Connie slammed the door to her office and sat down at the desk, trying to calm her fury. How dare Michael undermine her like that, and in front of all the board members as well? How on earth was she ever supposed to command the respect of her staff and the trust when he was constantly belittling her and making her appear inept? 'Are you coming home?' Michael's head popped around the door and he wore a broad smile, clearly unaware that he'd done anything wrong and this aggravated her further. 'Later' she managed to rasp, her chest constricting with anger at the mere sight of his face 'I have things to do here' 'Whatever' he shrugged lightly 'I'll see you later' he added as he slammed the door and made his way down the corridor with a small spring in his step that she recognised as his victory dance. Smug git, she muttered to herself as she pulled out a stack of paperwork that should have been dealt with yesterday and started to scrawl her name on every visible dotted line, taking out her aggression on an unsuspecting biro which eventually, unable to stand the strain, snapped in two. 'Bugger' she muttered, throwing it down in temper and searching in the desk drawer for another 'screw it' she added, furiously throwing the paperwork back into her in-tray and grabbing her coat. She needed a drink before she could even contemplate attempting to get her head around the complexities of bed-allocation strategies and the bottle of red wine that nestled in the cupboard wasn't going to cut it. She needed something with an alcohol content not far short of meths. After the day she'd had, she thought that breaking into the store cupboard and drinking a bottle of surgical spirit would probably be acceptable behaviour.
'Double gin' she barked at the bartender 'and no tonic, no ice and no slice' she added before he asked her 'quick as you like' 'Here you are' he slammed the glass down in front of her, furious at her rudeness although he vaguely recognised her as a big shot from the hospital across the road and decided she was probably the person referred to by the nurses as Cruella. She certainly had a real attitude problem. 'Thanks' she gave him a small smile as the alcohol entered her body and started to numb the tension that wracked every muscle and joint in her body 'keep the change' 'Thanks' the bartender gave her a suspicious look and took the five pound note from her as she hopped down from the barstool, still clutching her drink as though it was a lifeline and crossed the bar to the battered leather sofas in the corner of the room where she sat down, neatly crossing her legs as she lit a cigarette and took a long drag. 'It's no smoking' he went over and cautiously pointed out to her, preparing for her to react badly to this intervention 'sorry' 'Fine' she rolled her eyes and stubbed out the cigarette on the saucer he offered 'it was only a displacement activity anyway' 'Right' he drawled slowly as he backed away and put the still glowing cigarette into the bin, watching as she lifted her glass to her lips and drained it in one movement before slamming it back down and staring at it, as if in surprise that it was already empty.
Two hours later, Connie was more than a little worse for wear. She was well on her way to being completely pissed and worse; she found that she didn't particularly care. Of course Michael would be unimpressed when she rolled home in the small hours hardly able to stand and even less impressed when she had to spend tomorrow morning within ten metres of a toilet but that seemed like a small price to pay for a night of completely forgetting everything. Slowly, unsteadily, she got to her feet, preparing to order another vodka and tonic before calling it a night, drunkenly debating with herself the wisdom of ordering a double before deciding that she would have the double and deal with the consequences later.
As she descended upon the bar, she heard a voice that made her heart sink. Although she knew that it was highly likely she'd see some of her staff at the bar across the road from the hospital, she was now so drunk, she really didn't have the energy, inclination or mental capacity to deal with them. Especially not Chrissie Williams. Stifling a sigh, she scanned the bar for an exit that didn't involve walking past Chrissie and whatever man would shortly have her tongue investigating his throat but saw that there was none. She was going to have to face the music, say a quick hello and then call it a night. Slowly, painstakingly, she made her way towards the exit, a vague sense of nausea rising in her chest from too much alcohol on an empty stomach and she was faced with the horrible prospect of throwing up in front of her ward sister. Wishing she had never heard of alcohol, she struggled to carry on walking, the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other and moving forwards almost more than her inebriated brain could take.
'Connie?' Chrissie spotted her and looked at her in puzzlement as her boss rocked dangerously, holding onto the bar in an attempt to stay upright 'are you okay?' 'Fine' she croaked; glad that at least Chrissie's date had his back turned. She didn't know why but the idea of being seen in this state by Chrissie's latest victim almost upset her more than being seen by Chrissie. After all, she'd seen Chrissie in comparable states on more than one occasion but the man would just think of her as Chrissie's alcoholic boss and the very prospect made her want to cry. 'Are you sure?' Chrissie stood up and gently put her hand on Connie's elbow to steady her 'You seem a little…' 'I'm fine' Connie barked, brushing Chrissie's hand away from her arm, although she knew she lacked her usual force 'really. Have a good night' 'You too' Chrissie frowned slightly as Connie continued her slow shuffle towards the door, glancing only momentarily at Chrissie and her date. At that moment, Connie felt her blood run cold and the nausea she had been fighting to control overtake her. Without looking back, she bolted for the door, running into the park opposite the bar before dropping to her knees and throwing up, unable to believe who was dating Chrissie Williams.