xp_logs | Log: Jane, Amanda - Saturday Afternoon

New York City has millions of people in it. What are the odds you'll meet someone you know?

New York was filled with tourists on the weekends, Manhattan in particular. You could hardly go a few steps without running across a crowd of them posing for pictures or poring over a map of the city. Jane skipped around an older couple arguing over whether or not it was safe to take the subway to their destination and grinned at Amanda. "Think we should ask if they need help?" she asked.

Amanda rolled her eyes a little and grinned back. "What, and ruin the New York rep of being rude pricks?" She relented at Jane's expression, however, and waved the other girl on. "You go on - I'll sort them out. This whole 'connection to the city' thing makes it easier to give directions."

Jane beamed at Amanda. "If anyone asks, I'll say you flipped them off instead. I'm gonna go look in a couple of shops on the next block. Meet you in front of Canal Jeans?"

Leaving Amanda to deal with the lost couple, Jane skipped across 4th and headed up Broadway. It really was the perfect day, she reflected as she took in the way the sun slid down over the buildings trickled over the crowds. She loved New York. It was never the same twice. She continued up the block slowly, window shopping as she went.

"Miri! Omigod, MIRI!" A girl in a long green dress was on the opposite corner of the street, yelling and waving like a lunatic. "MIRI! It's LULA! Hold on, I'm coming over!"

Jane glanced around, looking to see who the girl was shouting at. At the corner a similarly dressed group of girls had paused, waiting for the light. Must have gotten separated, she noted, turning back to the dress in the window. At least the girl had caught up. It was a big city to get lost in, if you weren't familiar with it.

"MIRI!" the girl squealed, coming up to Jane and flinging her arms around her shoulders. "Oh, you look so good," she held Jane out at arm's length. The girl-- Lula, was about the same age as Jane, and she smelled of sweat and all-natural deodorant. "I can't believe I ran into you! Gosh, it's been so long. I mean, duh, with me being assigned in Kenya and helping out with the crop development. I totally just got back, you know, what with the Well Earth Summit in Vermont and everything. Thought I'd check out the city... and gosh I just keep rambling on..."

"I, what-" Jane sputtered around an unexpected mouthful of hair. The girl gave her another rib-cracking hug before stepping away, and Jane teetered for a moment before regaining her balance. What was the girl saying? Jane tried to focus. "I'm sorry, Do I know you?"

The girl didn't seem to hear the last of what Jane said, she was craning her neck over the crowd. "Oh shoot, I've gotta go. But look, now that we're both stateside, we can catch up, you know how to get a hold of me," she winked at Jane and then as fast as she'd appeared, she was gone, slipping in and out of the crowds like a pro.

Bewildered, Jane watched her go when a thought struck her. Someone knew her. The realization was like a lightning bolt though her body. "WAIT!" Jane yelled, galvanized into action, "Lula, wait!" She dove into the crowd after the other woman, forcing her way forward whenever she thought she'd caught a glimpse of her dress. She simply couldn't let her get away. Not after all this time.

----

Ten minutes later, Jane was trudging back up Broadway, trying to remember every word Lula had said. "...Lula, from Kenya, going to Vermont for some sort of Earth thingy..." The words kept tripping over themselves in her head, to the point where even the ones she was sure she remembered correctly seemed wrong. "C'mon Jane, keep it together. Her name was Lula..."

Amanda was already waiting at Canal Jeans, looking a little worriedly at her watch. A look of relief crossed her face as she saw Jane, only to fade as she caught sight of Jane's face. "You all right?" she asked, already scanning the crowd for trouble, drawing close enough to the other girl to cast the shielding spell without grabbing too many tourists. "Did something happen?"

Jane shook her head, completely wrapped up in her own thoughts. "There can't be too many people named Lula, right? Who just flew in from Kenya?" she asked. "She can't be too hard to find, right?"

"Jane." The name wasn't shouted, but spoken with a certain note the mansion people rarely heard from the witch. "Calm down and tell me what happened. I can't help if I don't know what you're going on about. Who's Lula?"

Amanda's commanding tone startled Jane enough that she choked down the hysterical bubble of laughter that had been welling up in her throat. "I think I just met someone who knows who I am."

Amanda gaped, actually gaped at Jane. "Well, bugger me," she managed at last, pulling herself back together. One of them had to be functioning. "And I'm guessing you lost her? Right, let's get back to the office. I've got some contacts at the airport that I can use. You said she'd just gotten in from Kenya, right?"

Was Lula a friend? She'd acted like it. How long had they been friends? Did they have other friends? Did she have other friends? Where did they meet? Was Lula her best friend? Maybe they had gone to school together. The possibilities were tantalizingly endless. Jane kept replaying the conversation in her mind, trying to find something she'd missed.

She saw Amanda's lips move, and she tried to pull her focus back enough to answer her questions. "Kenya, yeah. And, um. She said something about seeing me in Vermont -- like we were going,not like we'd been there, you know -- at some sort of healthy Earth summit." Jane frowned. That wasn't right. What had she said?

"Come on," Amanda repeated, taking in Jane's shock and her arm. "We'll go back to the office and try and work this out. And," she added, with a hint of a grin. "We'll get you a stiff drink. You look like you could use it."