"There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps is a glass of Champagne."
Bette Davis
When they arrived at the party – the convention room of an upper scale hotel – the festivities had just begun. Waiters circulated with flutes of Champagne and trays of hors d'oeuvres, which Lizzie declared weren't fit for human consumption. Sarah had knocked Toby's hand away from the bubbly three times within the first ten minutes.
The band was live and seemed to be the bastard child of a mariachi band and a swing band, which sometimes moonlighted as a cover band of 60s to contemporary music - as though they weren't sure which hat to wear so had decided to stack them all. Sarah usually hated these events. Almost yearly since she was 17 she'd inevitably been mistaken for her father's new wife – something which equally grated on Karen's nerves. And, as Sarah found, though she kept getting older the second and third round of wives stayed the same. The newest batch took particular interest in Jareth.
Most of the older partners were obnoxious at best and grope-y at worst. The articling students were either sycophantic little shits or so overworked they looked ready to collapse now that they ostensibly had nothing to do but enjoy themselves.
Still, Sarah was a sucker for Champagne, even the cheap stuff, and the hosts of the party were consummate snobs so it was decidedly not the cheap stuff. It could even legally call itself such.
Karen made the rounds of polite hellos. Despite also disliking the parties, she had impeccable manners and was an innate hostess. She always remembered names and faces. She'd been a paralegal before she married Robert, so she also understood the business better than many of the lawyers. She'd also endured her share of jokes that 'you're supposed to sleep with your secretary not marry her'. She certainly managed the warzone better than Sarah's mother ever had.
Having Jareth at her side proved to be rather fortuitous actually. She'd not yet been mistaken for Robert's new side piece and none of the brief hugs had turned into a potential lawsuit in the making. Which wasn't to say she wasn't prey to wandering hands. Jareth seemed determined to leave his hand on her lower back. Skin against skin. The dress, though modest from the front, left Sarah feeling almost naked from behind. The way his fingertips kept brushing along her spine made her shiver – something she blamed on all of the gaudy ice sculptures. It also left her hyper aware. It was somehow entirely innocuous and completely intimate at the same time. Sarah took another long draw of Champagne, enjoying the way the bubbles chafed her throat.
Lizzie had parked herself at one of the round tables. She had a plate of shrimp in front of her and her purse clutched in her hands. Apparently she considered a room full of lawyers as much of a risk as a mall full of potential thieves.
"Sarah," Karen called her over. "You remember, Chad." Sarah stilled, her face locking into a tight smile. Chad with the Camaro. She drained her glass before turning.
"Of course. Merry Christmas, Chad. How are you?"
The blond smiled through bright veneers. "Sarah. Looking absolutely killer as always." His eyes began a slow perusal of her form.
Chad was the son of one of the partners. One of the suitors Karen had once thrust in her face. Karen who had to have been drunk at the time. It wasn't that Chad wasn't handsome – he was – in a frosted tips and fake tan kind of way – it was that he knew he was handsome and had never bothered to develop a personality as a result. He also considered commodities more valuable than say, actual interests. When they'd first met he'd told her about his new car within minutes. As though that had been the key to getting her panties off.
Sarah took another drink off the tray of a passing waiter. Jareth raised a brow.
"I'm well, I'm well. Passed the bar. No longer articling," he said with a smarmy smile. Sarah wanted to ask how long it had finally taken him. The last she'd heard he'd failed the LSATs three times. Not that it mattered when you had his kind of money. "New car too. It's a Jag." He waggled his brows. "Love to take you for a lift in it."
"How rude of me. This is Jareth. My boyfriend." It was the first time she'd said the words aloud together. Though boyfriend, regardless of the ruse, didn't sound right. Like it was too juvenile. You didn't have the Goblin King as a boyfriend.
Chad looked momentarily taken aback. He looked the not-king up and down before remembering his breeding. He held out a hand.
When they shook she could see Chad squeeze particularly hard. Jareth was amused.
"So this must be a new develop. Mother didn't mention it."
"Relatively," Sarah replied. "Though we've actually known each other for years."
"Ah, old friends. How charming." His tone suggested anything but. "And what do you do?"
"I run a large… company," Jareth replied.
Chad whistled. "Large? Then I must have heard of it."
"Unlikely," Sarah said quickly. "It all high tech IT stuff… in Australia." She turned to Jareth. "Dance. Do you want to dance?"
"Would you excuse us?" Jareth didn't wait for a response.
The band was playing Chris de Burgh's Lady in Red.
"How timely," the not-king observed.
Sarah cocked a suspicious brow.
"I assure you I had nothing to do with it."
When they fell into step it was as though time hadn't passed at all. Jareth's hand at her back gave her all of the gentle cues she needed to follow, as though it was second nature. For a moment, just a moment, buoyed by the Champagne and the lights and the snow that was still falling softly outside the large windows, they were back in the ballroom. Only this time Toby didn't stand between them. There were no ticking clocks. No blushing virgins.
Sarah's dress also meant that they stood closer than they had all those years before. Close enough that Sarah was keenly aware of how good he smelled. That scent that was recognizably male but uniquely his. It was the kind of moment she could get lost in. Where everything else dropped away. A rabbit hole on the dance floor. A Labyrinth without walls. And it felt right.
When the song eventually ended, they slid off the dance floor in laden silence.
"Won't be long before you're walking her down the aisle, eh Robert?"
They passed her father and a few of their friends.
"Always wondered if she'd settle down or just run from man to man like her mother."
Sarah winced. Not because of their outdated stances but because it would all come to an end. She would definitely disappoint the ones that mattered - more than she'd planned. She'd disappoint herself too, she realized with a pang of regret.
She snagged another glass of Champagne fitfully and excused herself to the ladies to freshen up. More to take stock of the series of errors in calculation she'd made. The minimal touching rule had certainly all but gone out of the window.
When she made her way back onto the dance floor, her arm was snagged and she spun on her heels.
"Hope you saved a dance for another old friend." Chad was smiling at her blearily. His collar was now opened. It just made him look dishevelled by comparison.
Sarah wanted to tell him that he wasn't an old friend. Not really. And their one date had been a mistake. As well as the mild fumbling in his car that Sarah had noped right out of. It was Christmas however, and she was feeling magnanimous.
"Maybe later, Chad."
His grip didn't loosen. She looked at it pointedly.
"We could always catch up." He eyed her up and down again. "Pick up where we left off."
"Did you forget whom I'm here with? Did you forget how it ended the last time?"
He cupped her hand. "Don't see a ring on it, darling."
Sarah pulled her hand back. "Chad, darling, you're drunk. And I am about five years past willing to deal with this. If you insist, I will. Publicly."
Chad's face soured. "You always were such a little stuck up bitch sometimes, Sarah. My family could literally buy yours. Thought the fact you weren't married yet would have softened you a little more."
At almost the same time they noticed Jareth's presence. He was leaned against a column, arms folded, watching them.
"Oh look, there's the lucky man himself. Come to defend her honour like some white knight?" Chad's words were ugly. Coloured by alcohol, embarrassment and likely uppers.
"I've never been very good at playing the hero, actually. Although lately I keep being thrust into that role. But no, I'm not here to defend Sarah. She seems quite capable of doing so herself. I'm just here for the free entertainment."
Chad snorted and raised his glass in a mock toast. "Good luck with the ice queen here. She's got great tits, at least" With his other hand he made a crass squeezing motion.
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Go home, Chad. I'm not doing this here."
He hadn't made it very far before he sprawled on his face, his glass rolling across the floor. Aunt Lizzie, readjusted her cane back beside her chair and bit into a jumbo shrimp like nothing had happened at all.
"In truth I'd be more than happy to take care of him for you," he mused.
"What and play my hero after all?"
"Hardly. What I'd like to do wouldn't be remotely heroic." There was a glint in his eye that should have scared Sarah, but instead sent a little delicious thrill through her. "Though if it gets me closer to those "great tits" maybe," he added shamelessly.
Sarah sputtered on her Champagne and then nudged him. "It was once. I got the hell out of there before anything else happened. I'd had a lot to drink. Not that it is any of your business."
"More Champagne," Jareth asked innocently.
Sarah flipped her hair. "He drove a Camaro. Who could blame me?"
"I hear he drives something called a Jag now. Makes me want to take my own knickers off," he replied. Sarah laughed hard. Enough that Champagne snorted through her nose. He wordlessly handed her a handkerchief. "Poor Chad, missing out on such a prize."
"Shut it," she wiped her eyes, "before I forget who the good guy is."
"Good guy," Jareth mulled the title over. "Sounds terribly boring but I'll try to take that as a compliment. Surely it's an easy victory. Look at my competition."
"He's mostly harmless, but the bar is pretty low. Of course, the night's not over."
"Very true. And even Chad got a handful for a consolation prize, so I can't wait to see what I win."
"You sound as lecherous as the worst lawyers get here."
"The difference is I am always this lecherous and all of my bits still work," he replied with an unrepentant grin.
"Is this how you talk to all the girls?"
Jareth's brow furrowed in mock thought. "I don't think we ever do this much talking."
"Because they all just fall at your feet?" Sarah teased.
"Something like that. None of the ones that matter sadly."
The glint in his eye made her face flush warmly. "Are you trying to seduce me?"
"Depends. Is it working?"
Oh yes. "Mmm," Sarah instead offered an indifferent shrug. She averted her eyes carefully less they betray her. "Though Chad did one drunkenly sing Karaoke to me. That's pretty hard to beat."
Toby wandered over just then with a plate piled high with caviar. "If I take this home will they hatch into fish, d'ya think?"
"Not remotely." Sarah eyed what had to be hundreds of dollars of roe.
"Dang. Well I can bring it home to Peaches then." He scooped them into a napkin and then stuffed the leaking ball into his pockets.
"Oh my god, Toby, your mother is going to kill you! And I am going to watch."
Sarah really should have known better.
Never challenge a Goblin King, even in jest.
The band, which had been on break, started up again. The first few bars of "All I Want for Christmas" started. Working in PR and advertising, Sarah was already pretty tired of holiday music. She managed to zone most of it out.
Until she recognized the voice.
Wordlessly she handed her glass to Toby, who looked like Christmas had come early, and pushed through the party goers.
The god-damned Goblin King was singing.
A Christmas song. With lyrics like, "'I just want you for my own. More than you can ever know. Make my wish come true…"
She caught Karen looking weepy, clinging to her father like all she wanted had come true.
It was a cheesy, saccharine gesture by almost every standard. But somehow the bastard made it work without looking ridiculous. His suit shone in the light as his hand cupped the mic expertly. He moved like he was made for music. Born to sing and own the stage. For the first time Sarah noticed just how exactly form fitting the suit was - especially the slim fitted pants. She wasn't the only one either judging by the female, or a few male, titters. Even Lizzie had taken off her glasses, polished them, and then replaced them.
He, however, only had eyes for her. They held a slightly challenging glint that asked, 'are you seduced now?'
It topped karaoke that's for sure. She dramatically rolled her eyes at him. He winked.
"… Sarah, all I want for Christmas is you."
He'd slid her name in. OH. MY. GOD.
Sarah wanted to die.
She didn't dare look at Karen. Karen who'd probably already put a deposit on the room for a January wedding.
She felt hands touch her arms gently like people around her were congratulating her. Those who had no idea who Sarah even was were still moved.
Sarah was caught between murderous thoughts and those of a warmer variety.
And then the song ended and she thought salvation had been delivered. Instead he started into another while the applause was still going strong.
"There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes…"
He wouldn't.
"A kind of pale jewel…"
He would.
The band had obviously picked up the chords enough to play along. Couples began to dance, moved by the slow melody. It was like the ballroom all over again with Sarah once more lost in a sea of revelry. Transfixed by him.
Sarah grabbed another glass, drained half of it, and then she set it down again. It had barely touched the table before Toby had scooped it up.
She was torn between being utterly charmed and annoyed. She'd been on the point of leaving the floor entirely when she felt a hand on her back. When she turned Jareth effortlessly swept her into step. The band had continued playing without missing a beat.
"I can't believe you did that," she said, needed anything to diffuse the silence.
"You issued the challenge."
"And this?"
His lips twitched. Which of course made her stare at his mouth. "A boy told me that a girl once kept a diary all about a Goblin King. And there was something about a dance and wanting said Goblin King to kiss her."
Sarah chewed her own lip. "Did she."
"Indeed. In fact he'd wanted to kiss her too, truth be told. But alas, she was too old to turn, too young to keep."
"Oh," Sarah said a little breathlessly.
"Too young to keep then." His eyes were so dark they were almost black. His face was so near.
She kissed him.
Partly because she didn't want to know what else he'd say and partly because she wanted to try and regain a measure of control. Her head swam with too much Champagne and conflicting feelings. A good many of them physical.
He was surprised at first, though his intention to do the same had been clear. All it did was make him want her more. She'd pressed herself so eagerly into his arms. His hands threaded through her silky hair and then slid down her bare back. It was very hard not to think darker thoughts. Of places he'd rather be. She nipped at his lip, tugging just a little, and his arms automatically tightened. It would be so easy to slip them both away… in a blink before anyone noticed. The temptation was heady.
Which meant, of course, that something was going to interrupt them.
A firm finger tapped him hard in the arm.
They broke apart.
"Time for Mass," Lizzie announced pointedly.
Sarah turned a festive shade of red.
"We'll need to get home and get changed first." She eyed Jareth's hands still splayed across Sarah's bare back. "And get you out of that dress."
My sentiments exactly, Jareth thought bitterly.
They bid their farewells to the requisite few. Surprisingly even Chad had sought Sarah out, drawing her away for a minute to apologize for his behaviour. He even wished her well. Christmas miracles do happen, she thought.
When they got home a few wardrobe changes were made and then they shuffled back out to church. The nearest Catholic Church was actually walking distance away and the night mild enough that they walked. When they got inside it was five minutes to eleven. The choir was in full swing. They were luck to find a pew empty enough to accommodate them. The Church was packed. The C & E Catholics were out in full swing.
Lizzie had watched Jareth closely as they'd traversed the vestibule. As though she expected some great strike of lightning. When nothing had happened, she looked a bit disappointed. Jareth smiled at her.
As always with Midnight Masses, it was somehow otherworldly and joyful, and full of a pulsing expectation. The lines between faith and feeling merged, so that all people, regardless of belief, found a poignant kind of unity. Candles were handed out to everyone, the lights in the old church dimmed to almost nothing. Lizzie managed to keep her remarks about how none of them seem to know when to sit or stand to a minimum.
At one point Karen had whispered, wondering why it smelled like fish. Both Toby any Lizzie had looked equally guilty. Toby clutching a damp pocket closed and Lizzie clutching her very full looking purse.
For his part Jareth seemed likewise moved by the services. He was certainly quietly reflective during the hour, as incongruous as it was to see the Goblin King in a church.
When midnight struck, in time to the last song of the Mass, everyone in the characteristically quiet church cheered and embraced. It was officially Christmas Day.
As they filed out Lizzie seemingly made one last ditch effort and took some of the holy water in the font to bless the family, taking extra time to spray Jareth until he was decidedly damp. To her disappointment he only looked mildly annoyed by the gesture.
Once home they shed their outerwear, shared a quick nightcap to toast Christmas day, and then filed towards their respective beds. Sarah eschewed her penguin pyjamas, telling herself it was too warm for them. And that they needed a wash. Instead she donned a sleeveless nightgown in a deep blue. It was by no means racy lingerie but it showed a great deal more than the flannel sleep set. Her head now swam deliciously. She suddenly very much wanted to make some unwise decisions. It must have been reflected in her face when the Goblin King walked in wearing his silk sleep pants and nothing more. His skin was so pale in the winter moonlight.
He took in her new nightwear and his carefully neutral expression cracked. It was part naked hunger and part something else entirely.
"Sarah…"
She blamed it on the way he'd said it. The sound of his voice. The look on his face.
But suddenly they were together, arms entwined and lips to lips. She wasn't even sure who had initiated it. It was like death by a thousand cuts. Which one was the final stroke hardly mattered in the end.
She nipped at his throat, relishing the way his pulse ran so quickly. His hands slid across the silky material of her nightgown, skimming her ribs and just brushing the undersides her breasts. They dipped down and cupped her ass, his fingers curling into her soft flesh. He made a sort of guttural growl against her neck that sent an instant slick wave of heat between her thighs. Thighs that brushed against something long and hard and throbbing as she raised on her tip toes.
And then she wobbled on her feet. Not because she was off balance because the room had begun to spin just a little. And not pleasantly.
Jareth pulled back and sighed.
"You're very drunk."
Sarah frowned at the sudden distance between them. "Not that drunk," she argued, though it was hard to deny she was feeling off kilter. Or that she'd had too much to drink. She leaned in pressed her open mouth to his collar bone. Her hands skating across his bare chest.
He groaned. "You're testing my new found sense of right and wrong."
Sarah pulled back a little blearily. "Is this the part where you tell me that you're too honourable to take advantage of me and then things become awkward between us?"
"Hardly," he snorted. "I'm not in the least honourable, Sarah." His eyes were still so dark and just a little too inhuman. "There is nothing more I'd rather do than take advantage of you. It's all I thought about while watching you glitter in that dress. It's all I thought about after having you underneath me in the snow. It's all I thought about every night beside you in that ridiculous excuse for a bed. I'm no gentleman, Sarah. Certainly not if I thought it would serve my ends. But you're past that even those considerations, I'm afraid."
Sarah, who'd been having trouble following his words – words she'd likely find a shade disturbing – was about to protest. Instead she leaned over and promptly threw up.
"And there it is," sighed the long suffering Goblin King. "Merry Christmas, Sarah."
AN: The end.
I'm kidding!
Blue Christmas. Get it? (I'm really a 14 year old boy). Cockblocking by vomit. That is a new one for me. I wanted to leave it deliberately vague as to whether or not Jareth would be a gentlemen (but consent matters, folks).
So there are a lot of fluffy bits to this pic that have made me scratch my head and go, who the hell wrote that? That's not your style, Vic. Like Sarah, too many Christmas libations? But #sorrynotsorry. It fit the fic. And Jareth is still, at base, as deliciously amoral as ever, if showing admirable restraint lol.
Shout out to Lusewing for the PM s/he sent me with the idea to use the karaoke and the song. Great idea and I hope you liked the spin I put on it.
I really did know a guy who tried to get me to date him because he drove a Camaro. Ughhhh. I am also a sucker for bubbly.
The other quasi self-insert was ice queen – I wore that like a friggin' badge of honour. #niceguysnotsonice
Lawyers really do have top shelf booze. My dad, uncle and great grandfather are/ were lawyers. And I as a teen(!) I used to get mistaken as my dad's girlfriend (he's quite young) by his lawyer friends. It was mortifying.
Christmas morn in the next chapter. We are definitely nearing the end but I do have some more shenanigans and some more *scenes* left to get to ;)