‘It was easier to sit back and people watch at an event like this, it was so crowded that everyone was so concerned with who they had and hadn’t spoken too, and the masks making that concept so much harder, that you could escape conversation easily by just slipping amongst the crowds.
After a long chat with a group of investment bankers, the girl needed a break, and a strong drink - so once she had the latter, she found herself a little nook that she could observe, looking at all the lavish costumes, impressed by the effort that everyone had put into the night that it made her smile.
It wasn’t until she looked right ahead of her that she realised someone was in her eye-line and she turned on the charm automatically. “I like large parties.. They’re so.. Intimate... And small parties there isn’t any privacy...” she purred at the masked person, quoting her favourite line from Gatsby before taking a long, slow sip of her martini, awaiting a response.