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Two glasses of wine later, it was a relaxed Bob and Kate who headed into the night. By some Christmas miracle, the rain had stopped and Kate didn’t need to bother with her unsightly raincoat. As they wandered down the steep hill to the jail, Kate was grateful for the relatively sensible boots. It would feel a long walk uphill on the way home, she was certain.
Her nerves began to jangle as they walked through into the Jail courtyard, but Bob gave her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder and took charge, leading her towards the main entrance. The courtyard glowed with thousands of fairy lights, soft jazz piped out from a hidden speaker. Several groups were huddled together, drinking champagne and smoking cigarettes.
“This way,” said Bob, leading her inside towards the bar. “The others should be around here somewhere, but let’s get some drinks in before we find them, you’ll probably need one.” He grinned at Kate, and she felt herself relax a little.
“Bob!” A scantily clad woman screeched his name from across the room. Bob groaned and gave her a wave.
“Get ready for the onslaught. That’s Mildred, the snake lady.”
“Mildred? Is she some character from Harry Potter? Surely it’s not her real name?”
“No, it’s not. Morag told me once her real name’s Amelia, Millie for short, but when she was 16 she changed it by deed-poll to Mildred.”
“Why would anyone do that?”
“Not a clue.”
The woman pushed through the crowd towards them. Her black sequined dress was more like a napkin, barely covering her bum and hanging low at the front to reveal two large breasts. Her eyes were thickly kohled, her lips painted deep purple. She reminded Kate of a vampire.
“Bob, my sweetheart. How the hell have you been? I can’t believe it’s a whole year since I’ve seen you. Come here.” She dragged Bob into a tight embrace, and when he extricated himself, Kate noticed a smudge of purple lipstick staining his new shirt. She’d keep quiet about that, for now.
“Hi, Mildred, good to see you. This is my friend Kate,” he said.
“Hi,” said Mildred, not taking her eyes off Bob. She linked her arm into his, pulling him away into the crowd. “Now, I need to tell you all about my new babies. There’s a corn snake called Nathaniel, a Python called Micky…”
Help,Bob mouthed over his shoulder. Kate shrugged to show she was powerless against Mildred’s charms. He stuck his middle finger up in reply, and Kate grinned back. She gathered their drinks from the bar and followed Bob to where he now stood, surrounded by a large group of people. It was strange, seeing him central to the throng of colleagues. The women flicked their hair and giggled when he spoke. The men let out hearty laughs and clapped him on the back.
Kate hung back from the group, feeling more of an outsider than ever. Did these people know what troubled Bob? Did they know what caused him to switch suddenly from happiness to anger? Did they know whose messages and calls could prompt him to disappear at a moment’s notice? Around these people, he became so animated. It was as though he were the conductor and everyone else in his orchestra.
Bob looked beyond the group to where Kate stood, two drinks in hand. He signalled for her to join him and she pushed her way through the tightly-packed bodies. As she reached him, he took his beer from her and pulled her close with his spare hand.
“Everyone, this is my friend Kate. She’s fairly new in town, so please make her welcome.”
Glasses were raised in acknowledgment of Bob’s request, though the women looked less thrilled about the prospect of entertaining Kate than the men. Snake loving Mildred wheedled her way between Kate and Bob, and Kate found herself pressed up against a sweating middle-aged man who introduced himself as Trevor.
“Do you work with these guys?” Kate asked, shouting to make herself heard above the roar of voices.
“Christ no. I’m here with my wife, her plus one as she likes to say.”
“Oh, I see. Do you know everyone well?”
“No, not really. I only ever see them at the Christmas do, and there’s often new partners each year. I have to be careful, I got in trouble last year when I engaged Sally’s husband Mark in conversation about his plumbing business, only to discover I was talking to her new partner Chris who worked in insurance. It’s a minefield I can tell you. The worst part is I don’t think anyone even likes bringing their partners along. It’s just one of those traditions no one thinks to change. Anyway, enough about me. How do you know Bob?”
“Oh, we met through the solicitors. He’s been helping me deal with my grandmother’s will, and through that we’ve become good friends.”
“Just good friends? I’ve heard that before,” said Trevor with a wink.
“Honestly it’s nothing like that. We really are just friends.”
“Well there’s a few women here who’ll be glad to hear that.”
“Really?” said Kate, struggling to mask her surprise at Bob being considered desirable by the fairer sex.
“Oh yes. It’s an office sport, fighting to win the heart of Bob. I think it’s a combination of kindness, manly charm and complete disinterest in any romantic attachments that keeps them all hooked.”
Kate laughed, deciding she could have ended up with company far worse than Trevor’s. Unfortunately, just at that moment another man joined them, thin as a rake, holding a whiskey in one hand and champagne flute in the other.
