Beautiful Mistakes

Julie nodded. "And one of the lines is just, 'Sir?'"

"Yeah, and—"

"Wait," she said, unintentionally giving him a little whack in the chest. "I think I hear the wife screaming and— oh, yep, here she comes. She's angry."

They both sat quietly and watched the scene where it all finally came to a head, where the wife stormed the studio and pitched a fit, demanding that Jan kick the girl out of their home.

When the confrontation scene ended and it moved into a wordless scene Julie spoke again.

"Wow."

Matt nodded mutely.

"She… was angry,” Julie said pointlessly.

"Women do tend to get angry in such situations."

"I'm kind of miffed that he just stood there," she admitted. "I mean, what the hell?"

"Hey, she slept with butcher boy, she's a maid, he has a family… it's the 1600's, the guy is kind of stuck. And at least give him a tiny bit of credit, he wouldn't kick her out himself."

"I guess," she allowed, sighing a little. "I just don't like to see wasted, unfulfilled love."

"Do you call what they had love?" he asked skeptically.

"What do you call it?" she asked, glancing at him.

"Lust," he stated. "Longing. Attraction."

She thought about it for a second, then she said, "Well, that's probably better than love anyway."

Matt's eyebrows shot up. "How so?"

"Love hurts," she explained simply. "I've only been in love once, and at this point I can't remember why I let him hurt me so badly, why I cried so many tears, or why I experienced all that pain, but I know that I did. I told myself then that I would never fall so foolishly in love again. So maybe it's not love that I hate to see wasted, just passion, because I would have preferred that she hook up with Vermeer than the guy she felt nothing for."

"He was married."

"Well, I know, and that's wrong, but he doesn't really seem overly concerned with his wife, does he? She's all desperate for his love and attention and he's all like, 'You don't understand.' She's bawling hysterically and screaming, 'Get her out of here!' and he just pushes her away and walks off, looking all distressed."

"Well, he did like Griet; they did have a bond."

"Apparently not a very strong one though. Even when she goes over to the door he just sits there, looking like, 'What have I done?' He doesn't say goodbye or anything."

"It's a very complicated movie," Matt said.

"I think I might like it," Julie stated.

"You think?" he questioned.

"Yes, I can't be sure, but I think I do. I would have to watch it a second time to figure out if I like it or not."

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm like that with deeper movies. A light romantic comedy I can figure out pretty quickly, but anything darker that isn't fluffy, that's thought-provoking and not exactly happily ever after… I have to watch it a second time. Like Closer. I watched that movie and didn't like it, but the next day it popped back up in my head, I watched it that evening and I loved it. The Last Kiss was another one. I wasn't sure how I felt about it when I first watched it, so I watched it again."

His eyes narrowed a bit. "Those are all movies about cheating," he stated.

She blinked at him, a little surprised. "Yes, I guess they are."