He leaned, carelessly, against the wall at the top of the stairs. From here he had a view of the whole room and everyone in it.
"Boring." He thought, not for the first time that evening.
The party, like every other party he'd been to that year, was boring and the people were, with only a couple of exceptions, all the same people who'd been to those parties.
Slicked down waiters circled with plates of canapés and fizzy white wine pretending to be champagne, some kind of subtle classical music was being played by an abstracted looking quintet and the faint scent of stale cigarettes and too much perfume clouded the air.
Frustrated by the dull pointlessness of it all he pulled his bow-tie loose so he could undo his top button, then ran his hand over his hair. He took a drink off a passing waiter and finally felt comfortable.
God knows why it was necessary to go through all this kind of shindig just for the opening of a film -- and a pretty shitty film, too. Still. Always important to see and be seen; networking was key in this kind of industry. Not what you know, but who... he mused, knocking back the slightly sour wine.
He'd done the rounds, shaken the hands and now he could loiter in the shadows until it was an acceptable time to leave.
"Fuck it." He muttered out loud, startling a portly lady near by.
"Not you, you fat old trout," he said, though not loudly enough for her to hear properly. Grabbing his dinner jacket from where he'd draped it over the balcony railing he slung it over his shoulder and made for the exit.
Fighting his way past a slow stream of late arrivals who seemed determined to get in his way, he'd just reached the foyer of the hotel when his bowtie slid from round his neck and landed on the floor.
He knelt down to pick it up, draping it back 'round his neck before standing up again. From his lowly position on the floor he was perfectly placed to see the high high heels and slender ankles now descending the stairs. The deep dark blue velvet of her dress was split to just above the knee and he followed it with his eyes over her shapely legs, up to her gently rounded stomach and curved hips. Lingeringly he traced the dip of her waist and the swell and cleft of her breasts to her face... where he froze, struck immobile by something he saw there.
"Hello Andrew." She said.
*****
Slowly he got up and looked at her. She stood on the stairs, holding onto the arm of a dark haired man with broad shoulders who looked at Andrew through narrowed eyes, wondering who this stranger was who'd caused his date to dig her fingernails suddenly and painfully into his arm.
"Hi." Said Andrew, shortly, his body still frozen in shock at this ghost from the past finding him in his new and shiny life. He'd spent years working his arse off to get to this point. Now he was standing on the brink of the success he had craved, only to be faced with the woman who had been the catalyst to his transformation.
"This is Eduardo." She said, introducing the swarthy man at her side.
"Nice to meet you," Andrew said, sliding automatically into meet-and-greet mode. He'd managed to place the man now: some bright young thing in the film production circuit known as much in the media for his brooding macho thing as his talent for creating innovative documentaries.
Andrew hated him for his smooth confidence, seemingly effortless success and most of all for the fact that Eva was on his arm, but you never knew who could give you a helping hand and he was too used to 'making nice' to stop now.
He hadn't seen Eva for nearly five years but she had changed very little. Her skin was still milk-white and unblemished and her hair, though cut shorter so it swung round her cheeks, was still dark and lustrous. Time had added only a gloss of sophistication and confidence and chiselled the fine bones of her face; accentuating her beauty.
The passing years had made a greater mark on Andrew. Large amounts of time spent filming outdoors had weathered his skin to a rich, nutty brown and aged it prematurely. The tan set off the blue of his eyes and the crinkles that had formed at the corners gave him an amiable air and a rugged attractiveness. He'd shaken off the sweet-faced boy and looked like a man who had had some experiences and come through the other side.
Eva narrowed her eyes as she looked him up and down, noting all the details, big and small, that had changed since she saw him last. Uncomfortably he made polite small talk with Eduardo, or the Italian Stallion as Andrew began to think of him sneeringly, fully aware that she was scrutinising him as he exchanged thoughts on the industry and a brief CV.
She couldn't help but feel a frisson of attraction to the rough, confident man standing in front of her. There was a notable difference between Eduardo's smug arrogance and self-satisfaction and Andrew's quiet containment and certainty.
Yes, he'd changed a little and the changes intrigued her, but there was still, somewhere, an element of the relationship they had had. The passion and intensity they had shared, the things they had been through and the love they had felt for each other.
It was funny, she mused, but she couldn't remember now why they had broken up. Presumably there had been good reasons at the time, but she couldn't think what they were now.
The conversation between the two men had haltingly ground to a stop and Eva knew she had to make a decision.
"Ed, that critic you wanted to talk to is hovering over there, why don't you go and speak to him -- you said you wanted to get him on side before your next project. No no, I'll be fine by myself -- I need a drink anyway and I'm sure Andrew can take care of me till you get back..."
Her voice trailed off as she said this. Eduardo had already glided off in pursuit of his prey and it was just her and Andrew now, looking at each other. He looked a question at her, not believing that she had just handed herself over to his care; still doubting even as she took his arm lightly and he felt a jolt running through his body from the point of contact.
For a while they walked; drinking the cheap wine, exchanging life stories from the intervening years, carefully sounding each other out. Gradually they impinged more and more on each other's personal space, breathing in the scent of the other and sensing the heat from their body.
The attraction between them created a massive magnetic force which drew them closer together whilst explicitly excluding all others. Eduardo had looked over at one point and, with a small flicker of disgust shrugged off his disappointment and made friends with some minor starlet of the blonde and busty variety.
