Sam had started his new job the September after finishing uni, he'd had a summer of fun but was keen to focus on his career and had been thrilled when he got a job with a consultancy firm in the city.
The downside had been that he'd had to leave his girlfriend back in his hometown, but secretly he was sort of keen for a break from that relationship anyway. He identified as 'straight' but had always felt an attraction to guys and so wondered whether he might be bisexual even though he'd never been bold enough to take those feelings any further.
A month in and he'd been asked to work on a pitch for a new client with one of the assistant managers, Josh. Josh was about 26, so 5 years older than Sam - he was a nice guy and Sam enjoyed working with him.
"Hey Sam!" Josh greeted him as he came back from using the gym at lunch break. "Exciting news, we've been invited to an exhibition in Birmingham tomorrow. I know it's short notice but can you make it? It will really help us prepare for the pitch & should be interesting. Plus we can have a night out on expenses!"
"Definitely!" Sam agreed, excited for his first business trip, "That sounds great, I have no plans tonight so happy to travel up & stay over. I'll nip home after work to pick up some fresh clothes and my overnight stuff."
"Brilliant." Josh smiled at his colleague, "We'll have a laugh, maybe a few drinks on the train up! The only thing is we'll need to leave straight after work, I don't think you'll have time to go home... I'll ask one of the secretaries to book us some tickets and accommodation. Is that OK? We can use room service to get our shirts cleaned overnight, I've done this before, so no need to worry about a change of clothes."
Sam had stupidly forgotten to pack any clean underwear for the gym, so was commando this afternoon. He was a bit worried about travelling away with no underwear but it seemed like there wasn't too much he could do about this, he'd just have to make do and he didn't really see what harm could come of it.
"All booked guys!" Amy, one of the secretaries came over to them 10 minutes later, "you're on the 6:15 from London Euston and I've booked you in to the Hilton. Company policy at your grade is to share a room so I've booked you a twin, I'll email the details across."
"Great, thanks Amy!" Josh said, obviously familiar with the drill, "lads night away haha!"
Fucking hell, thought Sam, I hadn't realised we'd have to share a room... Josh is a nice guy but I've only known him a few weeks...
Sam had always been quite a private person who liked his own space, he wasnt keen on getting changed with others around, sharing a bathroom, that sort of thing... He thought about asking if he could get his own room but decided he shouldn't make a fuss so early on with his new firm.
I'm sure it'll be fine he thought, we get on well & its only one night after all... this is a big pitch and I really want to impress. He reconciled himself with his newly made plans for the evening & carried on with his work.
At about 5:30 the 2 guys made their way to the station, they were travelling light, each just had a rucksack with toiletries they'd scavenged from their gym kits, their laptops and some beers they'd picked up to have on the train.
Sam studied Josh as the older guy read the free paper on the tube. He was good looking, no doubt about that, blonde hair, blue eyes, chiselled jaw and a strong muscular physique. He worked out a lot at the gym and it clearly gave good results for him.
Sam, by comparison, was smaller in build, he went to the gym for cardio and never bothered lifting weights... he was still a handsome guy though, the girls always told him so anyway, he had short golden brown hair, his skin tanned from a summer of travelling around southern France and Italy which really made his green eyes stand out.
"This is us," Josh said, interrupting his thoughts.
"What? Haha, sorry man I was in my own world there for a minute." Sam replied, looking up, "Is this our stop?"
"Yeah mate, grab your stuff, we're just in time for our train. Lets get on and get these beers started!"
Josh had a reputation for heavy drinking, Sam had been out with his new colleagues for a couple of work socials already and both times Josh had got pretty hammered. The two lads chatted amiably as they found their seats and cracked open their drinks.
Before long Josh was on to his second beer, then his third, Sam could barely keep up. "Let's do some shots!" said Josh as the service trolley went passed, he ordered some miniature bottles of vodka.
They chatted about the girls in the office, Josh telling Sam about the couple that he'd slept with, "I'm sure Amy's been flirting with me too," he confided, "I'd definitely love to get in her knickers, she's fucking gorgeous."
By the time the train pulled in to the station the two lads, especially Josh, were pretty pissed. Grabbing their stuff they made their way out and started to walk to the hotel. It was a balmy summer evening & the sight of the locals in bars and spilling out onto the street as they drank and partied was too much of a temptation for Josh.
"Hey Sam, lets just stop here for a night cap," he said, indicating towards a trendy looking bar.
"Don't you think we should just g..." Sam started, but Josh was already heading through the doors, leaving Sam on the street watching his colleague disappear into the chatter of the bar.
Bloody hell, thought Sam, following him in, he's a nightmare!
Their nightcap ended up taking them through to closing time, 11pm, Sam was tipsy but Josh was absolutely hammered, as drunk as a lord. Josh was leaning on Sam as they left, his arm over the shorter boys shoulders, partially out of friendliness but mainly for support. Sam was pretty sure Josh wouldn't have made it to the hotel on his own in this state.
It was 11:30 when the boys finally arrived at the hotel. As it was so late there was no proper receptionist on duty, just the night Porter.
"Hi, we have a reservation in the name of 'Overton' - its a twin room," said Sam to the porter, still supporting Josh who was clinging on to him as he spoke.
"Overton, Overton... where are you..." said the porter, tapping away at his screen. The man furrowed his brow in concentration, "ah there you are! Lets get you checked in, double bed, fourth floor..."