I got a chance to go and enjoy a
London Experience
where I was outed to myself as being gay.
I was waiting nervously in reception for someone to escort me up to a conference room, although the reception area was not very busy with comings and goings I was having difficulty picking out who my escort was, then, I made eye contact with someone heading my way. He was in his mid-fifties, give or take, wearing an expensive smart dark business suit walking purposefully almost military like in my direction, I stood up to meet him as equals, like we were taught at business school.
He introduced himself as "Lieutenant Commander Craig Davidson, the customer's NATO representative at the Foreign Office, but please call me Craig as I am now retired."
I introduced myself, who I worked for and that I was to submit and get certified my company's proposal for a submarine defence project in the Philippines.
I had no business cards as I was an eleventh hour substitute, the Naval Bid Manager had handed in his notice and my friend Hamish had recommended me to our Marketing Manager to courier our bid to the client. Which I subsequently volunteered for, to hand deliver a tender to the NATO Clearance Offices run by the Foreign Office. Sweetener was I would have four days to myself in London on expenses that was the selling point.
This would be my first trip to London and I was looking forward to seeing in person if what they said about London's night life and fleshpots are correct. Basically all I had to do was hand deliver our tender and witness it being uploaded into a digitised NATO tender correspondence library and review system. Two days later it would either be accepted into their full review process or handed back to me to take back to my company; simple.
For two days I could do what I liked in London then get the return rail sleeper on Sunday night and straight back into work on Monday morning. Although I couldn't plan anything for the first day as I didn't know how long the certification processes would take, but I had planned out the next two days with the last day being a free day in case I had to pick up our rejected proposal. This was unusual for a NATO project but the Philippine Navy had insisted on this being part of the tender process.
Craig led me upstairs outlining the process, we had to individually certify two hundred and fifty two pages of documents by initialing each page then they were to be scanned into a document digitizing reader library and the legal document package sealed. The digitised working versions would then to be uploaded from a flash drive and verified.
Apart from the initialing process which was slow it all went very quickly and the scanned documents were certified against the digitised version then electronically segregated into review and assessment disciplines for specialist reviewer's to comment on. There were a number of proposals being scanned and checked for this project and we had to wait until all the proposals were in the system.
This process was not expected to be completed until about 14.00 hours then we would be allowed to leave and my expedition in London could get underway, until then we were on in-building call. Craig suggested as I had to be escorted we to go to the refractory for a late breakfast, which I needed as I only had a coffee and a pastry for breakfast five hours ago.
As we chatted over our late breakfast, at that time I didn't realise it, Craig was effectively interrogating me, all part of the review process was I who I said I was. Spooks at work.
He started off by sharing his background, private residential school in Winchester, his father and mother were Diplomats living in Thailand at the time, officer training at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, submariner in the Royal Navy, NATO Naval attaché in Thailand and Philippine's transferring to the Foreign Office in London then retirement to the family pile in Devon (
I didn't know what that meant but didn't like asking
), now an ad hoc consultant to the Foreign Office Overseas Trade Delegation.
My background was more mundane, state school, college, father an electrician mother a school auxiliary, now in my second year working as a business administrator and volunteered to deliver the proposal. We then drifted off onto our private lives, I was glad Craig took the lead as I wouldn't know where to start. Not married, other than to the Navy, no current relationships, traveled all over the world many times, worked in some unusual places in some cases doing unorthodox things for and with interesting people.
By contrast I was boring, lived with my parents went to college, after qualifying moved to the big city to work for a defence contractor, lived in a house share arrangement with three other guys, Jim, Mike and Alex. Jim and Mike were a few years older than me, gay and an item and they didn't care who knew, Alex was the same age as me, a computer programmer in the same company and total geek who didn't really live on this planet. This was my first trip to London and I was going to explore London life, visit a few interesting tourist places museums and night clubs that I had been told about.
Turned out Craig and I did have two things in common we were both wargamers with a preference for Roman battle gaming. Although there was a Roman era wargaming talk on in the Imperial War Museum on Friday afternoon I couldn't get tickets at short notice. Craig said he had some family connections with the IWM and could try and get us tickets.
Entheausticly I said; "Yes that would be great."
We were also booked into the same Kensington Close Holiday Inn hotel for the weekend and when he comes up to London for one of these tender review jobs he usually stays up for the weekend, as it was on expenses. He offered to show me how to get to the hotel, although I had already worked out a route on my travel idiot cards.
I replied; "Ok that would be great."
On schedule after the tender formal opening we were told that we could go and would be contacted in 48 hours to confirm if our tender's had been accepted for full review or to be collected. You had to collect it or your company would not be prequalified for future tendering opportunities; important point.
We both left together trailing out wheelie suitcases behind us trying not to collide with anyone as we walked the length of Kensington High Street, Craig pointing out where various wealthy and Diplomats lived. You could also tell from the security screens on their apartment windows. The trek took us about forty minutes due to the crowds it was also a hot sunny day and my case was feeling heaver with each step.
Craig said he was going to the hotel pool to cool off and invited me to join him; I accepted. As we checked in he enquired about the pool availability, apparently there was a private party just about to start in an annex although we would be sharing the changing and shower facilities the pool was quiet. We went to our rooms which were two floors apart I got changed into my new speedo black wet look swimwear then pulled on a pair of shorts and tee shirt to go down to the pool, plan was I would go up to Craig's room and we would go down together.
When he opened to door inviting me in he was still in the process of getting changed, his room unlike mine was executive with lounge area, mini bar etc. He finished totally undressing in front of me and stood naked as he put his suit trousers in the trouser press. I said my press wasn't working he responded you can use this one. Although I was embarrassed with his offer I didn't let it show, I think. After he donned his swim shorts and matching tracksuit we headed down to the pool area, all the lockers were taken bar one which we shared.
The pool wasn't busy eight bathers but two guys in the corner caught my attention, they seemed a bit intimate, saw me looking at them and smiled. Not knowing what to do I just smiled back both nodded in acknowledgement. Craig I think saw what had happened as he came over touching me on my shoulder which brought me back to reality.
After a few lengths of the pool sort of racing each other we stood in the water talking, he mentioned he had visited crowded naturalist beaches in Thailand and swam naked in the warm sea, all I could say was that I had been to a naturalist beach in Ayrshire it was quiet but too cold to swim in the sea. He suggested we go out for an early meal tonight to a local pub he knows, just as my two intimate friends passed us as they left the pool, looking back at us approvingly.
We left the pool shortly after and headed to the showers towels in hand, Craig hung his towel on a peg and removed his swim shorts, sort of caught unaware again I followed his lead. Both naked we padded dripping into the communal shower area, my two intimate friends were in the corner naked washing each other. Again I couldn't take my eyes of them I didn't know what I expected them to do next, again they looked over and smiled at us.
We finished showering together, dried off and wrapped ourselves in our towels, as we were walking to the locker area the younger of the two came over to us and asked.
"Would you like to join our class it's a free Tantra taster class, it's a demonstration from a Pink Tantra facilitator."
I looked at Craig with one of my, no doubt lost looks; he looked at me then replied confidently.
"Ok we would like that."
We followed them into an annex room the receptionist had told us about, apart from us there were about eight others in the room all only wearing white hotel towels.
The class started with the Pink Tantra facilitator saying.
"Pink Tantra is a blending of both spiritual aspects and the sensual means, for instance one may be engaging with a partner by gazing into one another's eyes. Many understand this to be 'divine sex' the couple may work together to overcome neuroses and obsession about touch, pleasure, and love, so that they may enjoy playful, loving, gentle, nonsexual stimulation, touching and massage. We will also explore Red and Black Tantra too at this second session."
