When the end of the work day came, Mollie had to remind herself to drive carefully on her way home. After all, if she managed to wrap her car around a tree and hospitalise herself of worse, she would definitely not be going on her date that evening, not to mention the disappointment Courtney and her brother would face if she had to call them to say she couldn’t roast for their party after all due to being stuck in hospital!

Once home, she showered again, trying to get rid of the “work smell”, a mixture of cooked meat and cleaning products, that seemed to have embedded itself in her skin and hair, using the citrus-scented shampoo and conditioner which she knew had a strong and pleasant smell of its own and would pair well with her favourite perfume. For the first time in weeks, as she washed herself, she was not thinking about her body as meat but focussing on how she would look. After the shower, she dried and, while her hair would never take being fully straightened, she did manage to coax it into gentle ringlets that looked very pretty and made a nice change to her usual unruly mane.

After slipping on her dress, pleased to see that it still zipped up relatively easily despite her recent indulgences, Mollie put on tastefully subtle makeup, enough to show that she had made an effort without looking over the top. Although she could not wear a bra with this dress, she chose her nicest, most expensive pair of panties, to put on underneath. Her mum had been with her when she’d bought them and teased her that the black, semi-sheer, lacy underwear seemed more like the ghost of panties than an actual pair and she had speculated why they cost so much more than a regular pair despite using so much less material but the teasing had been good-natured and Mollie liked how she looked in them, or more importantly how she felt when wearing them, and they were special enough that she would not feel too ashamed when compared to whatever Maria was wearing.

Once she was as ready as she could be, Mollie checked the time on her phone. 6:20pm, ten minutes before her cab was due. She had always hated these weird in-between times so decided to go wait for the car downstairs. It wouldn’t make the time pass any faster necessarily but it would at least feel like she was doing something to move the situation forward. Hoping that her outfit was elegant enough that she’d not be mistaken for a street-walker, Mollie stood outside the front of her building, small handbag just big enough for her keys, a little money, some wipes, her phone and a tin of breath mints over her shoulder and her phone in her hand in case Maria sent a message or the cab driver needed directions. Looking up and down the street, Mollie wondered what kind of cab it would be, one marked as such or an Uber. What she was not prepared for was the large, sleek limo that pulled up almost silently with its electric engine by the curb where she stood. Instead of calling out to her through the window, the driver in a smart black suit got out and greeted her with a polite smile.

“Mollie, I presume?” I smiled, showing perfect teeth. The man was in his mid to late fifties, Mollie judged, but in good shape and tanned, the silver streaks in his dark hair showing that it was natural. “I was told to look for the flame-haired beauty with lovely… smile!” The hesitation was clearly a joke, not an awkward correction like the lady who had purchased Jessica and Marcia’s had been.

“That would be me!” Mollie giggled, climbing into the back of the car as the driver opened the door for her. The inside was truly luxurious with leather seats, a fresh, citrus smell in the air which complemented her shampoo and perfume very nicely and a small ice-bucket with a half-bottle of real champagne and a glass bottle of very expensive-looking mineral water. A tall champagne flute was clipped to the side of the bucket.

“Do help yourself.” The man smiled. “It’s there to be enjoyed! Is the choice of music to your liking? I can change it if not.” Mollie listened for a moment and worked out that the music playing softly in the back of the car was pretty instrumental versions of popular show tunes.

“This will do nicely, thank you.” She smiled warmly, pulling on her seatbelt which glided smoothly and was so soft it felt as if it were made from velvet. Knowing that the drive was not a long one, Mollie wasted no time in opening the complimentary champagne and decanting it into the glass provided. As someone who regularly catered weddings, she was no stranger to champagne or other sparkling wines with aspirations of being mistaken for it, but this was a whole new experience in terms of taste and quality.

As he drove, the driver chatted affably to Mollie, asking what line of work she was in and how she knew the Ramierez family. Not knowing quite how much might yet be public knowledge about Mr Ramierez’ planned second marriage and the very favourable divorce settlement that had been negotiated, Mollie simply said that she worked in catering and event-planning and that she was helping Mrs Ramierez arrange a party. His chuckled reply about, when it came to turkeys, it wouldn’t matter if the guests preferred thighs or breast as there was going to be plenty of each to go around and the amount of rump-roast on the menu, however, told her that her caution had been unnecessary. Still, she considered it a matter of professional courtesy not to share too much detail about the arrangements she had made with her clients.

After about twenty minutes, they arrived at the restaurant. Seeing Maria waiting outside for her, Mollie gulped down the last mouthful or so of champagne and, out of habit, dropped the water bottle into her handbag in case she needed it later. The driver once again got out to open the door for her and her beautiful client, her date for the evening, rushed forward to greet her with a hug and a kiss of welcome on each cheek followed by a far more lingering one on the lips that made Mollie’s kneels feel weak.

“I’m so glad you came!” Maria beamed, holding Mollie’s face in her hands and looking at her with pure, loving delight. “And you look absolutely wonderful!” Mollie blushed a little and thanked her then looked Maria up and down. Once again she was dressed in bottle-green which complimented her eyes and, from Mollie’s limited experience, seemed to be her favourite colour. Rather than a suit this time, however, she was wearing a dress which hugged her figure tightly, stopping just above the knee, and with a deep, swooping neckline revealing what Mollie knew her dad would refer to as “a cleavage you can ski down!” Like Mollie, she was wearing thin black tights or stockings and her outfit was completed with a pair elegant, heeled shoes the same colour as her dress. “Everyone else is inside.” she smiled, taking hold of Mollie’s hand excitedly. “Come on, I’ll introduce you!”

The inside of the restaurant was small, intimate. Clearly set up for groups and families rather than individuals or couples, Mollie counted eight fairly large, round tables that she supposed could accommodate up to ten people, six of which were currently occupied with happy diners at various stages of their meals, and one larger one which currently had a party of sixteen sat at, probably an office night out from the looks of them, but which could probably accommodate five or six more if needed. The tables themselves were dark wood and with a rustic construction and the whole dining area had the general aesthetic of a medieval tavern only instead on stag or wild boar, the heads displayed like hunting trophies around the walls were those of children, boys and girls, ranging in age from “barely legal” four to mid-teens. There were also grotesques in the various corners and shelves with dusty spell-books and potion bottles along with the occasional skull.

The room was T-shaped with the recessed area being dominated by a large fire-place in which an animatronic goblin-like figure of little more than two feet tall was turning a spit with a twelve year old boy on it who it took Mollie a few seconds to realise was actually a dummy too and not a real boy being roasted. To one side of the fire-place was a big cauldron, gently steaming, and the boy and girl in that were definitely real although it did not appear that they were actually cooking. Mollie wondered if the cheeky-looking pair who she placed around eight or nine years old, were on the menu that night and would be swapped out when their time came or whether they were just performers from some local drama club like the mermaids and living statues at Sidney’s. On the other side of the fire-place was a black iron cage hanging from the ceiling where four more naked children, two girls and two boys, all around ten or eleven years old, seemed to be awaiting their fate. A witch’s broom stood in the corner and the area around the fireplace was littered with skulls, rib-cages and other random bones which Mollie had no reason to doubt were real but were clearly there as decoration and not as a result of poor cleaning practices from the restaurant staff!

Close to the entrance, another girl, this time a young teen of perhaps thirteen or fourteen, was displayed in another hanging cage but a narrower one this time so that she had to stand and on one wall, a younger boy and girl were shackled with iron chains but, Mollie notices, small footrests so it was probably not as uncomfortable as it looked. The walls were stone and the floor covered with terracotta red tiles and straw around the edges of the room added to the general ambience, as did the bats hanging from the raftered ceiling and the assorted animatronic crows and owls. The themeing was definitely impressive and put Mollie in mind not so much of a ghost train but of the queueing area for one in a high-end theme park.

“We’re over here.” Maria smiled, still holding her hand and guiding her gently by the elbow towards one of the tables where two attractive, older couples were sat along with a strikingly handsome man in his late thirties or early forties and a girl who looked like an only slightly older version of Sophia so just had to be Maria’s little sister Rosita, her husband’s second wife to be. Even if the family resemblance had not been so striking, Mollie would have had no trouble working out who the younger woman was from the way she and the handsome man were acting – sharing little kisses, whispering things to each other and giggling, him holding one of her hands as she rested the other on her leg. However supportive she may be of the relationship, Mollie was not at all surprised that Maria had wanted to bring a date of her own the keep things more balanced.


To be continued...