“Hurry up, Baby, the shows going to start soon.” Ben waited in the guest house’s living room while Imara got ready for the afternoon matinee in town.
Ben pushed his shaggy black hair back off his face as he looked in the mirror over the fireplace and then shook it back out. He hated his ears and how they stuck out, but no matter how he wore his hair, it never entirely covered them. He stepped back and turned to the side as he admired his arm muscles and how they stretched the fabric of his shirt.
“My, my, my.” Imara stood in the doorway, appreciating how Ben flexed for his reflection. “You’re incredible, Ben. I’m not sure I want all those other women out there looking at you.”
Ben turned around and pulled her hips closer to him as he glanced down at her red lips. “We can stay here if you want. I don’t want to share with you, anyway. I’d be more than happy to climb back into bed.”
Imara pushed out her lips and shook her head no. “Un-un. No, sorry, my love. You can brave the next few hours with me.”
“Alright then, Thorin’s waiting out on the porch. Let’s get moving.” Smacking her ass as she walked by him, Ben looked down over Imara’s body from the back. He’d never seen her in anything but dresses and skirts, but the way those jeans hugged her curves sent shivers down his spine. He couldn’t wait to get her back home and peel them back off again.
Imara looked out over the farmlands on their way into town. “ “I believe this is the first time we’ve ever been car riding together before. I must admit that these leather seats are more comfortable than that old wagon of yours.”
“Uh-huh.” Ben’s chest ached when he saw the tall corn growing along the roadside as he thought about his parents. The simple farm life was all Ben ever really wanted but was the furthest thing from his grasp anymore. “When we get where we’re going, I’m going to build us a cabin by a lake, or maybe we can have a farm again.”
“We are living in a cabin by a lake, Ben.” She unlaced a finger from his grasp and pointed it down into the leather seat. “Right now, we are living that life. Be here with me now, Sweetheart. Save the dreaming for bedtime and live with me right here and now while we still can.”
“I guess I spent so much time wishing and hoping that I ended up just…” He sighed and turned to face her. “I’m sorry, Baby.”
Her little nose wrinkled as she shook her head. “Stop it, Ben. I don’t blame you. You need to let that go and just love me.”
Ben clicked his tongue then kissed the back of Imara’s hand. “That never has been a problem for me.”
Ben closed the car door behind Imara, then leaned into the window and snatched the cash from Thorin’s hand. “Alright, Ben, you should have plenty of money there for the movie and supper if you want it. You sure you don’t want me to pick you all up afterward?”
Ben shook his head and tapped his hand on the car door. “No, I can get her home, alright. Thanks for the ride, though.”
As they stood in front of the movie posters, Ben crossed his arms and sighed. “Any of this looks good to you, Baby.”
Swinging herself from side to side, Imara shrugged her shoulders. “Um, don’t you laugh at me or anything, but can we go to this one?” Imara pointed her finger into the glass that encased the poster. “The one with the toy sheriff.”
He gave the poster a squint and nodded before he kissed the top of her head. “Sure, Baby, whatever you want.”
When they got to the ticket counter, Ben pulled the money from his pocket. “We want to see that show with the toys, please.”
The woman behind the glass tore tickets from a roll. “That’ll be $5.00.”
Ben and Imara glanced at each other before Ben leaned into the glass. “Excuse me, ma’am. Did you say $5.00?”
The cashier tapped her finger against the sign with the price listing and pushed the tickets across the counter. “Yes, sir.”
Ben huffed through his nose and raised his eyebrows as he handed her his money. As they walked away with their tickets, Ben leaned over into her ear. “Jesus H Christ! If they’re going to rob you, they should at least wear a mask, so you know what’s happening. $5.00? That more than I made in a week back on the farm.”
Imara wrapped her arm in Ben’s. “It’s one day, Ben, and it’s not like me, and Thorin can take all of that money of my family’s with us when we go to the Realm, anyway. You worked hard all your life; let’s just enjoy this.”
He stood aside to let her walk through the theater doorway. “I can’t wait to see what supper costs.”
After they sat down in their seats, Ben looked around the darkroom. “Looks like we’re all alone, Imara.”
Her shoulders shimmied off her sweater, and she peeked around her. “Oh, good.”
His fingers wiggled as they crawled across her shoulder, and he leaned into her ear. “You want to fool around?”
A hand pressed against his chest. “No, I do not. You behave yourself, Mr. Logan.”
Imara rested her head on the seatback in front of her as Ben rubbed her back as it jiggled under his hand when she laughed. He suddenly realized that someone like Imara, so sweet and pure of heart, wasn’t meant for this world. The worst curse of all was that they were born into the wrong world and forced to continue in it long after their times were through. They didn’t belong there anymore, but they had to keep returning anyway, no matter what they did. They were living ghosts haunting the world with no way of crossing over.
“That was a right funny picture.” Ben walked out of the theater with his arm around Imara. “Maybe next time we can see the one with that man with the paint on his face.”
Catching a glimpse of the drugstore around the corner of the small shopping center, Ben glanced at Imara and wrapped his hand around hers. “Come on.”
The doorbell above their heads clinked, and Imara looked over the aisles of supplies. While Ben went to the counter, Imara browsed the shelves. In the back corner of the store was a photo booth, and as she looked over the pictures on the outside, she smiled to herself.
With a brown paper bag in his hand, Ben came to Imara’s side. “I hope you’re alright eating back home; those things were even more expensive than the dang movie. I cleared the entire shelf, though, so I hope you’re feeling energetic.”
Grazing his arm with her fingers, Imara looked at Ben and nodded to the booth. “Take a picture with me.”
Ben pulled down his brows and groaned. “Really?”
Her arms crossed her chest. “In three lifetimes, we’ve never had a picture taken of us. I want one, Ben.”
As Ben tried to figure out how to insert money into the machine, Imara slipped across the seat and straightened her hair in the mirror. After he victoriously got the coins inserted, Ben climbed through the curtain, then sat down beside her and kissed her on the cheek as the flash snapped.
Imara swatted his arm. “You ruined it.”
Ben shook his head. “Nah, it keeps taking them for a minute.” He slid his arm around her back, then pulled her in close and kissed her lips as the flash snapped again.
“Alright then. Let’s get at least one good one, please.” Imara faced forward and smiled. Ben rolled his eyes and smirked at the camera as it flashed.
“There it is, now, kiss me.” Ben tickled Imara as he puckered his lips to try to kiss her. She roared out in laughter as his fingertips found her ribs, and the flash clicked again.
Ben pulled Imara onto his lap, then wrapped his hand around her chin. “I’m not letting you out of here until you kiss me right, so cooperate, please.” Imara leaned into Ben’s face, then gently pressed her lips to his as the flash snapped for the last time.
While Ben waited with his back against the booth, Imara bounced her foot on the floor as her eyes glanced around the delivery door. When the pictures came, she pulled them out and slapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, look at that, Ben. I’ve never had my picture done before. Is that what I really look like?”
Ben nodded as he tapped on the photos. “Yep, that pretty girl is you, Baby.”
Imara sighed as she curled her hair around her finger and inspected each photo. “When, if she comes, Ben, I want pictures.”
Ben rubbed his forehead, then looked at Imara. “She’s not.”
Rubbing at the hoarseness building in her throat, Imara nodded. “But if she does. I want pictures. It’s getting harder to remember her face, and I don’t want to forget.”
“I know.” Ben wrapped his arm around Imara’s neck, then pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. “We will.”
Pulling her away from the booth towards the door, Ben leaned into Imara’s ear. “Now, let’s get back home. I got about a hundred of those things. When I’m done, you’re going to need about a week to recover.”