Happy Hour, Part 8

HAPPY HOUR
===========
By Blackbladder

PART EIGHT - REUNION

"So how are you feeling, Carrie? Looking forward to your first shift?"
Monique asked as she lit a cigarette.

"Yes I am.  After my one day experience in the Smoking Cessation Unit, I knew
I wanted to get my work experience somewhere else...everything here just
feels right for me." Carrie said as she pinned up the final end of the
College Party banner extending along the top of the bar.

"I need both of you to come over here." Monique urged as Norah and Carrie
walked over to their new employer in the storeroom.

"Good.  This is just a reminder about how the evening should go.  There is
packs of cigarettes behind the counters for you to distribute as part of the
Happy Hour deals we are running all night.  Every round of drinks entitles
the customer to a pack of cigarettes."

Both of them nodded obediently as they watched Monique inhale sharply on her
cigarette - the pleasure stimulated the cravings for nicotine inside
themselves.  

"Why can't we smoke yet?" Norah asked as she glared at the burning cigarette
with envy.

"Because we don't want the first few customers to ruin the celebration night.
I think once our customers are settled and more relaxed, that you can then
light up at your own free will.  I know both of your young bodies are
screaming for a drag at the moment..." Monique smiled as she handed her
cigarette to Norah, who sucked greedily.  After a lengthy inhale, she handed
the cigarette to Carrie, who also inhaled on the filter.  With a fresh doze
of nicotine bursting through their systems, the cigarette was returned to
Monique as they approached the bar counter for the first customers.

"Carrie?" Monique asked as the student was about to join her
nicotine-deprived colleague at the bar.

"I will need you later tonight when things are a bit settled here.  I want to
show you more about how everything works." Monique instructed as Carrie
nodded.

"Norah?" Monique said as the woman turned around to face her.

"Remember, we have an entertainer coming tonight - keep an eye on the door."
Monique instructed.

The first customers to arrive were the regulars since the bar had opened -
the staff from the local bank as well as some clinic workers.  As the service
intensified, the college students began to arrive in small groups.  One of
the things agreed by Monique and Susan after their smokey encounter was how
students would only be served soft drinks all evening.  Some students tried
to cheat the agreement, and trick Norah and Carrie out of alcohol.  However,
they were soon banned from the premises.

"How do I look?" Pamela asked at her best friend.

"Fantastic - but remember what we're here for tonight.  Have you got
Eleanor's number?" Gillian asked as they walked into the bar.

They suddenly detected a small presence of cigarette smoke from several
addicts as they joined some of their college friends.  Pamela frowned as she
looked around the room to see several people light up as they drunk from
their glasses.  She also noticed other students shake their heads in disgust
as well as they awaited the Rector's arrival to open the evening.  As part of
the discussions, Susan had been asked to officially open the Celebration
Night with a small speech.  

Monique had ordered an upcoming rock band to provide the music for the
evening.  The band were all non-smokers, and had discussed since their
arrival at the sight of people smoking as the haze surrounded them.  The lead
singer, Tricia, decided to vent her frustration as she approached the bar in
a purposeful mood.

"Can I speak to the manager? We never agreed to play in a smokey
environment." Tricia said firmly as Monique approached the bar counter.

"Stop living in the world of fantasy - if you want to be successful, you've
got to get used to playing in places where people smoke.  After all, they're
paying customers...and I am paying you to be here.  If you're not happy then
I urge you to go now...otherwise take up our offer of free drinks for the
first hour and return to your band." Monique barked in reply as she was
nervous about any unprepared interventions of any sort.

"You know that we are operating under Happy Hour rules all night tonight -
therefore, with every round of drinks, you are entitled to a free pack of
cigarettes." Carrie intervened as she withdrew a pack of cigarettes from
behind the counter and extended them towards the singer.

Tricia shrugged her shoulders and shook her head as she frowned upon the
offered pack.

"We don't smoke! I can't believe you are offering cigarettes to customers -
what kind of business are you?!" Tricia retorted.

The lead singer stormed back to her bandmates with drinks, regretting the
decision to play at the bar. 

Monique saw two other young women approach the bar cautiously.

"Remember our plan." Pamela whispered as they walked towards the bar.

"Hiya Norah - how are you tonight?  I'm suprised to see Carrie working here.
What happened to her placement?" Gillian asked

"I'm fine, Gillian.  Carrie got offered a job here, and she has decided to
take it.  It isn't that suprising once you've been here for a while." Norah
replied as she served another customer.

"I need to use a telephone to make a private call." Pamela lied as she smiled
innocently.

"Yes sure...out the back here.  Let me show you." Monique offered as she
ushered the students around the back of the bar through a side door.

They then saw a door with a sign reading "Staff Use Only", which they were
prompted to walk through.  Upon entering, they found a black telephone
sitting on a table, with an ashtray and a pack of cigarettes next to it.  A
stale odour emanated from the ashtray with several cork-tipped butts inside.
As Pamela began to scour the shelves of the room, Gillian leaned her ear
against the door to detect whether the hallway was now unoccupied...

"Ladies and Gentlemen....Can I welcome you here to the Drôle Bar.  I would
like to wish you a great night of entertainment and relaxation.  We have a
live band playing for us tonight.  Maybe you will all learn something tonight
as well.  I will now introduce your Rector to the stage.  A round of applause
please..." Monique spoke into the microphone as the students reluctantly
clapped.

As Susan approached the stage with the band behind her, the students were
handed glasses of prepared fizzy drinks by her secretary, Lesley.  Most of
the students, non-smokers themselves, were confused with Susan's sudden
change of heart on smoking.  Her battleaxe image died when the Smoking Area
was announced.  

"Hi Pride College!" Susan said into the microphone as the students stood on
the dancefloor.

The students mumbled a reply as they each received a glass of fizzy drinks.

"I hope every student in here has a drink in their hand coz I want to do a
toast to Pride College as it is our fiftieth anniversary of providing further
education for the residents of Westfox City.  The college started off with
just a single class of keen learners and has progressed through grants and
funding ever since.  We have been one of America's top performing educational
establishments in the past and we have a great record of individual student
achievement.  Can I please ask you all to raise your glasses to Pride
College!" Susan rallied as she raised her glass as the students, as well as
the band members behind her, followed suit.

"To Pride College!" the students gleefully said in unison as they clinked
drinks and sipped in traditional format.

As the students continued to sip their drinks, the band members briefly
chatted before donning their instruments as guitar strings were plucked into
life and a surge of sound boomed from the amplifiers on the wall.  

The rest of the students sat down in their seats and started chatting with
each other as the music buzzed around the room when Hazel and her friends
joined a large group.  The large group frowned in disdain as Hazel's friends
proceeded to light themselves cigarettes, taking long sexy drags as the
nicotine surged through them.  Noting the general facial disapproval of their
smoking, Hazel and her friends blew clouds of smoke amongst every one of them
out of protest.  Why should they shun us just because we smoke?, Hazel asked
herself.  Ever since Hazel had started smoking, she wondered if she would
still be as popular as ever.  She was horrified, though, to find her more
casual friends try and disown her as she had sat down with them.  Fuck them,
Hazel thought defiantly - they're not gonna avoid me coz I smoke, Hazel
defended her new nicotine habit.  Social smokers within the bar soon joined
their comrades when offered cigarettes as Hazel and the large group of
students continued to co-exist at the main table for students.  Ever since
she had taken up the habit, she had become very self-assured and confident in
her right to smoke.  

As soon as Susan sat at her table, she answered the demand of the nicotine
cravings, and lit up quickly as her fellow lecturers did the same.  Inhaling
deeply into her lungs, she noticed that the anti-smokers at her table sat
quietly as the haze of smoke began to descend over them.  All they did was
sip gently from their drinks as the smokers basked in their habits quietly.  

With Hazel and her friends smoking unapologetically at the table, the large
group of students were constantly bathed in their second-hand smoke.
Initially, they turned away from Hazel but seemed to relax as they finished
their first round of drinks.  Some of the group began to peek as Hazel and
her friends laughed loudly in a smoky haze.  The drinks had a strong
flavouring which the group had to get used to.  More of the group began
paying more attention when Hazel and her friends chained into another round
of cigarettes with their next round of drinks.  Similar cravings began to
manifest in each of the group - a longing curiousity began to bubble over the
initial offence caused by the smoking.  Many of the students found themselves
admiring how the smoke danced towards the ceiling.  Individually, their
attention was now drawn towards the opposing smokers sitting next to them,
deep in their own smoke-filled conversation.  As the group consumed a third
round of drinks, Hazel was convinced she caught a student watching her light
up her fourth cigarette of the evening.  

Instinctively, Hazel slid her pack towards the confused students
effortlessly, before saying "Help yourself."

"What the fuck you doing?  They'll destroy them!" Sasha laughed as smoke
billowed from her mouth.

Sasha and the group gasped as the other students glared at the pack with a
mixture of fear and anticipation.  The group all felt a desire and hunger
towards the pack of cylinders they were revolted by at the beginning of the
evening.  Hazel noticed that some of the students were lost in thought as the
pack of cigarettes lay seductively on the table in front of them, silently
beckoning them to be lit up.  

The first students to succumb to temptation were those who had smoked
previously or experimented with cigarettes.  The cravings raged within them
as they reached for the pack and lit up carefully.  The other students
conformed to this mass action as they drew mental inspiration from their own
colleagues as curiousity preyed on their minds.  Eventually, Hazel and her
friends gasped in amazement as the group all held lit cigarettes between
their fingers.  They laughed openly as the group of students fed their virgin
lungs with the appeasing nicotine, as their outlook on the vice began to
alter with each tentative drag taken.  After several puffs from their
cigarettes, the nicotine buzz flowed through them, jolting them with positive
energy.  Even the most ardent antismokers of the group were obsessed with
puffing on their cigarettes as the haze of smoke became widespread over the
table.

The non smokers at the lecturers table looked on in horror as the students
acquainted themselves fully with their new habits.

"Susan, you should be going apeshit by now!" Danielle mentioned as the rector
lit another cigarette.

"C'mon Danielle - get a life! I tried smoking at their age." Susan moaned
back at the history lecturer.

Despite her prior reservations on smoking, she could feel a churning inside.
Having always avoided smokers, she now found herself in a situation where
even her fellow anti-smoking colleagues accept offers of cigarettes from the
smoking contingent.  Confused, she also felt jealous and inadequate as, one
by one, her former anti-smoking lecturers gave in to their own strange
cravings for nicotine.  As they took their first initial, small puffs, the
surge of pleasure overwhelmed them.  With the first dosage of nicotine, their
lungs welcomed the toxins easily - and their postures relaxed instantly.
Smoking ain't so bad, they thought.  As a haze of smoke culminated from the
new smokers at the table, Danielle's vocal opposition simmered as positive
images of smoking filled her mind.  Looking across the table at Susan,
Danielle found herself analysing every movement that the burning cylinder
made between the fingers; she observed how Susan's relaxed posture seemed so
natural - she began to watch the whole smoking process;  how lifting the
cigarette to Susan's awaiting lips, wrapping tightly around the filter, the
ash crackling, and the tip glowing red - it looked so appealing as the
positive thoughts continued to surge through her mind.  Danielle could detect
an inner battle of opinions as she continued to watch other colleagues try
cigarettes of their own.

That looks so good - I should try it, a voice inside Danielle said.

No! It's disgusting.  Something's wrong here - why is everyone smoking?, she
reasoned to herself.

But that doesn't matter - I should put myself first instead of worrying of
conspiracies, the voice replied.

It does matter though...I hate cigarette smoke, Danielle replied unconvinced.

No, I love it! The smell is delicious and I am missing out - I need a
cigarette, the voice countered seductively.

With new cravings eating at her self-control, and the flood of positive
smoking images, Danielle didn't challenge the enticing inner voice as she
reached across for Susan's pack of cigarettes.

"What is this?  You joining the rest of the human race?" Susan laughed as
Danielle removed a cigarette from the pack and placed it between her lips.

"Let me light you up!" Susan insisted as she flicked the lighter and held the
flame out towards Danielle's cigarette tip.

After a moment of consideration, she leaned in to accept the flame - as she
sucked on the filter with anxiety.

The smoke filled her mouth - it was warm and creamy as her anxiety decreased
and replaced by an aura of excitement.  Before the thought of stubbing out
the cigarette, she returned it to her lips and sucked more deeply and slowly
like the other novice smokers at the table.  Danielle removed the cigarette
from her lips and held the smoke in her lungs from watching Susan's relaxed
performance thus far.  As a wave of euphoria crashed over Danielle, she
reluctantly pursed her lips to exhale a cone of smoke towards the ceiling.
The nicotine worked fast in her body, providing her with unlimited pleasure
and relaxation.

"Things seem to be going well, Carrie." Monique whispered in her ear as they
watched a fresh haze of cigarette smoke emerge from every table in the bar.
Carrie smiled unconvicingly as she was puzzled by Monique's true meaning.

"Monique...with all this smoking, I am struggling to concentrate on my job.
Please can we light up now?" Norah pleaded as she served another customer
with a new round. 

The more smoke in the atmosphere, the more distracted and unsettled they
became as their own cravings fed off the second-hand smoky fog.  

Before Monique could answer the question, she heard a familiar voice.

"Can we have another round of drinks?" 

"Sure you can, Tricia." Monique smiled, noting the tension and confusion
strained on Tricia's face.  Tricia should have been furious at the increasing
volume of cigarette smoke, which had become more appealing as the night wore
on.

Norah placed the tray with the drinks on the counter while Carrie placed a
pack of cigarettes automatically beside the items.  

"Oh Carrie...they don't smoke..." Monique joked as Carrie reached for the
pack and placed it into the tray carrying the drinks.  As Norah was confused
as to Tricia's sudden change of opinion, Monique just nodded approvingly as
she anticipated the next question.

"Do you have lighters,,,?" Tricia nervously spoke as strange cravings
continued to harrass her into submission.

"Of course we do..." Monique replied confidently as she removed a spare
lighter from her pocket and handed it to the baffled lead singer.

"What was that all about?" Norah asked as Tricia walked off towards the stage
and her band.

"No idea. But I'm not complaining." Monique lied as she watched with intrigue
as Tricia distributed cigarettes and drinks to the other 'non-smoking'
bandmates.  Tricia fumbled with the lighter a few times as the bandmates
looked on, dazed with their cigarettes dangling in anticipation from their
nervous lips.  After a few moments of fiddling with the lighter, a flame was
produced and each member stuck their tip into it to free the nicotine.  They
sucked tentatively on the cigarettes with caution, afraid of ill effects, but
these fears never materialised as the smoke flowed freely and gently down
their windpipes and into their lungs.  Like a sponge, their lungs soaked in
the special nicotine and gave them all a spasm of pure bliss.  As Norah and
Carrie lit up their own cigarettes, Monique continued to watch Tricia and her
bandmates become accustomed to the new smoking experience with relish.  

As the band finished their cigarettes, they resumed their performance as the
haze of cigarette smoke deepened.  All the students, lecturers and other
customers clapped to the beat of the music with their lit cigarettes between
their fingers.  Monique smiled to herself as the Cigarettes Promotion Deal
had now been accepted by every customer in the bar...

"So this is the place?" Bethany frowned rhetorically as her work colleagues
walked through the entrance doors of Drôle.  As they all walked into the bar,
they were met by a large haze of smoke swirling around the dancefloor.
Bethany and her colleagues were appauled by seeing every customer in the bar
with a lit cigarette between their fingers.  Their tips illuminated the
dancefloor as the smoke ascended towards the ceiling fans, which spread their
toxic gases into every section of the bar.  They were shocked at the sight of
an all-female band playing loud music with the guitarists and drummers
dangling cigarettes while their lead singer took a deep drag during an
instrumental.  Bethany and her colleagues were overwhelmed with the fresh
abundance of cigarette smoke, and struggled to peer through the haze
descending over them.  

Where is that bitch? This is just like her bar in New York, Bethany reflected
to herself.  

As the smoke continued to bathe them, they struggled to focus on their task
in hand.  Tonight was the night they would bring in their number one target
of the past few months, Monique Dindeleux.  That thought began to be replaced
to new strange thoughts of smoking.  For many, they couldnt understand this,
as many of them had never smoked.  Even Bethany herself began experiencing
alien cravings rumble within her as they tried to spot Monique through the
cloud of smoke enveloping them.  Lizzy noted the confused look on her
colleagues' faces as she rummaged in her pocket.  From her conversation with
her mother, she was informed that this would happen.  After all, from smoking
her first cigarette the previous night, her priorities had changed and a new
plan had been put in place.  

Click

Suddenly, the debt management officers turned around to see their colleague,
Lizzy, light her own cigarette like a pro.  They watched with shock, and a
feeling of curiousity, as their colleague's cheeks caved in and the tip
glowed red.  Lizzy closed her eyes as the nicotine buzz washed over her body.
Removing the cigarette, she held the smoke in her lungs for an eternity,
before pursing her lips and exhaling towards the ceiling as her dazed
colleagues looked on.

As Lizzy sat down at a nearby table and smoked her cigarette, a figure
emerged from the haze, walking straight to the officers.  

"So I suppose you wanna take me in?" Monique smiled, extending her wrists in
a mocking motion towards Bethany.

There was no response as the group of officers battled internally with a new
hunger for nicotine.

With Bethany struggling against her new cravings, and her guard down, Monique
removed a pack of cigarettes from her jacket and flipped open the lid.  

Bethany remained silent as her thoughts were distracted and focused purely on
the pack of cigarettes in Monique's hands, as Lizzy watched on and exhaled
towards her best friend.  

"So who would like one first?" Monique tilted the pack towards the officers.

One by one, each officer extracted a cylinder from the pack.  As Monique
waved the pack towards Bethany, she slowly extended her hand and pulled out a
cigarette against her better judgement.  Monique ushered the officers towards
the bar as Lizzy urged Bethany to take a seat.

As Monique sat down beside the dazed officer, she flicked her lighter and
leaned the tip of her cigarette into the flame.  Bethany watched in amazement
as the tip began to burn and glow red.  She had been an advocate against
smoking prior to entering the bar - she couldnt believe she was sitting with
an unlit cigarette, contemplating lighting it.  The cravings continued to
bubble as she glared at Monique inhale sharply before pursing her lips.
Eventually, a cone of smoke was blown into Bethany's bewildered face.  The
smoke crashed against her skin, and further quelched the inner voices
pleading for her to restrain Monique.  

"I shouldn't be doing this....We need to talk in private...I should..."
Bethany said monosyllabically as she struggled with her priorities.  Before
entering Drôle, her mind was crystal clear on her aims of restraining Monique
- but now her mind was clouded and under strain from the new cravings
screaming at her.  

"Let me light you up." Lizzy suggested as she held her lighter towards her
confused colleague.

Bethany refrained from saying anything as she raised the cigarette slowly
towards her lips as a flame emerged from the lighter.  

This is very wrong.  I don't smoke and neither does Lizzy, the thoughts
continued to rumble in Bethany's mind as she lowered the tip into the flame.

"It's been a long time that I've seen you.  We used to be friends until you
put your job above me.  This was the only way I could get you to understand."

"You know that your husband also disappeared from our sources recently.  I
don't know why he covered for you when we interrogated him.  You seen him
lately." Bethany said as the nicotine filled her lungs, a wave of pleasure
rippling inside and appeasing the cravings.

The anxiety dipped as the nicotine continued to work it's magic upon its
latest host.

"He is actually my Ex.  I haven't seen him in a while but..." Monique laughed
then declined to finish her answer.  The night is still early, Monique
thought.

"Why do you think you're now smoking all of a sudden?" Monique asked,
changing the subject matter as she took another drag on her own cigarette.

Bethany inhaled once more, pleased at the wonderful taste as the smoke slid
into her virgin lungs so easily.  She was lost in bliss as she gazed at the
burning cigarette between her fingers.

"I'm not sure..." Bethany said as she directed a jet of smoke across the
table.  

"Yes?" Monique urged as she anticipated a certain response.

"...but it doesn't seem to matter any more.  I really like this.  Did you do
this to me?" Bethany reasoned as she raised the cigarette to her lips once
more.

"I helped you appreciate the wonderful feeling you're getting from smoking.
Because of what happened in New York, I was adamant you would never try
putting me out of business again.  You know the shit I went through after
your spies were sent in to ruin my business?" Monique asked rhetorically.

"But you had massive debts from the bar." Bethany weakly responded, as she
watched her colleagues at the bar receive a light from Norah for their own
cigarettes.

"Yeah, and if given time, I was going to address those debts - but you had to
ruin that.  And because I liked to share a cigarette with my fellow
customers, you became a bitch by raising it as an issue to the local
authorities.  I've never forgiven you for starting a chain reaction to
getting the Smoking in Public Places Ban activated.  You ruined me as my
customers never came back, and I couldn't control my debts as I needed
customers coming through the doors to do that." Monique retorted as she
tapped her cigarette into the ashtray viciously.

"You never explained how the debts started in the first place?" Bethany
responded with another familiar drag.

"Because I was constantly had to go back and forth to France for family
reasons.  But you were so cold hearted, you failed to understand.  If you had
left me alone in New York, no smoking ban would have been enforced, and my
business would have continued to thrive and my short term debt paid off.
From the day you reported me, I've always vowed to set myself up again - to
start afresh in a place where I will get no hassle.  All this, around what
you see, was planned from the start.  Do you see anyone complaining about the
way things are?  And just take a hard look at yourself - Bethany the
anti-smoking bitch from hell?" Monique barked as she swiftly placed her
shrinking cigarette between her lips again.

"I suppose not...What have you done to me though?" Bethany considered as she
tapped the cigarette in the ashtray and leaned back in the chair.  

"That would be telling, Bethany.  All I'm going to say at this stage is enjoy
your new experience.  This should lighten you up from now on." Monique
laughed.

As Bethany sat and smoked her cigarette, she was oblivious to the fact that
Lizzy sabotaged her officers' water fountain in their office at the start of
the day.

"Anyway, as I've introduced you to a new hobby, I have a couple of
suggestions you might want to consider.  First one is about closing this case
file your department have on me..." Monique suggested as Bethany inhaled
deeply on her cigarette...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Can you hear anything?" Pamela inquired as she looked in packed boxes that
lay on the shelves around them.

"No.  Just the music coming from the bar. It is silent - I'll stay here and
keep a look out as you have a look around." Gillian replied as she slowly
opened the door into the hallway behind the bar.  

Pamela rationalised that some form of evidence should be lying around.
However, all she could find was a few cartons of cigarettes on the shelves as
well as empty, unpacked glasses.  There were also cleaning liquids and
materials sitting on the remaining shelf.  Pamela sighed as she walked
towards the table with the telephone sitting atop.  She could still notice a
faint trail of smoke emerge from one of the crushed butts in the ashtray -
the butts surrounded by ash repulsed Pamela she noticed built-in drawers on
the table.  

Carefully, she opened the drawers and scoured through letters and documents.  

Oh my god, Pamela thought as she made a discovery.  

"Gillian." Pamela whispered impatiently as her friend looked at her with
hope.

"These letters are from the company my sister works in.  Listen to this..."
Pamela began to read out some of the letters.

From the letters, a picture began to emerge from what was going on - the
letters were addressed to Monique Dindeleux over unpaid debts which instantly
aroused further suspicion over current events in the community.  Other
letters were from Anti-smoking groups and New York Civil Council, warning
Monique of action against her unless she prevented customers from smoking in
her bar.  

Pamela folded the letters up and placed them carefully in her jacket pocket
as she noticed another door at the back of the storeroom.  Her curiousity
rose significantly as she pondered her next action; would she and Gillian
leave Drôle and report Monique to the authorities, or would she try and find
more incriminating evidence through the door?

"Come on, let's go - I'm not comfortable here after seeing those letters.  If
she's had complaints from authorities in New York over smoking, then why is
everyone here in Westfox taking up the habit?  Why would she risk this
business if the authorities here could come and stop them at any time?"
Gillian said as she heard footsteps tap outside the door.

"Give me five minutes, Gillian.  I'm going to check out this other room."
Pamela insisted as her determination was boosted by the discovery of the
letters.

Gillian nodded as she saw shadows of feet silhouette through the gap in the
bottom of the door.

Pamela carefully opened the door and tred hesistantly into the darkness
within as Gillian looked back towards the gap at the bottom of the door.
Gillian's heart raced as she leaned her ear against the door.  She could hear
a round of applause erupt from the bar as the music stopped.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...I hope you are all enjoying yourselves.  We have
another treat for you all tonight.  All the way from New York..." Monique
said, glad to see all her customers, including the students and lecturers,
were chain-smoking with enthusiasm.  

Gillian gently opened the door as she looked into the hallway.  The area was
deserted as she walked out, her senses acutely aware of any noises other than
the voices originating from the bar itself.  Gillian walked towards the
double-swing doors en route to the bar, and peered slowly through their glass
windows.  

She was horrified to see her friends like Hazel light up a new cigarette and
suck deeply on the filter while Monique spoke through the microphone on the
stage.  Gillian also looked across the bar in its blue haze to see her mother
sit with a friend in the corner smoking as if she had been doing so for
years.  There was too much of a coincidence for everyone to be smoking at
this bar, Gillian thought as she felt a weight pin down on her shoulder. 

"Please can you welcome all the way from New York...." Monique stated as she
pointed towards the swing-doors, her eyes meeting Gillian's stunned
expression.

Before Gillian could attempt to hide, she was pushed through the swing-doors
into the bar from a presence behind her...

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