Protect and Service(7)
* * *
My smile lasted clean through the usual introductions and banal conversations that were normally associated with functions such as these. Like all the other spouses and ‘plus ones’, Jared was duly attentive at my side, polite when spoken to but without dominating the conversation. To my relief, he was also somewhat reluctant to discuss his profession, turning all queries aside with a vague comment about working as a consultant with law enforcement. A claim that had the two clerical staff who had joined our group cooing in appreciation.
Mandy and…
I scanned my memory for the other woman’s name but came up blank. Both were blonde, but if the carpet matched the drapes in either case I’d be very much surprised. With the pseudo skeletal look of the permanent dieter, both looked hungry, but since they were casting eyes toward my date for the evening, I doubted it was for food. Bitches.
“Law enforcement? How exciting,” Mandy giggled, sliding her arm onto Jared’s and pressing what little she had in the way of tit against his triceps. I had to bite back the snort. From our little encounters earlier, I knew he was a breast man. No way was her little offering going to cut the mustard.
Her voice dropped suggestively. “And I’ll just bet you have a gun?”
Fuck me. If she was going to pull the whole ‘is that a gun in your pocket?’ routine, I’d piddle myself here and now. She shot me a bitchy look as I tried to cover the noise with a sip from my glass.
Brazen bitch. Annoyance surged through my veins as she turned back to Jared and gave him a hot look, as though the fact his date was less than two feet away was neither here nor there. I knew all about women like Mandy. The ones who took what they wanted and screw anyone else. “So…do you have handcuffs too?”
“I might have.”
Jared didn’t look that bothered, smiling down at the blonde leech with a warmth I recognised. How stupid was I? Realisation froze my heart in my chest as I watched my stupid fantasies about Jared and I crash and burn in front of my eyes.
Of course he’d find a blonde bimbo like Mandy more attractive. Didn’t all men? His pretty words earlier…yeah, that must have been boredom. I was something to play with until a better option came along.
Desperate to get away for a while, to compose myself, I threw back the rest of my drink, hissing as the alcohol burned all the way down, then mumbled something about the ladies room. Dropping my glass on a nearby table with a clunk, I ignored Jared’s call and high-tailed it out of Dodge.
The ladies room was of course packed, but most seemed to be re-applying makeup rather than waiting for a stall so I ducked past the chattering group at the mirrors without making eye contact and achieved the sanctuary of a cubicle.
Fucking wank shit fuck balls bollocks and just for variety, crap.
Seated on the folded down toilet seat, I leaned my forehead against the flimsy wall and told myself I wasn’t going to cry. And I wasn’t. I’d been done with men since Pete had been a tosser, so why I was getting upset now I had no clue. Certainly not because I’d gone all gooey-eyed over some cute guy who spent half his time bloody furry.
“And have you seen that dress? Practically skin tight, I don’t know what she was thinking.” Five minutes later Mandy’s harpy-like voice filtered through the chatter as I rearranged my clothing, trying to get more of the girls covered up again. How odd, when I’d thought Jared was genuine, I hadn’t been bothered. But now that I knew better, my inner prude was trying to resurface with a vengeance. I stopped mid-struggle with the girls. Was this neckline getting lower?
“Yeah, I know,” the other girl answered. I could imagine them both at the mirror, reapplying lashings of mascara and lip gloss. Like Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum, they were practically clones of each other. “I’d kill for a bust like that though, wouldn’t you? Do you think it’s natural?”
I stopped dead in surprise, my hand on the door latch. Had I just heard that right?
“Oh god, yeah. Bitch has it all, doesn’t she? Those tits, that hair and ohmygod that guy? Did you know he turned me down flat? Me? She must be bloody amazing in the sack. Fucking lucky cow. You ready?”
I felt my eyes grow as wide as saucers as the voices of the twin blondes faded, cut off by the sound of the closing door.
It’s said an eaves-dropper never hears well of herself, but that had been one snippet of information no way would I have wanted to miss. Mandy and her twin were jealous of me. And Jared had turned her down…when had I slipped into a parallel dimension? He’d turned her down. A warm feeling spread out through my body as I unlatched the door and, feeling ten feet tall, swept past the mirrors to sashay my extra-padded booty out the door.