The Finest Line (28 page)

“Mairead,” his tone had become
stern. “You need to settle down a bit sweetheart or you’ll be
passed out before the night is half over.”

“Stuff and nonsense Daddy,” she
chided him. “I’ve never felt so energetic. I could party all
night.”

“They don’t wear out like we do
Sean,” Richard Lewis came up to join them and Mairead lost some of
her enthusiasm. His thin smile and intense stare made her feel
nauseous.

His eyes roamed her before
looking to Sean. “Your daughter is a most magnificent creature. Our
grandchildren will have a great foundation.”

Sean smirked and embraced
Mairead a little tighter as she moved closer to him. “Well I hope
we have a few more years before grandchildren so that these young
people can still have a bit more fun with life.”

Richard didn’t comment further
but he gave her another inspection and Mairead quickly excused
herself to get away. She had barely walked a few steps when she
heard her name screamed with excitement.

Kylie, Amiri, Miranda and Diana
hurried towards her and she met them with equal enthusiasm.
Together they talked over each other and hugged and kissed and
squealed over each other’s outfits.

It was so wonderful to see the
bright and outrageous clothes her friends had chosen to wear rather
than the formal attire of her other guests. Kylie looked stunning
in a long yellow sequinned gown which showed off her breasts
proudly.

Beautiful tall Amiri with his
flowing dreads looked like a pirate with tight pants and a puffy
white shirt revealing much of his muscular chest.

Mairead feigned a leering stare.
“Are you deliberately trying to turn me on Amiri you sexy thing,
and I suppose that’s a big sword you have in your hand.” She
pointed to a long cylindrical case that he was carrying.

Amiri snorted his indifference
and waved her off, “You had your chance Mairead Kavanagh and you
rejected me.” His grin quickly returned as he hid the case behind
his back. “And you only get to see what’s in the case when I say
so.”

She was so involved with the
group that Mark had to shout her name for the third time before she
noticed him. “Mark, come and meet my friends.”

He approached but instead of
greeting her friends he pulled her away. She was marched a few feet
before she wrenched from his grasp and glared at him, “What the
fuck’s wrong with you?”

His face was angry. “You are
making a scene. People are looking at you.”

“Let them fucking look. I’m
enjoying my party.” She glanced at the crowd and noticed that her
friends were receiving curious stares. Richard’s stare was more
utter disgust than curiosity.

“Get rid of them,” Mark’s
command sparked her temper.

“Like hell I will,” She moved
her face closer and smirked. “You have no idea of the scene I can
make if you try and chuck my friends out.”

He stared at her for a moment
before walking away and the little fear she felt was quickly
dismissed. Turning back, she was delighted to see her father
standing with her friends accepting introductions from Kylie. She
hurried back.

The night flowed on with the
wine. Mairead stayed with her friends, giggling whenever she caught
one of Mark’s disapproving glares. She even poked her tongue at him
once and burst into fits of laughter.

They took over the dance floor
and needed little encouragement to incite the band to play livelier
music. Many of her more formal guests were drawn to the atmosphere
of fun and soon her friends were mingling amongst them.

Eventually the courage of the
alcohol allowed her to approach Mark who also seemed a lot more
relaxed.

“You see,” She grinned
ridiculously. “They all get along.”

He had his own smile of
satisfaction. “I’ve noticed one person who doesn’t look like he’s
having much fun.” He steered her face toward a group that were
still watching the dancers critically. Nearby her father was
talking to a taller man whose back was towards her. She didn’t need
any other information to know it was James.

Mark smirked, “I almost admire
his tenacity.” He patted her backside. “Don’t be impolite Mairead.
Go and greet your guest.”

Slowly she walked to them and
sank a little when her father moved off leaving James alone. When
he turned he saw her instantly and he soberly watched her
approach.

“Hello James,”

He nodded a small bow. “Miss
Kavanagh.”

There was so much she wanted to
say but only a simple question escaped her. “Why did you come?”

“You invited me I believe,” His
face was stony. “I was not aware that the invitation had been
rescinded.”

The temptation to blurt
everything out to him hovered on the tip of her tongue. He looked
so good, so handsome in his black suit and, strangely, a tie the
same colour as her dress.

“I wish I could explain some
things,” Was all she could manage.

His face grew colder. “You owe
me nothing. It is good to see you happy.”

She wanted to scream at him and
tell him how terribly unhappy she was. She wanted to launch into
his arms and have him hold her and never stop telling her how much
he loved her completely.

Even if had dragged her away by
her hair or lashed out at her, anything would have been preferable
to his harsh indifference. Tears began to roll down her face.

Whatever she expected, it was
not the hard and angry words that he spoke next. “Stop it Mairead.
You are here because you want to be, the choice that you made. You
don’t get to cry about it now.”

His viciousness nearly buckled
her and it was only that Mark came up behind her and held her
around the waist.

He spoke quietly to James. “I
think it’s time for you to leave.”

Mairead was trembling as she
watched him walk away and almost thankful for Mark’s arms around
her but when he kissed her neck she felt sick.

“I want to dance.” She pulled
away and hurried back to the music and the sounds of people who
still enjoyed living. Maybe they would remind her what that feeling
was like.

A crowd had circled around
something on the dance floor and as Mairead wandered in, she gasped
in astonishment. The cylindrical case was opened and Amiri had
rigged up a chromed pole with everyone looking at it curiously.

He grinned at her and then at
the crowd. “Here she is everyone, the next champion of the
International Pole Dancing Championships.”

His announcement set off loud
murmuring and camera flashes and Mairead began to laugh at Amiri’s
innocence. He had no idea how much trouble he had caused her but
then again, rebellion had always made her feel alive.

As she pulled off her shoes she
yelled to the band, “Something upbeat.”

By the time Mark realised what
was happening it was too late. She had already taken hold of the
pole and swung herself up to freeze in a horizontal pose before
swinging into action.

Throughout the song, she
entertained her audience thoroughly and received gasps, cheers and
applause. Her dress proved a little unsuitable for her act but she
had chosen matching blue silk panties that sat high on her hips.
They covered enough and she was a little too drunk to care.
Thoughts of James surged the adrenaline through her and she worked
hard to keep him out.

When the first song ended, she
was still holding the pole when she noticed Mark advancing angrily.
She skimmed to the top of the pole out of reach.

Without trying to draw too much
attention Mark was smiling as he asked her very politely to come
down. She shook her head and there was laughter in the crowd.

Her father came to stand next to
Mark, grinning with great amusement. He patted Mark on the
shoulder. “And that is your future wife.”

Amiri was up on the stage with
the band whose leader was putting a compact disk into their
system.

He called to her. “I know you’ve
been practicing Mairead. You left this on our player. I want to see
what you can do.”

The tinkling lilting of harp
music began to play and Mairead was not familiar with it but had
hard practiced such other gentle tempos.

As she slid down the pole, Mark
was going to move in, but Sean kept a firm hand on his shoulder.
“If you not ready to experience Mairead in all her defiance, I
advise you to let her dance and besides, I want to see her.”

Mark reluctantly moved back and
glared at her as she began to set her body in motion.

Sean looked on with admiration,
wondering if Schubert would approve of his
Ave Maria
being
used for such a dance and then decided Schubert would probably be
equally impressed.

Mairead moved with all the
melancholy and passion that the music delivered and which stirred
the sadness within her. She was barely aware of her audience as she
thought of James and danced for him in her mind.

She thought of how they had
moved together in their passion, entwined in each other’s arms, of
how James would only climax at the same time as her, even if she
had already had many. Only when she rippled her body out from the
pole did she hear the awe inspired murmurings about her.

When the song finished she slid
down the pole and discovered her audience had grown with all the
hotel staff looking on. The applause was thunderous and she felt a
little shy, gladly accepting her father’s embrace. Mark was staring
at her incredulously.

He moved towards her but Amiri
was there claiming her first, weeping shamelessly.

“I have nothing left to teach
you. It’s so unfair.”

Mairead hugged him tightly. He
had already given her so much. Her last performance would at least
be her best. She looked past him at Mark who stood by patiently and
was smiling at her.

This was the man that she was
going to spend the rest of her life with, however much of that was
left. She still despised so much about him but she couldn’t hate
him. Releasing herself from Amiri, she walked towards him.

He looked into her eyes. “What
was the one good thing I ever did in my life to end up with someone
like you?”

Mairead smiled, knowing how much
his words reflected similar feelings. For a fleeting moment, she
too had experienced something beautiful in her life and then she
had allowed him to walk away.

“I need water.”

They were about to walk to the
bar when Richard loomed in front of them. He had two glasses of
champagne.

He glared at them both. “You
have speeches to make. Get them done so I can get out of here.”

Mairead took a glass, “Great
idea. I certainly wouldn’t want to hold you up.”

Richard raised his eyebrows at
her and looked critically at Mark. “I hope you’re planning to give
your slut some lessons in respect.”

Mark took the other glass.
“Right now I would be happy if she just learned to like me a little
bit.”

He took her hand and steered her
away towards the stage. “Let’s do this and get out of here
ourselves.”

She squeezed his hand. “Just let
it be enough for now to know that I don’t hate you.”

On stage, Mark took charge of
the microphone.

“Ladies and Gentleman, thank you
for coming tonight and making our evening particularly special.
Like you, I am in awe over this beautiful woman who has agreed to
become my wife. She never fails to surprise us with her exceptional
talents.”

There was applause of agreement
before he continued. “I only hope that I can be someone that she
can be proud of as well, but for now I would like you to raise your
glasses and drink to my bride to be, Mairead.”

“To Mairead,” The toast was
enthusiastic and Mairead kissed Mark enough to save him any
embarrassment. She raised her glass in appreciation and looked up
at him.

“To Mark and the hope of future
happiness.”

The champagne was bitter but she
drank it down, resigning to make it her last and keep to water. The
night was taking its toll and she felt very weary and a little
nauseous.

Mark was eager to continue the
affection but she quickly told him that she was off to the toilet.
It wasn’t a lie. She felt a little desperate for the solitude of a
cubicle where she could escape the noise and the people.

The party volume grew peacefully
silent the further she went from the function room and wandered
along a corridor. Her attention was drawn to the boldly patterned
carpet which seemed to have become three dimensional. It was a
little weird but quite fascinating.

Pushing open the door, Mairead
sighed happily at the wonderfully empty restroom. At the vanity she
frowned at the sweaty, untidy girl who looked back at her in the
mirror. Taking a paper towel, she wiped away some stray mascara but
there was little she could do with her hair. The spirals were limp
from perspiration.

Her bladder reminded her it
needed attention and she chose the last of five cubicles. Sitting
down, she leant forward blissfully peeing and looking at the door
wondering why the paint was running down off it. There was no
puddle on the floor but worse was the way the tiles were moving
along like a conveyor belt.

It made her stomach lurch and
she decided it was her head’s turn for the bowl, except her bum had
melded into the seat and she couldn’t move. When she tried to push
off with her legs, they folded up like rubber and the feeling made
her giggle until the nausea grew stronger.

She walked her cheeks off the
seat bit by bit and fell down to her knees which she couldn’t
decide had hurt her or not. At least she could put her head in the
bowl as she did a slow turn on hands and knees.

Her underwear was still around
her ankles and she thought that might prove hazardous if she got
up, which was quite funny the more she thought about it. Somehow
she managed to reach back and take them off and then put them into
the bowl.