Re: All Together Now
The evening found Sharik in one of the booths off to the side along the walls on the first floor. Even in the flickering light of the dance floor disco balls, it was obviously her, resplendent in what seemed to be a casual, but undeniably stylish, set of form-fitting leathers. The bolero-style jacket was unzipped, but the collar was still up and covered the back of her neck. Her dark brown hair was down and bobbed easily as she moved and spoke.
From the looks of it, Shar had been at The Other Side for a while now, half-eaten appetizer plates and, at least, one empty wine bottle adorned the table top.
The youthful-looking cosmopolitan socialite was having a rather animated discussion with another woman and two men about something. She gesticulated widely with her hands passing them near each other multiple times as she seemed to be relating a story of some sort. An off-hand comment and the mischievous smile moments later and the foursome erupted in a bout of laughter before she continued to speak.
She shrugged slightly and then using the salt and pepper shakers on the table, Sharik demonstrated a three-dimensional passing maneuver with them. Twice. Once, as it should have been and then again in a less clean manner - literally, for the pepper shaker was knocked over spilling a portion of its contents on the slick surface. The table erupted with another bout of momentary mirth as the climax was revealed and she explained exactly what had happened in no uncertain terms.
Anyone familiar with the Imperial grav-bike racing scene in the subsector, which her companions did not seem to be, would likely have already heard the story being told; Shar had had middling success on the second-tier racing circuit. But, her reflexes weren't really all that great - definitely not enough to match her actual training and experience with the equipment. So, even though she had been good enough to get a tryout and a minor sponsorship and contract, she never even came close to winning a big race and so her prospects (along with any delusions of a true career in it) faded away without fanfare a while ago.
Her story done, there was a lull in the conversation. One of the young men leaned over towards Sharik, who brushed aside an errant lock of hair and nodded slightly to him, flashing him a smile. Then they both stood and with a wave and a gesture to the other couple, started to wend their way through the crowd in the general direction of the dance floor.