Glass Ceilings (10 page)

Doubt
still
hovered
on
Verity’s
face, so Claire
wheedled, ‘
Oh, come on,
i
t’ll be
a ci
nch. Hey, it can double as your house-warming!
I’ll bring a plant and all.
The place is looking
so
good, it’s a great time t
o show it off
.
What d’ya say?’

Verity
had never been able to resist a serious
a
ssault by Claire in full, effervescent form, so s
he eventually agreed, although with some misgivings
. How many people would come
, and would Royce be among them?

Not that it matters
, she scolded herself,
he’s
only
another complex dweller, that’s all
.

She did get a bit excited
though,
at
the prospect of making some
tasty morsels
to tempt her guests
. After scanning
her favourite recipe books for ideas,
she finally settled
on a range o
f Nigella Lawson’s delicacies
, choosing some that were
simple, but succulent. S
he also decided
to buy a new outf
it for the occasion, so she could
feel
at the top of her game
.
It was another good excuse for
retail therapy
,
with her enthusiastic co-shopper
and fashion critique partner, Claire,
in tow
.
A
fte
r much trying-
on of num
erous outfits, Verity chose
a
Black Label
shell dress,
of luxurious black lace over elegant navy
satin.
As soon as she stepped out of the
change room with it on, she was awarded with
an eager, if hard-won, thumbs-up from Claire.

It
now graced her trim figure
.
She glanced
at her watch;
there was
still time before everyone arrived
to have
one more
careful
preen
in
front of
the cheval mirror
.
She was pleased at how well the
dress suited her
. Its figure-hugging, sleeveless bodice tapered
smoothly into
a
black
silk
waistband, and its
wide neckli
ne showed off the smooth,
creamy
skin on her
throat and neck
.
A
scalloped
lace hem
rested above
her shapely knees
,
encouraging
the eye
to travel
down
slender
legs
u
n
der
barely-there black stockings
,
to a stylish pair of
black high heels
with dainty ankle straps
.
Her hair was
piled
high on her head, tied
with a black satin ribbon and held in place by combs
sparingly dotted
with diamantes
,
which glinted in the light. S
he’d taken
particular care with her ma
keup
which
looked
flawless, even to her
own judgemental
eyes
.

Well, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be
,
she sighed
to herself
.
It’s been ages since I
hosted a ‘do’
like t
his.
T
he last time was that
surprise
birthday party
for David
, which
was
a bit
of a disaster
.
Although ev
eryone else had a great time, the guest of honour
wasn’t impressed when he realised
that instead of
the AFL season tickets he was expecting
, I was throwing him a
cocktail party
so all his family and friends could help him celebrate his special day.
H
ow was I to know
he
’d want the same present
again, for
about
the third
year running
?
He hadn’t dropped the usual
hints
,
or
maybe
I hadn’t picked up on them
because I wanted t
o do something different. B
ut
I guess
I should’
ve known
, h
e
was
never
one for trying new things, and he made no
secret o
f his obsession with
Aussie Rules
football
.
She sighed
again
.
Well
,
I hope this evening is
more successful
than that one was
.

‘W
ow!’ Claire stood in
the door
way,
gaz
ing at her. ‘That
dress looks even better on you
here
than it did in the boutique. And look at your tiny waist! Oh,
I’m
so
jealous.
...
’
She
came further into the room.
‘
Was t
hat you in the kitchen
earlier,
in torn
, garlic-splattered
jeans,
up to your elbows in flour
, and sweat
ing all over the
baked ricotta
?
’ sh
e teased, ‘’c
os this image in front of me
sure do
es
n’t look
, or,’ and she sniffed, ‘smell
like her!’

They both giggled
.

‘Hey, y
ou look great too,’
Verity
said. ‘T
hose new linen trousers are
very
slimming, and go so well wi
th that blouse. I love its
sheer
collar and
puffed sleeves.
’
She
glanced at Claire’s feet. ‘
And you decided to brave the
high-heeled black sandals
? They look terrific, but they’re so new, I hope they don’t give you blisters! Oh, and I love what you’ve done with your hair. Having it
up
really suits you.’

Claire beam
ed and
tweak
ed
the
strands of hair she’d carefully
curl
ed
to
frame
her heart-shaped
face.
‘
C’mon,’ sh
e announced
, ‘t
here’s
a
couple
of chilled champagne flutes downstairs
,
having a dry argument that can only be settled by adding bubbles
. I don’t know about you, but this gal’s ready to par-tay!’

The evening was a
succ
ess
despite
an
early hiccup
, and a quite literal one
. Verity
and Clai
re had
each
partaken of at least two glasses of bubbly befo
re
the guests
arrived
, which was
fo
olhardy
considering their empty stomachs
. Under Claire’s
instructions,
t
hey’d only snacked
lightly
during the day. She wanted her
tummy
as
flat as possible for the
evening,
stating
matter-of-factly,
‘
I’m on the prowl again
,
so I need to look my best.’
Unfortunately
,
t
he wine had
promptly
gone
to Verity’s head
,
and made her
greetings to
colleagues,
acquaintances and perfect strangers
,
a little more
warm
and welcoming than usual.

Worse still, s
he
was sure she
had actually
hiccuped in someone’s face.
Recalling it later, she
shudder
ed
.

Should I try to remember who it was, or
pretend it never happened?
She grimaced, and her inner voice yelled,
c
hoose
the second box!

After the hiccup incident, Verity had firmly resisted Claire’s proff
ered ‘top-ups’ of
champers
and opted
for
the safer spritzig of
s
oda water.
But
Claire cheerfully sailed along on a sea of
alcoholic
bubbles, making
good on her promise to keep the drinks flowing into every empty glass she spied
, including her own
.

And
when Royce arrived, a number of refills after everyone else, he
received a warm
er than expected
welcome.
He’d been debating
whether
to go
at all
,
and had finally decided to make a brief appearance.
Rosie had been so determined he be there, and h
e
hadn’t come up with a
good
enough
reason to avoid it. He wasn’t
anticipating
an
enjoy
able time
,
though
.
Nor did he expect the rush
he felt
at the sight of Verity, backlit by soft lighting, waiting in the doorway to greet him with a pretty smile.
She
looked alluringly
feminine
in an outfit very
different from her corporate wear
.
Until that
moment,
he hadn’t realised what an
attractive
woman
she was
. He’d always regarded
her
as
merely
an
o
ther
‘
suit
’
.

A
s Verity
graciously
extended
him
a hand
in
welcome, an arm
suddenly
materialis
ed over her
shoulder.
Ro
yce caught a glimpse of a
flushed face as Clair
e
bellowed
, ‘Heeshadrink
, Royce!
’

He
gave a smiling frown
as he
shoo
k Verity’s extended hand, and
accepted the
over-filled
glass Claire was handing him none too steadily
.

Verity cringed a little
, brushing drops of bubbly off her shoulder and gently pushing
Claire’s arm away.
‘
Welcome
,
Royce
.
C
ome on in
. Do you know everyone?’

His eyes skimmed over the other guests as he
stepped
into the
room
.
H
e turned
to
Verity
and
said
in his deep voice,
‘I think I recognise most of them.’

Surprised by
the look—
of
reluctant
admiration?—
in his eyes,
Verity stared
wordlessly
at him.
And that’s when Claire noticed an empty glass in someone’s hand.
She swiftly turne
d on her heel
,
intent on righting
the
wrong. B
ut in her sozzled state
she
stumbled against Verity, who gave a startled gasp, tipped forward, and fell against Royce.