Before anyone else could speak, the Queen of Cutting Lines finally reached the front of her own line. She slammed her hands on the counter, practically hissing. “It is about time! I have somewhere to be!”
Connor didn’t even turn to look in her direction. “Sorry, closing this window for a minute to help these ladies. You can wait in the other line if you’d like.” His words landed like a slap, and to her credit, the woman just glared at him, stunned, before staring furiously at us.
The boy motioned for us to step over to where the woman was standing, so we could have our conversation there, before instructing the kid at that window to head to make popcorn. For a moment, I wondered if she’d explode into a pile of little, angry atoms. She didn’t, but she did stomp off, heels chirping across the tile as she joined the back of the moving line, and we shifted into her spot while the other line kept moving. Just with Ms. Rude at the end of the line.
Karma. Sometimes it really was beautiful.
I turned back to Connor, who seemed immune to the commotion. “We’re looking for someone who might have come to a movie here. Two nights ago. Her name is Alice. She’s small, long auburn hair, usually alone or with her boyfriend Henry, who looks like a programmer because he is one. Kind of quiet?”
He nodded immediately. “Yeah, I know who you mean. Alice. She’s in here all the time. Usually gets a popcorn, medium, and a Twix. Sometimes she’ll get two Twix if it’s a Wednesday. Always sits in Row D, Seat 8.”
That matched what Henry told me about her having a specific routine. “Did she come in alone that night?”
“Yes. I remember because she was the only solo person for that showing. Everyone else came in a group or couple. She bought her snacks and was gone before the end of the credits. I didn’t see her talk to anybody. She watched the movie for maybe an hour, then left.”
“There was nothing… off about her?”
His expression was thoughtful. “You know, now that I think about it, she seemed a little off? Jumpy. But she always looks nervous, so maybe that’s just her baseline, and I just noticed it more that night because of the type of film she watched.”
Deva leaned across the counter, bangles chiming. “Was it a scary movie?”
Connor shook his head. “No, it’s not that. It’s more… Well, you should just see for yourselves. Look, I work here, I see every film, and I’m telling you this one messes with your head. I’ve never seen anything like it. The director is supposed to be the next Kubrick, and there’s all these messages hidden in the scenes. It’s so good, I started seeing things in a totally new way. People leave, and they’re quiet for like five minutes, then they start talking about how they want to change everything. Like their job or their life. I’m not kidding. You’ll see. If your friend was having a weird day, maybe the movie just hit her differently?”
He shrugged, but his eyes shone with movie-nerd passion. “Best popcorn with extra butter for the full experience, and candy makes it even better. Trust me.”
I looked at the ladies.
“Let’s do it,” Beth said, then more quietly. “Maybe it could lead us to figuring out what led her to disappearing.
It was worth a shot.
Connor helped us get our tickets, and suddenly we were on our way to watching some kind of life-changing movie. Whatever that might be.
We thanked him, and he scurried off to reopen the other window. The angry blonde woman had finally reached the front again, only to watch Connor flip the “Closed” sign as he left. Her face nearly glowed red. Beth covered her mouth to hide a cackle.
Inside the theater, the carpet still smelled like gum and butter and everything else that got ground in by generations of restless feet. I paid for tickets and snacks, letting Beth and Carol argue over Milk Duds versus Raisinettes until Deva settled it by ordering half the candy stand and a giant bucket of popcorn.
It all seemed silly, maybe, to think a movie could trigger someone to run off or have some kind of epiphany that would lead to vanishing, but the more I chewed on it, the less ridiculous it seemed. Especially with Alice, who lived half in her head anyway. People underestimated art’s power all the time. Sometimes one sight or sound or line of dialogue was all it took to tip you over the edge.
We carried our haul to the velvet ropes, the four of us loaded down like kids at a midnight matinee. The theater lights popped on in the lobby, and people shuffled in, half-lost in their own anticipation.
Carol nudged me with her elbow. “You think this’ll actually give us any answers?”
I didn’t know, but I hoped. “Even if it doesn’t, at least we get popcorn.”
Beth gave a soft little snort. “It’s too bad we can’t lure Stilettos in there and see what the movie does to her. Maybe she’d have a life-changing moment and stop being a jerk.”
Deva grinned. “Or she’d start a cult.”
The previews started as we walked in, so the darkness swallowed up the last of the day’s worries. The screen glowed, the curtains pulled back, and for a second, I could forget everything except the promise of a few hours in a world not my own.
But as I settled into Row D, Seat 7, my mind kept circling back to Alice. What had she seen on this screen, or in her own head, that made her get up and leave everything behind?
The question hovered through the previews and into the opening credits, every now and then interrupted by a crunch of popcorn or a whispered joke from Carol. I wasn’t sure if a movie could change my world, but I knew I had to try every clue, no matter how weird it seemed.
FIVE
Emma
