Page 26 of Barging In

A gentle pressure on her elbow drew her attention. The clean scent of washing powder drifted beneath her nose. Clem leaned in, her breath grazing Victoria’s neck.

“I’ll leave you two to it,” she said with a nod towards the buffet table. “I’ve got my eye on those Victoria sponges. I think I’ll do a bit of quality control… see how moist they are.”

Victoria gave her a nod and a smile, appreciating that the woman was probably starving. As Clem walked away, she fanned herself with her hand. Was it hot in here, or was it just her?

Jasper sidled up beside Victoria as soon as Clem was out of earshot. “Where on earth is Drew?” he hissed. “I thought he was picking you up.”

“He got held up or something,” she said with a shrug. “I got a lift on Florence,” she added, her tone lighter, unable to stop the smile that was creeping in as she remembered the trip up the canal. It was far better than sitting in the frigid silence of a car shared with Drew.

Before Jasper could say anything, the chatter in the room fell sharply.

All eyes turned to the café door. A tall man with a flawlessly classic side parting strode in, his brown hair perfectly in place.

His tailored, navy blue, Savile Row suit shimmered, and his brown John Lobb shoes shone with a high polish.

Victoria scowled. Of course, Drew had to make an entrance like that.

Without so much as a glance around the room for her, he moved through the crowd towards the bar, offering firm, two-handed handshakes that had always turned her stomach. Over-sincerity had always read as insincerity to her, especially when it came from her husband.

She turned to Jasper, noticing his full-body shudder as his gaze fixed on Drew. A flush of embarrassment crept up her neck.

“You’ve done a great job with the decorations and laying the food out,” she said to him, in need of a distraction.

Her eyes scanned the room for Clem. She spotted her at the bar along with a new but familiar face.

“I see you roped Max in to help on the bar,” Victoria added, nodding towards him. “He seems like a nice young man.”

“Would you like to emphasise young any further?” Jasper intoned.

“What?”

“He’s not that much younger — and he’s very eager to please,” Jasper said, his grin unmistakably suggestive.

“I bet he is. But be gentle with him, Jasper.”

His eyes shimmered with mischief. “Oh, I intend to be.”

She rolled her eyes. Just then, Drew’s voice came low and steady behind her.

“Victoria, there you are. Happy birthday.”

“Thank you,” she said as she turned to her husband, resisting the urge to point out it was now almost the day after.

“We must mingle,” Drew said, taking a sip of champagne. “There are a lot of important people here.”

He gave a cursory nod in Jasper’s direction, then took Victoria’s arm and began leading her away.

She wanted to tell him, They’re not important to me.

There were few who were. She glanced over her shoulder towards the bar and spotted Clem.

Their eyes met, and something in Clem’s face shifted, pinching into tension.

She looked away, leaving Victoria to wonder what was going through her mind.

As Drew introduced her to a couple nearby, Victoria kept one eye on Clem, who was now stepping behind the busy bar and slipping off her denim jacket. Did that woman ever stop working?

She had the sudden urge to pull her to her side, but mindful that Clem didn’t know many people, she resisted. She likely felt a little out of place, and knowing Clem, she probably wanted to help a friend. That seemed to be her way, Victoria thought with a smile.

“Are you sure you don’t mind helping? These people drink like fishes,” Max said, teasing the cork from a bottle of champagne. “I can’t keep up with filling the glasses. Emma has gone to wash some up in the kitchen.”

“Of course not. You’ve come to my rescue enough times. Plus, I don’t know anyone here, and Victoria’s tied up with… I assume her husband.”

She nodded in their direction as she covered a yawn.

“He’s a looker — if you like Ken dolls.”

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Clem sniggered, placing her jacket on a table behind them. “I thought Jasper seconded you to blow up some balloons.”

“He did. Then I stayed to help him set up. He asked if I would man the bar and promised me payment beyond my wildest dreams.” He wiggled his eyebrows, then turned away with a grin.

Clem followed Max’s gaze to where Jasper was standing. He gave Max a wink. Clem rolled her eyes at the pair of them.

“Sounds like a very professional arrangement. What is it with gay men admitting they’re attracted to each other immediately?”

“Hormones.”

“Hmm. I have plenty of those, but it can still take me six months to even ask a woman out.”

“Any woman in particular?” Max teased, nodding at Victoria. “She’s looking stunning tonight.”

“Married,” Clem shot back a little too quickly.

“Again — not denying it.”

“I can’t deny it,” Clem admitted with an exasperated breath, her tongue looser than she’d like after drinking a glass of wine whilst getting ready for the party.

“Tell me more,” Max demanded.

“There is nothing to tell. As you said, she’s stunning… She’s beautiful.”

“Makes your little heart scream, does she?”

Clem chuckled. “Something like that.”

“Ha! Knew it. It wasn’t five minutes ago that she was boiling your blood.”

“In the past,” Clem retorted. Then, changing the subject, she added, “You own a tuxedo?”

“You own a dress,” he retorted.

Clem narrowed her eyes at him.

Max looked down at himself. “Jasper lent me his old one. It’s a little big around the waist, but the belt’s holding up well. His apartment is amazing.”

“You’ve been in his apartment!” she enthused. “Fast work indeed. ”

“Just to change!”

“You’ve been almost naked in his apartment.”

It was Max’s turn to narrow his eyes. “Very funny. But yes, partially. I’m hoping I’ll be back in it by the end of the evening.”

Clem shook her head in mock disbelief.

He nodded towards the buffet table. “You two did a great job with the food — you make a good team. Everyone has been complimenting your Victoria sponge.”

She had to admit they did, and she admired the table as Max turned his attention to a thirsty guest. A relentless day’s work that had left her exhausted had rewarded her with Victoria’s appearance on the jetty — even if it had resulted in a bump to the head when she’d been so quick to exit Florence.

She’d only nipped back to the house after realising she had nothing suitable aboard to wear to the party.

When she pulled a few items of clothing from the suitcase she'd left in her parents’ garage — half expecting them to smell musty — she was surprised to find they still carried the faint scent of washing powder.

Sharing the quiet of the canal in the early evening with someone she admired — a little too much, if she was honest — had brought a sense of unexpected peace.

Neither of them had spoken, but nothing needed saying.

When they reached the wharf, she sensed Victoria was reluctant to step off Florence.

Clem was, too. She was itching to kidnap her and float off down the canal for the rest of the evening.

She’d felt a little awkward arriving with Victoria. All eyes had been on them — her especially, when they were likely expecting to see Drew. Then Victoria and Jasper had shared a celebratory moment, making her feel even more like a spare part, so she excused herself in favour of the buffet table .

Two men appeared at the bar. With Max busy attending to other guests, she handed them a bottle of beer each. Max and Jasper made a great team, too. They had transformed the room into a celebratory hall, proving her point that the café held more potential than it was currently being utilised for.

A long stream of thirsty guests followed behind, keeping them busy for almost an hour.

With a brief lull in demands for drinks, Clem scanned the room for Victoria.

She was unable to spot her among the crowd of bodies, so her eyes filtered for Drew, given his impressive height.

She was now sure the man in the overpriced suit with the French cuffs and flashy Rolex was him.

The rigidity that had seemed to take hold of Victoria’s body since he arrived was telling enough.

Clem finally spotted him with Victoria hanging off his arm, possessively parading her like nothing was wrong in their relationship.

Pretending he hadn’t let her down being late, wasn’t seeing someone else, and, in short, wasn’t the arsehole Clem knew him to be.

Her chest tightened at the sight of them together, forcing her mouth open to gasp for breath.

She watched as they joined a group in the corner, where his gestures turned exaggerated and theatrical. People laughed too easily, charmed by whatever story he was sharing. Clem’s shoulders twitched as she ground her teeth.

Victoria was smiling, though not really. Clem knew her real smile by now — the way it reached her eyes, making them glow, and lifted her whole face. This smile was too polished, too rigid and still.

Victoria’s gaze shifted, drifting across the room until it landed on her. In an instant, the smile changed, softened into something honest. It simmered some of Clem’s anger off, even if it made the heat in her chest burn hotter.

Jasper appeared in her eye line, partially blocking the view she was enjoying of Victoria.

“A glass of champagne, please, Clem.” His gaze drifted to where Clem’s had been so engaged. “Beautiful, isn’t she?”