“Yes…it’s nice,” She smiled back, a hand sweeping out ever so slightly to include the building in her statement. Andrew returned her smile, happy she seemed to be okay in their surroundings, and the three finished their drinks over a light conversation. Once the glasses were emptied and placed down atop the table for a wondering member of the bar staff to collect, the three made their way onto the dance floor, dancing tightly together so that Andrew could, as he declared, ‘protect my baby sister from all these prowling women’. 

It was almost an hour later, head swimming from the flowing drinks she had already consumed, that Helena finally untangled herself from her brother’s and his boyfriend’s arms, stating, “I’m just going to ring home…see how the children are…” They ‘boo-d’ her but she could see they were thankful to finally have each other to themselves. 

The outside air was cool and pleasant against her bare arms, blowing across her face like a welcome fan and highlighting the contrast between the stuffy heat from inside the club. Helena was quick to work her mobile out of her pocket and find a quiet area a short walk away from the entrance of the building she had just emerged from. After fingering in the appropriate numbers, she waited for the call to connect and listened to the monotone ringing. A few seconds later a high-pitched voice answered the phone, quiet enough to signal that the teenager on the other end of the line was clearly trying not to wake somebody up. “Hi, Hailey, it’s Helena…yes, I was just checking on the children…they are?…oh, good…okay…no, no, that’s fine, I just wanted to make sure…okay…thanks, Hailey…bye…yeah, bye…” 

Releasing her breath, the brunette Brit forced the little device back into her pocket and ran a hand through her hair before spinning on her heel and marching back into the club. However, even after standing stock still and glancing around in all directions, Helena failed to find the tall frames of her brother and Peter. Finally giving up, and feeling a little uncomfortable with the attention she was receiving, she quickly made her way back to the bar. If she couldn’t find Andrew or Peter, she’d simply have to drink away her misfortune and hope someone took pity on her.