They didn't walk far from the office. Just a few meters down the street before settling into a quiet, almost empty restaurant.
Justin raised a hand to call the waiter. Once he arrived, they placed their orders and handed back the menus.
Brian leaned back slightly, eyes on Justin, "So… you know Angel?"
Justin raised an eyebrow, a faint smirk forming, "Of course, man. I mean, who doesn't, if you know what I mean..."
Brian frowned, "What does that mean?"
Justin stared at him for a second, like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Wait... Don't tell me, that was your first time meeting her?"
Brian hesitated. He had no idea what Justin was getting at.
"…Yeah. This morning actually. Then we ran into each other again just now." He paused, "What about her?"
Justin let out a short laugh, "Oh, you're about to see it yourself, man. She's very flirticious and god damn it, you see her body? No men on the 3rd floor can resist her. If she just opened her legs to us, we surely wouldn't complain.
Brian went still.
Justin kept going, completely unaware, "If she ever gave any of us a chance, you think we'd say no?"
Brian's jaw tightened slightly.
He already knew Angel was… attractive. That wasn't the point.
Hearing someone else talk about her like that. Like she was just something to pass around, it made something in his chest twist.
"...Oh," was all he managed.
"Yep," Justin said, nodding like he was sharing something obvious, "There was this one time and it was raining hard in the morning, and guess what?"
"What?"
"She showed up completely soaked, wore a white shirt, so we all could see her cleavage and instead of drying it, she just let it air dry and she knew for sure what she did."Justin went on, grinning.
Brian didn't respond. He just shifted in his seat, discomfort creeping in inside of him, "Or maybe the third floor's mostly women, that's why..."
Justin shrugged, "Sureeee, man. But if you know her desk? Open space with no partitions. And six out of eight teams there are guys. So you tell me..."
Brian glanced at him, "You're on the same team as her?"
Justin laughed, "Yeah, lucky me... Since she's work here, I have stockpile of imagination when the night comes"
Something about the way he said it made Brian's stomach turn.
"Okay," Brian cut him off, his tone sharper now, "I don't need to hear that."
Justin blinked, a little surprised, but didn't push further.
Brian looked away with jaw tight. He seriously considered standing up and leaving. The urge to shut Justin up permanently crossed his mind before he could stop it. But just then, the waiter arrived with their food, so he had no other option except stayed.
They ate, the conversation shifting to safer topics to work, old university memories, things that didn't make Brian's chest feel tight.
Once they finished, they headed back toward the office.
On the way, Brian spoke again, more casually this time, "Do you know where Angel lives?"
Justin shrugged, "No, not exactly. I just know it's somewhere in Brooklyn. Not too far from here, I guess."
Brian nodded slowly.
Close.
Closer than he expected.