0 January Secret Agent #1

TITLE: Life Without Clouds
GENRE: New Adult Contemporary Romance

If I wanted to choose a moment to go back and change everything, it would be that night. That one ordinary night.

As usual I was at work in the ticket office while my best friend, Vivienne, was working in the candy bar. Everything happened like it usually did. Everything, except for seeing him. I had no way of knowing the repercussions that perfectly ordinary Thursday night would have on my perfectly average life.

My shifts at The Palace cinemas were regular and the rosters were flexible around my lecture times. I was even lucky enough to be able to spend the long stretches of time between film sessions working on my assignments. The small box office where I sold the movie tickets was cosy with brightly coloured ‘now showing’ and ‘coming soon’ film posters plastering the walls. Best of all, it was isolated. The box office sat at the front of the building and, for large chunks of my shifts, I was left to myself.

The Palace itself was beautiful and one of the few remaining 1920s era Hollywood style palace theatres. A little treasure left in Darlington city amongst only a handful of old buildings. A new multiplex cinema had opened on the other side of town with low-cost tickets and considerably cheaper popcorn but its smooth lines and modern design didn’t compare with the old girl’s grandeur. A majestic staircase invited patrons upstairs and the frescos on the ceilings held their own mysteries.