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"Shit, shit, shit." It was eleven o'clock on a Sunday morning and Syed had frantically been looking for the keys to Christian's new house for the past hour and a half. He was sure he'd seen them earlier, resting on his coffee table, but now they seemed to have miraculously disappeared. The work had begun a couple of days ago and everything had been going smoothly, up until now. The plasterers had now finished and Syed was meant to be letting the decorators in early tomorrow morning, but if he'd lost the keys then that wasn't going to happen. Pete was away for the weekend so he wouldn't be able to open up the office for Syed to get the spare set. What a nightmare. Syed reached for his phone, relieved when Pete quickly answered.
"Great timing, Syed," Pete's voice was barely more than a whisper. "Everybody in this gallery is staring at me now. What do you want?"
"I think I've lost the keys to Christian's place. I can't get the spare set from the office, obviously. I don't know what to do!" Syed was trying his hardest to remain calm, this happened to everyone at some point. He didn't want Christian to think that he was an amateur though.
"Christian will have one, I'm sure. Pop over to his and get them."
"I don't know where Christian lives, hold on." Syed grabbed a pen. "What's his address then?"
x-CS-x
Syed looked down at his clothes as he stepped out of his car and onto Christian's driveway. He was dressed casually today, jeans and a plain black T-shirt. Maybe he should have made more effort? No, Christian would probably know that he'd dressed up for him, and he didn't want him getting the wrong idea…
The first thing that Syed noticed was that there were two other cars on the drive, one he recognised as Christian's flashy black Mercedes, but the other was one that he hadn't seen before. Who did that belong to then? Another one of Christian's many conquests no doubt. Was that a little niggling of jealousy that Syed could feel?
He made his way towards the front door, slightly startled when it suddenly opened in front of him.
"I saw you out the window," Christian was stood before him, his hair wet from the shower and a dark blue vest clinging damply to his torso. Wow. He was wearing a pair of baggy sports shorts and his feet were bare. "You gonna come in then?" He stood aside and Syed caught a glance of himself in the hallway mirror as he entered the house, annoyed when he spotted a stray curl sticking out inconsiderately.
Syed followed Christian through to the kitchen and looked around as he leant against the worktop. There was an air of sterility about Christian's home. The hallway and kitchen were both impeccably clean and tidy; everything in them seemed to have its own place and was set at a perfect angle. There was no warmth though, no homely feeling, it was as though there was something missing… Syed didn't have time to dwell on what though, as Christian began speaking.
"Pete rung, said you've lost the keys."
Syed felt a blush beginning to form. "Yeah." He reassured Christian, "I'm sure they'll turn up eventually though."
"Don't worry about it; I was going to get the locks changed at some point anyway. You got time for a coffee?" Christian's smile was genuine and friendly.
"Sure. You've got a fantastic house, by the way." That's it, stick to property developer mode, remember that Christian is nothing, and never will be, more than a client.
"You've only seen the kitchen," Christian looked at Syed over his shoulder and teasingly rolled his eyes. "Milk and sugar?"
"Milk thanks, no sugar."
As Christian retrieved the milk, Syed noticed some photos on the fridge. Was there a picture of Christian and Josh on there?
"Sweet enough already?" Christian laughed and his eyes twinkled, "Sorry, I couldn't resist!" He placed a steaming mug of coffee down in front of Syed.
"Chris?" A velvety, and distinctly male, voice called out from upstairs. "You done in the bathroom now?"
Syed took a sip from his coffee, trying to appear nonchalant and uncaring as to who the other man in the house was. He was sure that he saw Christian look at him, and smirk, before he replied.
"Yeah, do you want me to scrub your back?"
The other man laughed deeply from the top of the stairs, "I'm sure I can manage."
Christian lowered his voice, "The many benefits of doing yoga, eh? Super flexible." He winked at Syed.
What was once charm from Christian was slowly becoming sleaziness for Syed, and he wasn't so sure if Christian was as attractive as he'd first thought. Noticing Syed's look of disapproval, Christian quickly changed the subject. They politely discussed the renovation, with Syed ensuring that the conversation remained purely professional, for about ten minutes until the sound of the shower ceased. Wanting to leave before Christian's latest squeeze came downstairs, Syed made an effort to make sure it was blatant when he checked his watch.
"Not got time for another one then?" Christian pulled a mock-sad face and pouted, "Or can't you stand being in my company any longer?"
"No, I've just," Syed thought quickly, "got things to do." Very original… great excuse.
"I'll just get you the keys then, give me a sec." If Christian was disappointed that Syed didn't want to stay longer then he wasn't making it very obvious. Then again, his companion upstairs might be an irresistible sex god compared to him.
Syed watched Christian leave the room and heard his footsteps as he went up the stairs. No doubt he'd gone up there to have a quickie with his bendy new boyfriend and the keys were actually sat in a bowl by the front door. Now that Christian was gone, Syed had the opportunity to look more closely at the pictures on the fridge. What was it that Pete had said Josh looked like? Blonde hair and blue eyes. Syed scanned over the photos, there was nobody on them who matched that description. Although why would Christian keep photos of his dead fiancé on the fridge anyway? To show to his one night stands after a night of passion? Unlikely.
Syed noticed another door leading from the hallway, slightly ajar, which he guessed led into the sitting room. Maybe there would be some pictures in there. Syed had no idea where his inscrutable level of curiosity had come from, what was it about Christian that made him want to know so much about his life? Quickly checking that Christian wasn't on his way back downstairs, Syed cautiously pushed the door open and crept in.
The room was light and airy; the early afternoon sun was filling it with comforting warmth. A cream L-shaped sofa was sat in the middle of the room and various pictures adorned the walls. Christian certainly had a random taste in artwork; it was quite homoerotic, depictions of naked male forms in various positions. Looking around the room, Syed noticed a table on the far wall, several picture frames were placed neatly upon it. He nervously approached it, recognising Christian in many of the photos. A couple were of an older man and woman, Syed guessed they were Christian's parents; in another Christian was stood with a woman who looked similar to him, it must have been his sister. One which stood out to him was of Christian looking slightly worse for wear with a group of his friends. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and had a glass of what looked like champagne in his hand, his smile lit up the photo and Syed couldn't help but grin at it, Christian looked exuberant. There was still no-one who could be Josh though.
Syed suddenly heard the thud of quick footsteps on the stairs and rushed to get out of the room. Pulling the door to, he turned round and was face to face with the mysterious man from upstairs.
"Christian! Your mate's snooping around." It was hard to tell whether he genuinely believed that and was being serious or not. Christian was soon with them in the hallway, a set of keys in his hand.
"It's a shame you've 'got things to do'," Christian made it obvious that he knew Syed had been lying about his plans. "I could have given you a guided tour. Were you seeing if there was anything worth robbing then?" Christian was stood looking intently at him with his hand on his hips in a commandeering pose.
"No, I was just looking for the toilet…" Syed hoped this lie would be more convincing than his previous one.
"And you thought you'd find it in the living room?" The other man was talking now; his build was similar to Christian's, maybe slightly bulkier. He wasn't half as attractive as Christian though, and Syed found him slightly intimidating.
"Alright Matt, give him a break, Syed's obviously just very inquisitive." Christian winked at him. Did he have to make everything into an innuendo? "This is my business partner," he indicated towards Matt. "We drunk a fair bit last night so he stayed." He looked at Matt, "Shouldn't you be getting home to that wife of yours now?"
"Oh, am I getting in the way of some love in the afternoon?" Matt spoke with supposed realisation and raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"No!" Christian and Syed spoke in unison, although Christian's tone was a lot less serious and unamused than Syed's was. The pair of them glanced at each other and Christian displayed a sympathetic smile.
x-CS-x
With Matt gone, Syed was now hoping that he could take the keys and make a swift exit, but Christian seemingly had other ideas.
"So, why were you in my living room then?" Christian sounded slightly annoyed now.
No more lies, honestly was the best policy. "Pete told me about Josh… he said he was stunning. I was just looking for a photo of him; you were right when you said that I was inquisitive." Syed flashed a shy smile. "Christian, I'm really sorry -"
"I don't keep any photos of Josh down here." Christian interrupted him, he sounded a lot more reserved now. Syed noticed a change in his eyes too, they lost their sparkle slightly. "Thanks for being honest though. Here are the keys, by the way."
"Thanks," Syed took them, his hand brushing Christian's as he did so, and slipped them into his pocket.
"So, Pete's told you that I'm a tragic widower then?"
"Yeah, yeah he did." Syed smiled apologetically.
"I'm guessing that he warned you off me too?"
"Several times," Syed laughed.
"Typical Pete, and how do you feel about that?" Christian looked questioningly at him.
If Syed was honest, it made him feel like a child again. Too many times he'd been told what to do, how to feel, how to act, and he'd grown sick of it. But then the more you were told not to do something, the more you wanted to do it… He wasn't going to tell Christian all of that though.
"I trust Pete, I'm sure he knows what he's talking about. Anyway," said Syed. "You made me think you had another man upstairs; I think I now know exactly what kind of man you are. One that likes to mess around with other people's feelings and wind them up. You get a kick out of it, don't you?"
"But I did have a man upstairs. You just never asked who he was." And there it was again, that smug grin which was so captivating. He opened the front door. "By the way, I was wondering if I could have a quick look around the house before the decorators go in tomorrow morning."
"Okay… what time?"
"Eight okay? I'm always up early in the morning."
Syed wanted to throw something at him. He gritted his teeth, "See you there, then."
A tour round Christian's and a couple of minor misunderstandings coming up in the next chapter!