"Dawson worships Spielberg. I think it's all a metaphor about how Spielberg makes films for kids and Dawson is coming of age. He doesn't want to grow up yet. The metaphor doesn't make sense anymore. Spielberg is all adult and serious now."
His smile widens. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Lacey, but I fucking love it."
"I don't have a thing for Spielberg. He's a great director but not the kind of director I want to be. But I still love Jurassic Park. I still think it's the pinnacle of special effects filmmaking."
"Isn't it a little dated?"
"No." My words run together. My voice gets loud. "Lots of the effects are practical. The CG looks almost as good as anything from the last few years and the dinosaurs are mostly animatronics, so they look real. And come on, when they're outside the T-rex paddock and the cup of water is shaking—that's fucking terrifying."
He smiles. "It's good."
"Good?"
"You're not going to like this."
"I can tell."
He stares back into my eyes. "I'm not into movies."
Not. Into. Movies.
What.
What the actual fuck?
"Who isn't into movies?" I ask.
He shrugs. "TV either. I like watching with people, but I don't get into it."
"But… you do read."
He nods.
"You do like stories?"
Again, he nods.
>
"How can you not like movies? That's… that's like not liking breathing."
He laughs, not a chuckle but an actual laugh, as he turns to the now boiling water and breaks pasta into it. "Is it as serious as that?"
"Worse. At least they have oxygen tanks. They have medical interventions for people who don't appreciate breathing." I slide off my stool. "I'm not saying you need to like sci-fi, or drama, or romantic comedies, or even Jurassic Park."
He cocks a brow aren't you?
"Okay, only a psychopath doesn't like Jurassic Park, but we can come back to that." I stare back at Mal. "Do you really not like any movies? At all?"
"I like them fine—"
"But???"
He laughs. "You've really never met someone who doesn't like movies?"
"Not someone who took it upon himself to hire a music video director. Not someone who's also an artist, a writer. A storyteller. Mal, each of your albums has this emotional arc. Maybe it's not a literal narrative, but it's a story."
He stirs the pasta. His eyes go to mine. "Why do I feel like you're up to something?"