"Back for another glass of wine so soon, luv?"

Serena gave the bartender her blackest look before tapping the wood in front of her adamantly. He took the hint and turned to pour the largest glass of Shiraz that she had seen him give to any person there so far. "You read my mind."

"Well, you looked like you needed it. What happened with that pretty bit of alright you were talking to earlier? Seemed like you were hitting it off quite well."

She rolled her eyes as she picked up the glass and quickly drained it, watching the younger man's eyes widen with shock. Plunking the glass down on the bar, she almost asked for another glass straight away, but felt like she would probably be rebuffed. Instead, she took a deep breath and drummed her fingers against the wood, wondering where to start. "We danced, it was lovely, but she's not my beloved, and then we were cut in on by the most boorish, insufferable, rude, man I have ever had the misfortune of meeting."

"Then why did you dance with him?"

"Because Holby City needs the money. My one requirement of being here is to ensure that we get a number of grants and donations sent our way, and he just so happens to be one of the people that I need to chat up. Just my luck." She let out a deep sigh as she stared longingly at her empty glass. "You're going to say no, but…"

"You need some liquid courage before he corners you again. I can give you a small glass, as long as you promise to drink it slowly this time." She nodded, feeling the room swim a little as she did so. The bartender gave her a sympathetic look as he poured another few ounces of wine into her glass. It was a pitiful amount, really, but she was still grateful for it. Taking hold of her glass, she turned and looked out at the dance floor, her eye easily finding Margaret out there, a brilliant smile on her lips as she danced with a familiar face.

"I'm surprised that you're sitting here all alone." Serena looked up to see a handsome man smiling at her. His was also a familiar face, and she knew that this was one of the people she was meant to talk with this evening.

"Well, I needed to get off my feet for a little while. Heels are a killer on the feet."

"I can only imagine," he replied as he took a seat next to her. "So, are you going to try and hit me up for my money?"

She let out a loud laugh as she nodded. "Do I just have that look on my face?" He tried to look sheepish, but failed, and she reached out to pat his shoulder gently. "I'm finding it hard to keep my emotions off my face right now, sorry."

"Don't be, it's refreshing to know." He winked at her and she blushed a little at the attention. "So, are you Holby or St. James', then?"
"Holby, of course. It's the best hospital." They shared a laugh as she took a sip of her wine, and she felt herself relax as they started to fall into a conversation. It was nice to be upfront with him, and since her intentions were clear, she let her guard down and spoke freely.

Just as they were starting to get truly comfortable with each other, Marcus chose to sidle up to them, a hangdog look on his face. She bit back a groan of frustration as he came to a stop in front of her, thoroughly ignoring her companion. "I hope I didn't offend you too badly, Serena. Sometimes I just have the nasty habit of putting my foot in it, and well, I was hoping that you would dance with me again."

Serena wanted to say no, to say that she was having a lovely time talking to her current partner, but the prospect of losing out on a particularly large donation overrode her annoyance. "I suppose that would be all right," she finally said, holding out her hand to Marcus. "It was lovely talking with you, Alan, and if you want to find me on the dance floor later, I wouldn't mind saving a song for you."

"I might have to take you up on that offer, Serena." He gave her a wide smile as Marcus led her out into the crowd once more. They passed by Ric and his current dance partner, and Serena couldn't stop herself from throwing him a look of quiet desperation. His response was to grin madly at her, as if he was enjoying her suffering, and she glared at him before turning her face away and searching for Hanssen's tall body in amongst the dancers.

She finally found him, dancing with a small brunette woman, and sent up a quick prayer that he would look her way and save her from this boor. He glanced over towards them, and she opened her mouth to call out to him, only to see him be turned away by his partner and led deeper into the throng. With all her avenues of escape cut off, Serena resigned herself to dancing with Marcus once more in a vain attempt to net Holby money.

"So, where did we leave off? Oh, yes, I believe I heard that you went to Harvard. What was that experience like?"

It seemed like he might truly be interested in her education, which was a different tack for him to take, after focusing the majority of their previous conversations around him and his achievements. Serena gave him a small, real, smile and thought back to her time in America. "It was some of the best years of my life. America is so different to here, louder, more brash, but it fit in with my personality at that time. And I was able to get out from under my mother's thumb."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I loved her, dearly, but I never felt like I was good enough for her, that I could be everything she wanted me to be."

"It can be awfully hard to live up to our parents' expectations of us. I know that full well with my children. My daughter is still refusing to speak with her mother, says that the pain of the divorce is still too fresh for her to even consider being forgiving. After all, she was the one who cheated on me and left us all behind while she buggered off on her little jaunts."

Serena was bothered by the casual degradation of his ex-wife, that again, he was running her down. It thoroughly reminded her of how Bernie had been treated by her ex-husband, and so she felt unexpectedly protective of this unknown woman. "Maybe she was never given a reason to stay," she whispered before she could call the words back, and she hoped that he was too far gone in his ramblings to pay attention to her words.

Sure enough, it seemed as if he wasn't even paying attention to her reactions as he carried on with his rantings. Surely, surely, she would be rewarded with some plum prize for AAU when this was all over, or it would be on Hanssen's head, she would make certain of that. Once more, they passed Ric, and she didn't even bother to hide her anger as she looked at him, hoping that he would at least stop this farce and rescue her. Instead, he just gave her a blithe smile and sailed on by, his focus remaining on his partner. Really, it was enough to make her scream, and she only hoped that she would make it through this night without killing anyone.