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“A noughties night will be fun!” Owen had said last month, “think of the cool as fuck costumes people will wear!”
And that’s how Jamie has found herself standing behind her bar on Halloween night, dressed in a full Lara Croft outfit: a dark grey tank top, short black shorts, a leather belt with a rectangular golden skull buckle and two replica hand guns holstered to straps on the outside of both thighs. Her hair is pulled back into a French braid with two loose strands just off to the left of her forehead.
“I look ridiculous,” She says to Rebecca, her long standing barmaid, and shrugs her shoulders.
“Jamie,” Rebecca laughs, “you look hot. I think even Ms. Jolie herself would have to admit that.”
Jamie scoffs, raises her eyebrows and gestures with one hand to Rebecca, who is wearing the Halle Berry version of Catwoman's outfit, “You’re one to talk. Are you trying to give the punters a heart attack?”
“No, I’m trying to get tips,” Rebecca winks, turns on the spot and walks the length of the bar like it’s a catwalk.
Jamie laughs, shakes her head and pops open a bottle of IPA. It’ll be fun, she thinks, yeah fuckin' right.
In the blink of an eye, Jamie’s bar is filled with people in fancy dress. Owen shows up dressed as Austin Powers: a velvet blue suit with a white, ruffle-collared shirt. Hannah is dressed as Beyoncé from the Austin Powers in Goldmember movie: a yellow mini skirt, a black tank top (to keep it classy, Jamie thinks), yellow jacket, black thigh high boots and a curly afro wig. They look great together, and Jamie grins at them as they approach the bar where she is stood waiting.
“Fuckin' hell, you two look great! How are ya?”
“Groovy baby!” Owen beams, his arm wrapped loosely around Hannah’s waist. “See, didn’t I tell you this would be fun?”
“Sure,” Jamie starts, “but I wasn’t expecting to see the actual Spice Girls here!” She nods in the direction of five girls on the dancefloor. She’s smirking, shaking her head gently at how great and cheesy they look.
That’s when she sees her. Standing by the wall, just in front of the neon signage that reads “The Moonflower". A woman, a stunning woman, with long blonde hair in a high ponytail, also dressed as Lara Croft, but from the second movie; a white t-shirt, a golden-cream jacket, skin-tight taupe trousers with the very same belt Jamie is wearing, and a gun strapped to the outside of each thigh.
Jamie swallows, her mouth feeling suddenly dry. She looks back at Owen, realising he's actually been talking to her the entire time she’s been staring at the other Lara Croft in the building, “Sorry, what?”
“Got your eye on... Hang on, let me guess,” Owen turns around, leans back against the bar and looks at the Spice Girls, “Gerri? NO, Emma? NO! Definitely Victoria.”
“You...” Jamie sniggers, “you know their real names?”
Owen doesn’t turn around, just lifts his hand and flips Jamie off with his middle finger.
Jamie looks at Hannah, bites back a laugh and lifts a beer bottle to her lips. She takes a swig, stealing herself a little look in the direction of the woman she saw a moment ago, but is disappointed to see she is no longer there.
It's been an hour since she saw the mystery woman, and Jamie is feeling irritated. Mostly because she hasn’t caught sight of her since, but also because she can’t seem to stop thinking about her. She taps Catwom—Rebecca on the shoulder and excuses herself for a break.
She goes for a smoke, wanders around the club, catches up with security at the door, and heads towards the bathroom. It's there she finds her, the blonde, leaning against the wall in the hall as if she’s waiting for someone. Jamie takes the opportunity and approaches her.
“The Cradle of Life, right?”
The woman turns her head, leans up and flashes a smile, “Yeah! Oh my God, you look...”
“Ridiculous. I know,” Jamie chuckles, and tries to ignore how starstruck she is feeling just by having this woman look at her like that.
“No. No, you look great!” The blonde says, her voice cracking just a little bit. She holds out her hand, “I'm Dani.”
Jamie takes Dani's hand, feels warmth radiate through her chest and goosebumps on her skin. She shakes once, “Nice to meet you, Dani. I’m Jamie. You also look... Wow.”
There’s a moment of silence, of them just looking at each other as if they’re the only two people in an otherwise packed bar. Finally, Jamie snaps out of it and lets go of Dani's hand, clears her throat, “I’ve not seen you here before.”
“No, actually it’s my first time. I seem to have misplaced my friends somewhere,” Dani chuckles and Jamie’s heart skips.
“C'mere,” Jamie says, gently nudging Dani's arm with her hand so they’re out of the way of passing people, “I can help you find them?”
“That's okay, I’m fine now,” Dani responds, smiling shyly before flicking her tongue out between her lips.
“It's just, you looked a little lost,” Jamie adds, tearing her eyes away from Dani's mouth. She thanks her lucky stars for The Moonflower, for this night, for the damn Tomb Raider movies.
Dani breathes a laugh, glances to the ground and then back up to Jamie’s face. She takes a step closer, and soft and low, says, “Everything lost is meant to be found.”