Hill.
‘I wish we had something to drink,’ Eva thought as they lay side by side in the grass, and she must have said it out loud without realising because Lucien peeled himself up off the ground beside her and reached inside his jacket to produce a bottle of brandy.
‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’
‘Oh, you didn’t,’ she exclaimed, knowing it could only have come from the party they’d just left.
‘No I bloody didn’t nick it, if that’s what you mean.’ Lucien sounded aggrieved. ‘He gave it to me, alright. Said I had limpid eyes and that I should help myself to his drinks cabinet.’
‘I think he meant to a drink, not a bottle.’
‘Whatever. He left it open to interpretation. Anyway, a flat around here costs squillions so he’s hardly going to miss a bottle of booze. And he wouldn’t have invited a bunch of randoms back to his place if he was that worried about it.’
‘You’re incorrigible,’ Eva laughed. ‘Limpid eyes?’
Lucien leant across and held his face very close to hers. ‘Yes, limpid. Like a rock pool. Can’t you feel yourself being pulled in by their limpidity?’
‘I don’t actually think that’s a word,’ she said, wriggling out from under him. She’d seen him employ weapons-grade flirtation on at least five other people tonight regardless of age or gender, including the guy whose brandy he’d stolen, so she wasn’t kidding herself that this behaviour meant anything.
‘Did you have a good time tonight?’ Lucien said, casually shifting back onto his side but still facing her. She looked up at the lightening sky where the sun was rapidly burning away the early morning cloud. It was going to be one of those perfect summer days.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I really did. I haven’t had such a good time in ages. It’s great the way your club night’s taking off, seems like it’s really working out for you.’
He stretched, causing his T-shirt to ride up so that a couple of inches of flat white stomach were exposed. ‘I’ve got big plans for it, actually. I’m talking to a couple of other club owners about putting on similar nights for them. They love what I’m doing, bringing back proper old-school house and techno, none of that grungy Britpop shite. I’m hoping to put on a really epic night for the millennium.’
‘If the millennium bug doesn’t bring the world to an end, you mean?’
‘Then it really would be the party to end all parties. Maybe I’ll call it Chaos or something. That’s a good angle, maximise the marketing potential.’
‘Listen to you, Richard Branson. Marketing potential?’
Lucien turned a suddenly serious gaze upon her. ‘I’m not messing about here, Eva, it might look like I’m just having fun but it’s hard work and I’m planning on going places. You’re not the only one making something of yourself. I’ve grown up a lot these last couple of years. I’m not just the same old Lucien you used to know.’
He was staring penetratingly into her eyes as he spoke, and was it her imagination or was he leaning in towards her again? Was he trying to tell her that things had changed, that he wanted her and wouldn’t treat her the same way again? Or was that just the residual effects of the pills making her utterly stupid? Oh God, his face was really close now.
‘We’re not like other people, are we, Eva? What you’re doing with your career, it’s really impressive. And I’m going places too. We’re really on the brink of something. Can you feel it?’
And she could feel it. The world was changing. She was standing on the edge of a cliff. But that sounded like a bad thing, so maybe she was at the foot of a mountain, but no, that made it sound like she had a mountain to climb whereas things were actually going to get easier. So a clifftop it was, but the sort of cliff where falling off was a good thing. She felt Lucien take her hand and slide his fingers between hers and suddenly he was standing next to her at the cliff’s edge
‘I wish we had something to drink,’ Eva thought as they lay side by side in the grass, and she must have said it out loud without realising because Lucien peeled himself up off the ground beside her and reached inside his jacket to produce a bottle of brandy.
‘Ask, and ye shall receive.’
‘Oh, you didn’t,’ she exclaimed, knowing it could only have come from the party they’d just left.
‘No I bloody didn’t nick it, if that’s what you mean.’ Lucien sounded aggrieved. ‘He gave it to me, alright. Said I had limpid eyes and that I should help myself to his drinks cabinet.’
‘I think he meant to a drink, not a bottle.’
‘Whatever. He left it open to interpretation. Anyway, a flat around here costs squillions so he’s hardly going to miss a bottle of booze. And he wouldn’t have invited a bunch of randoms back to his place if he was that worried about it.’
‘You’re incorrigible,’ Eva laughed. ‘Limpid eyes?’
Lucien leant across and held his face very close to hers. ‘Yes, limpid. Like a rock pool. Can’t you feel yourself being pulled in by their limpidity?’
‘I don’t actually think that’s a word,’ she said, wriggling out from under him. She’d seen him employ weapons-grade flirtation on at least five other people tonight regardless of age or gender, including the guy whose brandy he’d stolen, so she wasn’t kidding herself that this behaviour meant anything.
‘Did you have a good time tonight?’ Lucien said, casually shifting back onto his side but still facing her. She looked up at the lightening sky where the sun was rapidly burning away the early morning cloud. It was going to be one of those perfect summer days.
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I really did. I haven’t had such a good time in ages. It’s great the way your club night’s taking off, seems like it’s really working out for you.’
He stretched, causing his T-shirt to ride up so that a couple of inches of flat white stomach were exposed. ‘I’ve got big plans for it, actually. I’m talking to a couple of other club owners about putting on similar nights for them. They love what I’m doing, bringing back proper old-school house and techno, none of that grungy Britpop shite. I’m hoping to put on a really epic night for the millennium.’
‘If the millennium bug doesn’t bring the world to an end, you mean?’
‘Then it really would be the party to end all parties. Maybe I’ll call it Chaos or something. That’s a good angle, maximise the marketing potential.’
‘Listen to you, Richard Branson. Marketing potential?’
Lucien turned a suddenly serious gaze upon her. ‘I’m not messing about here, Eva, it might look like I’m just having fun but it’s hard work and I’m planning on going places. You’re not the only one making something of yourself. I’ve grown up a lot these last couple of years. I’m not just the same old Lucien you used to know.’
He was staring penetratingly into her eyes as he spoke, and was it her imagination or was he leaning in towards her again? Was he trying to tell her that things had changed, that he wanted her and wouldn’t treat her the same way again? Or was that just the residual effects of the pills making her utterly stupid? Oh God, his face was really close now.
‘We’re not like other people, are we, Eva? What you’re doing with your career, it’s really impressive. And I’m going places too. We’re really on the brink of something. Can you feel it?’
And she could feel it. The world was changing. She was standing on the edge of a cliff. But that sounded like a bad thing, so maybe she was at the foot of a mountain, but no, that made it sound like she had a mountain to climb whereas things were actually going to get easier. So a clifftop it was, but the sort of cliff where falling off was a good thing. She felt Lucien take her hand and slide his fingers between hers and suddenly he was standing next to her at the cliff’s edge
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