Effie had left that morning in a fowl mood and now she had returned in one.
Haymitch listened as she threw her purse, keys and gloves onto the breakfast bar and marched through to the sitting room with striking steps.
He sat forward on the couch, in the dark, nursing his half full or half empty glass, waiting for another argument to come.
Wondering where she had been all day. Back to him?
...
It had all started a week ago, when Effies on/ off boyfriend had announced his new position as head game maker, live on Ceasars network. It had been news to everyone, but worst of all, it had been news to Effie.
Roll on 6 six harrowing hours later, the bitter arguing back at the penthouse suit hadn't stopped. The kids had gone to bed as had Haymitch, but his room was down the hall from hers and whilst Seneca was still in their pleading, Haymitch wasn't going to get much sleep that night, any time soon.
By 1am he had had had quite enough and Effie and Senecas bickering had filtered out into the hallway, right outside of Haymitchs room. He had made for the door handle, ready to give them a piece of his mind, until something in the tone of Effies voice had stopped him. Something...final.
"And what if my tributes do well, Seneca? What about that?! I can't have people thinking that it was you pulling strings in there for us! It would be the end of us"
"What 'us' are you referring to here Effie? You and I? Or you and that god damned useless drunk you call a mentor!"
Haymitch had chosen not to react to that. He had been less bothered by Senecas insult but more intrigued by what his escort might say in reply.
"How dare you. That man has been through hell and still manages to get out of that bed everyday and carry on! You barely had a cold last month and you checked yourself in for a full MRI!"
Haymitch had accidently laughed out loud at that point.
After a spell of silence, he thought he might have been caught eavesdropping but as he'd remained still, behind his door with his hand clamped over his mouth, he heard them continue on, just a little quieter.
"Be honest with yourself Effie...district 12 is never going to do well. Think about it. This will be good for you too"
"And what on earth brings you to that conclusion Seneca?"
"I can be very persuasive with people Effie" he'd said, with all the charm of a snake "I'm connected to a lot of influential officials now...You know you want out of 12 and into a higher ranking district. Its all you've ever wanted. Say the words and its done"
The hairs had risen on the back of Haymitchs neck he remembered, after waiting nervously for what her reply was going to be.
"That's the difference between you and him you know..." she had eventually replied.
"He's never once offered to make this job easy for me"
"Because he's a self absorbed prick-"
"Because he's a man who believes in earning a right to an easy life and because he had to fight for it... You slept your way into that position and don't you deny it, I'm smarter than I look..."
"You're saying you never slept your way to a better life... Euphemia Blackwater, daughter to a district seven, lumber Jack nobody and a Capitol whore!"
Haymitch had felt the sting of her slap himself.
"Your tributes won't make it through the first day" he'd retaliated
"And you won't make it to a second year"
And that was the last he had heard of their argument last night.
The following morning Effie had not been her usual, chirpy self at all. She had been angry, sharp and argumentative.
Poor Katniss had taken the brunt of it, almost Peeta too but you could tell that Effie favoured the boy.
She'd left them all after breakfast in a terrible mood, with no sign of where she was going and now she was back and still pissed and with only Haymitch left in the firing line.
So here they were...
"Rough night Sweetheart?" He regretted even making his presence known when she stopped abruptly before striding towards him almost ready for a fight.
Instead, she swiped his glass, downing it in one heavy gulp before turning back towards the kitchen in search for more.
"Third cupboard to the right" he nodded. Then Effie snatched open the door, grabbed the bottle and pulled out the cork with her teeth.
"Definitely a rough night..." he concluded, then proceeded to watch as she gulped down the amber liquid like it was water.
"Take it easy!"
She didn't listen, so in turn, he strode over there himself, reaching out for what was his.
They locked eyes but Effie swooped the bottle behind her back, pressing the lip of it into her spine.
Instead of landing on the bottle his hands fell to her side, making him stumble into her chest, their noses bumping in the darkness.
He could almost taste the whiskey on her tongue.
"Do you think I'm stupid too Haymitch" she uttered darkly. Her eyes looked glossy in the dim light. "Do you think I'm clueless, self obsessed, blind to what's really going on in the real world...?"
How could he answer that. Part of him wanted to say, well, yes. But after hearing her defend him last night and seeing the pain in her eyes now, made him stop and think and say what was really on the tip of his lips
"No..." he whispered "I think you're very brave"
And suddenly her eyes lit up the entire space between them. But there was something else behind them, something dangerous. It picked up on all of his male senses and she slowly pushed him back towards the couch, discarding the bottle to the carpet along the way. She pushed him down slowly, sitting confidently astride him, one knee at a time.
Words failed him but his hands did the most natural thing they could and rested upon her waist. He resisted the urge to yank her hips forward until she forced her mouth onto his in an angry move, so by then he couldn't help it. His hands gripped tighter and pulled her in, pushing her skirt up in the process.
In seconds her hands were working at his belt and untucking his shirt before tearing it in two. Her nails went straight to his bare chest then, digging in painfully deep, as deep and as rough as her kiss.
She mewled into his mouth, desperate for air but unwilling to relent. Haymitch found the zipper on the back of her dress and slid it down, tracing the revealed bare skin with his fingers tips, feeling every curve of her spine.
She was feral against him, wild and abandoned, angry and desperate. She helped him peel down her dress, impatient to have her naked breasts pressed firmly against his chest. His arms snaked around her back, holding her against him tight as her hands delved further, releasing him from his trousers and slipping her own underwear expertly to one side in one swift move.
He barely had time to think, not that he could think of anything but the taste of her nipple that was wet between his teeth, but no time was spared before she guided him inside her, pressing herself down until he was at her deepest.
Slowly, in the dark of the penthouse living room, she began to ride him at her own, unsteady pace.
He wanted to come already. He hadn't had it like this, with anyone like this before. Her position, her surprising strength, her audacity to move on him the way she had, it was sexy as hell and he was struggling to hold himself back from the edge.
"Oh god" she cried out, throwing her head back a little, her brow furrowed and her lips parted as she quickened her pace. Perhaps he wasn't the only one struggling to hold on. She was close. He felt her thighs tighten around him and shake with ever thrust and he knew she was almost there. He had to hold on for her, he had to give her the release she so obviously, desperately craved, but it wasn't easy. He felt her anger stabbing at him with every thrust of her hips.
He let his head lay against the back of the couch so that he could breath and concentrate. Effie however, was losing all concentration, she was losing all of herself. He watched as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment as she fucked him hard, as hard as she could. He was in awe of her, watching her purely enjoy herself on him, it distracted him long enough to hold on a little more...
He didn't need to wait too long though. At long last she cried out his name as she came hard against him. Her body shuddered out her release, then his own came, thick and plentiful inside of her. Her head fell to his shoulder and he could feel the sweat on her back. She was incredible. He'd just fucked Effie Trinket, and he'd liked it. Or was it the other way around?
She rested for all but a second before slipping from him, standing to adjust her dress.
"We won't talk about this again..." she muttered into the darkness, slowly zipping up in front of him.
Flabbergasted and spent, Haymitch released an exhausted laugh, unsure of her mood once more...when she was done, she glanced over her shoulder with a smouldering look that made him want her all over again.
"We can't, for the childrens sake..."
Then as if nothing had occurred, she continued on her way then, with the same heavy steps towards her room as Haymtich sat dazed and bewildered.
He'd just been used by Effie Trinket and he'd liked it.
There was definitely no other way around that.