When they first met it was lust at first sight! The first thing Ben had noticed about Lucy was her sparkling, hazel eyes and the way they creased up in the corners when she laughed, giving her an almost Chinese appearance. Lucy had been engrossed in a conversation with her best friend Grace. They hadn't seen each other in almost three years, insofar as Grace had been living and working in California. Tonight was Grace's welcome home party, which Lucy was throwing for her. Lucy didn't know Ben, but he had tagged along with her friend Nicky and her boyfriend Tony.
"Oh Grace, stop it! I'm going to wet myself in a minute! That's what I've missed about you. All your mad-cap stories and comical situations you find yourself in!"
Both girls laughed, wiping the tears from their faces. That's when Lucy looked up and saw Ben looking at her with an amused smile on his face. Straightening herself up, Lucy composed herself and excused herself from Grace whilst she went to the bathroom to check her appearance. Lucy blushed, as she had to walk past Ben.
She could feel his eyes following her every movement. Casually, she slipped into the bathroom but made a fatal mistake. She glanced back to find Ben staring at her, holding her gaze. As she rushed into the bathroom she felt like a schoolgirl again.
Lucy reapplied her make up, paying close attention to her eyes, as they needed the most retouching. Every time she smiled, her eyes creased up and with Grace making her cry with laughter, most of her eyeliner had worn off.
Spraying her body with a fine mist of expensive 'Very Valentino' perfume, Lucy sat on the edge of the bath. She wondered if the tall, slender, handsome man was still out there. Hoping would have been a better word. Lucy stood up and straightened her clothes. She had a tidy figure and looked good in her tight fitting black jeans and Chanel crop top. She made her exit.
Making a beeline to the kitchen to get another glass of 'Dutch courage', Lucy was shocked to find herself alone in the room with the handsome stranger.
'Oh,' was all she managed to mumble.
Ben turned around and handed her the glass of champagne he had just poured for himself.
"Drink?" he said, handing her the long tall glass without waiting for her reply.
"Thank you", she whispered as she accepted the drink. Rooted to the spot, Lucy wasn't sure what to do next. Should she just stand there like a mannequin looking pretty or should she introduce herself?
Before she had time to make up her mind, Grace rushed into the room like a whirlwind.
"Hey Luce, where ya been? Nicky's just rolled a joint; I'm sure you won't say no to a toke?"
Mortified, Lucy looked at her feet wishing the ground would open up and encase her. Grace knew something was up and looked to see why her friend was acting so coy.
"Ha", she laughed out loud as she saw the reason for Lucy's cute Lady Di impersonation, "I see you've met Ben!"
"Actually no, we just met...well...not met but..." Lucy stuttered as she tried to explain the situation to a bemused Grace.
Ben stood up from where he was sitting.
"Now you know I'm Ben. You are?"
He walked closer toward Lucy. She had to lift her head up to meet his gaze. He was much taller than she first realised.
"I'm Lucy," she answered, turning as red as the bottle of Rioja, which was next to the champagne.
"Lucy, nice to meet you," Ben said in a cool transatlantic accent. He offered his hand to her, which she shook and then looked at Grace for some kind of support. Grace knew when to take her cue.
"Glad you could make my party Ben; it's good to see you again."
Lucy's heart sank a little. She was unaware that Ben and Grace were acquainted and wondered why Grace had never mentioned the handsome stranger before. Grace read her mind, as she often did.
"Luce, Ben and I met briefly in the States when Nicky and Tony stayed at his house. You know, when they came to see me in March?"
Lucy had remembered Nicky and Tony flying out to New York for the weekend earlier in the year. As it happened, she also remembered her mentioning a hot pal of Tony's they stayed with. It must have been Ben.
"Oh cool cakes!" was her lame response; and Grace knew better than to tease her mercilessly for her slip up. That could wait till later!
Ben smiled at Lucy and found himself even more attracted and endeared to her. It was obvious she liked him, and he just wanted her to know he liked her too.
"Let's go find Nicky and get high!"
They all piled out of the kitchen and onto the patio where a huge blunt was being passed around. Grace purposely let Ben and Lucy walk in front of her so she could whisper into Lucy's ear.
"Cool cakes! Where the hell did you pick that one up from?"
Lucy giggled and said, "Oh, my nephew said it the other day and I stole it from him!"
They both cracked up laughing and linked arms as they followed Ben into the garden.
"Man, this shit is hot!" Grace said in a strained voice, as she dramatically exhaled a huge bellow of smoke.
Lucy and Ben were sitting quietly staring into space, too stoned to string a sentence together. Grace was beating her head slowly to the records the cute young DJ was spinning. Too slowly in fact.
Lucy collapsed into a heap of giggles.
"What's so funny?" Ben enquired, looking at her with red blood shot eyes.
Lucy nodded at Grace who was bobbing her head like a little turtle to a rave tune that was going at break neck speed. Ben watched Grace for a moment or two before joining in with the laughter. Aware that she was the source of their amusement, Grace cottoned on to the fact that her limited dance movements were not matching up to the notion in her mind. She got up and said in mock anger, "Sod you, you complete set of bastards!"
Since that sentence came from one of the girls' favourite comedy shows, this just set Lucy off into hysterics again. Grace giggled and flicked her long dark hair in an exaggerated fashion just to milk her one-woman stand up show. She was soon in deep conversation with the DJ.
The remaining twosome sat in silence for a while until Ben declared he was hungry.
"Mmm, me too," agreed Lucy, "Let's go and find something to eat."
They made their way back into the room in which they had first met and rummaged through the fridge.
"I don't know what I fancy," Lucy said out loud. "Not sure if I'm in a sweet or savoury mood?"
Ben was admiring Lucy's rear as she was bent over looking into the fridge.
