She leaned her head on Tony’s shoulder while Jake poured her a drink. Tony was right, they had all come a long way together, through the good and the bad.

‘To us.’ She raised her glass and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. ‘So, Tony, which one of those lucky ladies out there will be having the pleasure of your company tonight, then?’ Again, she gave him a mischievous smile.

Tony burst out laughing. ‘All of them; after all, it’s Christmas, and I want to spread my Christmas wishes around.’ They all creased up laughing; Tony would never change.

‘By the way, Sharon, business now. You know I went to the East End last week to one of the stripper pubs?’

Sharon took a sip of her drink, nodded her head and sat down.

‘Well, this is going to sound a little jumbled up, but some of them weren’t bad looking, and I thought maybe you could give some of them a look over. Maybe we could use some fresh faces.’ Tony stopped and waited. He had agreed a long time ago that this was Sharon’s side of things and he wouldn’t interfere, and he never had, but he thought this was worth mentioning.

‘You have a point; the men have seen all of these girls dozens of times, maybe a little variety wouldn’t go amiss. I bet it’s all the same punters, anyway.’ She took a drink. ‘We could hold an audition day. Let me think about it, Tony. I’ll have a word with the local agencies and ask them about their A-list girls. Let me work on it.’ Sharon finished her drink, put down the glass and left the office, to walk back into the mayhem of the nightclub.

‘You still trying to find your Cinderella, Tony? I mean, since when did you want to hold auditions for any of those girls?’ said Jake. He put his feet up on the leather pouffe and waited for an answer.

‘Who? Oh, you mean that woman. No, that’s long gone. Ancient history, now, but I did have a look around while I was at the party. Some of the women were as rough as the roads, but some were okay, and with a little bit of Sharon’s magic, well… you never know, do you?’

‘I’ve been thinking about that woman, Tony. I genuinely don’t think she knew who you were; either that, or she’s married and if she did some story for the newspapers, it would be a great risk to her marriage, and possibly her family. I’d say you’ve got away with it.’

‘Married?’ Tony had already discounted that. ‘I told you, she wasn’t with anyone.’

‘He might not have been at the party. Was she wearing a wedding ring?’

Tony shrugged.

‘Me and Sharon are not joined at the hip, even though we’re married, but she wears a ring. Mind you, you weren’t looking at that woman’s hands, were you?’

Tony shook his head. He reached over and poured them both another drink. Jake had a point. He hadn’t thought of looking at her hand to see if she had been wearing a wedding ring. Why had that never occurred to him? He downed his drink in one. ‘Come on, Jake, let’s go and see what’s going on in the club, and furthermore, who is waiting for me.’