Not quite

Felicity wanders through the crowds, a few people she recognises saying hello as she passes. All the time her eyes are scanning the room for him, the man she now knows is called Anthony, a man who knows her parents, which somehow makes it all the more thrilling as she imagines what nearly happened outside.

As she reaches the end of the grand room that is the focal point of the party, she has all but given up hope of spotting him again, and starts to think about making her way back to her parents, thinking maybe they will be ready to head home soon. She knows that the rest of the evening will be so dull now, having lost the chance of something exciting making the evening more worthwhile.

“Well, fancy seeing you again” a voice from behind her quickly brings her back to the present. She can’t hide the smile that spreads across her face as she spins around to face him again, more excited to see he is once more alone.

“I’m sorry about earlier, I panicked” she tells him, keeping her voice quiet so no one around them hears her, knowing that it would sound an odd thing to be overheard. “but maybe…” she leaves the word hanging, confident he will understand what she is saying, that she wants to continue whatever it was he had planned for previously.

“In that case” he begins as his hand gently returns onto her, subtly, not so much that it would look strange to anyone looking, just a friendly hand as they talk together. The hand applies soft pressure encouraging her to walk towards the set of doors that she knows leads into the rest of this marvellous building. This time she offers up no resistance, letting him direct her through the doors and into the long corridor, where people are coming and going, no one paying them any notice.As they walk she keeps telling herself she won't stop anything happening this time, whatever it might be that he has in mind.

He leads her further along the corridor, and she can hear the clatter of the kitchen not much further along. It’s not there he is leading her though, as the hand on her turns her slightly towards another door in the corridor.