Hannah and I munched our croissants as the tube rumbled across London. Simon had given us two and we took bites from our own as well as each other's for no other reason that it seemed normal.
We were slightly nervous, we had never gone into the office together and when we left, we did so separately, meeting up out of sight of everyone. The plan for today was for me to stay on and go one stop more, so we would arrive from different directions at, hopefully, different times. It was a great plan.
"Free coffee always tastes better." Hannah mumbled as she took a sip of her latte and chewed her pastry.
"There's no such thing as a free coffee." I joked and she raised an eyebrow.
"He's a nice guy. Much nicer than his brother." Hannah said, then looked around the carriage where no one else was sitting "And he has a nice shaved cock." We both laughed at this slightly odd relationship with the local barista.
I finished my espresso and stuffed the cup into the little mesh pocket on the side of my rucksack then took the last bite of Hannah's croissant, receiving a little slap from her as I did so. She opened her mouth and I kissed her to pass on some of it back. "OK, my stop next." she said and she brushed the crumbs off of her shirt and skirt and gave me a quick kiss, looking around afterwards, just to make sure no one could see. The heat was keeping people away from the underground, even though the forecast was for rain, the rain that didn't seem to want to arrive.
I watched her as the train pulled away, she was waving and smiling as she stood on the platform and the emptiness inside flashed up, even though I would get off at the next stop and see her soon.
The streets were quiet. There was a brooding silence as the clouds loomed, but the heat batted them away. Part of me wanted the heat to stay, it was this that had made Hannah turn to reading stories online and sparking her sexual desires. It was the heat that kept us naked in her flat, wrapped in each other with no cares. I walked to the office on auto-pilot, weaving through the barriers that marked roadworks that seemed to make no progress, the piles of rubbish and crates of deliveries for the small shops along the streets.
I turned onto the road where the office is and stopped, my steps stumbling. Hannah was right in front of me across the street, still sipping on her coffee as she ambled along, unaware of me or time. We stared. It was too late now, we were within sight of the building and could easily be seen. Hannah gave an awkward smile and I shrugged, then I resumed my 'casual' walk to reception, as Hannah did the same. We 'bumped into' each other a few steps before Stacey opened the doors to let us in, "act casual" I whispered and we pretended to be surprised at seeing each other. We both said hi to Stacey and tried to be calm.
"Hiya guys." Stacey was always pleased to see people. It was her job and she was great at it, but she had favourites and her voice would go higher for them. Hannah and I were half-way through a pretend conversation when I announced I was going to get a coffee and would catch up with her later. Stacey laughed as we passed her. "Guys!" she said and waved us over to her. Hannah and I looked at each other and walked back to stand in front of the reception desk. Stacey lowered her head and waved at us to hunker down.
"Here's a tip you two. If, IF you do want to convince people that you haven't spent the night together and are actually arriving separately, maybe, just maybe, turn up at roughly your regular times, Hannah you are late and Stuart, you are NEVER in before nine-fifteen. ALSO and this is a biggie, it's best not to have coffee cups from the same small company." I looked down at Hannah's hand and the orange cup. I was confused. "Your rucksack pocket." Stacey whispered. I reached around and felt the little cup, the bright colour would be visible through the mesh. "Also, I happen to know that is Hannah's local as she nearly always arrives with an orange cup." Stacey was smiling broadly at us as I tried to think of an alibi, but was rapidly conceding that we were busted.
"I have never seen this man before in my life." Hannah was going for the all out brazen approach. She leaned forward "and certainly not in my bed this morning." she whispered. Stacey nodded and stroked her chin.
"Can I just say..." Stacey was whispering now, "fucking awesome." and she reached up to pat each of us on the shoulder.
"Can I just say..." Hannah looked around, but it was still just us three in reception, "Awesome fucking." and then she blushed bright red as Stacey let out a loud laugh.
"Oh guys, I am so happy it's you. I was worried some bastard was biting you." She looked at Hannah. "Either that or you had a fucking massive insect problem." Hannah was still blushing and I instinctively rubbed her back, forgetting where we were for a second. "The secret is safe. It's no one else's business. I know nothing." added Stacey. We were all a bit too embarrassed to say anything more, so Hannah went upstairs and I headed to get a coffee. So far our plan had gone pretty badly.
Hannah messaged me before I got to my desk, so I replied as my laptop started up. We sent personal messages on the phone and 'business' only ones on the work system, unless Hannah was video calling, but there would be none of that today. She hoped Stacey would keep it secret, but was also quite pleased someone knew. I felt the same, the stress of trying to be so secretive was hard. We made tentative plans to bump into each other at lunchtime.
I was just staring out of the window as I waited for my coffee later in the morning and didn't hear Stacey. "Hey dreamer. I bet I can guess what you're dreaming of." she laughed, "Or, rather, who."
We chatted quietly. I explained that it was just a fun thing, nothing serious and a chance to experiment a bit. She laughed. "Yeah, right." She stared at me as I reiterated that. "Nonsense." She scoffed. "Even if it is just a fling, enjoy it. You are a good match, have fun and I am pretty sure we'll be having this conversation in a few months time too."
"What do you mean?" As we were talking quietly I wondered if I had missed something.
"A fling?" she raised her eyebrows. "Hannah isn't a fling person. I don't know her that well, but we have chatted over the years. This isn't a fling. She may say that and that she wants to experiment or whatever after her big break up, but this fling will last longer than most marriages. Trust me." She patted my chest and smiled. "Enjoy it." she whispered "and, I am being very honest here and don't repeat this, I am slightly jealous."
