When the bill was paid and the two women walked across the cobblestones to the cinema entrance, the sun had vanished behind the buildings a long while back. The sky had a light, red tint and thin clouds in the far distance reflected the sinking sun. Giselle stopped and stared at it. After a while she felt Laury's hand clutch hers and she turned to look at the woman. The face she found was familiar, but so very different to the bubbly, easy-going and slightly clumsy Laureen that she knew from work. Instead there was a kind smile, friendly and caring, green eyes and an expression that calmed her down. She returned that smile and squeezed the hand before she decided to let go of it, together with the dread overcoming her mind when being presented with such a picturesque, romantic view, and they walked into the cinema entrance hall.
The scent of popcorn was omnipresent once they had stepped into the hall. From the high ceiling, multiple scroll-like ads for various movies hung down. Near the far end a set of wide stairs lead into the second and third floors, where most theaters were located. Next to the stairs, an enormous poster of Optimus Prime holding a sword glared at the visitors. It had been two years since her last cinema visit. Giselle gasped, despite it being quite the common sight in comparison. Somehow she ended up awestruck.
Laury pulled her along, "C'mon, we don't have all day, love!". The brunette just nodded and they went to a counter. "You want popcorn, right? And coke...", before she could respond, her coworker was already telling the staff what they wanted, "Two tickets for the Joker, two medium popcorn menus, both with coke zero and I really want that colourful twister ice cream there".
"That's 38.50", the clerk said in an impartial way, that made her feel very small and unimportant. Laury was impervious to it, flashed her phone for the ticket discount and the payment, then they picked up two sets of popcorn and drinks and an ice cream and walked past Optimus Prime up the stairs into theater 9 and found their seats in row C near the center. The theater was quite empty. Two rows in front of them, in row E, sat a lonely teen and further to the right a group of three, probably all mid to end twenties.
The teen turned to face them when Laury started to curse and whine at the thin pathway between the rows of seating. He smiled at her and she turned to him and smiled back, but not before stopping and Giselle almost toppling over her, "Can't you smile at that boy later?". The hiss ripped her coworker out of wherever she had gone and the woman blushed and conceded, "Uh, sorry...".
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After sitting down, the teen still smiled at Laury, half-turned in his seat. And to Giselle's surprise, her coworker smiled back and waved, even. She pushed her elbow over and whispered, "You realize he's underage, right?". She was blatantly ignored and so she leaned back and pushed a handful of popcorn into her mouth. The expression she wore could win a prize in a competition. Sometimes she just couldn't believe what she was seeing, and chose to ignore it. It was Laury alright. A sudden sense of feeling glad, they weren't working in a trendy store for teen clothing, washed over her.
After the usual opening ads and movie promotions, Joker finally started. It was nothing like what she had expected from a DC comic adaption. The ending left her slightly unsettled, but it was totally worth it.
When the lights came back on in the theater, both popcorn buckets were empty and they carried their trash into a litter box near the exit. The other four visitors did the same.
When the teen appeared next to them, he grinned at Giselle sheepishly, "I'm not underage, y'know. That movie is rated 18+". A comment that made her tilt her head, "Are you now, but you're still young". He shrugged at her, "Maybe, but I wasn't interested in you either". She felt a grimace appear on her face as the smug young man turned to Laury who smiled at him. Giselle rolled her eyes and pushed past them, "I'll wait outside".
Leaning against a chest-high table while finishing her coke, she watched the small crowd in the hall downstairs. She noticed two larger groups standing together and tried to make out who was affiliated with who, since the pairings were an even number. One group was easier, as some held hands or were standing so close, it was hardly a coincidence. The other group had even numbers, too, but somehow it didn't quite add up. Until she spotted a gay couple amongst them.
Am I gay now, too? Suddenly the idea popped into her head when she remembered Annie. That very instant she heard Laury behind her, "... will do, bye!". The woman was grinning brightly and Giselle raised both her eye brows, "Are you that desperate!?". Her coworker nodded and blushed, "He was really sweet. It's probably just for a couple of nights anyway, but I do need a young stud to plow me once in a while, love!"