Thank you so much for all of the reviews and subscriptions. I love reading the feedback! Time for a revelation...
A few days later…
Syed and Ben were stood at the counter in the local sandwich shop waiting for the office's daily lunch order to be made up. All Syed had been able to think about recently was Christian. The image of him stood in Pete's kitchen, looking so confident and strong, handsome. He was arrogant, and that was something that he couldn't hide, but he also managed to have an irresistible charm about him. Syed was sure that underneath all of that bravado there was a truly kind and caring man, one who craved more than one night stands and endless shots of vodka. But he knew that he shouldn't allow himself to think too much about that, he wouldn't ever let Christian fool him into thinking that he'd be anything more than another notch.
Who was to say that Christian was even interested in him though? The way that he looked at him and spoke to him meant nothing, that was probably the way he was with every man that he met, whether he was attracted to them or not. Perhaps he got something of a kick out of it, making men's insides turn to jelly with a single look.
Syed still wanted to know more about Christian though; he was going to be in charge of renovating his home after all. It was always good to have a good relationship with your client, that was what Pete said, and it was advice that he agreed with.
Trying not to sound overly interested, he asked Ben, "Do you know much about Christian Clarke?"
"The bloke we're doing some work for?" Ben didn't even look at him, too engrossed in making sure that the woman behind the counter wasn't spreading too much pickle on his sandwich.
"Yeah," Syed muttered his reply. "I just wondered whether there was anything interesting to know about him."
"Well, I'm probably not the best person to ask, I barely know him. Only met him a few times when I've been out with the lads. You should ask Pete, he's his best mate."
"Yeah, but you know what Pete's like. If I asked a single question about him then he'd be setting us up on a date." Ok, so that was a bit of a lie, the last thing Pete would do was set them up. Syed briefly allowed himself to imagine what a date with Christian would be like, no doubt he'd be checking out every other man in the room. Then again, he might spend the entire night looking at Syed the way that he had in Pete's kitchen, like nothing else mattered. Syed's daydream quickly evaporated when he heard Ben talking.
"Fair point. From what I gather, he owns a relatively small chain of gyms and obviously likes to keep himself fit, although I'm guessing you already know that, Pete said you'd met him. Umm…" Ben looked deep in thought, "shags anything that's male, has a pulse and its own teeth, not necessarily in that order. That's about it."
Any illusion that Syed had about there being more to Christian than met the eye was now fading fast. He decided to change the subject.
"You do know," Syed paused as Ben took the two bags of sandwiches from the assistant and gave her a quick smile. "You do know that that was his car that you fell into the other night?"
Ben rubbed his side, "I wondered where that bruise had come from. Didn't do any damage did I?" his eyes widened as he realised he may have dented or scratched the car.
"Fortunately not, the car was brand new. I doubt he would have been very happy if you'd left even a tiny mark on it."
"I'm sure he wouldn't have been that bothered. He'd be able to afford any repairs if I had of done anything. Bet he's got plenty of spare cash after the wedding didn't go ahead."
Syed's ears pricked up at the word 'wedding', Christian was going to get married? That was the last thing he expected to hear. "Wedding?"
"Yeah, don't know much about that either. All I know is that it was all planned, venue booked, invites sent out, honeymoon to Mauritius sorted. Then two weeks before, it was all cancelled."
"They cancelled it at the last minute, why?"
"They had to."
"What, Christian couldn't bear the thought of being with same man for the rest of his life?" Syed rolled his eyes.
"No, nothing like that. They definitely would have gotten married, Christian practically worshiped Josh, but they couldn't. Because Josh died."
Shocked? Let me know ;)
