Sophie's phone wolf-whistled; Brad at last! She ferreted in her pocket and then stopped with one hand sheltering the screen. Her heart jumped right into her throat, beating even more rapidly than when she had been running. He was asking her about movies. What she thought the best one out right now would be. He wanted a girl's opinion. This was it, he was about to ask her out. If only she had somewhere with wifi she could search faster on her tablet, it was right there in her backpack. “Damn Lacy,” she thought.
Then like a slow falling hammer a new thought came. “Lacy! Where could she be now?” There were so many routes she could have gone. The lions, tigers and giraffes were all signposted in different directions. Sophie scanned each path wildly, over and over. There was no hint of those garish colours in any direction. Still she stood frozen, checking and re-checking as if by doing so some clue might appear. She cast her eyes to the tarmac for a discarded glove but there was none.