Lynne Marshall - 200 Harley Street

She gave a little smile then walked back outside to meet Iain.

Her eyes swept the room. He was only a few feet away, talking to some man in a dark suit.

A voice breathed in her ear, ‘Well, what do we have here?’

Her stomach turned over, thankfully not all over her dress. A blast from the past. And one she certainly didn’t welcome.

She spun round in her sparkling shoes. ‘Jack, what an unpleasant surprise.’

Jack Parker was standing in front of her, his arm around a buxom blonde who looked as if she was being strangled by her bright blue dress. How on earth she’d managed to contain her oversized breasts in a dress two sizes too small was anybody’s guess. His tie was askew and his hair rumpled. What a surprise—Jack Parker was drunk.

He leaned forward and she got the whiff of alcohol on his breath. Any closer and he could anaesthetise her.

‘I saw you up on the screen. Close up doesn’t do you much good, does it?’

She took a deep breath. ‘I could say the same about you, Jack,’ she shot back.

He raised one eyebrow. What had she ever found attractive about this guy?

Her stomach was churning. He was saying out loud the thoughts that had sprung into her mind the second she’d seen her face on the screen. Jack Parker was still inside her head. Still circulating little horrible thoughts. It made her angry. It made her angry that she was still allowing him to influence her thoughts, and have a little bit of control over her life.

She ran her eyes up and down his rumpled suit. ‘Did you pick that one straight up out of the garden after I dumped it there?’

His eyes narrowed. He wasn’t used to Lexi standing up for herself. He wasn’t used to it at all. She’d always found a way to try and avoid any arguments with him. Had spent most of her time trying to placate him. More fool her.

And for a time it had seemed his greatest pleasure was to make her cry. Well, not tonight.

Jack’s drunken girlfriend swayed and turned to him. ‘What’s she talking about, baby? I thought you dumped her?’

Her hand rested on his chest. There was something vaguely familiar about her. Lexi’s eyes dropped to her obviously over-implanted breasts. Of course, she was a glamour model. But her breasts stood out like sore thumbs. Lexi could tell just by looking that they were obviously too large for her slim frame. And her implants had been placed over her chest muscles instead of under, causing obvious ridge marks at the tops of breasts. Oh, dear. Even Lexi could tell this woman would need reconstructive surgery at some point. Had Jack made her do that?

She could feel the fire building in her belly. On any other day if she’d seen Jack Parker she would have ducked and hidden. She didn’t like conflict. She didn’t like attention being on herself. It didn’t matter that she’d picked up the courage to throw him out. Even one glance of Jack brought back the overwhelming surge of not being good enough. It brought back the seeds of doubt and the memories of his cruel words and actions.

She looked across the room. She wasn’t panicking—she was just looking for some reassurance. Iain was still in conversation with another man just a few feet away. He obviously hadn’t realised anything was wrong.

These last few weeks with Iain had given her some new-found confidence. She felt appreciated. She felt respected. She felt … loved?

Something she’d never felt before. Either with Jack or her parents. Her aunt was the only person who’d ever shown her love.

It was a startling realisation. It almost made her feel giddy.

Jack was wrinkling his nose at her, mumbling under his breath. She couldn’t stand him. She couldn’t stand to be in the same place as him. Even now he treated her with disdain. How dared he?

She straightened her shoulders, gave a smile to his girlfriend and extended her hand. ‘Pleasure to meet you. I’m Lexi Robbins. Jack’s never had any manners and that’s obviously not changed.’ As she took the action she was aware of Jack’s eyes on her bust. Even though she was perfectly happy with her figure, it could clearly never compete with his new girlfriend’s. And she’d never want to. She couldn’t imagine the health problems the woman was likely to have in the future.

The blonde’s eyes widened as she took the hand in front of her and gave it a limp shake. Jack was spluttering over his drink but Lexi ignored him.

‘Brandy,’ she slurred.

Brandy. It figured.

‘And just so we’re clear, you’re wrong,’ Lexi continued. ‘I dumped Jack. In fact, I threw his clothes out of our flat and changed the locks. That’s because he’s a weasel. You’d do well to remember that.’

The colour started to rise in Jack’s face. ‘Rubbish, Lexi. That’s rubbish. You were too boring for me.’ He glanced back at Brandy, obviously desperate to save face. ‘In more ways than one. And, obviously, not pretty enough.’ He pulled Brandy closer to him. Was that to reassure her? Or to stop himself from swaying?

‘Get a life, Jack,’ Lexi sighed, and gave a shake of her head. ‘You’re not worth it. Not for a second.’

She spun on her heel and walked back into the ladies. She didn’t want to let him have a minute more of her time. She didn’t want all the little self-doubts to find their way into her mind and thoughts again. She stood for a second in front of the mirror, taking a few deep breaths.

She wanted to get of here. She needed to get out of here. She needed to find Iain and stick to their original plan. The original plan that made her knees quiver and her heart race.

The door banged behind her and before she could even lift her head to look at who had entered she was grabbed roughly from behind. There was no time to think. No time to act.

She was pushed against the wall, the cold tiles pressing against her back. Jack had one hand on her shoulder, the other around her throat.

She tried to move her arms, her hands, but his full weight was on her. He leaned forward. ‘Who do you think you are? Don’t you dare speak to me like that.’

She turned her head away, trying to avert the smell of alcohol that was coming from his breath.

‘Look at me!’ he growled.

She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. ‘Get off me, Jack. This is a public restroom, any minute now someone will walk in and see what you’re doing.’

He snarled. ‘Who’s going to stop me?’ He lifted one hand and waved it around, laughing as she took the opportunity to try and escape his grasp. ‘There’s no one here but you and me.’

He pressed his hand back to her body, this time reaching up and squeezing her breast. ‘You should be thanking me. Thanking me for telling you to get some shape.’ He gave another little laugh. ‘But you’ll never compare to Brandy.’

She winced under his grasp. Jack had never been physical with her in the past, but the amount of alcohol he’d consumed—along with his bad temper—made her glad things had never been like this.

She opened her eyes and looked him straight in the eye. She didn’t even notice the door open in the background. She was too focused on her task.

Fight or flight. The surge of adrenaline powered through her body.

‘That’s just it Jack, I don’t want to be anything like Brandy.’ She leaned towards him, ignoring the stench of alcohol. ‘But you’re right. It’s just you and me.’

She lifted her knee and hammered it straight into his groin. His reaction was instant. He released her and crumpled to the floor, clutching at his groin.

She stepped over him in her fluttering dress. ‘Don’t you ever put a hand on me again.’

There was a movement beside her. A dark flash of something. It took her a few seconds to register that Iain had appeared.