Sorry it's been a while, by work is stepping up again. Hope you enjoy this.
"Phyllis Baxter, you look fantastic."
Phyllis turned around, her lipstick still in her hand, to see Anna standing in the doorway of her own bedroom as Phyllis borrowed her mirror. She grinned in spite of herself. Modesty aside, she was rather pleased with the dress she'd found for the ball. She'd treated herself to a new one for the end of finals, and decided that it would not be black, because all her clothes were black and apparently Glyn had been asking if anyone thought she was depressed.
"What do you think," she asked Anna, "With or without the lipstick?"
"Oh, with," Anna told her, taking it out of her hands for a moment and inspecting the colour, "That dark red will go so well with the blue," she reached out for a second and wistfully touched the electric blue of Phyllis' dress.
Smiling to herself, Phyllis turned back towards the mirror to apply the lipstick.
"On second thoughts," Anna continued, diverting her attention from the dress and back to teasing Phyllis again, "You'd better hope that it stays on your mouth exceptionally well. Or that that red will suit Joe's colouring."
Phyllis met her eyes in the mirror, raising her eyebrows warningly. Anna grinned back at her.
"I don't know," Phyllis told her, clicking the lipstick shut again with a little smile, "I think it'll look quite sexy on him."
Anna, having just sat down on the edge of her bed, was now sprawled out, roaring with laughter.
"Are you going to get ready?" Phyllis asked her, "Or are you going to the ball in your shorts and T-shirt."
"No, I'm getting ready," Anna replied, picking herself and heading over to the wardrobe, "I'm getting ready right now."
Phyllis sat down on the end of the bed that Anna had just vacated.
"Are Glynis and Daisy honouring us with their presence before we go and find John and Joe?" she asked.
"Not sure," came Anna's reply from behind the door, along with a pair of white shoes that she trough out onto the floor, "I told them they could if they wanted to. And if they brought wine."
"Well, Glyn won't let you down there," Phyllis replied ruefully, "That's nice," she told her, as Anna returned from the wardrobe, hanging up a pale green dress up on the door frame.
"Nothing as eye-catching as yours," Anna replied softly.
Phyllis sniffed a little.
"That doesn't matter," she told her, "You suit a softer colour," she continued, looking at her friend critically for a moment, "In fact you just have a softer face. You have a much nicer face than I do."
"I doubt very much that Joe thinks that," Anna replied, letting her hair out to brush it, "Sorry," she murmured a second later, when she caught the exasperated look on Phyllis' face, "I'll give it a rest."
"No," Phyllis told her a moment later, looking down at her own hands, playing with the ring she was wearing, "It's not you."
The complete drop of mirth in her tone must have made Anna turn around.
"What is it then?" she asked her seriously.
"I just-… I don't know how serious Joe is about this whole thing. About me and him. I don't know what he would see in me, I suppose-…"
"Phil, are you being serious?" Anna asked her, "Joe loves you, he's crazy about you!"
Phyllis looked up at her doubtfully.
"Look, Phil, John and I have been dating for one and a half years, even we aren't going to this ball officially together, but Joe made a point of asking you to go with him. I'd say he was pretty serious about this."
Phyllis smiled, a little bit weakly.
"i know it's difficult to really believe someone wants to be with you until you've had official confirmation, as it were, it always is. But I don't think you have anything to worry about," Anna smiled at her gently, "I really don't. Ok?"
Phyllis did her best to smile more certainly this time.
"Ok," she replied.
Anna gave her a sympathetic look, but there was a knock at the door before she could say anything else.
"That's probably Glyn," she told her, turning to open the door, "I could do with some wine. Oh," surprise registered in her tone, "Come in, Joe, I thought you were going to be Glynis."
"She's popped to the off licence," Joe explained, "She told me to say she'd be here in a-…"
His eyes fell on Phyllis, sitting on Anna's bed with her back against the wall, dressed up to the nines, her head bowed a little in contemplation and a little ruefulness that he'd taken her by surprise like this. But the way his sentence stopped abruptly made her look up. He too was ready, dressed in black tie, he looked very smart indeed. Even if his mouth was open and he was gaping a little bit.
"Was there something in particular Joe?" Anna asked, breaking the silence.
"Oh, yes," he offered her the bottle of wine in his hand, "Daisy asked me to bring this over. Said she'll be here in a minute."
"Great," Anna replied, accepting the wine, "Thanks. See you round at John's at eight?"
"Right," Joe replied, his eyes floating back to Phyllis, "John's. That's where I'll be."
"Ok, see you there," Anna told him.
"See you," he replied, and then he was gone.
Anna shut the door behind him, turning to look rather smugly at Phyllis, leaning back against the door.
"What are you smiling at?" Phyllis asked her.
"You have nothing to worry about," Anna told her.
—
By ten o'clock it was very dark, except for the streams of little lights that had been rigged up across the quad. The ball was in full swing and so, to a mixture of amusement and exasperation, was Glynis.
"Come on, Glyn," Phyllis told her, as she made for one of the waiters again, "I really think we should have water this time."
Glynis paid no attention at all, except to frown. She did not slow her walk in the slightest, unsteady as it was.
"Come on, Glyn," Phyllis told her trying to pull her by the arm, succeeding only in ending up holding hands with her as her other hand settled on another glass of champagne, which she proceeded to snigger gleefully into.
"Having trouble?" Somehow Joe had arrived.
"She just won't stop drinking," Phyllis told him helplessly, as Glynis threw an arm around her, "Where is everyone?"
"We were all looking for you," he replied, "We wondered where you'd got to. Easy now, Glyn!" he exclaimed as she threw an enthusiastic arm around him too.
"There you are!" Anna and John had found them, "We were looking for you."
"Yeah, well, I've been attending to this one," she indicated to Glynis, just as she started loudly, drunkenly singing, and swaying, trying to make Phyllis and Joe sway too, "Glynis, you're going to get us thrown out!"
"No, I won't," Glynis replied dismissively, "This is a classy place."
"No it's not," Phyllis told her crossly, "It's literally college, and you're rapidly lowering the class of it."
"It's alright," Anna told her, stepping in quickly to relieve her of Glynis' arm, before she became even more cross, "We've got her, haven't we John? We'll see she gets to bed."
"Yes, we will," John agreed, relieving Joe of Glynis other arm, "You two have a nice time."
"Are you sure?" Phyllis asked, suddenly feeling guilty at having made a fuss- she didn't want to spoil John and Anna's night too.
"Yes, of course," John told her, as he and Anna began the mammoth task of getting Glynis to turn in the right direction, "You've done enough."
"Alright," she replied gratefully, "See you later maybe?"
"Sure. See you!"
She stood with Joe, watching Anna and Joe valiantly carting Glynis off through the crowd of people who had gathered to marvel at the state she was in.
"Brave people," she said, meaning it.
"God, I know," he replied, "They've put me to bed a few times when I've been worse for wear. They're very good at it."
She smiled.
"Well I hope you're not feeling worse for wear now," she told him, smiling up at him, "Because you'll have to wait until they've sorted Glynis out."
He smiled back at her.
"I feel fine," he replied.
"Good,' she told him.
"Do you fancy another drink?" he asked her.
"Maybe wait a bit?" she answered.
"Probably for the best," he agreed, obviously thinking about Glynis too, "Very wise."
She paused for a moment.
"I was wondering if you fancied a dance," she murmured a moment later.
His eyes settled on her, and for a second, for several longs seconds, he seemed to look at her as he had done up in Anna's bedroom.
"Less wise," he replied.
But he offered her his hand, as he had done on several nights when they'd been drunker than they were on this one, in various nightclubs, at various parties, and lead her through the arch into the other quad where music was playing and people were dancing. And as she usually did, she twined her fingers with his, and he gave her hand a little squeeze.
And then they were in the middle of the people and they were dancing together. He was holding both her hands, and she was smiling.
And his hands were winding round her body, and he was holding onto her. Her hands settled on the front of his jacket, holding onto his lapels to steady herself.
"Are you alright?" he asked her, leaning in so that she could hear him over the music.
"Yes," she nodded her reply.
"Not too tipsy?"
She grinned back up at him.
"No," she replied.
His eyes widened a little as he realised that she was holding on to him only because she wanted to.
"Good," he replied, more quietly now, "You look beautiful, Phyllis."
Please review if you have the time.