Effie had been in the tabloids a lot recently, rumours that she had slept with a sponsor, they were true, their boy had been 17 this year and strong he had made it so far she thought if she could get him a weapon he could get home, but weapons didn't come cheap, so when the sponsor suggested he needed more persuasion and had let his hand wander a little too far up her thigh she knew what she had to do, Haymitch had been disgusted and hadn't spoken to her since, saying, in a drunken rage that she was pathetic for "whoring" herself. The worst thing had been the careers had hunted down the boy before the sponsor even got to him.
There had been rumours about Effie and the man, about Effie and Seneca Crane and about her and Haymitch, leading gossip columns to call her a whore saying she had fallen from grace, the innocent image of Effie Trinket had turned into people viewing her as a temptress, her image had shifted from a bubbly blonde in pink to a scheming slut in red, she hoped to rectify the situation. She used to be Snows favourite escort and that wouldn't last if her image stayed like this.
She had to attend the victors party at the end of the games, put on a happy smile and pretend everything was okay. Escorts were expected to dance at parties, to look thrilled to be in the capitol so she had to find a partner for at least a few songs, usually Haymitch did the honour but she went to him looking expectantly, he'd just stared through her as though she wasn't there, so she let him be, went to get another drink then found another dance partner, he was the first man who approached her to ask for a dance so she'd accepted, wanting to get it over with. He was a sleazy man who was at least 15 years her senior he had swept her to the dance floor, barely seconds into the dance his hands started to wonder, she grew uncomfortable as she felt one of his hands go to her ass and the other one move to paw at her hip she made an attempt to move it several times but he ignored her.
The victors watched from the couches where they were sitting they looked at Haymitch expecting him to swoop in and possibly even punch the man for the way he was touching his escort but he didn't, they watched Effie's face over the man's shoulder, if you looked close enough you could see tears welling in her eyes, Finnick looked horrified and wanted Haymitch to go and help her it finally got too much and Johanna snapped "Oh for fucks sake Haymitch go get your girl his hands are practically down her panties." How much longer was he going to punish her, she didn't even like Effie but the man she was dancing with was now fully groping her "Well he is her type, rich game maker." He replied coldly and Johanna didn't want to bother with his stubbornness today "Finnick, go dance with Effie before that guy actually starts fucking her." She said and he immediately went intercepting the couple in the middle of their dance and taking over. "You okay?" He asked putting a hand on the small of her back he could see her looking over his shoulder at Haymitch "Don't look at him, look at me Effie." He said trying to keep her mind from wandering to the fact Haymitch had not come to rescue her.
"Everyone here thinks I'm a slut, including him, he hasn't spoken to me since… since the sponsor." She said as they continued dancing "Effie, you did what needed to be done, decent sponsors don't ask for sexual favours. He asked you didn't he? It's not like you offered yourself." He stated knowing that she wouldn't "Yeah he asked, we were having a drink and he slid a hand up my thigh and told me if I wanted the money I'd have to find a way to persuade him. It wasn't like he forced me, I just wouldn't have slept with him if he hadn't agreed to sponsor the boy." She said trying to make it sound better than it was "As I said Eff, good sponsors don't take advantage of escorts, good men don't grope women they dance with and good boyfriend's don't watch as another man makes their girl uncomfortable." He said and it made her feel a little better that he was on her side "He's not my boyfriend." She said as she had done many times "So you're available?" He teased her and she smiled "In your dreams Odair." She laughed "You always are." He said with a wink and she rolled her eyes "Don't let Haymitch hear that." She warned him "Let him hear, perhaps he'll actually acknowledge you." He said and they kept dancing, perhaps dealing with gossip was slightly more bearable with a friend.