Striking the Match Pt. 03

Following his break up with Lydia, Charlie experienced the best weekend of his life. He did not wear clothes once, and Noah only shrugged on a dressing gown to answer the door for takeout deliveries. They lounged together on the sofa watching tv, entwined in each other's limbs, they made out passionately, and had sex again and again with no intention of doing anything else. He rode Noah's dick for the first time and revelled in the incredible response that happened in his body. His very bones felt as though they melted into butter, and he leaned into Noah, smelling his masculine addictive scent and felt the relief that he was his, that this was his life now. He was so engrossed in his overpowering and insatiable need for Noah that it wasn't until Monday morning when he found himself reluctantly back at his desk at work that he remembered Lydia and his idea. Finding her a match.

He spent the next few days trying to get in contact with Matched and browsing the internet for others who may be looking. To much disappointment he saw support groups with hoards of people who had been waiting years for their Match. He couldn't let that be Lydia. He sent an email to their customer support address but that too proved useless.

Dear Charlie,

I understand your desires to get your friend Matched however there is no time guarantee on Matches due to the nature of the service. Regretfully, we cannot help you in this time. I wish you all the best for you and your new match.

Best wishes,

Sarah

Customer Support

By Thursday, Charlie was desperate. The hope that had buoyed him when he left Lydia's apartment was evaporating like the air from a deflating balloon. He decided the only thing he could do was to go to Match HQ itself. He didn't know exactly what he planned to do when he got there, but he had to talk to someone, to explain, and maybe just maybe they could push her up the queue or prioritise her profile or find some match that maybe they had missed.

Of course, the moment he decided this was the moment that his boss pulled him into a long meeting that lasted until 6 o'clock. By the time he got out of the meeting and got across London to Matched HQ, it was nearly 6:45 pm.

He stood outside the big glass doors of Matched HQ and felt the trepidation sliding into his stomach. It was dark inside, and clearly they had long since closed. He sighed, and felt angry tears begin to prick his eyes. He had failed. Again. He knew he could come back tomorrow, but what did he even plan on doing when they were open? Demand they match Lydia immediately? Was that even possible?

Just as he was about to leave he saw a light flick on and movement from inside the building. Someone was there. He only needed one person.

He bounded up the steps two at a time, only stopping when he was right at the glass door, his hands pressed against the glass as he peered inside at the distant figure. He knocked hard on the glass, and saw the figure pause, turning to look at him. In the dark building, it was hard to see who it was, but as he approached, Charlie saw a young man of around the same age as him, with brown hair and startlingly blue eyes. He looked oddly familiar although he couldn't immediately place why.

The key rattled in the lock and the man opened the door, looking at Charlie with a mix of curiosity and concern in his expression.

"Um.. can I help you with something?" He asked.

"Yes, I need to speak to someone about a Match."

"Oh," he said his the concern clearing slightly in his face. "If you're a customer you should email the help desk if you're having problems with the-"

"I did that already. It was useless. Please can I just explain?" Charlie begged and the young man glanced behind him at the empty office.

"Alright. What's up?"

Charlie launched into his explanation, starting with him and Lydia being together and she tricking him into the test until this week where he had chosen Noah and decided he had to find her a match for his relationship with her and his child to have any hope of really working.

The mans expression grew interested as he spoke but he didn't interrupt, he only listened as Charlie finished his story, feeling slightly out of breath.

The man smiled a little as he asked, "what did you do? When you found out you were matched with a guy?"

Charlie frowned, finding this an odd question after everything he had said, but decided to be honest.

"I ran off and sat on a park bench in the rain for about three hours and then got shitfaced," he admitted, cringing at the memory of drinking the vodka straight from the bottle. How silly it seemed in retrospect, now he knew what a life with Noah could really feel like.

The mans smile grew and he shrugged, "could have been worse. When I met Damien I fainted."

The name Damien jogged something in Charlie's mind. Newspaper articles and tv reports, a magazine spread on a wedding that Lydia had shown him only days before the Matched incident. He realised who the man before him was. Elliot Green, partner of Damien Parker... now Green had Lydia said? This guy was a celebrity and face of the Matched 2:0 revival story. And here he was pouring out his pathetic story on the steps of Matched when probably all he wanted was to go home.

"I'm so sorry," Charlie babbled, backing down the steps. "I've just realised who- I didn't mean- I'm sorry I wasted your time." He reached the street and started a fast walk in the opposite direction.

"Hey," Elliot called after him, "I think I know how I can help?"

He froze, turning back to look at him. The guy really did have crazy blue eyes, he always wondered if it was just the photos, but even from here he could see them.

"You do?" He asked and Elliot smiled.

"Yeah, come inside."

As Charlie followed Elliot inside the building he looked around, even with most of the lights off it still looked grand, with a high ceiling and marble floors. It was beautiful. Elliot led them up the stairs and Charlie followed.

"Are you sure it's ok me being here?" Charlie asked, feeling like an out of place school child.

"Don't worry about it, Damien's in a meeting upstairs. Will be at least another half an hour, and I'm just hanging around doing some odd jobs until he's done. So really you called at the perfect time."

Elliot opened the door to an office and Charlie saw on the door it read, "Elliot Green, Matching Coordinator"

"So," Elliot said sitting at his desk and gesturing for Charlie to sit opposite. "I'm going to just explain a little bit about how we make our matches. Some of the stuff I'm telling you is not public knowledge, I'm trusting you to keep this between you and me."

"Ok. But how do you know you can trust me?"

"Because I think you're a lot like me. Also because if it gets out I'll know it was you," he added but his voice was cheerful and light.

"So this is our Matched database," he said, turning his screen so that Charlie saw a black background with lots of names and coding. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Charlie, Charlie Thompson."

Elliot typed his name into a search bar and scanned down a list of names. He found a few that were not me, until eventually a familiar face popped up. A photo from only a year ago, one Lydia particularly liked. She must have chosen it when she made the profile.

"Here we go," Elliot said. "And this is your match? Noah Hannigan?"

A small line appeared across the screen to another profile, this one featuring Noah, smiling broadly. Charlie felt himself blush involuntarily just at the photo of him. He looked very good. The photo looked like it was at a party, he was wearing a bow tie.

"Yeah, that's him."

Elliot smiled slightly, registering the blush on his cheeks but he didn't comment on it, returning his attention to the screen.

"So you see this here?" He pointed to a number on the screen below the line.

"Yeah, the 93.8%?"

"Yes, that is the magic percentage that we mould our matches on. Every profile has a compatibility check and a percentage produced. Over time these have become very clear: those that match around 98% upwards are your 'love at first sight' matches. They don't even need to talk and they're head over heels. Super rare. But I've seen it. Then after that you get the 95%- 98% approx, they are the ones that fall very quickly, usually one date is all it takes. Then the 90%-95%," he gave a nod at Charlie, "they too fall quickly but usually there is some sort of obstacle that needs overcoming, in your case that was most likely confronting your sexuality. After that the 82%-90% can take a bit more time, these are the ones who we get calls from usually saying they're mismatched. But eventually with some sort of compromising or bonding activity they fall and settle things out."

"You keep saying 'fall'? What's that?" Charlie asked.

Elliot smiled, the excitement at his work was evident in his eyes. "The fall is what I named it. The important thing to note here first Charlie is that you do not have just one match like everyone thinks."

"What?" Charlie frowned.

"You can have dozens of suitable matches, and it is people like me that make the decision on who gets matched with who. Almost always it's just the highest percentage, but sometimes if it is one of many matches for one and the only match for another we choose a lower percentage for the person with many. But the key thing," Elliot continued, as Charlie was about to interrupt. "Is the fall. Every match at some point experiences something a bit like a switch. A moment when they suddenly lose interest in everybody else. That's important because not only do they lose interest in those around them, but also any other matches they could have had. Even those with a higher percentage. I call it the fall because it's that moment that most people think of as when they fall in love. You follow me?"

"I... think so," Charlie frowned. "But how is all this going to help me with Lydia?"

"Can I have her full name?" Elliot asked, and then typed it into the keyboard, scanning the list until he found her profile. "Yes as I suspected, oh... oh interesting," he muttered.

"What? What is interesting?"

He pointed at the screen, "see she has no matches achieving the 82% mark but this one here is 81.99%."

"You're joking. Surely we can just match them up if it's that close?"

Elliot shook his head, "the company have a clear policy that no matches lower than 82% can be made."

"But- come on! It's 0.01%!" Charlie cried in frustration.

"You haven't heard my idea yet," Elliot hissed, "and please stop being so loud!"

"Sorry," Charlie whispered.

"It's fine. I get it. And I'm sorry but I can't make this match. But you can."

"What?"

"Get them together! As much as you can until the fall happens. I reckon it still will it just needs time, and perseverance. There's no reason why once the fall happens that they won't shoot right up, people do, it's amazing how people adapt."

The way he said it made Charlie think that Elliot seemed to know this personally. And thinking on his own love life, he believed that too.

"Ok, why not right? It's something."

Elliot seemed pleased and grabbed a pen and paper scribbling down the guys details from the database.

Just as he handed the note to Charlie there was a knock on the door. Charlie turned to see a tall man with dark features in a pale face appear in the doorway. Damien. For a moment he looked slightly intimidating, but then his eyes softened as he saw Elliot, his whole face seemed to relax a little. It was clear that they were a matched couple.

"All alright?" he said, his voice was low and even.

"Yeah, just helping out Charlie here with a problem but we're all good now. Hey Charlie," Elliot said, forcing him to tear his eyes away from the man in the doorway. He scribbled some numbers on a piece of paper. "Text me, let me know how it goes."

Then Elliot stood grabbing his bag and walked to Damien who raised an eyebrow at him, but Elliot just ignored it, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the office door. Charlie followed, feeling a little starstruck. When they were finally outside Elliot locked the door and turned to Charlie.

"Good luck. I look forward to hearing alll about it," he smiled, and he walked away with Damien beside him. Charlie watched as he slipped his hand into Damien's and as they reached their car the affectionate kiss before Damien opened Elliot's door for him.

It made him miss Noah. He reached out his phone and texted, "where r u?x"

"Still at office. Meet me? X" the response came back immediately.

"Coming x"

Charlie heard the door buzz as Noah let him into the Hannigan Law building. He looked around at the second office building he had been in this evening. Unlike Matched, Hannigan Law was in an old Victorian building, with rich carpets and chandeliers. There were paintings on the walls and it had the extravagant air of old money, it smelled comforting, sort of like an old library.

He walked up the stairs, his hand trailing up the dark wooden bannister and found Noah's office door marked by a smart bronze name tag. Before he could reach it, Noah pulled it open and he felt the familiar exhilarated rush that he always felt when he saw him. He was dressed in a shirt and trousers that fitted his body perfectly. His eyes glittered behind a pair of tortoise shell rimmed glasses.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Charlie grinned as he walked in through the open door of the office.

"Oh," Noah reached for the glasses, taking them off and rubbing his eyes tiredly, the door swinging closed behind them. "Reading glasses, I don't wear them as much as I should."

"You should wear them more, they're sexy," Charlie teased, pushing him into the closed door, taking the glasses and putting them back on.

Noah chuckled, "are they?"

"Yeah like smart sexy vibe."

Noah kissed him softly and Charlie could feel the laughter on his lips, then he put his head back against the door sighing.

"It's been a horrendous day," he said, and then wrapped his arms around Charlie tighter, pulling him into his chest and burying his face into his hair. "But this is making me feel a lot better."

Charlie said nothing, enjoying the feeling of Noah. He could hear his heart beating steadily in his chest against his ear, his breath in his hair. It was so soothing.

"Why so bad?" Charlie asked and Noah made a grumbling noise into his hair.

"I don't want to talk about work right now. It's all fine it's just, complex clients and too much paperwork. How was your day?"

"Well actually, pretty awesome."

Noah pulled away so he could look him in the eyes, his face amused and curious.

"Tell me more," he said.

"Well I met Elliot and Damien Green."

"What? As in the Matched super couple?! Are you kidding? How?"

He told Noah the story as Noah poured them drinks, settling on the leather sofa together. When he finally finished Noah whistled.

"Wow, and you've just casually got his number?"

"Yep," Charlie said gleefully.

"Jeez... So tell me about Lydia's off the books match!" Noah asked and Charlie dug in his pocket for the note.

"His name is Ricky Webster, and he says he's a painter decorator from Sutton."

"Oh well we gotta book him then. Book him to do some work and make sure Lydia is in the building. First meeting sorted."

So it was, that a few days later Ricky Webster was walking up the path to Alice's front door. Charlie nudged Noah as they watched from an upstairs window.

"Look, that'll be him!"

"Should I be concerned that you're so excited by the sight of other men?" Noah teased, as he too stretched his neck to get a better look at the man walking up the path. From the upper window, they could see he was a stocky build, slightly shorter than Charlie, with dark black hair, facial hair and olive skin.

"Well he looks nothing like you, is that a good thing or a bad thing do you reckon?" Noah asked and Charlie shushed him as if Ricky would hear them even though he was well out of earshot and on the other side of the glass. They went down the stairs and watched as Alice opened the door to Ricky.

"Hey," the low voice said. Ricky was dressed casually in work clothes with a tool belt around his waist and a backpack slung over one shoulder. "Ricky. Here to look at your kitchen?"

"Yes, hi, come in! Um these are a couple of friends of mine, Noah and Charlie."

"Hi," Charlie blurted out and Ricky gave him a short nod. He felt excited as he looked at the man who he was going to set up with the ex and the mother of his child. As this thought came his excitement dropped a little.

"You okay there buddy?" Ricky asked his thick dark eyebrows raised at Charlie's fixed smile and staring. Noah nudged him hard in the ribs.

"What? Oh, um I just thought you looked like someone I know. Do you have any siblings?" He asked innocently.

"Just a sister so I doubt it's that."

"Ah a sister, nice... any kids?"

"Okay," Noah interrupted loudly "we're just leaving," Noah didn't wait for Ricky's response, pushing Charlie hard towards the door.

Alice opened the door for them and as they stepped outside whispered quickly, "Lydia will be here in fifteen minutes. I will get them chatting!"

She slammed the door and Charlie looked at Noah, "what did you think?"

"Hard to know... seems decent, not bad looking. Guess we will see how Alice's kitchen turns out."

"I wish I could be there when Lydia meets him," he sighed.

"Oh sure because nothing gets you in the romantic mood like your ex and his new boyfriend."

"Good point."

Much to Charlie's disappointment, there was no glorious romantic meeting between Ricky and Lydia. Despite Alice shoving her in the kitchen to force small talk, as she explained to Charlie on the phone, neither showed much interest in the other.

"I think she's just a bit sad and he was working," Alice mused. "So I was thinking, maybe I throw a birthday party and invite him? It's my birthday in a month!"

"Yes yes yes," Charlie grinned. "Brilliant idea!"

He was still smiling in renewed excitement as they got into the car and drove back to Noah's, having hung around the local shops for most of the day in anxious curiosity.

"So this party, will I be invited?" Noah asked curiously and Charlie scoffed.

"Yeah obviously you will!"

"Even with Lydia as the star guest?"

Charlie paused, "It'll have been a month and a bit by then, I guess we just have to see what happens?"

Noah nodded, thinking quietly for a moment. He pulled to a stop at a traffic light and turned to look at Charlie, his eyes narrowed with the curious amusement that made his eyes shimmer. Charlie loved that look, it made his skin shiver delightfully.

"So it will also be our first large gathering as a couple with your friends? I assume other friends of yours will be there?"

Charlie considered this, his closest friend was Ben. He was unlikely to attend Alice's party although he thought she probably would invite him still. But there were others there, old university flat mates and course mates who they had shared when they had all attended together a few years back. The sort of people who did not know about Noah yet, or maybe even that he had left Lydia.

"Not really friends so much now, but yeah I guess so," he said, his stomach tightening at the judgement he would likely receive.

"It might be easier if I stay home, you can go and not-"

"No."

Charlie was surprised by the assertive tone of his voice as he interrupted Noah. But one thing was for sure, the only thing worse than walking in to the party hand in hand with Noah, his male match, was walking into the party alone. Besides, he didn't want to start their relationship off with secrets.

Noah smiled slightly and nodded, "ok. I'll come then. It's settled."

They pulled up at the house and headed inside.