"So, Kazza."
Karen jumped. "God, Matt, you scared me! What is it?" She was sitting at the kitchen table looking at her phone. She put it in her pocket.
Matt sat down across from her. "So."
Karen leaned across the table to meet Matt's eyes. "Yes, Matthew, what is it?"
Matt smiled. "So we've got to do something." Karen had a blank look on her face. Matt sighed, but smiled. "Swimming, Kazza! We're going swimming."
She sighed loudly. "Matt! You know I can't swim... at all!"
"That's why we're going! C'mon, it'll be fun. And I know Arthur and Alex will be there. It's at Arthur's house. You can try to get them together, do you think they've got the hots for each other? I mean, you've seen them on set."
"They said that about us," Karen cocked an eyebrow.
"Well, they don't know anything," Matt sat up on the table and leaned away from Karen. He felt his face get hot, but he didn't think Karen noticed. For this he was grateful.
Eventually, Karen agreed, yet reluctantly. She and Matt got into the car, but she sighed as they arrived at Arthur Darvill's house. Matt laughed at her, so she playfully pushed him towards the large, rich wood door. She pressed the doorbell button with a long finger and waited.
They waited a while, so Matt rang the doorbell again. He knocked on the glass of the door, and although they could not see because of a white curtain covering the small window, they heard a voice. It was a woman's voice, calling out loudly. "Alex?" Karen asked Matt, because the voice was muffled and hard to decipher. Matt shrugged in response.
"Yup, I hear you!" the voice shouted, and a click was heard, he lock was being opened. The door opened onto Matt and Karen's surprised faces, the voice had belonged to Jenna - Louise Coleman.
"Jen?" Matt said, smiling. "Wow, how long has it been?" She embraced him and smiled at Karen as well.
"Hey, Karen!" she exclaimed. She was always happy. Her smile only became brighter as she heard another voice from inside the house. This time it was a man's. "Jenna, come here!" he said. "Stop hogging the guests!"
Jenna laughed and led Matt and Karen around the house to a large back door with eight huge panels of shining glass. On the other side of the door, there was an enormous swimming pool, blue and glittering. It was sort of rounded, but in the shape of a blob, really. There was only one person in the pool, Arthur - Alex was nowhere to be found, but there, laid on the side of the pool, was a towel in the sun. It must have been either Alex's or Jenna's, because a purse was laid own on it that probably didn't belong to Arthur. He swam up to the edge of the pool. Jenna entered the house again.
"Arthur!" Karen grinned and knelt down to hug him, but he shrugged as if to say 'I'm all wet'. She stood up again, agreeing that she shouldn't get wet before she put on a bathing suit. Arthur shook out his dark blonde hair.
"Hey, guys, how are you?" Arthur smiled back up as Matt slapped his hand. "Alex is in there, Karen, if you want to go say hello now." he pointed towards a small wood - paneled building to his right, a few yards away from the pool. Karen took his advice and walked towards it. Matt stayed by the pool, hiking up his trousers' legs so that he could sit with his legs in the pool.
Inside the small building was a room with white tiled floors. Half of the walls were tiled pale green, and the rest of the paint was white. There was a tiny white door leading to a tiny half - bathroom. Otherwise, everything was wooden - the benches, the storage.
"Alex?" Karen called out. Her voice echoed and bounced off of the walls of the small room. She looked around the corner of the entryway to find her friend. Suddenly a head popped out from behind a wall - Alex's frizzy blonde hair was unmistakeable.
"Hi, Karen!" Alex ran towards the redhead and embraced her tightly.
"Wow, you look great!" Alex wore a red polka dot bathing suit. It had white trim and complemented her figure perfectly.
"Oh, honey, you're too gorgeous to be giving me compliments." Alex tutted and waved her hand. Karen put her purse cabinet after taking out all the necessities - bathing suit, towel, sunscreen for her pale skin. She slipped on a black bathing suit, with several thin straps woven artfully across her back, while Alex talked and played with her frizzy blonde locks in the mirror. Karen tied up her own red hair into a high bun, and Alex tried to do the same, but it was nearly impossible. Blonde hair kept poking out all over the place. Eventually, the girls realized that they must have been spending too much time in the dressing room, and walked back to the pool.
The two men were sitting by the side of the pool, their feet dipped in the cool water. As the women stepped into view, Matt was mesmerized by Karen's beauty. He stared at her for a long time.
"Matt, take it down a notch. You literally have no shame." Arthur elbowed him sharply, and Matt rubbed the spot on his rib. However, he snapped out of his daze and did as he was told. Arthur knew that Matt loved Karen. It was painfully obvious.
"Hey, boys," Alex announced, plopping down beside Arthur on the tiled side of the swimming pool. Karen gingerly sat beside Matt, in between him and Arthur. Matt put his arm around Karen, and Alex cocked an eyebrow at her. Kaz just smiled. She was sitting, legs crossed, in order to not get her feet wet yet.
Matt motioned with his head towards the water. "Shall we?" Arthur slid in with a splash and held out his hand. Alex took it and slipped in without a sound. Matt stood up, letting go of Karen, and plunged in. Kaz shielded herself from the water, she was in the splash zone. As he surfaced, Matt pushed his hair out of his face smoothly.
"Your turn, Kazza."
Karen hid her face in her hands. She bit her lip and tucked a strand of fiery red hair that had fallen from her bun behind her ear. She placed a toe in the water and pulled it back out quickly. "Oh, it's cold!" Matt sighed.
"No it's not, Kaz. C'mon, you are getting in whether you like it or not!" Arthur and Alex were amused. Matt pulled her in by the leg, and Karen screamed as she hit the water. She surfaced, gasping, and splashed water at Matt's face, yelling, but also laughing. "Matt, you idiot!" All four of them were laughing. As she tried to splash him again, Jenna, who had been making lemonade, reappeared. "Lemonade, anybody?" she called out.
Everyone who was in the pool clambered out and sat on either the tiled poolside or, in Alex's case, a blue and white striped towel. The hot sun was nearly blinding them, reflecting off the surface of the water, and everyone pulled on a pair of sunglasses as they took a glass of the cold drink. Karen took a sip. "Ooh, strong," she said.
"Yeah, it's got a little tequila in it." Jenna winked and put a finger to her lip.
"Jen! What, you want to get everyone drunk?"
"Well, not drunk drunk. But a little fun can be, well, fun at a party!"
Karen shook her head and smiled. "On your head be it."
Jenna sat down next to Karen. She was wearing a long pale pink t - shirt. Jenna pulled it off, revealing a vintage black bathing suit. It was a bikini, high - waisted with thick lace on its top. "Ooh, pretty," Karen's eyes widened jokingly. Jenna slapped her arm playfully.
"Well, I have no reason to be wearing this," she whispered in Karen's ear. "I've got no one that has a crush on me here." She gave Karen a knowing look, cocking an eyebrow and turning her head. Karen rolled her eyes.
"Oh, shut up, Jen," she whispered back. "Nobody's got a crush on me."
Jenna tried to hold back a smile, pressing her lips together, as if to say, are you sure? Karen just made a fist, jokingly, of course, but was secretly hoping that her friend was right.
Suddenly she remembered something. "Yeah, where is Richard? I haven't talked to him in ages."
Jenna smiled. "He's filming Game of Thrones. I catch it whenever it's on, because he makes me, even though I can hardly handle all the blood and such. Have you ever seen that show?"
Karen shook her head no. "I can't bear to watch that, you're right - the blood and guts is sickening. Matt loves it, though."
"Then I guess you'll have to learn to love it..." Jenna crinkled her nose and bit her lip, smiling.
"Jenna - Louise Coleman, I swear to God..."
Before the two women could continue their conversation, they were interrupted by a loud splash. They cowered from the water spraying up from the pool, while Matt, who had jumped in suddenly, laughed. Karen jumped in after him, splashing him and hitting the water around him. She collapsed, laughing. As did Matt. The both of them laughed hysterically. Matt reached for Karen's arm once the laughing subsided. He held her hand in the cool water, but Karen flinched at his touch, startled. He pulled away, embarrassed. She swam towards the edge of the pool and climbed out. Matt swam back to the middle of the pool, slightly disappointed.
Arthur was talking to Alex, and Clara was sunbathing on the poolside. Karen stood up and began to squeeze water out of her hair. "Hey, does anyone want a sandwich or something?" she asked. Everyone nodded, so she quickly dried herself with a towel and pulled on a long t - shirt. It was black, and vintage, with an old horror movie poster on it.
She entered the house and started towards the kitchen. She didn't know where anything was, so Karen had a little difficulty finding the ingredients. Just to make it more difficult, her mind kept wandering to Matt, holding her hand and smiling at her all the time. She then thought of Jenna - who had always thought that Matt liked her. Karen had always told her that she was wrong, just because it was embarrassing. But she was starting to believe her friends now. At least a little.
Karen heard the glass - paneled door opening. She looked over, behind her shoulder, to whoever was entering the room. It was Matt. He was walking towards her slowly, and Karen started to become a little bit suspicious.
He stopped a few feet away from her. "Um, Kaz..." he looked flustered. "About... in the pool..." he had a hand scratching his head nervously.
Karen continued cutting bread for sandwiches. "Yes?" she said, nonchalantly. "You held my hand. You've been smiling at me ever since we've been flatmates and whenever I mention love you get flustered." she put the knife down on the cutting board. "I've been suspicious of you. But I'm not suspicious anymore, because I knew my suspicions were correct." she turned to face him, her lips curled into a small smile just before they met with Matt's. Their lips both tasted like lemonade and they smiled as they kissed.
One of Matt's hands rested on Karen's back, the other on her cheek. He ran his thumb across her jawline, because her skin was so smooth and cool to the touch. Karen's hands were both pushing against the countertop, moving along it making sure they didn't meet with the large and serrated knife.
The two were so lost in another world that they didn't notice the door opening once more. Jenna was whistling as she opened it. "Karen? Do you want some help with those sandwiches you were -" She was cut off, only looking up to see her friend and Matt kissing each other intensely. Her eyes went wide and she started to back out of the room. However, before she could leave, Jenna was caught by her two coworkers.
"Oh. Hello, Jen," Matt stuttered. Jenna bit her lip and crinkled her nose in reply, like she always did when she was suggesting something.
Karen pushed Matt away from her a little. "Um, Matt was just, uh... helping me with the sandwiches," she nodded her head aggressively.
"Well," Jenna said, grinning. "I think I'll leave you two to the sandwiches. But maybe I'll tell Alex and Arthur that they probably aren't actually going to be served." She walked out of the room, and Matt and Karen looked at each other like two kids caught doing something they shouldn't have.