Title::..Life under Fluorescent Lights
Spoilers::..Abandoned
Rating::..M for adult themes
Genre::..Fluff
Characters::..Allegra (Jane Austen Book Club) and Shannon
Author's Note::..Lost fic 110. This one is kind of random. I was watching Jane Austen Book Club in my English – Extension 1 class as an end of the year lazy lesson kind of thing because everyone else in my class and my teacher adored Jane Austen, I was only really interested in watching it to see the gorgeous Maggie Grace. As I was watching it I was comparing the character of Allegra (Grace's character in JABC) to Shannon and then for some reason I hatched this idea of them meeting and what they would think of each other and that's how this random fic was born.
If you're a Lost fan who has never seen JABC don't worry, there aren't any mentions to the plot or the other characters from the movie, it's only Allegra and I explain who she is within the fic, so it's not necessary to see the movie before reading this fic. But it is a good movie, a little predictable, but an easy watch.
Summary::..Shannon Rutherford goes shopping at the markets and meets a surprising young woman.

Allegra had worked for eight months in every free moment she could get. She had worked with one hand while shoveling breakfast into her mouth and upon waking up from a nightmare in the middle of the night she would bring the tools together to commence work. Eight months had compiled into the display sitting on the table before her.

She felt a sense of pride looking over it all, ensuring everything was in the right place. Earrings hung together in pairs. Necklaces were draped one-by-one, spaced out to avoid tangling that would make her seem unprofessional. All of the bracelets were lined up on a cylinder. The collection of jewelry was ready to attract customers. After finishing the last earring she had photocopied her self-made logo onto fifty brown paper bags. Her fingers were itching to start stuffing jewelry into them before handing them to customers.

It was the monthly markets, held on a large property owned by the government. She had traipsed all over this uneven ground many Sundays before this. Now it was her turn to have a stall. The awing hanging above her head supplied her with shade from the relentless sun. One leg of the chair she sat upon was placed on a root, allowing her to rock.

On the right side of her stall was a small hotcakes kitchen. She didn't think she had ever wanted hotcakes so badly in her whole life. The calm breeze kept blowing their scent in her direction, making her mouth water. It seemed every customer who slowed down to inspect her stall had a small box of hotcakes in their hands. She could not escape the siren song of the hotcakes. It seemed ironic they were so close when only yesterday she had decided she was on a healthy-food-only diet. She would have laughed if she didn't find herself so hungry. She took a swig of water, but that did nothing to alter her condition.

She was distracted (thankfully) from watching the cook throw more batter into the pan when she heard someone mispronouncing her name. "Al-le-ger-ah?" When she looked up she found a woman who did not belong to the usual market crowd. She had straight blonde hair, which was cut into a stylish bob. A halter neck top covered her torso while her long legs were clad in designer jeans. To cap the whole look off were the perfect accessories for a girl born and raised in the city – sunglasses that covered most of her face and a Louis Vuitton hand-bag. A shorter girl accompanied her; she had the same bleached blonde hair. They both had judgmental expressions on their faces.

"Actually it's a little simpler than that." Allegra informed them. "A-leg-rah."

"Allegra?" The taller girl repeated.

"What kind of name is Allegra?" The shorter one asked.

"The kind that girls like to scream as loud as they can when in the grip of an amazing orgasm." She replied. She took delight in their disgusted expressions. She didn't mind losing customers; she didn't want the business of such prejudiced people. She may not have liked their personalities but she did enjoy taking a look at the taller girl's firm rear as she walked away. The girl shot a glance over her shoulder and Allegra was caught in the act. She couldn't contain a laugh as she looked away.

Other customers came to the front of the stall and demanded her attention. Soon she was plucking earrings from the rack to drop them into the marked brown paper bags. She produced a pencil from amongst the twists in her hair to write a handful of receipts. Notes were placed into her hand and she returned coins. The city girls disappeared from her mind.

Sunday night grocery shopping. It was the only night to do it. The isles were blissfully empty. It was almost like a ghost town, with only two people in an isle at the same time. There were no pesky kids screaming and tearing through the shop. The workers were calm as they moved around under the fluorescents.

Allegra was glad she had decided against completing this chore on Thursday. She could collect her items without getting trapped in trolley traffic. She strolled casually over to the checkout. She placed the basket down and began to unpack her items onto the conveyer belt.

When she turned to place the basket out of the way she froze. The customer after her was the tall blonde from yesterday. Allegra remembered the comments she had made instantly and looked away, cringing. Unfortunately the blonde recognized her – kind of. "Hey. Haven't I seen you somewhere before?"

Allegra showed her a smile. "Yeah, Allegra, I had a stall at the markets yesterday."

"Oh right, the hippie jewelry girl." The blonde replied.

Allegra felt horribly plain next to this girl. She hadn't put any effort into her appearance, why would she, it was Sunday night shopping? A pair of sloppy jeans and an old shirt had seemed appropriate. The blonde was glamorous. She wore a small black skirt and a fitted top. Gold hoops dangled from each ear and more were linked around her skinny wrists. A pair of high heels made her even taller and the trademark sunglasses rested on top of her head. Allegra couldn't help noticing the large amount of junk food she had unloaded. So much junk food did not match such an amazing figure.

The blonde extended her manicured hand to Allegra. "I'm Shannon."

"It's nice to meet you formally." She smiled.

"Yeah." Shannon agreed.

Allegra stepped up to the cashier. She showed the worker a quick smile before immediately turning her attention back to Shannon. "Did you find anything that you liked at the markets?"

"Oh yeah, these African women had a stall and one of them did this amazing temporary tattoo right down the side of my body." Shannon told her. "It's so artistic, I can't wait to go to the beach and show it off."

Allegra tried to control her mind, to stop herself from imagining the side of Shannon's naked torso, never mind a temporary tattoo. "Yeah, I've gotten a couple myself, they're amazing, huh?"

"Totally." Shannon agreed. "It almost makes me wanna get a real tattoo." She laughed. "Almost."

Allegra forfeited her money for the food then collected up her bags. "I guess I'll see you around."

"Bye." Shannon replied.

Allegra walked out of the shop. She paused after a few steps and turned back. This time it was the blonde's legs she checked out. She couldn't contain a grin, her head was buzzing.

Allegra was set up at the markets again. The pregnant clouds looming overhead meant the crowd was thinner than usual. The hotcakes kitchen was set up at a different location, which meant she had to draw in customers on her own. She kept a large smile on her face.

The small amount of sales was slightly disappointing. She kept a positive attitude, telling herself she had plenty of time to improve in the rest of the day. A small girl had come to the stall to buy a bracelet. She appeared as if she were in awe as Allegra tied the bracelet around her wrist. She thanked Allegra sincerely, paid the money and trotted back to her mother. For a moment she marveled at the image. She wondered how long the bracelet would be attached to the girl's wrist. An idea appeared of making jewelry for her own daughter.

When the next customer came to her stall she instantly stopped imagining her daughter. When Allegra looked at Shannon she didn't think about settling down with a family – her thoughts flew in the opposite direction. Shannon was as glamorous as usual; she wore a smile this time.

"Hey Shannon." Allegra greeted, the surprise was clear in her voice.

Shannon lifted the glasses from her eyes. "Hey."

"You're back." Allegra stated.

"Yeah, well my step-mother's birthday is coming up and I thought your jewelry would be the perfect gift for her." Shannon explained.

Allegra's mouth dropped open in shock. "That's so flattering." It wasn't until later that she realized it wasn't a compliment.

Going out to a nightclub wasn't a habit of Allegra's. It had all seemed very exciting when she was 21 and enjoying her first tastes of freedom. As a 24-year-old she would prefer going to the movies with her friends or simply having a few drinks at one of their apartments. Almost every single time she went out she had a guy (or sometimes the plural form of the word was required) hitting on her. It was these awkward experiences which led to her staying away from the club scene.

Her friend had coaxed her into coming out tonight. At first Allegra had resisted the idea but her friend had pointed out that she hadn't gone out to party since breaking up with her last girlfriend. Isabelle accused Allegra of moping and the only way to prove her wrong was to go out.

This time didn't seem as terrible as the others. She had found a cute girl to talk to. Isabelle was keeping all of the guys away by flirting with them herself. Allegra considered this as the most successful outing when she spotted Shannon amongst the crowd. She brushed by the girl she had been chatting up to reach the tall blonde.

Shannon appeared delighted, grinning and throwing her arms around Allegra. "Allegra, it's so great to see you!"

"You too." Allegra replied. "How did your step-mom like the necklace?"

"She hated it!" Shannon exclaimed. When Allegra's face fell Shannon elaborated. "No, no, it's a good thing. She'll never admit it but my step-mom hates me. I got something I knew she wouldn't like so when she doesn't wear it I can throw it back in her face."

Allegra nodded as she tried to comprehend. "Well good then."

"Definitely!" Shannon stated. "You wanna get a drink?"

Allegra and Shannon spent an hour together. They talked and drank. Shannon talked about her current situation being new to the area and in between jobs. Allegra told her about her jewelry, how it had begun as a hobby but developed into something she could make money off of.

A plan had hatched in Allegra's mind and she could resist it no longer. "So you really like pissing your step-mom off, huh?"

"Oh yeah." Shannon replied. "What's the point of having a step-mom if you can't piss her off?"

"How do you think she would react to you dating a lesbian?" Allegra asked.

Shannon furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

Allegra answered the question by leaning in and putting her lips to Shannon's. Shannon didn't resist. After a couple of seconds she began to respond. Allegra moved in closer and Shannon put her hand up on the side of her face, still not resisting. Allegra couldn't believe her luck. She leaned back, grinning.

Shannon licked her lips. "Do you wanna dance?"

The End.