The Two Hour Stand

By Czarina Leon

[Thanks Roe Orbe for the blue-pencil]

Found this in my old storage. Written last August 2011

July 2011. She was watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with pop corn in her left hand and soda in the other. She was all alone and the cinema was half full. Some were kids, some were parents but most of them were couples that day. She decided to sit on the left part of the cinema where there were less people seated. While waiting for the movie to start, she couldn’t help but watch the couple in front of her. They were sweet; they held hands and were kissing once in a while. It made her think about her own relationship.

She’s been in one for God knows how long and in that period of time she has experienced the cruelty and compassion of Love. She’s never held another person’s hand with feelings, never kissed another man in the lips nor thought about making love aside from the person she’s currently seeing. She may have thought about doing those stupid things but she never dared. Temptation has knocked her door once, twice or maybe five times but she was strong and she has been loyal.

She fears and loathes infidelity but she’s curious of it too. She’s been reading about the horrors of one night stands and couldn’t understand why and how people would do it. Today, out of curiosity, she thought about the “what if’s” in her life. She asked herself silently “What if I try it?” and a lot of things started to pop into her mind. She got confused but she knows for sure that she doesn’t want to copulate with another man.

The idea of meeting someone of the opposite sex who is in the same situation as hers - committed, happy and content but is also inquisitive and who’s very much willing to experiment excited her. She thought about how in the world she would do it. It took her a while to think about it and her pop corn’s almost half consumed. The movie was already showing Harry Potter lying in the dark waiting to be killed by Lord Voldemort but the couple in front of her didn’t pay attention at all. They were kissing, giggling and the guy’s arm was wrapped around hers.

Like a light bulb switched in the dark was the idea of the Two Hour Stand.

Committed girl meets committed boy and they talked almost constantly. They decided to watch a movie and agreed not to call it a date. They agreed to hold hands, maybe kiss a little and not pay attention to the movie at all but just enjoy every forbidden minute they have. After the movie, they both agreed not to do it ever again. No strings attached and try to live happily ever after with their loved ones.

She laughed mutely while thinking about it. It may sound easy but the thought of doing it is thrillingly hard. Would it be considered as cheating? The Harry Potter movie ended so she stood up and so did the couple. They were not holding hands anymore. They exited the cinema separately. She was stunned. Did they just do a Two Hour Stand?