Anna’s jaw began to relax, then reclenched at the possibility of another morale-hammering question. Luckily Carole couldn’t be bothered asking anything else. She disappeared into the toilet, leaving Anna alone at the his ’n’ hers sinks. She ran her hands slowly under the hot tap, then wiped them carefully on a soft pink fluffy towel. Picking up her half-empty champagne glass, she exited the bathroom.
Claire bumped into her halfway down the stairs looking dazzling in a figure-hugging silver number.
‘Thank God you’re here.’ Anna gave her best friend a hug. ‘You look sensational.’
‘You won’t believe
what I’ve done.’ Claire wrig
gled from her embrace. ‘I’ve had the cheek to turn up in the exact same dress as the hostess. She’s livid.’
‘Is she really?’ Anna could barely conceal her pleasure. ‘Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t there when she saw you.’
‘If looks could kill, I’d be lying at the bottom
of these magnificent stairs, dead as a duck,’ Claire laughed.
‘Where is she now?’
‘Oh she’s downstairs flitting about, chatting to all the important people.’
‘Come on.’ Anna linked her arm. ‘Let’s go and face the music.’
They walked along a long oriental rug leading to the drawing room. The high-ceilinged room was full of men in soft, dark, monkey suits and polished leather shoes, vaguely familiar women in expensive designer dresses and heavy gold jewellery. The type of people who wouldn’t miss the opening of a door. People who were never really happy because they were afraid everyone else was somewhere else. A photographer’s bulb flashed wildly. Anna let one of the caterers refill her champagne glass. Who were all these people? What kind of a reunion was this?
This wasn’t a school get-together at all. Victoria had a nerve to invite her classmates along under the pretence of a reunion. Oh well, Anna thought. What did it matter? Sure, it was probably just as well. Now she wouldn’t stand out at all. She could just mingle in with the crowd like everybody else. Sure, now she was here, why not enjoy herself ? Anna’s eyes roamed the room and spotted Simon in the distance, standing upright, his shoulders back, confidence radiating from him. He looked great, Anna thought. Claire was lucky to have him. He was engrossed in conversation with a small tubby
man chewing on a fat cigar. The man was bald except for two tufts around both ears and he sported a decidedly unpleasant sneer.
‘Who’s that Simon’s talking to, Claire? Don’t look now, they’re over there.’
Claire swung around. Could she be more obvious?
‘Oh that’s Aidan Levine, Carole’s husband.’
‘I don’t believe it.’ Anna was gobsmacked. ‘I met her earlier on and she’d the cheek to commiserate with me on my being single.’
‘Take no notice,’ Claire laughed. ‘This whole party stinks of bull. No one seems to be having any fun. The whole thing seems to be . . . I dunno . . . staged or something.’
‘Cheers.’ Anna raised her glass and clinked it with
Claire’s. ‘To a most memorable night.’
‘Count me in on that toast,’ a small voice cut in.
‘Alice, you’ve arrived!’ Anna gave her a hug. ‘You look super.’
‘Do I?’ Alice asked nervously. ‘I almost didn’t come, you know.’
‘Have you met Victoria yet?’ Claire was
curi
ous.
‘She just walked past me,’ Alice whispered. ‘I
don’t think she had a clue who I was.’
‘Oh, she’s probably just up to high-do. It’s very stressful hosting a big reunion party like this,’ Claire said kindly, careful not to hurt Alice’s feelings.
‘Look, there’s Olive over there!’
Olive, sitting on one of Victoria’s antique chairs next to her rather conservative-looking husband, waved excitedly at the trio. A far cry from the old days, when she’d have been afraid of acknowledging them for fear of ruffling Victoria’s feathers, Anna thought. It was funny really, she chuckled to herself, all the time she had wasted worrying about this silly party. How ridiculous. She was glad she hadn’t brought anybody. It wasn’t the type of party you dragged an unwilling escort along to. Now she was free to flutter around like a social butterfly without some man hanging on to her like a ball and chain for the night. She could get hammered if she wanted and nobody would notice. All that worrying for absolutely nothing!
Come to think of it, she was already well on her way to being hammered. Now on her third glass of champagne, she could almost feel the bubbles shooting to her head, dancing with her brain cells. She’d need to be careful. Victoria’s bathroom was not the kind of place you’d like to vomit in.
She excused herself and made her way to the magnificent buffet spread. Every taste was catered for. God, she didn’t know where to start.
‘A bit of everything,’ she instructed the caterer greedily. Well, she did have to eat, didn’t she? There was nothing but alcohol in her stomach right now.
‘I knew I’d find you near the food.’
Anna’s heart sank as she heard a cold familiar voice cut the air.
‘Anna Allstone, you haven’t changed a bit.’ Facing her hostess, her plate overflowing with
food, suddenly she didn’t feel quite so hungry any more.
‘Victoria, I can’t believe you remember me so well.’ Anna gave a rigid smile.
‘Well, I admit the name didn’t ring a bell when I
first got the list of everybody’s names,’ she smirked.
‘But I’d know your face anywhere.’
‘How come?’ Anna felt the muscles in her throat constrict with indignation.
‘Sure you were sitting beside me in our end-of-year photo. I loved that photo. Mind you people said I looked too thin in it. Anyway, enjoy your food.’ Victoria flashed a set of perfectly capped teeth.
‘There’s plenty of it. Second helpings, third if you like, there’s no limit.’
‘Thank you.’ Anna suddenly found she was able to speak. ‘If there’s enough left over I might even put some in a bag, you know, to bring home and keep beside my bed in case I wake up during the night and feel hungry.’
‘If you like.’ Victoria looked mildly put out. She wasn’t sure whether Anna was joking or not. Better to make her escape now, and anyway there were far more important people to chit-chat with. She couldn’t see Anna Allstone as somebody who’d be of much use to her in the future. And after all that’s what parties were for: securing future contacts.
‘Well, excuse me for now,’ she smiled falsely,
‘I’m sure you’ll have fun. I’m afraid there aren’t too many available men here tonight – Carole told me about your situation – but you should have fun with the girls.’
‘I’m sure I will,’ Anna said through gritted teeth,
‘and by the way, in case I don’t talk to you again, I love the dress.’
‘Thank you, I got it in––’
‘Oh, I know where you got it,’ Anna swiftly interrupted. ‘In that boutique in Ranelagh, wasn’t it? Claire couldn’t believe her luck when she found hers in the bargain bin. Sure, as she said herself, you couldn’t get a pair of jeans these days for fifty quid! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to tuck into this fabulous food before it all runs out.’
She strolled off, leaving Victoria clutching the banqueting table, fuming. What was all that about a bargain bin? She’d never go back to that boutique again. How dare that idiot of a saleswoman charge five hundred pounds for the same dress she sold to that cheapskate Claire!
‘What on earth did you say to Victoria?’ Claire asked wh
en she came back. ‘She looks
livid.’
‘Oh, not a lot.’ Anna popped a heaped spoon of dressed avocado into her mouth.
‘You must have said something,’ her friend insisted.
‘Well, don’t kill me,’ Anna flashed a wicked grin,
‘but I told her you only paid a few pounds for the same dress she’s wearing.’
‘Oh you bad girl,’ Claire guffawed. ‘Don’t you know Victoria won’t be able to enjoy the rest of the night now if she thinks she’s wearing something cheap?’
‘I don’t care,’ Anna shrugged. ‘You know, I think that woman is either evil or incredibly stupid. I’m serious, Who does she think she is going round insulting people like that? Money doesn’t give you a passport to be nasty.’
Olive joined them. ‘Having a good night, girls?’
‘I’m having a blast,’ Anna answered. Was it her imagination or had the room begun to spin ever so slightly? Oh please don’t let me collapse. She closed her eyes. And filled her lungs with cigar-filled air. Ah, that was better. What a perfect evening so far. Too perfect, even. She felt uneasy. Something was bound to go wrong.
‘The food’s great.’ Olive’s eyes shone. ‘Did you try some?’
‘Of course I did.’ Anna grinned. ‘You can take as much as you want, you know.’
‘Right,’ said Olive, puzzled. She wondered if Anna Allstone was a bit drunk. Her eyes were slightly pink and her make-up needed retouching.
‘Have you met everyone? Orla and Suzie are sitting over there. They were commenting on how well you looked.’
‘Were they?’ Anna asked faintly. Did she look well? Did she? She didn’t feel . . . in fact . . . ugh no, her stomach gave a violent rumble.
‘Are you all right?’ Claire clutched her arm.
‘I’m fine.’ Anna was beginning to sway. The room was hot. ‘No need to call an ambulance or anything. I just need some fresh air.’ She hiccuped loudly.
‘Ooops, sorry, ha ha!’
‘I’ll bring her out,’ she heard Claire tell the others. She felt herself being steered out of the drawing room. ‘We’ll be back in a mo.’
‘Here, drink this.’ Claire shoved a glass of iced water in her face. They stood on the front steps gazing at the vast front lawns. The cool night air was sobering. Anna gave a slight shiver. ‘Can we go back inside now?’
‘Not until you can
walk properly,’ Claire whis
pered fiercely. ‘We’ve done well tonight, Anna. We’ve turned up looking great, our heads held high and that’s the way we’re going to leave. Now hurry up and drink this.’
Anna stared at her friend, her eyes wide with surprise and confusion. Was she really that drunk? God, Claire was being pretty hard on her. All she wanted was to have a bit of fun. That’s all she wanted. ‘I’ll be fine.’ She finished the water as Claire went off to get her another glass. ‘I promise, I’ll behave myself,’ she hiccuped again, ‘I promise.’
‘Hello, good looking.’
Anna swung around to se
e who’d made the com
ment. Oh hello, ugly. It was Carole’s unattractive hubby. She was nowhere to be found. ‘Hi,’ she said. Anna hoped he hadn’t come over to bore her to tears
for the night. Somehow he looked like he’d be quite a hard person to shrug off. He held out a hand for her to shake. It felt like a wet fish.
‘Which one of the gang are you?’
I wasn’t one of the gang, Anna thought. I was actually one of the girls the gang picked on, didn’t Carole tell you?
‘My name’s Anna,’ she said.
‘Annnnnna,’ he said meaningfully. God, what a bore. ‘And who are you here with, Annnnnna?’
‘Oh I’m just here with everyone,’ she answered lightly.
‘You mean you’re not with anyone special?’ he asked her cleavage.
‘Nope.’ Christ, he was beginning to make her skin crawl.
‘Well, well, well.’
‘It’s a great party, isn’t it?’ Anna said to the ceiling.
‘Victoria went to a lot of trouble, didn’t she?’
‘I’d say you’ve a
few men hidden away some
where. I wouldn’t believe that someone as gorgeous as you is single.’
‘The food is just lovely. And have you seen the garden? It’s––’
‘I’d say half the men here would do anything to get in your knickers.’
‘Excuse me?’ Anna looked visibly stunned.
‘I’d say you’re an animal in the scratcher.’
‘Listen here, egghead,’ Anna snapped, the effects of the alcohol suddenly giving her zero tolerance
levels. ‘I wouldn’t go near you if you were single. But you’re married
, which makes you doubly unat
tractive, so piss off.’
‘Jesus, no wonder you’re still single.’ His ugly red face became much uglier and much redder.
‘Well, when I meet people like you I’m glad that I am. Poor Carole, she’s the one who has to see your face every morning.’