Disclaimer: I do not own Body of Proof or any of its characters. They are - however - my new favourite toys.
Carefully, Kate moved through the various rows of vintage looking seats in the minimally illuminated room whose nature was revealed solely by the dusty aftertaste of a lingering smell of popcorn. It was nonsensically warm in the old movie theater; the difference in temperature with the cold and rainy February evening started off a hint of a headache in the blonde's head. She came to a pause in the middle of the deserted room when the rattling sound of the projector proclaimed the beginning of the showing. The sudden white lights that came from the worn out silver screen caused Kate to cover her eyes, temporarily desillusioned with her surroundings.
"Hey! Sit down please?" A sharp voice reached her from one of the back rows. Kate turned her head to where the sound was coming from but she could not make out anything other than a proud small form gesturing towards her. "Are you gonna stand there all evening? Sit down!" Taken aback by the irritated undertone of the woman's strangely familiar voice Kate promptly sank down. Kate realized all too quickly that she should have taken off her damp coat before settling down in the once velvet clothed seat. With a well intended swift gesture she tried to remove her long coat but that proved to be more difficult than expected. The beginning credits were already rolling down the screen when Kate rose from her seat again to help herself out of her burdened piece of clothing. "Seriously?" Encouraged by the warmth the room was radiating Kate felt her cheeks turn crimson with embarrassement.
She missed a good fifteen minutes of the beginning by mentally getting over her hasty refuge in an old movie theather downtown Philadelphia. The past two weeks had been all about resolving a complex case involving a serial killer and an appallingly high body count. Both the total chaos in the morgue and the rising exhaustion – and therefore internal conflicts - of her employees had drenched all energy out of her. Even though today was a Saturday, the entire team had been working the morning shift hoping to finally catch the mad mind that was behind this. In the late afternoon, Kate had sent everyone home suggesting they ought to get some rest to start anew on Monday. Her plan did not meet much resistance apart from Megan of course whose inner dictionary did not mention the word "break". Kate practically had to physically usher the eager redhead out of the building.
Instead of retreating to her spacious apartment, Kate had opted for a visit to her favourite bar, located somewhere near her office. During the ten minute walk, the sky decided to treat the helpless city crowd to a massive downpour. With the weather Kate cursed her high heels and attempted to run towards the bar; her mind set on getting there before she was completely soaked, she failed to see the "closed" sign that was dangling from the door. About a minute later the entire neighbourhood witnessed the not so pretty image of a drowned designer-clad blonde cursing the living daylight. Out of sheer desperation she turned to the timeworn movie theater that was facing the bar. Without checking what movie was playing, she bought a ticket and made her way to the one room the theater held.
Kate let out a deep sigh, massaging her temples, having finally decided to make the best of the situation by relishing in the content of the silver screen. To her disappointment the movie appeared to be not only in black and white but the spoken language happened to be French as well. In contrast to popular belief Kate did not think the French language romantic nor erotic and it did not take long for her headache to surfaced once again. The next sigh that escaped her lips seemed to trigger the other spectator who almost cried out in desperation: "Will you stop sighing? Some of us are actually interested in the movie! If you find life this tough, why don't you drink it out in some bar with the other sighers?"
"I wanted to but it was closed!" Kate couldn't help but groan in response.
"Too bad there's only one bar in Philly!"
"If I annoy you this much, why don't you leave?"
"Why don't I leave? My evening was running smoothly until you came sighing into the picture!"
"Fine, Megan, as you please!"
Kate shot up to gather her coat and leave until she realized she had just called the annoying woman Megan. She closed her eyes and was about to sigh once more when she heard someone move behind her. "Kate?" Instinctively turning her head the blonde came face to face with the object of her irritation. She had to blink a few times to be sure for she thought her mind was playing tricks on her – but no, there she stood in the flesh: Megan Hunt.