Chapter 58

Archie stood tall and gazed around the room. His black tie meant he appeared dapper. He certainly did not stand out like a pompous penguin. He was handsome anyway, so there was more than one look in his direction from the ladies. All the guys had scrubbed up and it certainly made for a change to see the rugby, football, cricket, athletics and water sports teams in smart clothing.

Many of the men could not resist the urge to gawp at the ladies. The girls they played mixed hockey with, or who they had good banter with once they had finished their netball matches appeared as completely different, stunning people.

David was in his element for a couple of reasons. One, he thought he had the most beautiful girl at the university standing by his side and two, he was now able to do business in a big way and this was just the start. His calculations had confirmed that he would make a large amount of money by the end of this one evening. More than he had previously made all year.

Archie walked around the main hall of the union which had been entirely transformed for this surprisingly grand annual event. There was a bucking bronco mechanical bull in the corner surrounded by inflatable bouncy castle material. The bull was sited next to a miniature casino, which was adjacent to a game Archie had never seen before. It looked fun.

Down three inflatable alleyways contestants would run forward, pulling against a bungee cord strapped around their waists that attempted to bounce them back to where they had started. The object was to run as far down the alleyway with as much speed and momentum as possible, propelling yourself forward to reach one of the cowboy hats placed at the end of the alleyways. It was hilarious to see all of these sportspeople giving it their all, just to be bounced all the way back to where they had started from without having grabbed the prized cowboy hat. Coming back down the alleyway with a cowboy hat would win a prize and there were some attractive prizes on offer. These included a meal for two at a top restaurant, a speedboat ride in the Solent, or a free trip round one of the Premiership football stadiums. There was a good sized queue to have a go and Archie could not resist joining it.

Meanwhile, David enjoyed Emma’s company, although her mind seemed to be elsewhere. All of David’s friends had commented how lucky he was to be there with Emma. He could only agree. Emma’s simple yet sophisticated style just enhanced her natural beauty.

Normally she did not dress up, and now she had she could not help but turn heads. She was wearing a short purple dress with matching shoes, a neck ribbon of similar colour and a pendant that had been given to her by her mother when they had been shopping in Wimbledon, for doing well in her A-Levels. She wore a minimal amount of make-up, just enough to highlight her main facial features, and her hair was off her shoulders and elaborately braided to one side of her head.

Whilst Emma appeared radiant in what she was wearing, she was experiencing inner turmoil. She had found David not the most exciting company, and whilst he was easy enough to talk to, she just considered him a good friend.

She wanted to find and talk to Archie Malcolm and David had mentioned in the pub the previous day that he was to be at the ball. She needed to find out more about him. Emma had only played hockey occasionally with Archie and chatted to him in passing at other student’s houses, so they had had a limited friendship.

He always came across as a slightly closed book, but that was what was so intriguing about him. He was so polite and always asked her how she was doing and what she was up to. What about him? She told David that she needed to pop to the ladies and they arranged to meet each other at the casino in ten minutes.

The Student Union was busy now and any moving about was a slow process. There was a photographer set up to snap away at the various groups and many of the teams were having photographs together, a serious one and others that should never be printed, let alone sold.

David pushed past a few of his colleagues to reach the gents. He went in and headed for the fourth cubical in the corner. He locked the door and tapped his foot on the ground discreetly twice. The man in the neighbouring cubical slid a large packet of a white substance under the partitioning. This had already been split into small sachets. David immediately placed the packet in the top of the toilet cistern whilst the man in the neighbouring cubicle whispered through to David, “I’ll be back for our controller’s cut tomorrow night, don’t be late,”

David just said, “Thanks, Betts,” before he heard the ‘Out of Order’ sticker being applied to his fourth cubicle door.