Thank you for the reviews. Now, who wants to party?

Action in the Ladies

Luigi's had been transformed. Huge balloons in pink and white fixed to the walls, pink and white roses overflowing out of vases on the tables and Bowie blasting out of the speakers. Alex walked into a space that had been cleared between the tables- the dance floor, she assumed- and tapped her friend on the shoulder.

Shaz turned around, squealed when she saw Alex and threw her arms around her.

"Happy birthday, Shaz," Alex smiled and gave Shaz a small box, wrapped up in red paper and silver ribbon. "And congratulations on becoming a DC!"

"Thank you!" Shaz exclaimed and ripped off the paper in a way that reminded Alex of Molly at Christmas. Shaz opened the box and cooed at the diamond earrings inside before hugging Alex again.

"Where is everyone?" Alex asked.

"Well, Chris is um, here," Shaz giggled as Chris appeared with a glass of wine for Shaz and holding one himself. Alex giggled too. Shaz was clearly quite merry and by the look in his eyes so was Chris, "Ray is behind you talking to Leanne- that's my flatmate, I'll introduce you later. The Guv is around somewhere. I know it's Luigi's but I'm not sure this is really his scene. He'll be pleased you're here though. We haven't seen you in ages."

Alex chatted to Shaz and Chris before going to the bar which was crowded with Shaz's friends, all in their mid-twenties, doing shots, drinking wine and flirting with each other. They all seem so young, she thought as she tried to catch Luigi's eye.

God, the place was crowded. Alex was about to give up on getting a drink when an empty wine glass was placed firmly on the bar in front of her. A bottle of red hovered above it from which wine flowed neatly into the glass.

"Thanks, Gene," Alex smiled, looking up.

"Thought you'd appreciate a decent glass of wine since you're on the dole- not that this place knows about decent wine," Gene took a drag on his cigarette and exhaled. "I don't recognise the place, do you Bolls? Bloody balloons everywhere."

"I'm not sure I'd recognise it normally," said Alex, looking around. Ray caught her eye and waved before turning his attention back to a blonde- Leanne, she assumed, all though she wouldn't have put it past Ray to have moved on already.

"You stopped coming," said Gene, accusingly.

Alex sighed. "I've been busy trying to find a new job."

"What, every night?" Gene snorted.

Alex was lying. The reason she had been avoiding Luigi's was simple, she didn't feel like she belonged any more. She wasn't allowed to know about cases for security reasons (even though some of them could be indiscrete) and couldn't laugh at their in-jokes any more. She had nothing to fight Gene about and she resented how clique-y they were, even though she had been a member of that clique just a week ago. In the end, she had just stayed upstairs.

Just as Alex was trying to think of another excuse, Gene grunted, "doesn't matter," and filled up her glass. Rather than feeling relieved, Alex just felt sad. Their old chemistry had gone, their banter and arguing just didn't happen anymore. Perhaps that antagonistic side of Gene was something only his DI saw. Speaking of which…

"DI Carling!" she cried as Ray approached the bar with Leanne. Ray grinned at her and made quick introductions.

Leanne was stunning. Golden hair flowed down her back, ending in a lake of curls somewhere around her bottom. Her eyes were a piercing blue which oddly seemed to match the deep red that she had painted her full lips. If it wasn't for the criminally short skirt and leather knee high boots, she would have been indistinguishable from a Disney princess.

"You must be DCI Hunt," she said, smiling flirtatiously at Gene.

"Gene," he said, "Drink?"

Alex rolled her eyes. She had been watching Gene's eyes and had seen the amount the pupils had dilated as soon as Leanne had approached. She had watched as Gene's eyes had travelled down Leanne's body, taking in her ample cleavage and long legs.

"So, you're a detective," Leanne purred, "What's it like dealing with murderers? Don't you get scared?"

Gene exhaled a huge gust of smoke in an attempt to look impressive.

"All in a day's work love. And those scum are more afraid of me than I am of them."

"How do you catch them?" Leanne asked, her eyes wide, "Is it true that every murderer makes four mistakes that mean you can catch them?"

Alex rolled her eyes but Gene wasn't even looking at her. All his attention was focused on Leanne. Alex turned around to talk to Ray, ignoring Gene and Leanne.

"Well done on the promotion, Ray."

"Thanks," Ray shrugged, "But you know I only got it because you left."

"Oh, that's not true-"

"It is," Ray interrupted, "It's different without you Ma'am- Alex. The Guv hasn't been the same since you left. And we've got nowhere on those prozzie murders."

"I'm not coming back, Ray," said Alex softly.

"But you never explained why you left-"

"Yes I did," said Alex sharply.

"Because of the pub thing? Maybe it was the Horse and Falcon. I've been trying to remember if I saw the transcript of the interview before…" he trailed off, frowning in concentration.

Ray drifted off and Leanne and Gene were still talking, Gene sucking on his cigarette and Leanne throwing her long blonde hair over her shoulder as she laughed. Alex thought she had a very annoying laugh. She looked around for a means of escape and saw Chris and Shaz sitting at a table. Just as Alex left the bar, Chris got up and left. Alex hurried over.

"Nice earrings," she grinned.

"Thanks," Shaz grinned back, her speech slurred, "a really good friend brought them for me today."

Alex guiltily gulped her wine, promising that she would call Shaz more often. She didn't deserve to be called a 'really good friend'. The clique-nature of Fenchurch East wouldn't matter so much when it was just them. As they chatted, Alex looked up at the bar as often as she dared. Leanne had her arm around Gene as she whispered in his ear. He appeared to be listening intently, and watching her leg as she stroked it seductively with her other hand.

Eventually, Leanne left Gene and Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

XXX

Chris spat out the last remains of vomit, cringed at the lavatory bowl and wiped his mouth. Flushing the loo, he walked out of the cubicle and leaned over the sink.

"You look unwell, Chris," a voice said.

"You shouldn't be in 'ere," he groaned, looking up, "Is Gents."

"It's definitely the Ladies," said Leanne, making her way over to Chris. He noticed, even in his drunken state, how much her hips were swaying, and how much it was turning him on.

Chris tried to walk past Leanne but her hand on his arm stopped him. Her face moved closer to his and as her minty breath mixed with his vomit-smelling breath, he forgot that this was a very bad idea. He drunkenly moved his arm around her back and pushed his lips to hers.

They kissed for a while, messily, wetly. Saliva was glooping on Chris' chin and Leanne's lipstick was smearing across his cheek. They were so engrossed, they didn't notice the door to the bathroom open until a female voice shrieked, "What are you doing?"