The music was quite deafening and Sophie had to shout into her friend Lisa's ear,
'Let's go over to the buffet table and have something to eat. I'm starving! I haven't eaten anything all day.'
Lisa nodded then grabbed Sophie's arm and pointed to a very good looking tall blond haired man.
'Oh wow take a look at that!! Who's he?!!. He's just so hot. He's talking to that nerd Greg from the lawyer's office next door, you know him don't you? Get me an introduction quick, I feel lucky tonight.'
Sophie laughed and yelled back,
'You're incorrigible.'
Seeing Greg made Sophie's heart beat fast. He had been her older brother Mike's best friend since Primary School. She'd always had a crush on him. She hadn't seen him for ages. Mike was working in Dubai and Greg had been away at uni and Law school.
Lisa poked her in the ribs ,
'Go on Sophe, introduce me.'
Greg came up to them, a huge beam on his face. Sophie felt her stomach flutter.
'Hi Greg, good to see you. This is my friend Lisa.'
Greg grinned at them both and waved his hand in the direction of the tall blond man,
'This is Oscar, we graduated together and now work in the office next to yours.'
He paused and seemed about to say something else when Oscar broke in,
'May I get you two lovely ladies a drink? A margarita, a mojito? Anything that tickles your fancy.?'
Lisa wriggled her shoulders and leaning towards Oscar simpered,
'Ooh thank you kind sir, that would be lovely. Mojitos, eh Sophe, double.'
Sophie tried not to roll her eyes and turned to Lisa,
'Maybe we should eat something first.'
Oscar was already coming back with the drinks. He winked at them,
'It's full of mint, it's practically like eating a salad, down in one I say, let's get the party started.'
As she sipped the drink, out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Greg being beckoned away by a pretty petite dark haired girl who then pulled his head down towards her and whispered something in his ear.
She turned back to Lisa who had already finished her drink and Oscar was handing them two more.
It was really delicious and the smell of mint took her back to summer days at her grandparents' house.
Her grandma would always have pots of mint on the windowsill to make her beloved Pimms on Sundays. 'Her treat', she called it.
Grandpa would always like to say, 'you can learn a lot from mint, always keep it in a vase so it can be contained. Plant it in a flowerbed and it will run amok. It's like some people, mint's best kept on its own.'
In amazement Sophie realized she had already drunk the second Mojito. Lisa and Oscar had disappeared. Greg was still talking to the dark haired girl.
Wow she felt like she was on fire. The drink had turned into volcanic lava inside her, pouring over her head and lighting up every part of her body. All her senses were alive. That's it, she felt alive! She could do anything, she was invincible. The rhythm of the music was thudding through her. Someone, handed her another Mojito, it was Neil, a man from Accounts. She gulped it down and she moved across to the dance floor. She felt excited, so excited. She wanted to dance like she'd never danced before. She moved to the centre of the dance floor, the lights twirling and swirling around her. She raised her arms and thrust back her shoulders. Her top buttons came undone, she shimmied and shook and started to lick her lips like Lisa did. She was a ball of fire, of movement and rhythm and life. She was alive!1 She undid her ponytail and shook out her hair, she tossed her head around and her hair shone and glittered in the lights. It smelt of apple blossom from her new shampoo that grandma had given her for her birthday. She glanced up and saw Greg looking at her with a frown on his face. She wanted to smooth his brow, she wanted to wipe away all his cares. She never wanted to see him frown again. She wanted to fill him with light and goodness and joy and laughter and love. Yes she loved him. She always had.
She loved the whole world. Poor world. So much suffering in the world. She must kiss everyone better. She must kiss the world better just like grandad kissed her knees when she fell off her bike. It was her job to save the world, to make it all better by kissing. She licked her lips again and raised her face to the lights.
The music was flooding through her, she was dimly aware of the lyrics and started to sing along. Someone called out, 'Get her a pole', a loud raucous sound followed. She couldn't stop twirling and shimmying. She wriggled and pouted and tossed her hair. Neil came up to her with a glass of water. Just what she needed, she was so thirsty. She grabbed it and gulped it down. Ugh it tasted disgusting. She stared at Neil, what had he given her? He was smirking and his face was a bit out of focus. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her off the dance floor. She tried to pull away but he was too strong and together they stumbled towards the Emergency exit. Neil pushed the bar and pulled her outside. The door slammed behind them.The icy cold night time air brought her back to her senses and she looked at him in confusion.
Neil took hold of her roughly and tried to force his mouth on hers, she struggled and kicked. She tasted blood. Then she heard the door slam behind her and a fist shot out, punching Neil to the ground. He lay there groaning and she turned to see who had saved her.
It was Greg. He was looking at her in such a way that she fell sobbing into his arms.
What a fool she was, she never could hold her drink.
Greg put his arms round her and hugged her tight. His voice was full of emotion when he spoke,
'Hey it's ok, I'm here, I'll look after you. Let's get you home.'
The word 'home' made her cry even harder.
Neil groaned really loudly and sat up,
'Oh god I'm so sorry, I must have misread the signs, but oh my god, the way she was dancing… what the..?'
He backed away as Greg stepped towards him,
'I'm off mate, no worries.'
Greg lead Sophie to his car and gently pulled the seat belt round her. Their eyes locked.
'I love you Sophie, I always have, dare I hope I have a chance?'
In answer she pulled him towards her and whispered,
'It's always been you, for me, the only one. I've never wanted anyone else.'
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