Read on AO3. Susan from the bus stop is hosting a house party
Flash Burn
Susan was throwing a house party. It was the middle of September and she was throwing a fucking house party. No holidays in sight. No birthdays, weddings, or anniversaries. It wasn’t even a fucking weekend, just some random Thursday! It was the perfect flaunting of wealth that Alice had grown to expect from the woman, and it made her sick. That was what she got for agreeing to move to Sussex, though. Her husband Oliver got that big promotion last March and they’d decided to finally move and upsize their home. Why on earth they thought they’d fit in with the pompous pricks living in “The Townes” she’d never know. What she did know, though, was that she’d forever be shunned by her neighbours if she didn’t go to this party. “Keeping up appearances” and such. It was all a bunch of bull. There was nothing she wanted to do less than go to Susan Sterling’s damn party. To make matters worse, Oliver, with his still somewhat new job, wasn’t able to leave work just for a house party, which meant that Alice would have to go to it without someone by her side to share in her suffering and to laugh at the habits of their uppity neighbours with her. This was going to be torture.
She knew the drill, though. She went to the store to get a “gift for the host” (she briefly considered the classic champagne or fruit arrangement, but Susan’s expectations would be far, far out of her budget. So she settled on some candle that smelled nice, but that she could rip the price tag off of and no one would know was from Tesco. She did, however, grab a bottle of whiskey for herself, for after the party), prepared her best “fancy casual” dress (she’d never get over her hatred for that oxymoron), and did her best to push down all her sarcasm, opinions, and personality in preparation for the party.
She’d long since gotten used to the extravagant facades and towering entryways of her neighbours’ houses, but as she watched all the dressed up, stuck up people making their way inside and filling the, frankly, upsettingly large living room (honestly, it was so large that ballroom might be a more appropriate name), she could feel the disdain rising like bile in her throat already. She plastered on a smile as soon as she walked through the door, grabbed the first drink she could find, and started begrudgingly looking around for the host so she could hand off the candle. Alice didn’t know whether she should be upset or glad that Susan proved to be easy to find, talking at the edge of the room with four similarly pompous women. On one hand, finding Susan quickly meant less time Alice had to spend awkwardly carrying around the candle, but it also meant less time she could spend avoiding interacting with the party by walking around aimlessly with the “goal” of finding Susan. Either way, Susan looked around and made eye contact with her, leaving her with no choice but to go up to her. Thankfully, the four other women left and made their way to excitedly greet some other party-goers, meaning she at least wouldn’t have to deal with introductions.
“Alice! I’m so glad to see you here, I didn’t think you’d be able to make it” Susan said with a fake pout as she made her way towards Alice. Alice took a deep breath to prepare herself for the ordeal that was talking with the other woman.
“Wouldn’t miss it! I got you this as a thank-you for hosting.” She hated the fakeness in her voice with a passion and the fake smile she wore as she handed over the candle. Susan didn’t even glance at it as she grabbed the gift and set it down on the coffee table behind her.
“Where’s your husband? Troubles at home?” Somehow, Susan managed to ask it as if it were a completely casual question, her practiced smile never wavering. Alice tried to contain the poison in her voice as she responded.
“Not in the slightest actually. It’s just a busy time with his job so he wasn’t able to call off, you know how it is I’m sure. Oh, that being said, where is your husband? I’ve been in the neighbourhood a year and a half and I haven’t had the chance to meet him once.” If Susan was going to play dirty, Alice might as well play along.
“He’s out in Germany until the end of the week for work, actually.”
“And where was it last time? Spain? I’m sure it can’t be easy on your marriage, him being away so often.”
Susan narrowed her eyes, but kept that same smile stuck on her face. “Oh you know what they say. Distance makes the heart grow fonder.”
“Yes, I’m sure a rich, handsome man like him has spent all this time surrounded by German women missing you terribly.” She’d feel bad for the comment if it were directed at any one else. As it was, Alice was reveling in the murderous expression on Susan’s face. A beat passed and Susan moved to start walking towards the bar.
“Well, help yourself to the drinks and snacks. Again, so glad you were able to make it.”
Alice rolled her eyes as Susan walked away and took another sip of her drink. She was definitely right about the champagne being out of her budget.
The party was supposed to end at 3:00, but 4:30 rolled around and people hadn’t even started leaving yet and, trapped by social etiquette as always nowadays, Alice couldn’t leave before the crowd unless she had a damn good reason for it. Susan, annoyingly, was laughing that obnoxiously pretty little laugh of hers with a group of guests up at the front of the room by the tv, clearly not planning on ending the party any time soon. Alice might could try going up to her and making up an excuse for why she had to leave, but she had just enough mind left to realize she was too drunk to say anything convincing. She was getting anxious to leave, though. The champagne for the party had run out shortly after 3:00, and Alice didn’t want to even risk being here sober. Susan, for her part, seemed to be almost as drunk as herself as she clumsily walked over to the open kitchen.
She walked up to the bar, noticing the lack of flutes. “Ugh we ran out of champagne!” she said, throwing her hands in the air, “I should have some wine in the pantry, can someone help me grab it?”
“I can!” Alice was quick to jump in, willing to do anything to get alcohol back in circulation as quickly as she could. She ran up to join Susan, barely dodging one of the bar stools as she stumbled her way over.
Susan opened a sliding door and entered into her walk-in pantry. Because of course she would have a pantry the size of Alice’s bathroom. She had everything - looks, wealth, status - a walk-in pantry really shouldn’t phase her.
“I think there should be… Yes! There’s some bottles of red wine on the shelf over there,” Susan pointed to the far corner, “You grab one or two of those and I’ll see if I can find that white wine I bought for New Years,” she said as she turned to scan the other wall of shelves.
Alice walked over to the corner, looking for the bottles. The pantry wasn’t cluttered by any stretch of the imagination, but it was full enough that in her current state she was almost overwhelmed looking at all the food and appliances that stocked the shelves. She eventually found them on the second shelf from the top behind a collection of jugs and vases. Susan, with her slender form and long legs, probably wouldn’t have any issue grabbing the bottles, but they were just out of grasp for Alice. She reached for them, doing her best to be careful but having to stand on her toes and lean against the shelves to reach behind the glassware.
Susan sighed, “We must have finished it off.” She turned to face Alice, noticing her struggle and taking a step towards her. “Do you need help?”
“No, no. I’ve got it,” Alice almost slurred. Unable to wrap her hand around the bottle, she nudged it forward, pushing everything in front of it as well. One of the jugs inched its way towards the edge of the shelf as she tried to fully grasp the bottle.
“Woah!” Susan surged forward to keep the pitcher from falling, placing her other hand on the wall behind Alice for balance. Alice was fully blaming the champagne for her flush as she realized Susan essentially had her pinned to the wall. Susan looked down at her, their faces inches apart. “Okay?”
It wasn’t clear if she was asking about Alice or the jug, but that didn’t matter when all Alice could think about was the warmth of being this close to the other woman and the intoxicating smell of champagne and Susan’s perfume mixing together.
“I uh… yeah.”
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you’d need a stepstool to reach them,” Susan joked. Alice noted the way she smiled and her eyes gleamed with good-natured humor rather than her typical edge. And the fact that she wasn’t backing away.
“Yeah, well not everyone’s built like a ladder,” Alice replied in kind, unable to keep a smile of her own from starting to form at the teasing comments. “And besides, who stores their glass jugs on the ledge of a high shelf anyway?”
Susan’s eyes flicked down to follow her lips as she spoke, and before she knew what she was doing Alice leaned in to close the last bit of distance between them. Susan immediately kissed back, resting her hand on Alice’s hip while the other stayed on the wall. Alice brought her hands up to Susan’s neck and pulled her down to her height. Susan pushed Alice back against the wall, catching Alice off guard and allowing her to deepen the kiss. Alice slid one hand under the collar of Susan’s top, vaguely registering the muffled sound of someone speaking in the other room.
“Yeah I think she went to grab something from the pantry, I’ll let her know.”
Susan jumped away from Alice a moment before a man leaned into the doorway.
“Hey, Susan. The Willards have to leave to go grab their kid from school,” he said, thankfully not seeming to take notice of Alice or her disheveled state at all. Her mind was racing almost as fast as her heart. The closet felt like it was closing in on her. Had she really just made out with Susan? Oh that was a stupid, terrible decision. She’d ruined everything. What possessed her to do that?! She didn’t even like her! This was really bad.
“Uh… thank you. Send them my regards.” Susan gave an almost-convincing smile and the man turned and left, leaving them alone in the room once again. Silence sat thick between them for a beat before Alice’s anxiety got the better of her and she spoke up.
“I should um… I should get going too,” Alice said. She didn’t look at Susan’s reaction as she awkwardly walked past her and out of the house. If she didn’t look back, she still had a chance of putting this entire evening behind her.
