Rewind

Now…

They sat on the living room sofa. Keith looked to the fireplace. Beth held her hands together looking to the ground.

"So, it's decided then?"

Ten minutes ago…

"How is this my fault," yelled Beth. Papers flew into the air as the landed in every direction. 

Keith looked around feeling guilty. He didn't make the mess, but knew he was responsible. Beth's faced almost seemed to be in anguish trying to hold back any emotion at this moment. He stood and began picking up the papers.

Two minutes ago…

"All I'm saying," yelled Keith, "is you could talk to me. Not just use something else as a distraction."

Two seconds ago…

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you."

Four minutes ago…

"Fine." Beth looked down for her pen and a piece of paper. She found both items and began writing. 

Keith gave a heavy sigh making indistinguishable noises while shaking his head. He clearly wasn't hiding what Beth was doing. "This again?"

"It's to remind myself what to write in my books later."

"That so called 'self-help' book you've been working on. How long have you been writing that? A few years now? I keep forgetting since you stop to find a new distraction every five minutes."

"You might be the biggest one yet."

Seven minutes ago…

“Then there was the pineapple and chicken salad incident,” yelled Beth. "How did you get the ladle across the room so quickly?"

“Who brings a monkey to a garden party?” Keith yelled. His voices volume slowly matching Beth and her tone. "That little guy was so quick." 

Beth closed her eyes and gentle rubbed her temples. “For the last time it was a hel[per monkey.”

“And who puts pineapple on chicken salad?”

"It was her grandmother's recipe!"

Thirteen minutes ago…

“I did not cheat on you,” yelled Beth. “We were never together when it happened. You're the one who said you weren’t ready to stay tied down, or some stupid shit.”

Keith threw his hands up as if he was just caught stealing something. “That’s not what I said…exactly.”

Eighteen minutes ago… 

“It wasn’t my fault we were late to the after party,” said Keith. 

Beth gave a small laugh. “Right, because I’m the one who had to change their socks. Three times I like to add, so they could look good for their ex. What the fuck was that about? Who has to change their socks to impress anyone?”

They continued to stare at the lists showing various recommendations of what they would like to watch. The list of “For You” showed a mixture of animated television shows and criminal documentary series. Beth stared before finally deciding on a romantic comedy. 

“Please not that one. I heard the main actor hits their partner,” said Keith. "It was on the news recently."

“Wish I could hit you,” whispered Beth.

“What?”

“Shut up.” Beth pressed play.

Five minutes ago…

Keith returned from outside and stumbled through the hall as he literally kicked his shoes off. In his hands were two large boxes of pizza. He handed one to Beth and took the other on the couch's end table. Beth was still searching through various lists looking at the top five most viewed in each category. Every genre coming up as she looked trying to decide what would be enjoyable.

“How about a documentary? The new one that came out called 'Cults vs. Religion,'” said Keith. He was already on his second pizza slice. His order was a hamburger pizza with extra onions. Beth, a Greek pizza with extra feta directly in the middle.

“No Documentaries,” said Beth. She took a whole pizza and put it in her mouth. Instant regret as she slowly chewed. After a full minute she swallowed. “You always disagree with everything they say making you sound like a huge conspiracy theorist. The only documentary movie you ever agreed on was that stupid flat earth movie.”

“It gave the details needed-”

“The Earth is not flat Keith!”

Twelve minutes ago…

“I don’t understand what’s happening?” Keith asked.

Beth paused the movie looking over to him. “It’s going in reverse. It's one of the movies that tell you about the end in the beginning and shows how they arrived to that event. This one has segments in between. Little events that let the viewer open themselves to interpretation and a little imagination. It's kind of like you filling in the gaps to tell your own story with one that's given.”

"Why not just play one of those pick-your-decision movies?" Keith asked. His face was looking at the scene more intently as the scene changed. 

"Some people like something different once in a while. It doesn't have to be perfect."

Keith slowly turned to look at Beth and gave her a little smile. “Next.”

Seven minutes ago...

“Next,” said Keith.

Beth clicked to the next movie on the list. With every move she looked at the synopsis appeared immediately giving detailed information. 

“Next.”

Click.

“Next.”

Click.

“Nex-wait." Keith leaned forward as he read the movies information. "That one looks pretty good.”

Twelve minutes ago…

“It’s a stupid movie,” said Beth. “I don’t even like superhero movies.”

“You read comic books,” said Keith. He continued skimming through various movie lists. He stopped to look at the various international movies that were released. Most were categorized under Bollywood, and K-pop. “I thought you would enjoy something like that.”

“I mostly read manga." Anger was not an expression Beth usually made. In public or private. The look on her face today made Keith want to walk away. "You buy them all the time. How could you not honestly know?" She holds up a book. The front show a character that seems to be dancing around in flames. "The comics I read are compendiums, those dark and gritty ones I buy, and that one space opera I've been getting into lately. I hope that make a series out of that one." 

Shit, thought Keith, she's going on another rant.

Beth pointed over to the bookcase to the far left of where they sat. "‘Hell-Girl,’ ‘Sand-person,’ and I’ll admit, I do enjoy ‘Epic’ a little more than I thought I would. Even ‘The Rat Man,’ which I occasionally re-read.” She looked at the book in her hand. The look on her face was as though she finally accepted the loss of something important. That it was never coming back. 

“Fine,” said Keith. He tossed the remote across the couch at Beth. “I'm ordering the pizza. You decide.”

Five minutes ago…

“So, what movie did you want to watch?” Keith asked, picking a random stream. He looked to Beth expecting her to already have an answer. 

“I don’t know,” said Beth. She flipped through her book. “You decide.”