An evening with friends and gay bankers

When I met my friend P in a bar after work a few weeks ago, he persuaded me to take him along to next drinks evening for gay guys who work in banking in London.

"If it's full of bankers it must be full of rich guys who simply don't yet know that I'm the perfect boyfriend for them!" he drools.

The date arrives, so we meet up after work, and head to a little nearby sushi bar to get a snack beforehand.

"Actually, is it OK if a friend of mine comes along too later?" he asks as he finishes his second tuna portion.

"Maybe", I say smiling, "who is he? Would he fit in??"

"Well he's a bit of a geezer", says P grinning. "He's married with kids actually, but we met on gaydar! He usually dresses smart so he'll probably have his suit on".

"He's one of your gaydar shags isn't he", I laugh. "What does his wife say about that!"

"Oh I think she just turns a blind eye to what he gets up to. We'd did it once of course, but afterwards I decided that he's not really my type. He's good fun though. He wanted to go out with me tonight in Soho but I said I was going to the banker drinks. As soon as he heard about the event he wanted to come too!"

On the way over to the venue, P phones his mate and gives him the details of where we'll be. Soon we've arrived, and once inside, I buy a bottle of Champagne and we retreat to sidelines to survey the crowd.

"So are there any guys in here you fancy", I say to P, "given that you're boyfriend hunting tonight? There must at least one guy in here that you like the look of!"

"Oh I don't know", says P, becoming uncharacteristically shy, "it's much easier cruising onlne!"

We look around, and eventually settle ourselves at one of the tables in the middle of the room. Soon I can tell that he's got his eye on someone.

"Which one then?" I ask, egging him on.

"Well", whispers P, "This guy standing quite close to us here looks quite hot!"

Looking up, I suddenly realise that cuteCTguy is one of the guys in the group that's chatting with the guy that P thinks is hot. I catch cuteCTguy's eye and he comes over to say hello, so I introduce him to P.

"Would you like a glass of champs?" I ask cuteCTguy, "it's only Pol Roger, but it's not too bad".

"I do adore Pol Roger, but actually I'm OK at the moment thanks", he replies. "I think Pol Roger was a favourite of Winston Churchill's too! Are you a Champagne connoisseur?"

[ While writing this posting, I found a fascinating story about Pol Roger in this month's Decanter Magazine. Apparently, when the Germans occupied Epernay in September 1914, the police and municipal authorites fled, leaving only the mayor, Maurice Pol-Roger, to face the invaders. He withstood threats to shoot him and burn the town to the ground, earning him eternal gratitude from his people. When Paris was retaken by the allies in 1944, Pol Roger, now run Maurice's son Jacques, disgorged all its remaining 1914 vintage Champagne and served it as a toast to victory at the British Embassy, where Winston Churchill met Odette, Jacques' wife. According to Wine-Journal though, it was the 1928 vintage and not the 1914 which was served to Winston Churchill in Paris. Wine-Journal goes on to elaborate on the friendship between Winston Churchill and Odette Pol-Roger. ]

"I probably prefer high quality red wines", I tell him, "but decent Champagne isn't too bad either!"

"Well I reckon the wine list here is pretty reasonable", replies cuteCTguy, "in terms of choice anyway".

"Yeah. For Champagne they've even got the Cristal '99 :-). I haven't tried it yet, but I noticed recently that it's got a very high rating from Parker".

"But do you really take any notice of what Parker says?" asks cuteCTguy.

"True", I admit, "not if I can help it. Unfortunately though, he's hard to ignore when one's trying to buy good clarets at auction! Anyway, who are the guys you're with?"

Myself and P get introduced to the guys in cuteCTguy's group, including the guy that P thinks is hot. But P doesn't try to start chatting to him, even though it's a perfect opportunity. No wonder P doesn't have any boyfriends if he doesn't make any effort with guys he likes the look of!

Suddenly P's phone starts ringing. His friend is at the entrance, but since he doesn't have an invitation, someone from inside has to come and collect him. Soon we're all chatting together. As P had said, he's a bit of a wide-boy, but smartly-dressed and fun to be with.

"So does your wife know where you are?" I joke with him.

"I don't actually think she wants to know what I get up to!" he says laughing, "as long as I'm discreet".

"So as long as she doesn't get forced to admit that you like a bit of fun with other guys?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it!" he says. "But it's not always easy to keep it all secret".

"Uh-huh?"

"Well, I was in Tokyo recently, and got riotously drunk in Roppongi. One thing led to another and the next day I woke up in an appartment on the 38th floor of a tower block, with an horrendous hangover, huge love bites on my neck, deep red scratches all over my back, and no idea how I'd got there! Actually he was a nice guy, and he apologised for all the marks, but we were both rat-arsed at the time so we were both to blame really. But buying all the Clarins make-up at Narita to try and cover up all the marks on my neck was a bit of a nightmare!"

For the next couple of hours or so we carry on socialising with everyone, and drinking a few glasses of Champagne. It was another fun evening :-). But at the end of it all, P was no closer to finding the rich boyfriend he thinks he wants. Never mind, there's always next time!