Beautiful Malice by Rebecca James

a hundred-dollar bill toward Robbie. “Another bottle.”
    “Could you come and give me a hand, Katherine?” Robbie asks as he takes the money. His voice is stiff and controlled. He looks furious.
    “Sure.” I watch Alice as I get up. She’s been so weirdly belligerent since we arrived that I’m afraid that my going to the bar with Robbie will incite another snide remark. But she’s leaning toward Philippa and doesn’t even glance our way as we leave.
    Robbie and I walk to the bar in silence. When we reach it, Robbie turns back to look at our table.
    “Damn Alice,” he says. “She’s got some kind of agenda tonight. This is going to end in tears.”
    “What do you mean?” I feel a knot of dread tighten my lower belly. I don’t want anything unpleasant to happen. I don’t want Alice to behave badly, to be cruel. I don’t want Robbie and Alice to break up, or for Alice to do something so horrible that I’m forced to question my friendship with her. The idea that this all could be over is too dreadful to contemplate, and I have to control a rising sense of panic at the thought of a future without my friendship with Robbie and Alice, a future far too lonely and dull and miserable to bear. “Let’s just have dinner and get her out of here. Get her home to bed.”
    Robbie stares at me. “You haven’t seen her like this before, have you?”
    “Like this? I don’t know. I haven’t seen her be so deliberately unkind before, if that’s what you mean.”
    He shakes his head. “This is different. I’ve seen her like this a few times now. It’s really weird. And scary. Like she’s on a self-destruct mission. There’s no way we’ll be able to get through to her tonight. She won’t listen. And I’ll bet you a million dollars she’ll want to make a big night of it. And she’ll drag Philippa and Ben along for the ride, you watch.” He laughs bitterly. “She can be ruthless when she’s like this.”
    I’m not sure what Robbie is so worried about—what he’s saying doesn’t make a lot of sense—but I’m frightened anyway. “So we’ll go out and have some fun. Go dancing or something. We can look after her, can’t we? We can make sure nothing bad happens.”
    “If I were you, I’d bail now, while I could. I’d go home myself, but someone’s got to make sure she makes it home alive.” He looks over at the table again.
    Alice is talking animatedly to Philippa. Philippa has her arms crossed defensively over her chest and is leaning back, away from Alice. She isn’t smiling.
    We collect the drinks, and as we are walking back to the table, Philippa jumps up. She walks quickly, her head down, toward the ladies’ room
    “Is Philippa okay?” I ask Ben as we put the drinks down.
    “I …” He looks at Alice. “I think she might be …”
    “She’s pissed off because I told her something about Ben and me.” Alice laughs. “Jesus, Ben. You picked an uptight one this time. If you wanted to find someone totally different from me, you sure succeeded.”
    Ben laughs uncertainly. I can’t believe that he is just sitting there, and I’m about to ask if he wants me to go and check on Philippa when Robbie stands up.
    “I forgot the water,” he says abruptly, and heads back to the bar.
    And then I see why Ben is not in any hurry to chase after Philippa. As Robbie turns away, Alice puts her hand beneath the table. She puts it on Ben’s thigh, high on his thigh, and then moves it so that her hand is directly over his crotch.
    I stand up immediately. Alice is smiling at me, a smile stripped of any warmth, and I’m certain that she knows what I’ve just seen, and that she’s glad.
    “I’m just going to the bathroom.” I maneuver myself between the table and my chair so clumsily that the chair tips backward. “Shit,” I mutter as I grab the back of the chair before it falls. “Shit.”
    “Calm down, Katherine,” Alice says. “What’s the matter with you? You look like you’ve just seen