Recently Watched

Recently Watched: Seattle Doctors, Season 5, Episode 1

The heart monitor wailed as the woman’s eyes rolled to the back of her head, her insides on her outside and a contingent of scrub-clad bodies pawing through the viscera – and still, Cal knew her suffering was nothing compared to his own.

He mindlessly shoved a handful of chips towards his mouth. Crumbs dusted his chin and collected in the folds of a shirt well past its expiration date. He’d get to those later.

“What are you doing?”

Cal jumped. Chip crumbs flew into the air like greasy confetti. The attractive doctors on screen had been barking orders across the operating table, drowning out the sound of his roommate’s approach. Cal’s face tingled with heat. He jabbed at the remote’s power button and missed. The volume swelled.

Geoff was staring at the TV with narrowed eyes.

“Seattle Doctors? Since when do you watch – hang on…” A look of dawning comprehension flooded his face. Cal turned back to the TV, keeping his gaze determinedly fixed forward. “Please don’t tell me you’re watching this on Sara’s profile.”

Cal shrugged. “Just wanted to know what she was watching lately,” he muttered. Then, determined to share the genius behind his theory: “This is her comfort show. It’s what she watches whenever she has a bad day.” A hopeful smile tugged at his lips. “Seems like breaking up isn’t what she wanted after all, does it?”

Geoff’s eyebrows were raised, his mouth slightly parted.

“Dude…” he hesitated, then shook his head. “You need to reset your password.”

* * *

Recently Watched: Dragons & Thrones, Season 4, Episode 1

Adonis Island, Season 1, Episode 2

The season premiere. It somehow felt wrong to watch it without her.

Cal hovered over the title but could not bring himself to press play. How many times had they huddled together on this couch, arms wrapped around each other and marveling at the show’s special effects, its brutal violence?

He had never watched an episode without Sara. Was she facing a similar dilemma? There was only one way to find out.

Cal was switching to her viewing profile before he could talk himself out of it. He imagined his ex-girlfriend sitting in her darkened childhood bedroom on the other side of the country, binging episodes of Seattle Doctors and reaching for a half empty box of tissues. Would she even bother to watch their show without him?

The vision died faster than a main character on Dragons & Thrones.

“She already watched it?” Cal yelped.

He heard Geoff’s confused “what?” from down the hall but ignored him. An angry whine was filling his ears. How could she move on so fast? How could she even enjoy this show without thinking of the hours they spent watching it together?

But the sting of betrayal sharpened still further when his gaze landed on the other show in her “recently watched” list.

“Adonis Island?”

Even uttering the title made him feel sick. This wasn’t Sara. It had to be some sort of parody show. A documentary on hazing, maybe. But, as he lingered on the title, the preview started playing automatically.

A nauseating wave of images filled the screen. Tanned and oiled alpha males wrestling on the beach. Bikini-clad women sipping cocktails with puffy lips, watching this bizzarro mating ritual unfold. A sweeping shot of a sunny island. And then the voiceover, cutting across the overplayed pop song in the background:

“Twelve bachelors. Three dream destinations in Greece. But there can only be one…Adonis.”

He seized the remote and punched blindly at it. Meanwhile, a muscular man on the TV emerged from the ocean, seawater dripping from his enormous pecs. Cal finally found the power button and threw himself back into the couch cushions with a huff.

He could have sworn, in the second it took for the screen to blacken, that the potential Adonis had looked right at him.

Smirking.

* * *

The Sketchbook

“You left the apartment!” Geoff cheered. Cal stepped over the threshold, shaking water from his hair. Rain was thundering against the windows.

“I had my last final.” He gave Geoff’s legs a shove and flopped onto the couch next to him. A small smile was tugging at Cal’s lips. Geoff noticed.

“Easy exam or something?”

“It’s nothing,” Cal sighed nonchalantly. “Just think Sara and I will be getting back together any day now.”

Geoff’s eyes widened. “Did she say something to you?”

“She didn’t have to.” Ignoring Geoff’s answering groan, Cal reached for the remote and navigated the familiar path to Sara’s profile. “You know what she watched last night?”

Geoff’s head had dropped into his hands, but he watched through splayed fingers as Cal gestured at the screen. His voice was muffled.

“Some kind of cheesy romance movie?”

“The cheesy romance movie,” Cal corrected. “An emotional rollercoaster of a love story that no recently single person could watch without pining for their ex.”

“Didn’t you guys go out for like a month?”

But Cal wasn’t listening. He had leaned back with a contented sigh, fingers knitted behind his head.

“She’s sending me a sign,” he explained. “Isn’t it obvious? She knows I can see this.” He rocked back to his feet and waggled a finger at the glowing screen. “And I’m going to make sure she knows I got the message!”

“Cal, I —”

But he held up a hand.

“I need to make a phone call.”

* * *

Adonis Island, Season 1, Episode 6

“Cal?”

Sara’s voice drifted down the hall. He could hear her shuffling footsteps retreating to the privacy of her bedroom. Her voice was low, impatient.

His attention snapped back to the TV. An argument had broken out between two of his favorite contestants, and it looked like it might become physical: Kyle F. had revealed that Mateo S. was lying about his modeling background. He liked Kyle F. very much but had to admit that this was a low blow.

Sara yanked her door open and thudded into the living room.

“He thinks I want to get back together with him!” she fumed, tossing her phone onto the armchair. “Like I didn’t mean it when I told him we were ov —” Her eyes landed on the shouting, shirtless men bumping chests on TV. “What are you watching…?”

“I think Mateo S. will be voted out this week,” he told her sagely.

“Since when do we pay for this?”

“We don’t,” he shrugged. “You logged into one of your college friend’s accounts over break.”

Sara goggled at him. “And you’ve been using it this whole time?” She sighed exasperatedly. “Dad, this is my ex’s account!”

He shrugged again. His eyes were glued to the drama unfolding onscreen.

“In that case, honey, he really should reset his password.”

* * *