start of **SLOW MOTION**
💃 Talking away, the girls searched for a vacant cubicle, finding one each at the same time. But on pushing the door open, Saskia recoiled. 'Wow!' she said aloud, closing it sharply.
Bent over the cistern had been a woman - smartly dressed in a red two-piece suit - snorting cocaine through a cut down straw. Saskia quickly moved along to find another cubicle to use and was surprised to see the snorter still insouciantly hanging around, giving her make up a fresh lick. She was quite a thickset brunette who looked to be in her forties, and she held Saskia's gaze in the toilet mirror as she went to wash her hands.
'Eyes popped back in then, have they?' she asked of Saskia, who didn't reply. Claire stood there silent and motionless, and Saskia soon picked up a vibe that they may know each other. 'You can have some if you want... ' The woman offered with a hint of trenchancy and a deliberate sniff.
'Sorry... not my thing.' Saskia replied, unsure if the offer was meant as sarcasm or to buy her silence - not that she was giving too much of a shit either way.
'Oh, I see. Lambrusco more your 'thing', eh?' she said, turning to directly face Saskia with pouted lips and raised eyebrows. Yes, this woman was definitely being sardonic, but before she had the chance to reply and eyeball the snorter back harder, another woman appeared.
'Julia, there you are. Been looking everywhere for you.' This Julia had made a beeline for the porcelain before joining the party, through her need to kick-start her night.
'Just coming, Millie. Little Miss Prettytits here just caught me taking a line. I think it offended her.'
'Let's just go...' Claire tried to lure her new friend back to the hall.
'Look!' retorted Saskia. 'I'm not going to pretend I approve, 'cause I don't.' She didn't believe there was even such a thing as recreational weekend boosts from drugs; any time was a needless risk. 'One of my friends fucked up her life through cocaine - that is what you're using, isn't it?'
'Ooh! Listen to Little Miss Expert!'
'You were taking a white powder, you don't need much brains to harbour a guess at what it was, but she was only nineteen when she was hit by a car while off her face on the stuff!'
'Obviously a silly cow then, wasn't she? Still... that's a poor Little Miss Sorrow tale you've told there. I may cry.'
Saskia felt a tug at the waist of her dress as Claire tried to forcefully pull her away. But she was now highly irked and in with a cause. Angry at her callous attitude, and pissed off with all the Little Miss references, it was time to put the quietus on this bitch.
'Keep up the snorting and mocking all you like. But, sure, my friend was young and stupid, naive and influenced... what's your excuse? I mean... ' Saskia eyed her head to foot and back, with deliberate disparagement in her voice. '... you must be well into your forties. Are you not a bit old to be doing that sort of thing, or does it substitute for what you've not got anymore - like looks?!'
The other two women held each other's gaze; both knew how capable Julia was of hit first - deal with it later. Julia instantly pressed her forehead against Saskia's. 'Just who the fuck do you think you are!' One nut and Saskia would be down. While Claire was seriously thinking of fetching help, Millie's panic led her to intervene. 'C'mon Julia, it's not worth anything daft.'
'That's true,' Claire voiced now, 'don't let it spoil your night, Saskia. Let's go... '
Taking heed, Saskia went to barge past Julia but she blocked the doorway, denying her exit. Wisely keeping her fists out of it, she had to retaliate for a slur like that.
'Yeah, Saskia,' Julia mimicked her name with a derisory, wobbly head gesture, 'you don't want to spoil your night with one of the office boys you've no doubt promised to suck off for the free booze and buffet now, do we!'
This was getting sweeter for Saskia. 'You're wrong... Julia,' (name said with head wobble back). 'I've not been invited here with any office boy, or any friend. I'm actually here with Neil. You know... Mr. Balfour? The man who throws this party every year.'
Julia frowned. Neither she or Millie could make the connection. 'Pulling waifs in off the street now, is he?'
Saskia took delight in clarifying her position, 'I'm his daughter. So in a roundabout way that kind of makes me inviting you here tonight... and I can have you removed in a heartbeat for what you were doing in that cubicle!'
The revelation stunned Julia. She had known Neil not to have any family. Her partner - who still works for Balfour Enterprises - must have found the news of his boss's instant daughter too insipid to take home. But the shock that Saskia thought she'd hit her with switched into Julia's glee, as a huge destructive smile spread over her face. She was about to return fire with a mighty weapon.
'This is the heart of London, darling, it's all caviar and cocaine. And if you don't believe me - ask your father! He's partial to a line himself... oh, and he's also slept with half the women he's hired - including me.'
'Oh, for fuck's sake!' Millie protested; this had gone too far. Julia could never operate on a level of even fake politeness if she tried; goes straight for the jugular regardless of who you are. Grabbing her motormouth friend by the sleeve of her jacket, she started to pull her out, but not without one parting shot;
'Oh, by the way - ask him if he remembers the time he snorted a line off my back... I got a bonus for that. Have a nice night, Little Miss Prim!'
Alone again with Claire, Saskia's brain stuttered for a moment as she stared straight ahead, then dropped her head; stupefied at what had just happened, and struggling to keep tears at bay.
'Well,' sighed Saskia, 'that's me told then.' She threw her head up, sending a half-smile at Claire who tried to play it down.
'She's a lying cow, Saskia. Take no notice, she's always been a bitch.'
As fallacious as it sounded, she knew such a vile diatribe wouldn't be spouted if there was no truth to it, and she knew her new friend wouldn't hurt her with the truth. Saskia nodded and rubbed Claire's shoulder in agreement. 'I won't. And it's best not to mention it to Dad, either.'
'Of course not,' a wide-eyed Claire promised. 'C'mon, let's get back to the party - keep up the Christmas spirit.'
As they stepped back into the hall, Saskia searched for her father's face and he was happily exchanging man-humour in a group of around six at the bar. She pledged to enjoy herself without letting any scandelous unearthing be the driving force for the night ahead. She would keep a beady eye on Julia (easy to locate in bright red) who was, for now, tucked away in a crowded corner. But Saskia knew she wouldn't be ensconced long before shimmying that fat arse through the seated crowd and be in Neil's company.
end of **SLOW MOTION**
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