Chapter Text
When Catherine Standish got the invitation, she thought it must have been a mistake. She was no longer a member of the service; she resigned, or at least, she had tried. That was almost three months ago now. She’d been receiving a paycheck, but had refused to spend it, and so when she got an invitation to a birthday party for Diana Taverner, she figured it must’ve been a mistake.
It was the holidays, and she liked getting dressed up for a special occasion. It was a beautiful hotel, and she was sure it’d be a lovely party. Not that Diana would care if she showed or not, thought Catherine, but … if she got an invitation, then the rest of Slough House probably got an invitation. She decided to treat herself to a bit of a makeover, buy a new dress for a holiday celebration, and make an appearance. Ideally, she’d see the rest of the Slow Horses, they’d see that she was doing just fine, and Lamb would finally approve her resignation.
_
Catherine ran into Louisa and Roddy outside the main party room, their faces lit up convincing Catherine that making an appearance tonight was a good idea.
“Standish?!” Roddy said, while blinking a few times.
“Catherine?! You look incredible, come here!” said Louisa, pulling her in for a quick hug.
After a quick catch up and acknowledging their mutual surprise at being invited to Taverner’s birthday party, they made their way inside. They were immediately drawn to an ice sculpture of Lady Di, and all agreed it was very fitting for the Ice Queen! Tables covered in savory appetizers, crunchy crudites, and a variety of desserts offered something for everyone. To Catherine’s surprise, Roddy ran to grab her a soda, and an energy drink for himself.
“Thank you, Roddy,” Standish said while gently patting him on the back.
-
Diana saw Standish, looking like a completely different woman, and made her way through the party guests to talk to her. True, they were never on the very best of terms, but having Standish in the equation usually meant that Taverner had some hold over Jackson.
“Is the secret to your transformation simply staying away from Slough House, then?” teased Diana.
Standish smiled before answering. “The secret is not much of a secret. Get a makeover, buy a dress, and try to smile a bit more! Amazingly enough, nothing to do with Slough House, but thank you for the invitation.”
“It’s my new … uhhhhh… boyfriend… I hate that word, what are we 15? He insisted on throwing this party. Did you see the ice sculpture?!” she scoffed.
“I did, it’s a good likeness,” said Standish, suppressing a smirk.
-
Alexander Wells, an American friend of Taverner’s new man, was invited as well. He’d met Diana and was convinced she was a perfect match for his friend, Matthew. They’d had dinner a few weeks back and that cemented his decision to make a move to the London area. Running a private security firm had made him quite wealthy, but the constant pressure and lack of personal time meant he’d not found a match for himself. He was open to the idea, and the fact that his mate Matthew had found someone at his age gave him hope.
Alexander had just gotten himself a drink at the bar when an older gentleman with greasy hair and a stained trench coat walked up, ordered a whiskey, adding, “Give me a double, or make it a quadruple, will save you the time later! Thanks Mate.”
Alexander gave him a friendly nod and scanned the room, finding Diana talking to a very pretty woman whose smile made it impossible to look away. He found himself mesmerized and wanted to know more about this lady.
Lamb sips his drink, turns around and sees this man smiling and staring at Diana, when he notices Standish standing there, now joined by Roddy and Louisa.
“How do you know her?” Alexander asks, gesturing towards Diana.
“We were married once, I think. Maybe, I can’t remember,” replied Lamb.
Alexander blinked in surprise, unsure if he’s being messed with as a joke.
“Oh! Right, well, then you must know all the secrets to getting on her good side.”
“Taverner? There is no good side, you should just run for cover and hide!”
Alexander goes on to explain how he knew Diana, but Lamb was too busy ignoring him and staring at Standish. New haircut, he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He liked her hair how it was, but she’d done things and there was makeup and he wasn’t sure what all was involved but then there was the dress. Lamb didn’t remember her showing that much cleavage in years and then he realized Alexander had stopped talking because he’d asked him something and was waiting for a response.
Before Lamb could respond, River walked up, apologized for interrupting, and reminded Lamb that he was supposed to make a toast for Diana’s birthday. Lamb grumbled and sat down at a table to scribble something down.
“Catherine Standish” said River, to Alexander.
“Oh! Yes, Thank you!” replied Alexander, who was now making his way on over to introduce himself.
-
From his table, Lamb watched this Alexander walk on over to Diana and the Slow Horses. Lamb knew he should be working on the damn toast, but he couldn’t stop watching how Standish responded to this man. He hadn’t seen her smile that much in years, and it gnawed at something in his chest that he wasn’t the cause of her smiles.