Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER FIVE
Juliette

"Please, let me help."
His voice was so earnest, I dropped my guard and let him guide me towards the toilets. To anyone watching on, we probably looked like we were sneaking off to hook up in the disabled toilets, when in reality I was soaked to my bra in beer. He pulled me in the room by my hand and locked the door behind him, the music was muffled through the walls, making my ears fill with static. It felt like we we're in a little bubble of sound.
Turning to the mirror behind the sink, I finally saw how horrible I looked. My hair was like a mane around my face and my dress had stuck to my skin like I'd been vacuum packed.
"Here," Elliot pulled at the tissue paper dispenser on the wall and produced several sheets to try and dry me off. "Let me."
He cleared the space between us and started to dab away at the fabric carefully. I could tell he's really concentrating, cause his lips were pursed and his eyes had zoned in on the spot in question. The spot in question just so happened to be the fabric at the peak of my breasts.
I don't know if it was all the cocktails, but being that close to him, first on the dance floor and then in that stall, I couldn't help but feel a pulse in the pit of my stomach when I looked at him. He was undoubtedly handsome. Even more so when I finally saw him properly in the fluorescent light of the overhead bathroom light bulb. Just a shame he was a bit of a dick.
His hot breath hit my exposed collar bone and sent a shiver down my spine. I controlled the shiver with all the strength I could muster, he didn't seem to notice. Not once looking up at me as he continued to dab away at the dress.
I was staring at him so forcefully, I felt like my eyeballs were going to pop out of their sockets. Like in a cartoon.
Eventually, after a long silence, I said "It's no use."
Elliot stopped instantly and lowered his hand, returning my gaze with his piercing blue eyes.
"It's no use." I repeated a little quieter, searching his eyes for a sign that he felt some sort of zing in the air too. "I'm gunna have to take my dress off."
The alcohol had made me bold. His eyes darkened and his lips parted, his whole expression changed by my words. The alcohol must have loosened him up too. After a beat, he let out a small hiss between his teeth and began to face the opposite wall to give me some privacy.
I stopped him in his tracks by holding his upper arm, he bolted back and gave me a quizzical look, his muscular bicep tensing up under my touch. "Will you help me take the dress off first? I can't manage it on my own."
I couldn't believe my own boldness.
Elliot seemed dumbfounded, standing before me dead still, his breath hitched in his throat as his eyes explored mine. He ran his tongue along his perfect white teeth, like he was mulling over my request for help.
After what felt like an eternity, he gave me a small nod. I swept my hair to one side over my shoulder and turned my back to him, my skin starting to sing as I anticipated his touch. When it finally happened, I felt like jelly.
His fingers made quick work of the clasp at the top of the dress  as he slowly and agonisingly pulled the zip down till it reached the very small of my back, his knuckle grazing the length my spine. Closing my eyes, I succumbed to his gentle touch. His fingers lingered on the zip for a fraction longer than they should have, I felt his eyes burning into the back of me, waiting for my next move.
I slipped the straps off first, pulled the material down past my chest and torso then let it pool at my feet. Thank god I was wearing my good matching underwear!
This is not you Juliette St. James, was all I could think. Stood half naked in a bathroom with a handsome stranger in nothing but my bra, panties, and a pair of heels.
When I dared to take a peek at his reflection in the mirror, he had his back to me, facing the wall with his head dipped low and his hands shoved in his trouser pockets. I was stupid to think he'd be looking.
I picked up my disregarded dress gingerly, "Thanks." I called out to the back of his head. With as much grace as I could manage after the number of cocktails I'd had, I walked towards the hand drier to hold my dress under it, my heels clacking against the bathroom tiles loudly. The whole thing felt like an out of body experiences.
The air pumping out of the hand dryer was cool and doing little to repair the damage that drunk on the dance floor had caused to my favourite party dress. After a few minutes of tediously running it back and forth under the machine, I gave up and let out a sigh.
When I looked back in the mirror to see if any of the beer had left a mark on my skin, Elliot was turned to the side and watching me slyly with the corner of his eyes.
I never felt sexy, but in that one moment, a hot man looking at me the way he was, I felt like a million bucks. My body flushed all over, the glow from the alcohol and his dark gaze burned on my chest and face. When I was satisfied that I'd been half naked in front of him for long enough, I slipped the damp dress back on my body and turned to Elliot, who was already waiting to zip it back up for me. We stared at each other in the reflection of the mirror, electricity ran through the silence, my breath caught in my throat as he pulled the zip up my back as slowly has he had pulled it down. I felt like at any moment, I was going to combust in his hands.

'BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!'

The shrill of his phone ringing in his pocket made us both jump a mile. Our trance was broken instantly as he removed his hands from my back and to his pocket to find out who was calling.
His voice was hoarse and stiff as he pulled the phone to his ear and answered it. "What do you want?"
I couldn't hear much on the other end of the call, just a jumble of different voices mingling together. Elliot brought his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it frustratedly.
"Some dickhead spilt their drink on Juliette..." He ran his gaze up the length of my body as the voice on the other end cut him off. "Yeah, she's here with me now. Hang on I'll get her, she's just getting decent."
Elliot was smirking to himself a little as he passed me the phone, I felt like laughing too, I was filled to the brim with nervous energy.
"It's Frankie, he's outside with your friends. Someone called Carol wants to talk to you."
"Hey Carol." My voice came out jumbled, maybe I was drunker than I had thought.
"HEY! We're all outside, we wanna go to another bar, come meet us!'
"Okay, see you in a sec." I hung up and handed back his phone. Elliot tilted his head to the side slightly  and gave me a questioning look.
"Where are they?" He asked, his voice cracking a little, the reassurance that I need to know he was recovering from our moment too, he hadn't gone completely unscathed.
"Outside, they want to go somewhere else."
"If it's up to Frankie, you better all pray for where we end up."
Instead of laughing, I brushed past him and unlocked the door, we'd been in there together for what felt like an eternity and I couldn't help but wonder if people would be watching and waiting for us to come out like they knew exactly what had gotten up to. Not that anything really happened.
As I pushed back the large wooden door, I peered around and tried to spot the audience I was expecting. Nobody was watching, everyone too enthralled in the music or each other to care about the bedraggled looking girl and sharply dressed boy appearing from the toilet together.
Instinctively, I reached for Elliot's hand, and to my surprise he took it without question. He didn't seem like the hand holding type. Once again, I could only put it down to the amount of alcohol we both must have consumed.
We steered each other through the club and out of the exit, back to the smoking area where we had met only moment ago. After having been locked in a bathroom and stripped almost naked in front of him, it felt like last year.

The others were waiting patiently for us where they said they would be. When Frankie saw that we were holding hands he whistled and cheered, "Yes brother!" He called out, followed by a chorus of cheers from Carol and Ashley.
Elliot instantly let go of my hand and stalked away from me.
Carol had her arm linked in Kevin's as she struggled to walk out past the bouncer in a straight line behind the two brothers. Ashley fell back and linked arms with me.
Here it comes, the Ashley Goulding inquisition.
"So?!" She was too eager to hear what I had to say, I made sure that Elliot was far enough in front with Frankie before I started to spill.
"Ash, there was almost an incident in the disabled toilets, classy I know!"
Her mouth formed a perfect 'O' shape and her eyes lit up, "You're kidding! What kind of incident?"
After I relayed the encounter back to her with as much detail as I cared to share, she just stared at me in awe, obviously not expecting something so daring from me either.
"Do you think you're gunna go home with him tonight?"
That was the question wasn't it. Was I, Juliette St. James, going to have my first ever one-night stand?
"I don't know Ashley, he's been fine when we've been alone, but you saw what he was just like then. He's ashamed to be seen with me! And in not so many words, he called me heavy. "
"He is hot though!"
Frankie had decided to lead the way through the night, joking around with Kevin and Carol as we weaved through the streets and past various other bars, Elliot just sulking next to them silently.
Ashley continued to witter on. "You wouldn't sleep with him anyways, you're a massive wuss!" She joked. I playfully slapped her on her arm with my free hand.
"I could have a one-night stand if I wanted to..." I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince her or myself.
"Jewel, I bet you £20 pounds that you don't end up back at his place tonight."
Elliot shot me a look over his shoulder, almost like he heard what we were talking about. I looked from him to Ashley, lowering my voice in case he could actually hear me.
"Ashley," I didn't know if it was the thrill of something new or because I was clearly drunk, but I actually said it. "I bet you £20 and a bacon sandwich in the morning that I do!"