Ready to Run

Part Five, Chapter 35

A week before the release of Lexi's album, Tom invited her for dinner at his apartment and wondered if she might bring an overnight bag. Knowing that Teddy was in excellent hands, and that she was ready, she accepted.

Dinner was quiet. They discussed her upcoming press junket and the very limited two-month tour that would begin not long after. It looked as though she would be nominated for a VMA. She hoped that Tom might make the trip to New York in August and attend as her guest. He would be filming a sequel to last year's mini-series, again in Cornwall, in September and October. He hoped that Lexi would join him for a few days.

After dinner Tom produced the bottle of champagne he had put aside on Valentine's Day. She recognized the distinctive bottle, with its beautiful painted flower motif, right away. It was when he handed it to her that she realized just how special it was. The vintage was the year of her birth.

The June night was comfortably cool, so they took the bottle and their glasses out to the terrace. The view over Regent's Park was softened by a light mist, the streetlamps casting a muted glow. Tom popped the cork and poured.

"A toast," he said, smiling tenderly. "To Lexi West, on the eve of greatness, and to us, on the eve of something new." They raised their glasses and drank. The slight breeze picked up, catching Lexi's hair and moving it gently around her face. Tom ran a strand through his fingers before moving them to her cheek.

"The moment I saw you in that video, peeking around a tree in your red dress, I wanted to know you. Just know you, to see if the woman on the screen was as vibrant in real life. And you are, you know. You're also sad. You hide it well, but I see it, Lexi. I know I'm a placeholder, necessary to maintain an image, but I think I've fallen in love with you."

She looked out over the park, thinking before she spoke. "You're not a placeholder, Tom. Please don't say that again; I find it insulting. I do love you. As a friend to begin with, but it's different now. I feel safe and comfortable and steady with you. Right now you're what I need. I can give you love, Tom. It comes with baggage, but it's real. I couldn't do this with anyone but you."

*****

She turned and put one hand to his cheek as she kissed him. Not one of the fleeting or chaste kisses from their past; this was something new. He slid one hand up her neck and into her hair as the other, flat against the small of her back, pulled her closer. As their mouths played against one another, their tongues meeting, tasting, Lexi felt a stirring inside that surprised her. She wanted him, badly.

Pulling back from her, he took her hand and led her inside, untying and removing her wrap dress as they walked to the bedroom. They embraced again; this time Tom's lips left hers to settle just behind her ear before trailing down the side of her neck. She shivered as he bit her gently.

"You're glorious," he whispered just behind her ear.

She moved away from him to crawl to the center of the bed, turned and laid back, reclining on her elbows to watch as he undressed.

Not as tall as Jack, but well-proportioned and extremely fit – as Lexi knew from her peek on New Year's Eve – he radiated a virile confidence belied by his polished public image. He was no eager boy.

They began slowly, every action performed with intent, each giving and receiving in equal measure. Lexi had never experienced such control, until suddenly they were bursting with energy, losing themselves.

One arm draped over his face as he caught his breath, Tom turned his head to see Lexi looking at him with an expression he couldn't decipher.

"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

"I'm not sure. I'm wonderful, really, but I'm also feeling..."

"Guilty?" His expression was tender as he said it.

"Yes... but somehow I don't think it'll last."

*****

The album's release was a complete success, and the subsequent press trip went without a hitch. Teddy, with the help of Mairead, traveled well. Jack was able to spend a few hours with Lexi and the baby when they were in Los Angeles.

Both adults were restrained, sitting side by side without touching and very purposefully not discussing Tom and CC, before parting with a bittersweet kiss. They would see each other again in two months for the VMAs in New York and would continue to talk by phone or video once or twice a week.

Lexi's reunion with Tom when she returned to London was warm and happy. They saw each other a few times a week, walking in the park with Teddy, being seen at parties, and staying the night at each other's homes. They were often in the press and they acknowledged their relationship publicly. Tom still saw the sadness in her eyes, but it grew less and less as the weeks went by.

Jack's relationship with CC was very different. They frequented trendy and exclusive clubs, took a much-publicized vacation to the south of France, and had petty arguments everywhere they went.

The band's sophomore album was progressing well and would be released one year after their debut. Jack remained the happy boy next door band member, but he was rarely seen smiling unless he was performing or directly in front of a camera.

Lexi prepared for her upcoming short tour of Europe and the United States. She would be away from the beginning of July through the first week in September, with a brief hiatus in August for the awards ceremony. Teddy and Mairead would accompany her, and Tom would meet her in New York.

Her third single and video were released as the tour began. It was a poignant ballad about steadfast love penned by Theo, titled Always Here. The video was simple footage of her recording in the studio, in black and white with accents of color here and there. It was another success.

*****

While it wasn't easy to leave Tom, it wasn't particularly difficult either; their relationship was comfortable and secure and would remain so even during this absence. The first leg of the tour took her to ten European countries in thirty days.

Teddy, at four months old and a generally happy baby, loved the sights and sounds of travel, playing in his portable crib or on a floor mat in Lexi's dressing rooms, meeting new people. He was still concealed in public, by hats or drapes across his stroller, but Mairead took him to the park nearest their hotel in every city they visited.

Lexi performed three times, once in Boston and twice in New York, before the VMA hiatus. Tom flew in to meet her two days before the ceremony and would travel with her for a week afterwards as she moved on to Washington, Atlanta, and Miami. They were spotted as they walked in Central Park with Teddy, Tom wearing the kangaroo carrier because the little boy was getting heavy for Lexi. The photo made the evening entertainment news.