Hidden In Plain Sight

Girls just wanna have fun

Mary tucked his phone into his pocket and washed his hands in the nearest sink, taking a minute to give his boner a chance to soften before he joined the lunch.

Think of Pat, think of Pat! That's one way to kill a stiffy!

He did his absolute best to put Sadie out of his brain for the time being. He took a few deep breaths. After a minute he knew he was ready to walk back out and was not going to draw any attention to his slim fitting black formal trousers.

People were filing out of the auditorium: the last speaker had just wrapped up their presentation and everyone was keen to stretch their legs before getting something to eat.

"There you are!" Pat's cheerful smile met him. "Was wondering where you skived off to!"

"I had to reply to an email!" Mary fibbed as the two walked into the function room and joined the queue for food.

"Are you a bit anxious?"

"Nah I'm good!"

Clearly Pat didn't believe him. "You're a pro at these! It won't be any worse than your viva!"

Mary remembered the toughest presentation of his life: delivering the summary of his Ph.D thesis to the panel of seasoned academics as they tore it apart and picked on every detail. He made it though, he convinced them that his research was valid and worthwhile.

"True! This will be a piece of cake!"

When they sat down with plates of hot food, two women in their mid-thirties joined them. They were wearing blazer jackets with jeans and they looked very smart.

"Patryck! Mary! Hi!" One of them beamed. She had a bob haircut and wore bright red lipstick. "Long time no see! Mind if we join you?" She had an English accent.

Mary looked up at them. I know their faces but I've not a clue as to their names...

Pat saved his ass. "Adrianna and Chloe! So good to see you! Sit, sit!" He shook hands with them and Mary did the same. "You remember the ladies, right Mary? They visited our university two years ago when they took their gang over for an erasmus!"

"Of course!" Mary vaguely remembered showing them the studio on campus. "Lovely to meet you again!" If I actually looked at their lanyards, I'd have seen their names!

Chloe blushed a little and smiled at him. She was the younger of the two and definitely the quieter. She had long blonde, thick wavy hair and she wore fashionable cat eye style glasses. She was very pretty and cute. Adrianna burst into a full conversation with Pat about life in the university that they worked at.

"We upgraded all of our studios last year. We now have three Audient desks and a Neve!"

"Oh wow, that's wonderful!" Pat said enthusiastically. "I bet the students don't know themselves!"

"We were really impressed with your studios on campus and with the standard of the work of your Year Four students during external examinations. So we got a grant and upgraded."

Mary listened with interest as he ate carefully. He noticed Chloe was glancing at him intermittently.

"We've observed a better understanding from the students regarding signal flow since we started training them on the Audient consoles, haven't we Chloe?" Adrianna brought her into the conversation.

"Oh yes, definitely. In fact that's what I'm giving a paper on this afternoon!" She met Mary's eyes. "After yours actually!"

"Wonderful!" Pat boomed.

"Improving Learning Outcomes in the Audio Production Classroom? That's you? I look forward to hearing it!" Mary smiled and drank his water.

"Thanks!" She returned his smile and held his eyes for a brief couple of seconds. "The best of luck with your paper! Metal Musicking and Community in Stockholm... sounds fascinating!"