even though she's glad to hear he considers her his friend, she still feels bad about it, and is afraid he's gonna get in trouble because of her at some point, but he always finds pretty convincing excuses for her not to pay for her ticket. She promises herself she'll give him the money back someday, then – she simply doesn't know how, nor when, yet.
One day, though, he can't offer her the ticket, like he's got used to doing along the weeks. He can't, because she's with someone. As in, on a date.
His heart sinks when he sees them both enter the theater, holding hands, laughing together. She's smiling broadly when she reaches his counter, and introduces the man accompanying her to Jake and Charles.
Luke is his name, and he is the one who pays for both tickets, before directly heading towards the still closed doors of the screening room. Jake watches them talk from afar, his chest hurting at the thought that he won't be able to have a chat with Amy before the following week, already missing it – and her.
He definitely has a crush on her.
Thankfully, the following week, she's all alone again.
"You left your boyfriend behind this time?" Jake casually, teasingly asks – or at least tries to pass it as a joke, despite what the thought of her possibly being in a relationship makes him feel.
He's thought about it a lot, during the past week – about how seeing her with someone else made him realize he liked her, as in wanting for something romantic-stylez to happen between the two of them, and how he decided to let her know about it.
He just hopes he's not too late, that she's already found happiness in that other guy's name.
Amy grimaces at his question, and lets out a sigh. "Don't call him my boyfriend. He was just a guy my best friend set me up with, but it didn't work out in the end." There seems to be more to the story than what she tells him – something very upsetting, from the way she frowns while talking about the man. Jake doesn't try to push her into sharing if she doesn't want to, and doesn't have to anyway – after a short pause, she speaks again.
"Actually, it really wasn't a good date. I can't believe he managed to ruin my best part of the week like that."
Despite her words, and feeling bad for her, Jake can't help a grin from forming on his mouth.
"This is your best part of the week?" He innocently asks, and can see how she starts blushing despite herself when she looks up to meet his eyes.
(He still finds it as adorable as the first time he saw her.)
"Don't flatter yourself, Peralta," she replies with a chuckle. "Going to the theater is the best part of my week. I love going to see movies. Nothing to do with you."
She smiles at him, something daring shining in her gaze. Jake pretends to be hurt by her words, putting a hand over his heart, mouth half-open. "I feel betrayed," he says dramatically, and it makes her roll her eyes, though she laughs again.
He loves the sound of her laugh. Most of all, he loves that it seems he's become pretty good at making her laugh.
Suddenly, though, Amy falls serious again. She starts telling Jake all about her date, and what went wrong with him. He listens quietly, sensing she needs to rant with someone and obviously wanting to be there for her. When she's done and he tries to reassure her, their conversation turns into talking about the worst dates they've ever had, taking a thankfully brighter side now, mocking them and each other.
Time passes without them seeing it – it's a quiet Friday evening at the theater; they're not disturbed by any customer, Charles taking care of the few wandering souls coming to see a movie that night, to leave the two friends some privacy.
It's only when his colleague starts to clean his counter that Jake realizes then, letting out a loud gasp. "Amy! I'm so sorry, I made you miss your movie! Seems like you can add me to the list of guys who ruined your best part of the week, now…" He tries to crack a joke, though truly feels guilty about preventing her from doing what she came here for in the first place.
She doesn't seem to mind, though – simply smiles at him in return. "Nah, it's okay. I still had a pretty good night. Thanks for letting me rant with you."
"Anytime," Jake answers, reassured. A beat passes, then, during which none of them talk, not knowing what to say next but not wanting to leave the other yet either, watching each other awkwardly.
Finally, Jake is the one who takes the floor, nervously playing with his hands as he speaks. "I still feel bad, though. Maybe I can repay you by taking you to see it again tomorrow? I don't work on the weekends."
It makes Amy smile.
"I'd like that."
(From afar, Charles can't retain his squeal of joy, moving his hands in the air in victory – he's been hoping for that moment to come for so long.)
It's 7 pm sharp when Jake comes to pick Amy up at the address she gave him the previous night. The movie they're going to see isn't starting before 9, but they decided they'd eat together before the screening so that they can spend a little more time together and actually talk. Even if they've known each other for weeks now, and never lacked conversations before, it still feels weird, at first, to be on a date like this, just the two of them, outside Jake's workplace.
All awkwardness is all forgotten after they choose to down a few shots (four each, to be quite exact), helping them open up more, ending up laughing and having a lot of fun. By the time they finish dinner and they have to pay the bill, nothing feels weird between them anymore – on the contrary, they seem unable to keep their hands off the other now, Amy's arm hooked with Jake's, holding onto him as they walk towards the counter.
When she sees him take out his credit card, she stops him, a severe look on her face. "Don't you even dare try and pay for that," she warns him, and he frowns, confused. "With all the times you let me go see a movie for free, now's my turn to invite you back." Jake doesn't try to argue; he simply smiles in return, hardly believing that he's really here, with this smart, beautiful, awesome woman by his side.
"Can we skip the movie part and directly head back to your place?" Amy asks when they're out of the restaurant and she stops him in their walk towards the movie theater, getting closer to him with her head only a few inches from his and their lips almost brushing while she plays with the collar of his jacket, watching him with a new fire in her eyes and a mischievous grin, having something in mind.
(He doesn't know that yet, is about to discover it, but 4-drink Amy is a little bit of a pervert.)
"I thought the whole point of us going out tonight was for me to repay you for making you miss your movie yesterday?" he chuckles in answer, though he can feel his body warming up at her touch.
"I think we both know this was just an excuse for you to finally asking me out on a date," she replies. Her spontaneity makes Jake laugh – he can't think of anything to say to counter that.
For only answer, then, he breaks the little distance remaining between their two bodies, and places his lips against hers, a kiss to which she doesn't wait to fiercely answer.