Read Online Eyes Wide Open by Lucy Felthouse - Free Book Online Page A

the work colleagues—whom she was gradually starting to think of as friends—who’d invited her to join them for a few Friday night drinks, which generally started in the bar as people gathered, then moved out into the city.
    Soho was popular, with its variety of pubs and clubs, not to mention its laid-back vibe and gay-friendly establishments, which were exactly where several of Fiona’s new work buddies wanted to be, in order to find like-minded people, and potential dates. Fiona generally just went along with whatever everyone else fancied doing and had always enjoyed herself, so she figured tonight would be no different.
    That was, until she turned from the bar, holding her gin and tonic, and saw Blue Eyes and Green Eyes seated on the other side of the room, by the windows. They didn’t seem to have noticed her, so she forced herself to walk casually over to the table her workmates had commandeered and take a seat where she’d be hidden from view of the men by the windows.
    She was greeted with enthusiasm, then everyone soon fell back into the conversation they’d been having before she arrived. Fiona sipped at her drink as she listened and caught up on the chatter, which seemed to indicate that, once again, Soho was the destination of choice. Happy to go along with the majority, Fiona let her attention drift, and she found herself leaning slightly to the right to get a view over to where the two hotties sat.
    Or had sat, anyway. They’d gone, and by the looks of their empty glasses, which were just about to be cleared away by Carlos, one of the barmen on duty, they weren’t coming back. Oh well, at least I don’t have to worry about them seeing me.
    Shrugging, Fiona returned her attention to what was happening around her, only to discover that she’d obviously missed something, because everyone was downing their drinks. Figuring that the group was assembled, she hurried along with her gin, managing to catch up and place her empty glass onto the table within milliseconds of the others.
    “Okay, everyone,” said Wyatt, the flamboyant, bossy gay guy from the admin department who generally took charge on nights out and was the main reason they frequented so many gay bars. “Let’s go have some fun!”
    En masse, they headed for the elevators. There was no one else waiting—decorum and training dictated that they’d let paying guests go in ahead of them—so they piled into two cars and zoomed down to the ground floor before scurrying out into the Mayfair streets and heading east.
    Just under an hour later they were ensconced in Wyatt’s favorite club, which, despite his protestations, everyone knew was his favorite because he had a thing for the manager. It didn’t matter, though. It was a fun place to be and the drinks weren’t too expensive. Fiona, starting to wind down, followed a bunch of her workmates onto the dance floor, and began enjoying herself—swaying, jigging and bopping away to the cheesy music. Soon, the fun, the atmosphere and the alcohol made her busy week and its period of weirdness fade away into insignificance.
     
    * * * *
     
    Usually, they rolled back into the hotel—through the staff entrance, of course, so as not to risk having their drunkenness on display to the patrons—any time between two and four a.m. But due to one of the girls from accounts, Sorcha, having an argument with her boyfriend by text message, then getting falling-down drunk as a result, Fiona was back at the Totally Five Star by just after midnight. She was buzzed from what she’d drunk so far, but was still well in control, so she’d opted to make sure Sorcha got back to the hotel in one piece and safely into bed.
    She’d been aided by Olivia from housekeeping, who wasn’t much of a night owl anyway. So much so that she, too, had gone straight to her room after dropping Sorcha off, leaving Fiona to waver between going to bed or heading back to the bar for a couple more drinks and to chat with the bar staff