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Tommy took one from his hand. "Cheers. Actually, no. I think she's calling my bluff. I told her I wanted to see her again, but she did a disappearing act on me, presumably because I didn't give her my contact details the week before."
"Ah." Jay said, apparently loving the unfolding saga. "She's laid down the gauntlet." He tipped his bottle in Tommy's direction.
"Well, she did manage to track me down. It's a matter of necessity to match that, and—of course—return the favor." He intended to return each and every favor that she had bestowed on him the night before, in spades.
Clayton laughed and shook his head. "So you two are like...playing tag, or kiss chase, or what?"
Tommy shrugged it off with a smile. It was so true, although their game was a whole lot more adult than that. "You could say that, but I'm not about to let her go now."
Jay sat down next to Clayton, and they looked right together. At first, when they told him they were involved, Tommy had felt awkward. He'd never hung out with anyone who was gay before. Very soon after, he'd accepted it easily, because they were so good together. Gender didn't enter into it for him anymore. They were just two people who were meant to be together. Maybe Clayton had always been destined to be with a man, but Jay was obviously the right one.
Even with the decision about "coming out" weighing heavily on him, Tommy noticed how much happier Clayton was. Jay had been good for him. Before Jay came along, Clayton had been a miserable sod, seldom happy outside of when he was performing or recording. Jay had changed all that, and even though he'd brought about a new set of worries, it was still a positive change.
"So, what's your plan?" Jay was fascinated.
"She left a couple of clues. However long it takes, I'll find her."
"Good man, Tommy boy," Clayton said. "Keep us informed of your progress."
Tommy drained his beer. "I will. And just let me know what time you want me around tomorrow. I'll be there."
As he walked back towards the Tube station, it struck him that even though Kelly was fiercely independent, she impacted people's lives in a unique way. It was her forthrightness, her strength, and determination. She'd come into contact with Clayton and Jay, and it looked as if she had changed them forever.
Me too, most likely.
He liked this strange mixture of qualities she had—the woman who would stop at nothing to get an autograph for her injured friend, the woman who spoke her mind to a big celebrity and made him rethink his life, the woman who fought tooth and nail to be independent, but still had a soft underside that she couldn't always hide. That's the sort of woman Tommy wanted to know better.
Shame she is so bloody prickly, he thought wryly.
The only way to deal with her was on her terms. Capture her. Challenge her. He could do that. If something was worth having, it was worth working for. That had been his whole life policy, whether it be following a band he loved around Europe or building a business for the family, hard work was part of the deal. If that's what it was going to take, he was ready. She was worth it.
But first of all he had to track her down.
Chapter Eight
By Tuesday afternoon Kelly was thoroughly annoyed with herself. Even though she tried to concentrate on her job, it was nagging away at her. She could no longer deny her mistake. She shouldn't have walked out on Tommy. That's what she set out to do, to show him how it felt, and her stubborn streak hadn't let her change her mind, even when she had desperately wanted to. Ever since that day she was filled with regret.
Now she had to face up to it, she'd thrown away the chance for something good to prove a point. How stupid was that? She sighed heavily and continued with her vigorous polishing of the free-weights stand.
"You'll polish it away to nothing." Helen looked across the small weights room at her, eyebrows raised questioningly, as she moved from wiping down the stretch bars on the wall to checking the machine settings. "I thought you said you'd burned it all off?"
Kelly frowned, but didn't stop polishing. Over-energetic housekeeping might be a sign of sexual frustration, but she wasn't about to admit it. "I'm just wondering if I am too stubborn for my own good. I got my revenge on Tommy, but it wasn't as sweet as I'd expected."
"You like the man, that's why. It does happen, even to women like you." Helen's smile was teasing.
"Yes, I did like him."
"And did you ever find out if he had a reason for bailing on you that first time?"
"Yes, he had a reason, but I still had to follow my plan through." She put her hands up, rolling her eyes. "Go ahead, laugh at me. I deserve it." She threw her polishing cloth aside in disgust. She did deserve it. She'd messed up.
Helen walked over, put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her. "Stop giving yourself such a hard time. Look, we're done in here. Why don't you take your break now, while it's quiet? Just flip the sign over as you go out and I'll put the cleaning gear away."
"Thanks," Kelly said, returning the hug and heading for the door, not trusting herself to say anything else in case she embarrassed herself. At the door, she flipped the "closed for maintenance, please use main gym" sign around to read "gym open."
She walked along the corridor and up the stairs to the staff room on autopilot, barely noticing anything about her surroundings. After the emotional high of Saturday night with Tommy and her comedown on Sunday, she hit rock bottom on Monday. There was an extreme sense of loss eating away at her. They'd had such fun. Stop beating yourself up and face it, it's over.
In the sanctuary of the staff room she went to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of orange juice, pouring out a glass. Dropping into one of the easy chairs she set the glass on the table next to the various magazines and newspapers that accumulated there. Ruffling her hands through her hair, she stared down at the papers with unseeing eyes, until a headline finally caught her attention. She moved her glass out of the way and stared at the newspaper in complete amazement.
