After Hours

Slippery Slope

January 16, 1971

Jane sat on her couch, with her cup of tea and a piece of toast she had prepared for breakfast that morning. Two pain relievers were in her other hand as she tossed them into her mouth and washed them down with her tea. Jane and Brian had drunk more, and certainly stayed up later than either of them planned. He didn't leave her flat until close to four that morning. She slept later than she normally would but excused it because of the late night and she had another party to attend tonight. Calling it a party would be an understatement, a soirée would be the proper word.

She had her fun last night as Jane but tonight would be as Janette. Her proper first name, she thought it would sound classier when she introduced herself like that.

She never was particularly fond of her actual name but she was always called Jane growing up, when she thought of the name 'Jane' the image of her as an awkward, shy teenager came to mind.

To pass the time, she straightened up her flat and got ahead on her lessons for the upcoming week. She stayed near the phone in case a certain somebody called, but it never came. She pushed the feeling of disappointment to the back of her mind, maybe he was busy but her mind went automatically to the worst conclusion that he didn't want to talk to her.

Tomorrow would be a full day of recovery, there was always champagne at these events and champagne always gave her the worst hangovers. She didn't even like the taste of it but that's what everyone else drinks so she feels as though she has to.

As it neared time to start getting ready, she decided to dress more comfortably. She learned her lesson the hard way the previous night of how ill-prepared she was against the cold weather.

Instead of wearing her second-hand designer mini dress, she wore a striped turtleneck sweater, paired with a tight-fitting black vest, a black skirt that extended right above her knees, and black stockings. Heels were her go-to for a night like this but decided against it, her loafers did have a small heel to them but nothing that would cause her feet to ache halfway through the night.

She looked at herself in the mirror, attempting to convince herself that her outfit was okay even though she would probably be underdressed. She was more comfortable wearing something like this rather than the designer dresses. Not just physically comfortable but something inside told her this was more her.

The party was being held at her friend Véronique's parents residence. She usually went by Roni for the ease of the English speakers who would continually butcher the pronunciation of her name. Her father was the French ambassador to the UK, Jane and Roni met through their mutual friend, Sandra whose father is a member of Parliament.

I told she ran in influential circles.

The French Residence was located in Kensington and it was absolutely gorgeous, the ornate decor and furnishings always took up most of Jane's attention when she was a guest there. The bus ride to the residence wasn't too long, she was grateful that the bus stop was a ten minute walk from it so there wouldn't be a chance of someone seeing her get off. Most everybody who attended these things had cars and chauffeurs to go along with them.

Jane didn't particularly want to go to this party but had already promised earlier in the week that she would, the three girls that she spent most of her time with would be there so maybe seeing them would change her attitude.

The architectural marvels of Kensington Palace Gardens always left Jane in awe, she wondered what it would be like to live in a gorgeous mansion such as these. As she was a school teacher, the only way she'd live in one is if she married up. There were several other diplomatic homes located on the street but her destination was the sixth one on the right. Walking closer to her destination, she would hear the music and conversations emitting from inside. I guess you could say Roni lived here full time as she would stay even if her parents were back home in France.