In the late afternoon it grew hotter and Rita suggested killing some time in a bar before it was time to go to the party. They found a fashionable bar which Rita said was frequented by lawyers. Some of them knew Rita… rather intimately, it seemed. Men came up to her and put their arms around her, grinning in a way that Nancy didn't approve. She also didn't like the way they looked at her and her figure, and asked about her… it was like she was… something to be bought and sold… something to be used.

"You got to get used to this kind of life, honey," Rita said, rolling her eyes as if she were bored and disgusted with the whole thing. "I mean, everybody is informal and friendly. One gets used to such things."

"I bet."

"Hey, drink up, you're lagging behind." Rita jiggled the ice cubes in her empty glass and ordered another round with a nod to the waiter.

Nancy noted how hard and fast Rita was drinking. She never used to back in her college days. At lunch, she had downed three big martinis with no visible effect. Now, they were drinking more, and Nancy was beginning to feel the effect of her cocktails. At home, Allan never allowed more than once cocktail before dinner. He frowned on people who drank too much. But… Nancy smiled to herself… Allan was out of town and wouldn't be back until late tomorrow. She grinned at Rita. She was feeling no pain and just a little wicked. It was fun, doing something different, meeting people who seemed just a little bit disreputable and racy. It was exciting and just enough irresponsible to feel glamorous and jet-set-type, drinking the afternoon away in a downtown Chicago bar.

They sat, two extremely attractive women, drinking with men coming over and buying them drinks and flirting with both of them… they flirted with Rita because of her deep cleavage.