Chapter 15

The Mug

Sat back in Mathew’s small display room of
an office, William asked, “you alright?”

Nodding Mathew replied, “I guess it could
have been a lot worse, I will have to impose on you for a while longer if
that’s alright.”

“You can stay with me for as long as you want
to.”

Lapsing into silence they got on with their
respective work. William couldn’t help but sneak glances at the young man, who
was completely absorbed in his thoughts.

 

An hour later, William noticed Mathew fidgeting,
“what’s up?”

“I need to pee.”

Laughing William said, “OK lets go.”

Closing his laptop, William followed the
smaller man to the toilet. He realised this was less of a laughing matter than
he thought, when he saw the group of men watching them enter the loo, and there
was no lock on the outer door. After checking they were alone the pair went to
pee.

Stood at the urinal William kept his ears
peeled, but luckily no one entered.

As he turned to wash his hands he saw
Mathew’s shocked expression.

With a light laugh William said, “What? Regretting
the idea of a measuring contest?”

To his surprise Mathew nodded dumbly.

Trying to not blush William said teasingly,
“good thing you didn’t see it at it’s full size, if your surprised by it’s
travel size.”

“You mean it gets bigger?!”

Walking up to the smaller man on his way to
the sink, William whispered coyly in his ear, “Much bigger.”

His whole head going red, Mathew washed his
hands trying to not look down at William’s crotch.

Glaring at the men hanging around, William
led Mathew back to the small office, just as he was about to enter Mathew said,
“Can we go get drinks too please.”

“Of course, lead on.”

Inside the small office kitchen were four
men stood round with hot drinks, when they saw William they scarpered.

In a second William could tell which mug was
Mathew’s. Sat on the side, the light blue mug was covered in dirt, probably
from the now dead acer. Getting closer he could see it was full of a foul
liquid, the smell emanating from the cup made William gag.

Putting his left hand to his mouth and
nose, Mathew emptied the mug and started to wash it with his free hand, as if
this was nothing new.

Fuming William asked, “did they do this
shit to you often?”

Trying to laugh it off, Mathew replied,
“it’s just office banter, it’s fine.”

“This is bullying not banter, why didn’t
you tell Boss Leoni?”

“I did, but it is Rick’s men and they took
the beating from Boss and went right back to it.”

Finishing off with a spray of anti bac Mathew
left his mug in the sink and found a non descript one for William while the kettle
boiled, “the coffee is awful, are you ok with tea?”

Thinking of ways to get Rick’s men that
wouldn’t cause problems William nodded absent-mindedly.

 

Four hours later William stretched his long
limbs, “is there anywhere good to eat round here?”

“Boss said I’m not allowed to go anywhere
but here and...your place.”  

His ears going red to match Mathew’s,
William said, “It’s our place now.” Trying to not grin like a fool at the idea
of living with Mathew, he continued, “Damn, I wonder if there is anywhere that
delivers proper food? And a good cup of coffee.”

“There is Gonzo’s, they deliver.” Offered
Mathew.

 

Forty minutes later the pair were stood at
the entrance, William was in an uneasy glaring truce with the men who had
frisked them and Mathew was trying to sink into the background.

The delivery woman saw Mathew and smiled
then paled seeing William.

Mathew took the food, while William asked
with a smile, “how much do we owe you?”

The lady’s look changed and she stared up
at the tall man with wide eyes, “twenty pounds please.”

Handing twenty five over with another smile
William took the food from Mathew, but the lady called out to him, “excuse me
sir...”

As William turned back the lady hastily shoved
a piece of paper into the top of the food and hurried off with red tinged ears.

Surprised, William didn’t even argue when
the men from the entrance said, “what is that?”

They all gathered round watching William,
who gave the food back to Mathew and opened the piece of paper.

The men all laughed when William asked
Mathew in a confused tone, “what is it?”

“It’s her number.”

“Why is she giving me her number?”

With a gentle smile Mathew pushed William
back to their office, followed by the sounds of laughter.

Sat eating William asked again, “why did
that lady give me her number?”

Searching the face in front of him Mathew
asked, “have you honestly never been given a number before?” Greeted with a
shaking head Mathew explained, “she was hitting on you.”

His eyes going wide, William sat and ate in
silence for a long moment, eventually he asked, “do you think I should phone
her to tell her I’m not interested?”

“Why would you do that?”

“It’s not fair to lead someone on.”

“She was pretty, are you really not
interested?” Asked Mathew nonchalantly.

William’s heart sank a little, “You thought
she was pretty?”

“Yeah I guess. Did you not? What is your
type?”

About to blurt out ‘you’, William thought
again and said, “I don’t know, what is your type?”

After a short pause Mathew replied, “I like
kind women, who have fun.”

“Doesn’t everyone? That is very vague.”

“Isn’t it better to be vague rather than
discounting someone that could be great?”

Being able to see the logic, William
answered, “True, but I’m still not interested in that lady.”

They lapsed into silent eating again.

Looking up shyly William asked, “do you
have a girlfriend?” Thinking that sounded nosy he added, “I only ask because it
would be good to let George know so she can come and go from the bar easily.”

“No I don’t have a girlfriend.” Mathew
paused and looking down at his food asked, “do you?”

William let out the breath he had been
holding, “no, as you just saw I’m utterly baffled by all of that.”

“Would you like me to help?”

His heart sinking further William asked,
“help how?”

“We could role play, I could pretend to be
a girl and you practice your chat up lines on me.”

Feeling a little relieved William replied,
“I wouldn’t know where to start.”

“It’s generally best to start with hello.”

“OK smart ass, hello.”

“Oh your a tall one aren’t you?”

“Err yes?”

Mathew laughed, “you really aren’t good at
this. You just need to keep the conversation going.”

“Ok, yes I am 6 foot 7 , how tall are you?”

Laughing again Mathew replied, “I’m 5 foot
9. That is a bit literal though, try to keep it a bit more light.”

“I’m guessing answering ‘oh your an average
height one’, is not the right approach either?”

William was delighted to hear Mathew laugh
yet again.

“No I wouldn’t go with that. How about if a
lady was to say, “Wow your hot, want to go out with me?” What would you say?”

“People really say stuff like that?” At
Mathew’s nod, William thought then replied seriously, “thank you that’s a nice
thing to hear, but I will have to turn you down until we get to know each other
a bit. How is that?”

His brows knitted Mathew replied, “I can’t
really fault you but it’s a bit odd, I guess you are only interested in a
proper relationship then?”

“What else is there?” Asked William
innocently.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never had a one night
stand?!”

His eyes dilating in surprise and his
cheeks flushing with embarrassment William looked down and mumbled, “OK I won’t
tell you.”

Slowly, like he was scared to spook the
strong man Mathew asked, “William are you a? No you can’t be. There’s no way
right? I mean your,” taking a deep breath he asked, “have you been with a woman
before?”

Coughing William turned deep crimson,
flustered he said, “I... well you know, I never found the right person, then it...”
his head dropped low and William said in a depressed voice “then I was, you
know, so now who would want to be with me?” William’s head shot back up, “not
that it doesn’t all work or anything.”

Mathew put his hand to his mouth hiding his
laugh, “I saw it works this morning.” Not laughing anymore he covered William’s
big hand tenderly with his small one and added seriously, “I could have a look
and tell you honestly what I think of your body if it would make you feel more
confident.”

Paling slightly William said, “that is a
kind offer but I’m not sure you want to see, the Bosses did a thorough job on
me. They made my body a warning to anyone else that wants to take their men
away from this life.”

“Oh William, I’m so sorry.”

The sadness on Mathew’s face pulled at
William’s heart but the warmth of his hand gave him comfort, “I wouldn’t change
a thing, it was worth every wound to get my men their lives back, even if it
mean’s I never feel the touch of another person.”

“I really wish I still had blinds.”
Lamented Matthew.

“Why?”

“I really want to comfort you while you
work again.”

A huge smile bloomed on William’s face, “I
wish you still had blinds too.”

They finished eating happily chatting about
inconsequential things, then clearing up got back to work.

 

Getting up Mathew went to leave, when
William asked, “where are you going?”

Mathew froze in the door way, “I completely
forgot, sorry, it all feels so normal. I need to go to the printer.”