As leaves blew away outside of the ticket booth, the winter wind was getting more chilly. Inside, it was cozy. An old, portable heater was warming Charlotte and I up. We were cleaning in preparation for the biggest event of the year for the theater. Her part timer had unexpectedly quit, so she was hard up for help. I was more than happy to. I'd delivered some cookies to her and she'd told me about her difficult spot. I knew Yash was coming in to help Nikki soon, so it was alright for me to stay. 

It gave us time to talk, and what I heard... It was worse than I thought.

"I couldn't pay him," she told me in a half whisper as she went for more cleaning solution in the bucket we were sharing between us. She swiped her rag across the small counter in here. "He quit, because I didn't give him his last two paychecks. What was I supposed to do, Kazu? Buy more supplies for the concession stand or pay him? I had to choose an evil among two evils. If I didn't have food for concessions, I'd have to close my doors." She sighed. "If Zombie Walk wasn't coming up soon, I'd probably have to close up anyway."

Zombie Walk was an annual event held by Salem's Sister. Down their street, for twelve precious hours per year, just about every goth in Tokyo would descend upon the neighborhood dressed in their finest zombie attire and have fun, marching together. It always got everyone a lot of good business. Due to the hotel's pending opening, I admit it had crept up on me this year. But, for someone like Charlotte and what she always liked to show at her theater, it was a big deal. It meant a packed house at every showing for a while. I could see where she was coming from. 

"If he'd just held on for another week, I'd have been able to pay him. But, he was so rude to me. I get what he meant. I'd be pretty pissed, too, if I didn't get my paycheck for a month. But, he needed to see where I'm coming from, too." She sighed even deeper as I listened. I'd paused in my work, giving her my fullest attention. This was devastating news. Not her, too... She went on. "Even if I could afford to show more current movies, I still can't compete with big cineplexes. I can't charge what they can. I don't have fancy recliners that warm your butt. I don't have unlimited soda, or a restaurant inside. I have one screen. It isn't a lot of choice, anyway." 

She sounded so defeated. It wasn't the Charlotte I was used to. 

I admit, I hadn't been able to come see a movie here for a while. I always thought about it, but I just didn't have time. French Cup took up almost all of my time, and there were even long stretches where I wouldn't get any sleep. I couldn't imagine going to see a movie most days, taking two or more hours out of my day that was already packed. It made me think about other people, who might not be able to see a movie, too. It all made a lot of sense to me why she'd be struggling, and it was written all over her face that she definitely knew, too.

"It used to be that I'd get so much business. People from the old hotel would come all the time. They were excited to see what I'd bring them, showing them stuff they'd never seen before. They were open to that. But, nobody wants to see an old movie that they've never heard of before. They don't want to see a new movie made by someone local as an art piece, either. I hate to say it, but I'm losing my excitement, too. I was so excited to see people's reactions. Making themed weeks, everything. But, now no one will come. I just don't know what to do anymore. And with my part timer quitting... What am I going to do, Kazu?" 

I was speechless. Her telling me this. She was telling me she was losing her fire for her passion, all because of other people. No one was appreciating her, so what was she saying?

She shook her head, staring into space outside of the window. "I'm thinking about going home. I think I'm going to close my doors after this year's Zombie Walk."

My sponge fell down onto the floor. 

"Nooo," I gasped. I went to go to her, attempting to take a step, but something stopped me inside. A dreaded knowing. 

Down the street, the lights of the hotel were always on. The things she was saying. She was kind of right, but it was the worst thing I could think. What everyone had been telling me last night was still on my mind, not about what they'd said about Gyeong-Wan, but about how the neighborhood was changing. Now with the hotel here, there'd be even less interest in all of our businesses. Especially with one like hers, I could never imagine any of those people coming. Cutting her losses, knowing she could go back home if she needed to. She was a lot luckier than some of us. 

But still. A deep sadness descended on me. I had no idea what to say to her. I'll miss you? I'm sorry?  The truth was, I'd seen this happen before. The pottery place. The thrift store. Other shops in the neighborhood that I wasn't intimate with, but those hurt the worst, because I'd gone to them so often. Memories of making pottery with the guy who ran it, who's passion it was to teach others how to make pottery. Seeing the joy on their faces as they made something new. That thrift store that often donated the strangest things to Drag Bingo, because if they couldn't sell it then you knew it had to be really horrifically odd. We'd always gotten such good laughs out of the items, and through that, I'd come to know the young lesbian couple who ran it pretty well. 

All of them had moved away, just like everyone at the old hotel. Scattered across the world. Our community leaving on the cold wind, like the one blowing outside like a person crying.

She shook her head, smiling a little, thinking to herself. "It was a nice run," she assured herself. She started scrubbing her cash register, getting between the buttons lovingly, despite saying these things. It broke my heart, because she didn't want to leave, with her gestures alone. She loved this place. "I'll send my part timer his last paycheck, with all the money I owe him. It'll probably be all the profit that I made from Zombie Walk, but I have to do that for him. I wouldn't be able to hold my head up high if I didn't." 

"Charlotte, we're going to-"

"Excuse me, what movies are you showing? It doesn't say on your marquee."

My head went up at the same time as Charlotte's. She put down her wash rag and straightened herself out, tugging at the bottoms of her red plaid overshirt and then rearranging her dreadlocks quickly. "We're showing Funeral Parade of Roses, and then starting tomorrow we're showing a Zombie movie festival, starting with Night of the Living Dead." 

"You mean, you're not showing the new Ghibli movie?" 

The man on the other side of the window was dressed in sporty clothes, like he'd been out for a run. He was holding a water bottle, too, so this confirmed my theory. He took off his sunglasses, and I could immediately see an irritated expression as he closed his eyes and then looked at us again, clear anger there. 

"No, I'm sorry. We don't show things like that." Charlotte was being overly polite to him, probably hoping he could be a potential customer. I already knew he was a loss, but she was so desperate... I wanted to grab her hand and shake my head at her. Let him go.

She couldn't let him go. 

"What other movies are you showing? My family and I are visiting for about a week. I saw this movie theater, so I thought we could come and see a movie. Are you showing anything that a kid would like? There's a new super hero movie out by Disney, too, I saw that. Are you showing that?" He shifted his water bottle into his other hand, showing that he was in a hurry. 

Visiting for about a week. Now I really wanted to grab her hand. This wasn't the kind of person for her.

"Well... Um," she hesitated. She took a quick breath. "We're more of an art house cinema. We show selected movies that have a theme, like um...a museum, kind of. That kind of experience. Things you don't see every day. Would that be something you might, um...be interested in?"

He didn't even respond to her. Her dejected face was the worst thing in the world. He let out an angry sigh, and then started jogging off in the direction he'd been going. We watched him get smaller, getting further away. 

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," she said, picking up her wash rag again. She didn't continue cleaning, though, just holding and staring at it. I saw the tears shining in her eyes, reflecting in the late sun of the early evening, glinting. 

We continued cleaning well into the evening, until I had to go back to French Cup to help with the evening rush before closing. But, I vowed to bring her favorite chocolate cake to her later in the night. She'd be here, showing Funeral Parade of Roses, one of my favorite movies. I'd tell every customer about it during the evening rush, making a point to. And I'd come after we closed, even if it meant I'd be exhausted tomorrow. I'd sit there in the middle of the theater, shouting encore to her where she was in her little projector booth. Begging her to show it again. Trying to get her to smile, even if it was one of the last ones she had.