first draft, beginning of chapter

Fashion always repeats itself, maybe with a few little tweaks here and there but the essential style is the same. Brushing a stray blonde hair out of her eyes Desi was more than a little relieved that enforced corsets had not yet made a reappearance.

Desi straightened her spine and took a slow look around the crowded room, somewhere in this heaving space was the man she was supposed to meet. The man Desi knew she would marry and soon!
Sounds faded around her, her senses became heightened and her skin began to prickle, he was close. A jarring note slipped into her mind, a disturbance that gave Desi a warning that she wasn’t safe. A small frown marked her beautiful face as she tried to locate the danger, more than one man paused to watch her as she cautiously searched the blur of faces, searching for the telling flash of recognition. She needed to find them before they found her, she needed to leave but she was so close. Why did it have to be now?

“Desi? Hi, I’m Mark. Penny set us up?” Her head turned quickly at the touch of a man’s hand on her arm, the artfully arranged blonde curls bouncing invitingly. The man was tall, check, chestnut hair, check and green eyes. Mark had all the attributes she was looking for, if she could only get him out of here now then maybe her plan could still be salvaged. She forced a bright smile to her full lips and leaned towards him in a subtle female movement. “Oh hi Mark, I’ve heard so much about you! It’s so good to finally meet up.” Desi watched his face as he absorbed the enthusiasm in her voice, this wasn’t going to be as hard as she first thought.