Mr Right for the Night (38 page)

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.’