One Night with Morelli(18)

                ‘I think in this day and age when people are losing their jobs and everything this sort of lavish display is totally insensitive.’

                So why did you come? mouthed Eve from her hiding place. Someone seemed to hear her silent question.

                ‘Yeah, but the champagne is good.’

                ‘She’s only the cook.’

                ‘But good-looking. I wouldn’t mind looking half as good as E-E-Eve’s mum when I’m her age.’

                ‘You’ve got to hand it to E-E-Eve’s mum—she got her man in the end. My mum says they’ve been at it for years.’

                With a militant light in her eyes, Eve reached for the door handle. No one, but no one, was about to bad-mouth her mother when she was around and get away with it.

                ‘What about E-E-Evie? What does she think she looks like?’

                Eve’s hand fell away as she listened to the cruel malicious laughter. It brought the memories flooding back and for a moment she was the misfit stigmatised as a swot and taunted for her stutter.

                ‘And that hair!’

                ‘And the eyebrows, and she’s still flat as a pancake, talk about molehills… Do you think she still stutters?’

                ‘I don’t know. The snooty cow walked straight past me and acted like I wasn’t there. Well, whatever money she is supposed to have made I think that it’s exaggerated as she hasn’t spent any on make-up. I was right all along—she’s definitely a lesbian.’

                ‘You only have to look at her.’

                ‘Definitely.’

                ‘To think we got detention for saying it at school! The girl has no sense of humour.’ There was the sound of rustling and another blast of hairspray before someone said, ‘That’s my mascara.’ The sound of the door opening and then, ‘She was always full of herself, looking down her nose at us, the little swot.’

                Old insults and she’d heard them all before.

                The door to the ladies’ room closed with a dull clunk and the room fell silent, but Eve stayed inside the cubicle giving them another few minutes just to be on the safe side and let the tears dry.

                She lifted a hand to her damp face… How crazy was that? She had sworn that they would not make her cry again, that the bullies who had made her life a misery had long ago lost their power to hurt her.

                So why are you hiding in the loo, Eve?

                Because she had nothing to prove.

                ‘I’m not hiding.’ She was about to slide the latch when a soft reply made her jump.

                ‘I know but it’s all right—they’ve gone.’

                The kind voice didn’t belong to any of the three faces from the past.

                The only person in the otherwise empty ladies’ room was a young girl. Even in her flat ballet pumps she was several inches taller than Eve and slender. The encouraging smile she gave when Eve stepped out lit a face that had perfect features.

                Eve could feel the girl’s warm brown eyes as she walked across to the washbasin. ‘Are you all right?’