Love Spreads

She laughed a little at that.

"My name is Chris by the way."

"Melissa."

"Nice to meet you Melissa."

"And you Chris."

They shuffled forward a little in the queue.

"So tell me. How did you come to end up here tonight?"

"Well I was doing some volunteering work for the Animal Shelter and Maddie and Tom asked me if I'd like to be an ambassador for the charity."

"They roped you in, huh." He grinned and winked.

"Well...kinda. I mean I love animals anyway so it wasn't like they had to persuade me too much. It's just I am away a lot shooting so it's difficult to do a huge amount of promo work for the charity."

"What type of work do you do?"

"I'm a glamour model." She looked at him appraising his reaction.

"Wow. You must get to travel to some really great places to shoot."

She cocked her head and grinned.

"Yeah. It's great for travelling. I'm going to Cyprus in a few weeks for a shoot. And a little holiday with the girls as well."

"Nice. I was in Nicosia a few years ago. Really nice place and people."

"Really?"

"Yeah...on a lad's holiday about six or so years ago. Just remember it was a lot of sun and a lot of drinking. Course I could handle the hangovers better than I can now."

Melissa nodded and smiled at him.

"That's also part of our plan. We'll be in Larnaca for about a week. We've been a couple of times before. We can usually work in a shoot and get a few days holidays as well."

"Work and play. Sounds great to me."

They had reached the bar and Chris turned to her.

"What would you like to drink?"

"You don't have to..."

"I insist."

"A vodka and coke, thanks."

He ordered the round of drinks and turned his attention back to her.

"So what brings you here?" She asked him as she placed her bag on the bar counter.

"I've known the Andrews for a few years now. One of my friends has been working at the shelter for a few years now, so I've been to a few of their events. And I've been out to the shelter itself as well helping out. That's where I got Ozzy."

"Ozzy?" She looked at him quizzically

"Yeah. Ozzy is my rescue puppy. Well, I guess he's not a puppy anymore given he's about 2 now. He's a little black Westie who was abandoned at the side of the road just after Easter a year and a bit ago. When I saw him, it was love at first site I guess." He smiled.

"That's so nice.' Her face softened "I have a little rescue dog called Elvis. He's a little terrier cross. I've had him about eight years now. It's one of the reasons why I volunteer at the charity. Lots of animals literally get abandoned soon after they are bought. It's so heart-breaking."

"They do good work there." He nodded "That's why my friend left the bank to go work for them."

"So what do you do, Chris?" She asked him

"Like you, I get to travel as well. To Canary Wharf every day. I work in Risk Management for a bank."

"That's interesting." She said.

"About as interesting as pulling teeth." He snorted. "But it keeps me out of trouble. At least most of the time anyway."

"Getting into trouble can be fun though." She winked at him.

"I guess it can be. It depends on what type of trouble you are getting into and with whom, right?" he passed her her drink and they clinked glasses.

"Exactly. When I'm with the girls, we can get into a lot of trouble. Particularly if there is champagne involved." She laughed and took a sip of her drink.

"So, you're the regular house angel, street devil then." As he took a slug of Guinness.

"That's what my mum says!" she exclaimed "But you know...sometimes it can be fun to play the house devil as well. Depending on who's in the house with you of course." She beamed sexily.

They stood at the bar chatting and flirting with each other, the conversation flowing naturally between them. She touched his arm a couple of times and drew closer to him as they became more comfortable with each other. Her smile was infectious and it lit up her face making her even more lovely to him. She had a mischievous, flirty sense of humour that he had not expected underneath the shy smiles and glances she had cast him throughout the dinner. Not that he was complaining as it made her even more alluring.

It was the high-pitched squeal of feedback from the microphone in the function room that interrupted them. The sign that the speeches were about to begin.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! If you would please return to your seats, we will begin the speeches."

"I guess we better get back." He said reluctantly

"I guess we better." Sighing she picked up her drink.

"We can catch up later though?" He picked up both his and Lanes drinks.

"I have to leave straight after the speeches. I have a shoot booked for early tomorrow morning." She looked at him sadly.

"Oh. Anywhere glamorous?" He tried his best to hide his disappointment.

"Brighton." She sniggered

"Could be worse, I suppose. Could be Skegness, right?"

They both laughed at this.

And then he took a chance. He looked into her eyes and asked her out.

"I'd really like to see you again, Melissa. I know a really great place in Shoreditch that does great cocktails and tapas. I'd love to take you there some evening."

"Mmm...and what would your girlfriend say about that?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Girlfriend?" He looked quizzically

"The girl you're sitting beside, who I assume that G&T is for."

"Oh Lane?" He laughed "Lane is not my girlfriend. She is a friend I was telling you about. She used to work in same bank that I did years ago before she joined the Shelter. She is also engaged to one of my work colleagues, Carly."

Melissa smiled and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"Good answer. Cocktails sound good."

He put his drinks down on the bar counter, took out his phone and keyed in her details. As they walked back to their table they chatted some more and as they parted, she touched his shoulder briefly. His heart leapt at her touch and he watched her walk away from him with a mixture of joy and despair.

*************************

"What the hell took you so long." Lane admonished as she took the drink off him.

"Long queue at the bar. They only had two staff there as well. You'd think these places would really know that they need more staff on a night like this."

"And it had nothing to do with blondie over there?"

"What do you mean?"

She guffawed.

"C'mon Chris. About thirty seconds after you got up to leave, she shot up and followed you. I watched her tail you out to the bar. And that scene just now..."

"What scene would that be?" Feigning innocence he raised his pint glass to his lips and took a sip.

"You were practically hanging off each other coming back here. So out with it..."

"Out with what?" Laughing he shrugged his shoulders and stared at her.

"Do you really want to play that game?" narrowing her eyes she looked at him.

"Well I didn't know that..."

He was interrupted by Tom Andrews speaking into the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Ladies and Gentlemen! If I could just have a few minutes of your time...."

He leant close to Lane and whispered.

"I'll tell all later."

"You're damn right you will."

He grinned at her happily and turned his attention to the stage.

II

It was Friday evening and The Electric Bar in Shoreditch was busy. It was a new bar that had been open for just a few months but had already received rave reviews from the media. Its interior was a kaleidoscope of garish colours from the décor to the patrons that frequented it. Like a throwback to London in the 1980's. People sat on leather couches that were placed around the room. The great thing about The Electric Bar was that there were waiting staff on the floor that would take your orders, so you didn't have to queue. Which was another reason for its popularity.

Chris had called ahead to reserve a table at which he now sat nervously. He had kept his phone on the table but found himself constantly picking it up to check the time. Or whether or not he had received a text message from her. It had been a week since he'd met Melissa and they had quickly agreed a date and time to meet. Since then they'd been texting each other constantly.

And now she was running late and he was nervous. He started fiddling with his phone a again. Checking for messages. There was one that Lane had sent earlier. He read it again and chuckled to himself.

"Enjoy your date with Ms Big Hooker Tits!"

Even though he had sworn Lane to secrecy, it was inevitable that his colleagues would find out about his date with Melissa. Her fiancée Carly saw to that. He got a little ribbing from his colleagues over it. Some of the younger lads had been suitably impressed that he had bagged a date with a glamour model though and it did his ego no harm to wallow in their admiration a little.

Inevitably, he had looked at Melissa's pictures online. On her Instagram page first and then on other sites and blogs. It turned out she had quite an active and passionate fanbase and from the photos she posted he could see why. She had a pretty much flawless hourglass figure with everything well-proportioned. Her ass was incredible, so round and curvy. It was all topped off by the nicest pair of breasts that he had seen in a long time. They may have been augmented but they were remarkable. His ex-girlfriend Alice had had a great figure with large breasts on a slim frame. But Melissa's figure was just spectacular. He'd noticed her piercings, belly and tongue. And the anchor shaped tattoo down near her right ankle. He found himself getting hard even thinking about the pictures he'd seen.

His phone buzzed and his heart jumped. He closed his eyes and prayed it was not her cancelling. He picked up the phone and relaxed when he saw her message.

"Be there is 5 mins hun. x."

He looked around the bar and observed the people there. A groups of young guys and girls from the City all dressed in their office clothes. He saw a few couples obviously on dates. At one table there were a group of five girls on a night out, dressed up to the nines for the night. One was making eyes in his direction. She was a slim, pretty girl with long jet black hair and great legs and he guessed she was in her mid-twenties. He caught her nudging one of her friends and lean in to talk about him.

When one of the waiters came over to him he ordered another mineral water and then turned his attention to the cocktail menu. There were a smorgasbord of cocktails available, some of which he had no idea even existed. He managed to find a couple that he figured he could stomach. He was browsing the food menu when she arrived. He saw her look around the bar and he stood up and waved to her. She smiled and walked toward him.

She was wearing a simple black dress, black jacket and black strapped heels combo. And she looked amazing. They hugged and he felt her warm breath on his neck. He had no idea what perfume she was wearing, but the scent was very attractive.

"I am sooooo sorry Chris. I've been running late all day!"

"No problem at all." He said drymouthed.

"Have you been here long? I hope I 've not kept you waiting too much.', she looked at him guiltily. 'It's just been one of those days...."

"Not that long at all. Just ordered a water and was looking through the menu. Only seats we could get here is this couch. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. It looks really comfy."

As they sat on the couch, he shifted his position so he could look at her. As she took her jacket off, she looked around the bar.

"Wow. This place is so different. I've been to a lot of cocktail bars in London but not anywhere like this. How'd you find out about it?"

He almost let out an audible groan when he saw her dress. It was slinky and low cut and afforded a fantastic view of her cleavage. She was wearing a gold necklace that glinted when the light hit it. Whatever about her pictures, in the flesh she was even more attractive and she had even more sex appeal. He managed to regain his composure

"A mate of mine from work recommended it. He brought his fiancée here when it first opened. Said the décor takes a bit of getting used to but that the cocktails are awesome."

"That's just what I wanted to hear after the day I've had." She beamed. She picked up the cocktail menu and began to browse it.

"You look fantastic by the way." He complimented her.

"Awww. Thank you hun. Just a little something I've been saving to wear for a special occasion." She looked up and smiled, touching his hand and shifting a little closer to him.

The waiter came up with his sparkling water and asked them if they wanted to order anything else. He ordered a Gin Martini and Melissa ordered a Champagne Cosmopolitan and whilst they waited they began to chat.

"So how was your shoot on Brighton beach?"

"Ah glamorous Brighton! It was good. We got down there really early to beat the crowds down. So we arrived there at like 7am. That's why I had to leave early last week. I had to get back home to Ramsgate because I had a 5.30am start."

"Wow! That is early."

"Well yeah. But if you're going to do glamour stuff on the beach there, you need to get it done quickly before the beach fills up."

"Can you actually do glamour shots on Brighton beach?' He enquired 'I wouldn't have thought you could."

She nodded and grinned.

"Yeah, you can. Part of the beach down there is naturist so you can get fully naked if you want. Not that I have mind. There are no problems going topless for shoots. There was no-one there but me and the cameraman. Although I think I may have given some of the dog-walkers on the pier an eyeful!"

They both laughed. Their cocktails arrived and having clinked glasses they drank and continued to chat.

"So how long have you been modelling, Melissa?"

"Mmmm. About eight years now. I was working in telesales for a company that sold ink for franking machines.' She saw his face and laughed "Yes! Really boring stuff and I thought, do I really want to do this for the rest of my life? Well I wasn't really good at the job anyway and they sacked me. So I submitting a few glamour shots to an agency and they set me up with a shoot for Nuts magazine. That kind of led to other shoots and videos."

"And it seems that you get to some pretty glamourous locations too."

"That's one of the great things about the job. I've gotten to go to places like Cyprus, Ibiza, Las Vegas, Australia, Dubai. You name it. It's fun to travel 'cos you can usually get a few days partying in."

"Australia? Now that's pretty cool." He said.

"Yeah." She grinned "That was about 3 years ago. I was there for a couple of weeks doing a couple of shoots. I even managed to get my then boyfriend at the time out there as well. We took a few days off and travelled around. It was great fun. We started in Sydney and ended travelling across Australia."

He sighed.

"Well. I wish my job allowed me such glamorous travel. The only place I manage to travel to is Frankfurt around once a year with work. All it is hotel to work and back to hotel and then to the airport."

"No time for any fun?" She looked at him as she took a sip of her drink.

"No. Usually just dinners with colleagues. Which I hate because all you talk about is work."

"How long have you been working in Risk Management, is it?"

He grinned and nodded;

"Yes. The amazing and exciting world of Risk Management. I've worked there since I left Uni at 22. So that is 12 years now. And that has actually depressed me now to think about it...."

"You don't like it?" She asked

"I don't hate it. I mean if you'd told me as a fifteen year old kid living in Plymouth that I would be working in an office wearing a suit and tie and with short hair, I would have told you where to go."

She giggled.

"So what did you want to do when you were fifteen?"

"Hmmm. Be the best guitarist in the world playing in the biggest rock band on the planet and having all the girls fall in love with me. Probably." He shrugged and took a sip of cocktail.

"So you play the guitar?" She brightened.

"Not as much as I used to. But I still manage to play now and then. Mainly just for fun though. I've not played in a band for a few years now."

"Maybe you can play for me one day?" She tilted her head and smiled

"Maybe I will." He winked and took a sip from his drink.

As they chatted and drank, they sat closer together. By the time they had drunk their third cocktail and had started eating their tapas, they were almost sitting on top of each other. The food they ordered was delicious and as they ate she told him a bit more about herself and her family and he told her more about his. And as they drank more, their talk became a little more personal.

"So when was the last relationship you were in?" She asked him

"About eighteen months ago. Her name was Alice and we were together for about six years in total."

"Wow. Six years. So it was pretty serious then."

"Yes. The most serious relationship I'd ever been in. We'd talked about marriage and the plan was that we would get married. Where the problems started, and what ended the relationship, was the issue of kids. I wanted them and she didn't." He explained as he sipped the last of his cocktail. "She grew up in the States and her parents split up when she was five or six. Her mother did her best to raise her on her own but really struggled. So Alice was carted around to relatives all the time. It kind of put her off the idea of having kids as she didn't want to put them through that if a relationship broke down."

"I guess her experience would have an impact. Had you talked about it before?"

"Oh we'd talked about kids before so I knew how she felt. I just figured I could change her mind you know? That I wasn't the kind of guy that was going to leave her high and dry even if things did not work out." He explained.

"I didn't mean to pry..." She trailed off and took a sip from her cocktail.

"Hey no. Melissa. It's good to talk about this. It was eighteen months ago and I have gotten over it. It was hell for the first year but for the last six months I have slowly been getting back out there and even started dating again." He put his hand on her arm as he talked to her "But we don't have to talk about this."

"No you shared with me so...My last relationship was a serious one too. With the guy I went to Australia with. Michael. We'd been together about four years. We'd not talked about marriage at that point but we were together pretty much all the time" She sighed "Once my career started to pick up, we started having more problems. I was getting recognised in clubs when we'd go out. So there'd be guys trying to pick me up. Not that I noticed most of the time! I was too busy having fun and partying. When I would turn them down, they would start calling me all sorts of vile names. Not to my face most of the time, but to him. Telling him that his girlfriend was a slut or whore or you know. He would almost always end up in fights and then take it out on me. It got to the point where we couldn't go out together clubbing or even down the pub. He just refused."

"Must have been tough for both of you." He said.

"It was. We had a huge blow-up one day where he literally said it was him or my career. What could I do? I loved both. But I wasn't going to give up my career for him. I wouldn't do that for any man." She looked at Chris straight in the eyes when she said this.

"Of course not. Why should you do that?" He replied

"Thing is Chris, literally all glamour models have these problems. Guys will try and pick fights with their boyfriends. They'll get all sorts of abuse online. They get stalkers. It's part of the job."

"Wow. Well that's not good.' He said "So how do you cope with it?"