Abhay and I fell in love at the cinema: a relationship studded with sprocket holes. First date was Herzog, first kiss Godard; our first ‘I love you’ followed a screening of Cocteau’s timeless Beauty and the Beast. Our romance burned like an old projector lamp: fiercely, and for a short time. We lasted six months.

But Thomas – now, Thomas is different. His mixtape won me over: Shaa’ir and Func, Sulk Station. Cool, but not self-consciously so. We unspool slowly, comfortably, easily into each other. I think I’m on the right track with this one.

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This story was written for Bench Media’s One Frame Stories, which calls for stories of under 99 words based on an image prompt. My submission to Frame Two got lost in the system somewhere, so I’m publishing it here.

You can submit to the latest OFS round here. Only 99 words! It doesn’t take long.

(Photo by Jan Photography)