Mary wavered slightly, cursing the fact that she had to make nice with all these people while her feet were absolutely killing her. She resolved to invent time travel so she could go back and beat the person who’d invented high-heeled shoes. She finished off her third champagne, setting the glass down in a potted plant. As she stood up, the room seemed to tilt violently, and she nearly toppled over.

Emily: "Mary? Are you ok? You look a little unsteady."
Mary: "Em... I'm fine. I've been enjoying the champagne."
Emily: "I can see that."

Mary leaned forward, focusing on her friend with grim seriousness.

Mary: “I haven’t been enjoying much else, though. These people are crazy.”
Emily: “How so?”
Mary: “They take it all so seriously!”
Emily: “I’m not sure I understand how that makes them crazy; I thought you wanted to be taken seriously as an artist.”
Mary: “I do, but only if I’m being serious.”

Mary waited while Emily raised a hand to her forehead, resting it there for a few short seconds before looking up again.

Emily: “I think I’m way too tired to follow your logic tonight, Mary. Too tired, or too sober.”
Mary: “Oh, that can be fixed. There’s unlimited free champagne, and it’s the good stuff! You should have a glass or two.”
Emily: “Thanks, but I’d better pass. One of us has to be able to drive home. Come to think of it, maybe you’d better not have any more because I so have no idea how to get home from here. Knowing my sense of direction, we’d probably end up in Canada.”

Mary nodded, amused by the way the room seemed to roll ever so slightly with the motion of her head.

Emily: “By the way, you’ll never believe who’s here tonight.”
Mary: “Batman?”
Emily: “What? No.”
Mary: “Andrew Stone could be a weird Bruce Wayne.”
Emily: “He didn’t really strike me as the type to have a secret hidden identity.”
Mary: “Really? That’s not the impression I got. I bet he totally has a butler named Alfred, too.”
Emily: “I’m way too sober for this discussion.”
Mary: “I’m sorry. Who did you say you saw here tonight?”
Emily: “The guys from the train station.”
Mary: “Oh, yeah. I know.”

Mary felt the hesitant touch of guilt and dropped her eyes to the floor.

Emily: “You know?”
Mary: "I saw James earlier tonight, and I think I need to talk to him.”
Emily: “Oh god, what did you do? Please tell me you didn’t hit him.”
Mary: “No, I thought it would be in bad form to get thrown out of my first art show. I was just sort of extremely rude to him.”
Emily: “He’s just over there, Mary. You should try to dazzle him with your amazing champagne logic. If nothing else, he’ll be too confused to be mad at you.”

Mary: “I just don't know if I can. Besides, I think he's been avoiding me."
Emily: "Give it a try, I'm sure he's not going to bite. I can go with you if you’d like."
Mary: “I’m not sure I’m comfortable with you witnessing me groveling for forgiveness.”
Emily: “I didn’t think you had it in you to grovel.”

Mary: “Oh I can grovel with the best of them. You should have seen me at the end of Introduction to World Mythology; I managed to weasel out a passing grade with that performance.”
Emily: “I did wonder how you managed that with the number of times you slept through the class. You’re sure you don’t want me coming with you?”
Mary: “As long as you keep an eye on me from a distance, I should be good.”
Emily: “I’ve got your back.”

Mary let out a sharp breath, nodded once, and headed across the gallery to where James was giving an intense amount of attention to a plate of triangular shaped sandwiches. He turned around and eyed her with suspicion, but, much to her relief, didn’t try to run.

Mary: "James, can I talk to you for a minute?"
James: "Look, I don't want any trouble. If you want to yell at me again, can you just pretend you already did so we can go our separate ways?"

Mary stood up as straight as she could managed and reminded herself that apologizing was like taking a bad-tasting medicine; the sooner she did it, the sooner it was over with and she could move on.
Mary: "I want to apologize for the way I acted earlier."
James: “Are you drunk?"
Mary: "Just a little tipsy."

James nodded, as if in understanding, leaving Mary slightly puzzled.

James: "Apology accepted.”
Mary: “Thank you.”

Mary turned to go, feeling slightly less humiliated than she expected, but was stopped before she’d even taken a full step.
James: “Mary, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for how I acted last night. To be honest, I felt like sort of an arse, and overreacted somewhat. Friends?"

Mary stared at James’s outstretched hand as if he’d just sprouted some sort of alien appendage. After a few seconds, her brain caught up with her, and she hesitantly shook his hand.

Mary: “I don’t know about ‘friends,’ but I think I’d be comfortable with ‘not enemies.’”
James: “’Not enemies’ it is, then.”

James smiled, and Mary surprised herself by smiling in return, which she quickly dismissed as being caused by the alcohol in her system.

Mary: “Well, I suppose I’ll let you get back to your sandwiches. I’m going to find my friend and see if we can’t sneak out of this shindig early.”
James: “My wha—oh, yes. Funny looking things, aren’t they?”
Mary: “Standard fare, I’d say.”
James: “Wait, you’re leaving? Already? You can’t have been here more than an hour, an hour and a quarter max.”
Mary: “It’s felt like much longer, and that’s all that counts. See you around.”

Mary once again turned to go, and this time succeeded. As she made her way back to Emily, she was overcome by the creeping feeling of being watched, almost as if she were being studied. It made the skin on her arms crawl, and she quickened her pace.

Emily: “Well, how’d it go? I assume it went well since I didn’t hear any shouting.”
Mary: “Emily, was James staring at me just now?”
Emily: “Nope, he turned back to the table as soon as you started back over here. Why? Is everything all right?”
Mary: “Just an attack of paranoia. I’m so ready to skedaddle; you ready?”

Emily: “Is it OK for us to leave? I mean, you don’t have like a certain number of hours you’re obligated to or anything, do you?”
Mary: “Emily, it’s an art show, not court-ordered community service. I’m allowed to leave at any time.”
Emily: “Well, in that case, I guess I’m ready to go. Keys.”

Mary dropped her keys into Emily’s waiting hand and followed her friend out to the car. The crisp, spring air helped to clear her head somewhat, and she immediately began to feel better. While the night hadn’t been exactly her cup of tea, it seemed she’d at least be getting a nice paycheck for her troubles.