Serena took a deep breath of the cool evening air. She closed her eyes, enjoying the mugginess of the party being washed away and her ears no longer throbbing to the beat of the party music. She also felt more relaxed, being truly alone rather than alone in the party throng. As she gazed out across the fading views of the hotel gardens she heard footsteps behind her. He turned to see a man, dress and groomed smartly. She guessed him to be a few years younger than herself. Serena was not sure she wanted the company, the idea of waiting for her husband to finish his career-boosting rituals was more appealing.<br/><br/>The unknown man made some glib statement about feeling alone in crowds that Serena chose to ignore, hoping the man would soon leave. Unfortunately, her aloofness didn’t appear to dissuade him and the man walked over and stood beside her. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, filled open the carton and expertly tapped a cigarette halfway out of the pack. Whether out of politeness or that he actually thought Serena to be a smoker, he offered her the partially extracted smoke. She looked at the bright white cylinder and shook her head slightly before returning to gaze out into the distance.<br/><br/>When the man said he was bored and smoked only for something to do with his hands, Serena turned “I’m sure there are better things you could do with your hands than smoke…” she said with a degree of harshness. There was a moment’s silence and then both the man and Serena gave a giggle at the ‘double-entendre’ of the remark. That was enough to break the ice. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I just think smoking is disgusting...” said Serena, this time with genuine warmth in her voice. “I’m Serena McCants by the way…” she continued feeling bad about being so standoffish previously. “My husband is in there...Doing the corporate ladder thing..”<br/>