"Hey babe," Matt said, answering his mobile phone as he walked past King's Cross Station in London. "Yeh, fine honey. Just heading back to the hotel." He glanced across to Paul, who was walking beside him and rolled his eyes. "Pretty boring really, just a couple of drinks after work. Me and Paul are just going to grab a drink at the hotel bar, maybe catch the footy and call it a night after that. Pretty tired. Tough day and an early start tomorrow."
They stopped at a pedestrian crossing and Matt nodded into the phone. He suddenly tapped Paul on the shoulder and pointed at a girl standing to their right. He mouthed the word 'babe' and Paul laughed. "What's that honey? Saturday? Your parents? Yeh sure. More wedding stuff huh?" He rolled his eyes again. The lights changed and they crossed the road. "Yeh, just at the hotel now. I'll call you later, OK? Sure. Love you too babe."
He tapped his phone screen and slid the phone into his pocket.
"That your fiancee, I take it?" Paul asked.
"Yep," Matt replied.
"When you getting married?"
"Couple of months. Fucking nightmare though. So much planning and it's really not my thing."
Paul shook his head and grinned. They'd worked together for nearly a year, both IT Consultants and currently working on a project with a major client in London. Neither of them lived in London, so the large chain hotel near King's Cross was their week night home for 3 months past and at least 3 more months to go.
"Still don't see you as the married type mate," Paul grinned as they approached the steps to the hotel.
"Surprising myself," Matt chuckled. "Fucking hell, look at that," he added quietly, flicking his eyes towards two girls coming out of the revolving door.
Paul shook his head and laughed. "Mate, you are unbelievable."
"Evening ladies," Matt smiled as the girls passed by them. They giggled, but despite Matt stopping and turning to watch them, they carried on walking. "Jesus, that little blonde is fit as fuck," he said to Paul.
Paul nodded. "Yeh. London is great, isn't it?"
Matt beamed a smile at his colleague. "Tell me about it. I could seriously live here."
"You were having a pretty deep conversation with Lauren earlier," Paul said as they stepped into the revolving door.
"Man, she's hot isn't she?" Matt replied, grinning. "You know she's only 19 right?"
Paul shook his head. "Thought she was older."
"Seriously mate," Matt said, lowering his voice as they walked into the reception area. "I'd so like to do her. When we were at the bar, talking, I could see right down her top. Christ, those tits are amazing."
Paul rolled his eyes. "What are you? 31? You've no chance buddy," he laughed.
Matt stopped and shook his head. "I'm telling you Paul, she's into me. If she hadn't been with that Julie chick tonight, going to some chick flick or whatever, I'd have been bringing her back here." He raised his hand and ran it through his hair, then stroked his stylishly unshaven chin. "And mate. I'd fuck her senseless!"
Paul groaned. This was a typical conversation with Matt. He wasn't sure if he'd ever met someone with so much self confidence, particularly around women. It was widely known that Matt had slept with several females who worked for their firm's clients. It was against company policy, of course, so Matt would unlikely admit it outright, but he'd hinted enough for Paul to believe the rumour mill. He glanced at his colleague, feeling a hint of jealousy at his rugged good looks, 6 foot tall, muscular frame. Some guys have all the luck, he thought to himself.
"My round," Matt said as they walked into the bar area. "What you having? Pint?"
"Yeh, Peroni please," Paul replied, walking to a table to the right of the bar. He sat with his back to reception, knowing that Matt preferred the view outwards, giving him the ability to scan for women. This had become their usual seat in the bar, and although it annoyed Paul when Matt was in 'babe mode' (as he liked to call it) they more often talked about work, football, cars. Normal bloke stuff. Never Matt's fiancee though, Paul noted. It struck him that he knew very little about her.
It took a few minutes for Matt to return with the drinks. The barmaid was French, and very pretty, so Paul assumed Matt had been flirting as usual.
"So, this fiancee of yours," Paul said, sipping his beer. "You should bring her to London some time. Sure she'd love the shopping. Mine did when she came down a month or so back."
Matt exhaled loudly. "You're kidding right? Fuck, no way I'd bring her here while I'm working." He took a gulp of beer then winked at Paul. "Might ruin my chances with Lauren mate."
Paul chuckled. "You really think you've got a chance with her? She's got a boyfriend, hasn't she?"
"Apparently. But hey, I've got a girlfriend." He grinned wickedly.
"Fiancee," Paul corrected him.
Matt sat back and rolled his eyes again. "Look, what she doesn't know can't hurt her, right? I'm in London, fucking miles from home. The odd fuck here or there..." he shrugged his shoulders.
Paul shook his head in disbelief. "Jesus mate. Why are you even getting married?"
Matt frowned. "Good question." He changed his expression quickly, beaming a smile. "Seriously though, my fiancee, Sophie, she's ok. Decent girl actually." He sipped his beer. Paul stared at him, bemused. "And...well." He stroked his chin. "Loaded mate. Seriously loaded."
Paul nodded slowly.
"Her dad has his own company. Manufacturing business. Exports all over the world. Worth millions. When her sister got married, he bought her and her new husband a brand new house. Half a million mate." He grinned. "He's doing the same for us. Big 5 bed detached piece. Brand new. We just finished picking all the carpets and shit for it last week."
"Fuck. Nice one," Paul said. Some guys get all the luck, he thought again.
"For her 30th, Sophie got a Beemer convertible from her folks," Matt continued. "435iM Sport. Fifty grand it cost. Loaded mate. She's buying me a Rolex too. Seriously loaded."
Paul took a long gulp of beer. Another pang of jealousy shot through him. "But...well, if you don't mind me saying mate. You're onto a pretty good thing there. So, what's with fucking about trying to shag Lauren?"
Matt laid his hands on the table and grinned. "Loaded mate, but no way as fit as Lauren. She's not a minger. Bit plain, quite big tits but could lose a few pounds, if you know what I mean."
Paul shuddered. He'd sometimes wondered if Matt was, basically, an asshole. He was hearing a side that could well confirm that theory.
"And anyway," Matt went on. "I'm away all week, pretty much every fucking week in this job and sometimes...well...needs must and all that." He laughed, looking very amused with himself.
"Unbelievable mate," Paul said, shaking his head. He forced a smile though. It wasn't worth an argument. "Just don't get caught dude."
Matt smiled. "Like I say. What she doesn't know can't hurt her."
Paul let his eyes wander to the football on the television on the wall to his right. "Chelsea two up," he mused.
"How long to go?" Matt asked.
"5 minutes," Paul said, squinting at the screen. He mentally calculated that meant it was nearly 10 PM. He'd finish his drink, maybe have another then he'd call it a night. They'd gone out straight after the work the previous night, and hadn't got back to the hotel until after midnight, so he was pretty tired.
"Good result for them, away from home especially," Matt quipped, turning his head to watch the game.
"Yeh, quite fancy them to win the whole thing this year," Paul added.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, watching the game and sipping their beers. It was something they'd done quite a few times over the past 3 months.