It was when the phone started to ring a monotonous siren that she realised she was sitting on the sofa wearing an evening dress and staring in open mouthed outrage at the phone. There was no doubt in her mind about the prank callers identity – she had heard his gasp of horror when he got through to her rather than her answer phone and she heard the muttered profanity as he slammed the phone back in it's cradle. It surprised her. They may not have parted on the best of terms – he was clearly hurt at being cast aside in favour of her job in America – but she had thought that by the time she boarded the plane he had gotten over his irritation. He had driven her to the airport and kissed her goodbye in the departure lounge, waving cheerfully as she turned back and took one last look at Holby before descending the steps to the plane. When she had looked back, it had been his wistful smile that she had seen and taken with her, yet he had not had a civil, or for that matter hostile, word for her since her plane had taken off. Perhaps he had been hoping right up until the last minute that she would change her mind and stay with him and it had taken until he realised that she wasn't going to change her mind for the bitterness to set in but it had never occurred to her until today that he felt such resentment towards her.

Eventually the piercing ring issuing from the phone forced her to place it back in the cradle and she stood up, taking in her reflection in the large metal-rimmed mirror that sat over the mantle piece and flinching. When he had called she had been almost ready to leave and join the other senior doctors of the hospital for a pre-dinner drink, revelling in how easily she had been accepted into the men's club. She had dressed to kill, wanting to portray the image that she was the best of both worlds – the intellect and attitude of a man with the raw sex appeal of an extremely unprincipled woman. If they saw her now they would see her has little more than an emotionally unstable woman and she would be relegated to the legions of women consistently overlooked as the men believed that before long she would throw it all in and make babies. She had worked hard to shed that misconception and it wasn't a label that she wanted back. In a slight panic she realised that the car was due in less than five minutes leaving her little time to repair the damage to her obliterated eye make up. She couldn't even fix it in the car because one of her colleagues had insisted on picking her up and accompanying her to the ball. She had protested strenuously, not especially wanting to associate herself with one of the sleaziest men she had ever met but he had worn her down, refusing to take no for an answer and pestering her at every turn until out of sheer irritation she had agreed. It had got him off her back but now she had to put her money where her mouth was and do it with make up running inelegantly down her cheeks and into her cleavage. It was not a good look and no matter how much she scrubbed her cheeks with her expensive cleanser she couldn't budge the grey streaks of mascara.

'Fuck' she muttered as a cheerful fanfare of the doorbell heralded his arrival 'Just a minute' she added as an afterthought, finally managing to remove the final stubborn streaks of make up from her cheeks and quickly wielding her mascara again before eying herself in the mirror with dissatisfaction. She looked far from perfect but with a tantalising flash of her thigh and some sparkling conversation they wouldn't be writing her off just yet.

'You look…' he paused for a moment, taking in the plunging neckline of the backless black dress that she had selected for maximum attention before weaving his eyes down her body, his gaze lingering on the killer heels that encased her feet and sparkling, jewel coloured toenails 'sensational'

'Thank you' she replied graciously, suspecting that from the neck down he was telling the truth but her face was a different story – she knew that her make up was still a mess and immediately compensated with a dazzling smile and an utterly gratuitous flash of her cleavage as she dipped to climb into the limousine 'and thank you for picking me up tonight. It's very kind of you'

'It's my pleasure' he stated silkily, one hand weaving behind her, resting on the bare skin in the small of her back as the driver pulled away from the house 'Always a good idea to arrive with a beautiful woman on your arm' he added with a smile which faltered slightly as she scowled at his miscalculated comment 'and when she has brains as well as beauty…' he finished lamely and she nodded, reluctantly conceding the point for the sake of a bearable evening.

'So, what are your thoughts on the ICU refurbishments? I mean their well within our means but…'

'Connie, I didn't invite you for a drink before the ball so we could talk shop; we spend quite enough time doing that at work. Tonight is about letting our hair down, having a drink and getting to know one another properly'

'There was me thinking tonight was about raising money for orphans in Brazil' she retorted caustically, crossing her legs away from him and gazing crossly out of the window, well aware that he was checking out her backside encased in the tight black dress.

'Clearly that too Connie, but if we get to have fun while doing it then so much the better, eh?' he slid along the seat, replacing his hand in the small of her back as she turned back to him, a small smile playing across her face as she pointedly placed her hand on top of his and removed it, placing it hard down on the leather seat.

'I suppose that depends on your definition of fun, doesn't it Joshua' she stated coldly, her eyes making it abundantly clear that being groped by a plastic surgeon in the back of what was frankly a very unimpressive car for a limousine was not what she considered fun 'To be honest, these balls remind me rather too much of my ex-husband and he's someone better left forgotten' she added, watching his face fall at the mention of her past. While she did her best to portray herself as someone utterly unattached to anything or anyone that might compromise her, sometimes it was necessary to remind them that she wasn't merely an object who existed purely for their professional and aesthetic gratification. She hadn't reminded Michael of that fact nearly often enough and things between them had soured very quickly.

'If you'd prefer we could give it a miss' he offered graciously, leaning forward and tapping on the window that divided them from the driver, ready to instruct him to turn around and take them elsewhere, despite the fact that they were pulling up to the venue and it would be abundantly clear that they had came, seen and left. It would take a spectacularly large donation to the charity from both of them to ease the social guilt that would arise from such a faux pas and she suspected that it would never quite be forgotten so she replied to his offer by swinging long legs from the car and waving a greeting to their boss as Joshua climbed from the other door and rushed around to help her to her feet.

'Perhaps we'll leave early' she told him, tracing one hand down his chest in a gesture that appeared innocent but which they were both aware was anything but 'a couple of drinks, a few canapés and out' she added with a sultry smile before turning to her boss, giving a man a view of her cleavage that made him wheeze in a manner that made her fear for his heart 'good evening Howard. Shall we go inside?'

'Have you had enough yet?' Joshua was at her side, one arm weaving around her waist in a gesture that made her spin pointedly away from him on her high heels and flash him a glare 'I have a rather nice bottle of vintage champagne in the fridge'

'In the fridge' she murmured thoughtfully 'well someone's confident that they'll be taking someone home tonight. Out of interest, if I said no what would you do?'

'Go home and drink the champagne alone to soothe my broken heart' he replied, clutching his chest dramatically to illustrate his point 'but I really don't want tonight to end that way and I don't think you do either'

'Confident' she repeated with a smile playing across her lips as she considered his proposition. Twenty-four hours earlier she wouldn't even have given his offer a second thought before refusing but twenty-four hours earlier she believed that the man who still occupied her thoughts and heart felt the same way about her. In the light of her newfound uncertainty Joshua suddenly seemed considerably more attractive 'I suppose a drink wouldn't hurt' she conceded, finally allowing him to weave an arm around her and lead her from the hotel, knowing precisely how the evening would end.