[Author's note: This story takes place months after the events contained in
Only Consenting Adults
, following on from
High Life
and
Where Angels Dare
. Details of those storylines are revealed here: spoiler alert if you care to read them in sequence.
Alice is married to James, a professional football player who has found himself at a loose end after retiring from the sport. After attending a charity auction in which she was outbid for her own husband, Alice and James were blackmailed into service by Jodie and her upper-echelon friends. They had no choice but to do her bidding, letting Jodie pimp James out to clients, otherwise she threatened to release the videos she took.
However, Jodie didn't reckon with them falling into an unlikely friendship with one of their clients, Ophelia (Fee) Raine and her husband Barton. Now the dust has settled, they're finally able to return to their normal lives again... aren't they?]
---
The ballroom was filled to capacity. Alice was sitting at the first table, decked out in a black evening gown that flattered her slim frame. She was sitting alongside Fee, who had one-upped her again, going for a plunging neckline that drew the eye of most of the people she'd been talking to. Across from her were Professor Zhang and her husband, and then Inder Singh, the startup founder, and his wife. The other two places were empty because Fee's husband Barton and Alice's husband James were on stage.
James was wrapping up the proceedings, gesturing to the huge screen behind him that displayed the amount of money that tonight had raised. Beaming at the audience, he caught Alice's eye and Alice's heart skipped. James looked good in his tuxedo, white shirt against tanned skin, an easy manner in front of hundreds of the city's great and good. He passed the microphone down to Barton, who wheeled his chair to the front of the stage. Barton stared out at the faces for a moment before speaking.
"I would like to close with some personal thanks," Barton began.
"Firstly, to Professor Zhang, for her unflagging optimism in the face of what has seemed at times like insurmountable odds. Spinal repair therapy is no longer the pipe dream it once was, thanks to you."
There was loud applause, and Barton paused until it died down.
"Also, to Inder, a fellow traveller on this road. His sister has been very brave in the face of the life-changing events that followed on from her road accident. Without his support, I don't think we would have been able to get the foundation off the ground."
He paused again, as there was more applause.
"Also, to our friends, for all their support, and to James and his wife Alice for their tireless help through what have been some very troubled times."
Alice smiled up at the man on the stage, sharing a look that said a lot more than the words he'd spoken.
"And finally, my heartfelt thanks to my astonishing wife, Ophelia."
Fee's hand squeezed Alice's tightly.
"Now, this concludes the formal part of the night. We have the Gold City Rush coming on next, so it's time to work off the dessert and head to the dancefloor. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll be joining you."
Alice glanced across at Fee, watching her face. Her eyes were locked on her husband, a little smile on her face. She still had Alice's hand in a vice-like grip. Then Fee blinked, relaxing, shifting her attention to Alice.
"The boys did good," she commented.
"Looked good too," Alice replied.
"Yeah. What a pair."
The noise of conversation rose from the tables around them, and Alice scanned the faces. Jemima and Falconer were sitting a little way off at a table with his golf-pro buddies and their wives. Further off, Marielle, Jacee and Cybil had another table, surrounded by men. There were other faces she recognised too, some from the time she and James had spent at gala balls like this one when he was still playing football professionally. Others she recognised from the more intimate, personal assignations she and James had been thrown into, ever since falling into Jodie's clutches.
Those had been dark days, blackmailed into pimping her husband out to the highest bidder for Jodie's amusement. Jodie hadn't been interested in the money; she'd just enjoyed forcing Alice into the position of having to sit quietly, watching helplessly as James was made to fuck other women because Jodie said so. It still made her skin crawl, even now, even after the court case and the sentencing that had seen Jodie put away for a long time, along with her cronies.
Alice and Fee and James and Barton had been caught up in it all. But, they had found unexpected allies. Her gaze alighted on another table, on the immaculately-groomed older woman sitting there, long blonde hair threaded through with strands of silver. She was looking directly at Alice, ignoring the bustle around her. Subtly, she nodded, and then turned back to her partner, a woman with expensively-styled blonde hair. A taller man with plain features but a studied air was sitting to the other side of her, next to a voluptuous middle-aged woman, all engaged in animated conversation. The exquisitely-poised woman joined in smoothly.
The look had been enough, a single moment of connection between two worlds in the chaos of people getting up and heading onto the dancefloor, sculling drinks, catching up. The look had said it all, acknowledging just how close they had come to the brink of ruination, how close Jodie had come to victory.
Alice had testified as Witness C, divulging everything she and James had discovered about Jodie's world, her blackmail schemes and her connections, safely anonymous for the sake of her children. The other woman had taken the stand as Cynthia Lane, telling the entire world her side of the story. Alice remembered back to their conversation in the carpark outside the gym, and smiled to herself: Cynthia had been correct, it had been war. In the end, Cynthia had taken no prisoners.
"Come on, let's dance," Fee hissed into her ear.
"What about Barton?"
"Oh, he was never much of a dancer. Neither is James, so let's go have some fun before we go back."
Fee's choice of words startled Alice out of her reverie. Fee seemed to sense it, sliding a hand down Alice's back until her fingers came to rest on the crook of her hip. Fee squeezed, and Alice felt herself tingle. Fee shot her a little teasing smile.
Then Fee was on the move, getting up, pulling Alice after her towards the dancefloor as the band began to play. Alice was conscious of Fee's fingers wrapped tightly around her hand, leading her forward. Alice followed behind without resistance until Fee had led her into the middle of the dancefloor. Fee flashed a smile at her friend, leaning close to whisper into her ear.
"It's just a dance, Alice. Don't look so nervous. What do you think I'm gonna do?"
Fee's breath caressed her ear, making the hairs stand up on the back of Alice's neck. She shivered.
"We're in public. You're completely safe," Fee murmured. "But, you do look absolutely gorgeous in that ball dress."
Fee laughed and whirled away, smiling.
