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I giggle. “Yeah, they were.”
He lets out a laugh, but it’s more like a snicker.
“They’re always on a mission, those two. Not quite to the level when Gerwyn goes on his crusades, but it’s getting there. They should buy him a blow up doll and be done with it. A doll would be one of the only things on the planet who’d put up with his world changing mission shit every day anyway.”
I don’t know what he means, so I smile until he carries on.
“Gerwyn wants to be some kind of superhero. He’s always campaigning for this or that. Stand up for the underdog at any cost, and rid the world of evil. He should have joined the army, not an investment banking firm.”
I remember Ant saying something along the lines of that about Gerwyn before, but not to that extent. It feels nicely personal to hear him speaking about a friend like he’s a friend and not a work colleague. His sneery jokes are definitely affectionate.
Ant slips his shirt off. “If Gerwyn would put as much effort into finding a girlfriend as he does into his superhero persona, then he might well land someone he likes. Between work and tackling the crimes of humanity, he’s got jack shit time for anything else.” He pauses, and sneers again. “Well, except cigarettes, of course. He’s always got time for one of those.”
I’ve only noticed Gerwyn smoke a couple of cigarettes this evening, but don’t challenge Ant’s disgust.
“You said he’s not over his ex, didn’t you?” I ask, remembering the conversation about Gerwyn moving to Germany first time around and dressing up as a cartoon prince every day. Having met him, the image makes me grin. I try to picture him dressed up like that and manage it. I bet he looked cute as hell.
“Damn right Gerwyn’s not over his ex,” Ant tells me. “She left him over three years ago now, and he’s still not over it. He kids himself he is, but he’s talking shit. He’ll be holding out for her for the rest of his life, I’m sure.”
I can relate to that, and get a pang of sympathy. I know what it feels like when you’re still in love with someone when you don’t want to be, still hurting over losing them when the world around you rolls their eyes.
Ant sits on the bed to join me, taking hold of my hand.
“So, princess, do you like it here?”
My beam must shine brighter than the city lights outside. “God, yes. I love Berlin.”
“Berlin loves you, too. Apparently the guys have already been plotting who’s going to be asking you out on a date first, if we call it quits.”
I get a horrible twist in my stomach at the thought, but he laughs.
“As if that will ever happen. I’ve told them they can all get fucked.”
I make light of it myself. “I guess you won’t be letting the whole lot of them into the mattress room, then?”
I must have pushed the joke too far, as Ant’s expression changes in a heartbeat.
“I’ve told you already, Cass. I never mix business and pleasure. There’s no way you’ll be seeing any of their dicks in a million years.”
He’s different here in this place, and I see it now. Harsher and colder. My raised eyebrows must tell him so, and he sighs, shaking his head.
“Sorry, baby. The guys have been winding me up tonight.”
“That’s ok. I get it. Work’s stressful.”
“Berlin is stressful,” he says. “Being here constantly is stressful, but that’s what life is like at the top. You have to give everything you’ve got to reap your rewards. The world has no time for losers or weaklings.”
I’m not so sure I agree with him on that, but I admire his conviction.
Ant follows on with the chain of conversation from earlier.
“I keep telling Gerwyn that everyone has to rely on themselves to create their own destiny, but he won’t listen. He can be a winner all he likes, but he’s always got time for losers. He’s an idiot on that score.”
“Just as well Janie isn’t a loser, then. Hopefully he’ll have time for her.”
“Maybe he’ll have time to get his dick in her, at least. It would do us all a fucking favour.”
Ant walks over to the windows, not giving a shit about how he’s half naked for the street below to behold.
“How long have you been working here, did you say?” I ask him. “Three years, right?”
“Yeah. Three years.”
“You were in London before that?”
“Yeah, my office was in London, with a lot of time spent in Birmingham. I had an apartment there as well as the house. I just moved locations.”
“Has Gerwyn lived with you the whole time? Since he split up with his ex?”
“Pretty much. I plucked him from the client reporting team over at Birmingham when he was at the peak of his break up, because even then he was so damn good. He’s been at my side ever since. The only one of the team I can truly rely on.”
