Quoting Shakespeare - Flying Wrenches (ON HOLD)

5

Sleep only came in short periods for Maddison that night. When she woke from her latest one at 5 a.m. she decided to get ready to head back to Nottingham. She still wasn't ready to face Billy or Tom or whoever. She quickly showered and changed before having the front desk call a cab for her.

As the cab made its way to Paddington Station Maddison watched as London passed by her window. She had lived here for a few months when she first arrived in England. She had enjoyed getting lost in the crowds with her thoughts. She decided that would be a great idea today. Hyde park was only a few blocks from the station.

Tom felt like he had a lead weight in his stomach as he walked down the hall to Maddison's room. He gritted his teeth as he thought about last night. He thought that being out of the mainstream for a while would have thrown the paps off his scent. He had been planning on telling her about his masquerade during a private dinner back at the hotel. Those bloody paps had other ideas.

"Maddison," Tom called out as he knocked on the door. He wasn't surprised by a lack of response, but neither did he hear any movement in the room. He knew from the last week that she was an early riser like him. While he preferred a good run she practiced Tai-Chi and meditated to start the day. Friday morning he had joined her and she showed him some of the basics. He bit down on his lip as he waited to hear anything. He knocked twice more before pulling out his phone. He then cursed under his breath as he realized he had yet to get her number. Living across the hall and working with her hadn't made it necessary. He returned to his room and called the front desk to ring him through.

"I'm sorry Sir, but Miss Watson checked out earlier this morning," the receptionist informed him.

"Did she say where she was headed?" he asked, praying for an answer.

"I'm sorry Sir, I only know that she took a cab."

Tom bit his tongue to keep from cursing at the receptionist. He politely thanked her and hung up. He then allowed himself to spew a few words out before thinking about his next move.

Maddison's walk had turned out better than she was hoping for. During her walk she found a lovely spot to have her morning meditation. She had picked it up from the PTSD group she had visited before deciding to move overseas to England.

She frowned when her phone began buzzing in her pocket. She looked to see Charlie's number.

"Hello?"

"Matty! Billy is besides himself. Where are you?" Charlie asked with a mix of worry and sleep in his voice.

"His name isn't Billy," Maddison automatically corrected him.

"Yes, I know. His name is Tom."

"What?" Maddison looked down at her phone, not wanting to believe what she had just heard.

"I've been following that boy since he was on Wallander. He couldn't fool me, but I could tell he needed to be treated like a normal man so I played along. Besides I could see something in him that reminded me of a lost American girl."

Maddison sighed and the last of her anger towards Tom left her. She had been close to forgiving Tom already and Charlie's words were the final push she needed.

"Give him my cell number and let him know I'm in Hyde Park."

"Alright, just be nice to the boy. He didn't mean any harm and you disappearing has him twisted into knots."

"I'll make it up to him. I just needed to take a walk this morning," Maddison felt like she had just been lectured by her father. Within about 5 minutes of hanging up with Charlie an unknown number appeared on her phone. Maddison took a deep breath before answering. The voice she heard on the other end was that of a man in pain.

"Maddison?" his voice sounded wobbly. She was sure he had been crying. She described where she was at in the park. "I know the spot. I'm in a taxi on my way there. I should be there in about 2 minutes. I'm so s-"

"We'll talk about it when you get here," Maddison interrupted him in a soothing tone. She heard him let out a breath before saying goodbye and hanging up. She waited underneath a tree that provided decent coverage from passing pedestrians. So she saw Tom before he saw her. She was about to call to him when he turned and looked right at her. It was almost like he had heard her thoughts. She felt her heart constrict at the sight of his face. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses. His brow was furrowed in concern. His expression lightened when he saw her, but maintained a hint of wariness.

Maddison stepped forward and waited as Tom approached. When he was within reach she lifted her hand to remove his sunglasses. He began to speak but she silenced him with a finger on his lips.

"Before you apologize I wanted to apologize for how I behaved. I may not be a movie star or famous but I do know what it's like to be hounded by the world when you wish you could have five minutes to yourself, to be the person you once were," she said quietly as tears began to build in her eyes and Tom's. He closed the distance between them. At the same time he leaned down while lifting Maddison in his arms for a kiss. It started light and tentative but grew more sure as she returned the kiss, pulling slightly at the hair at the base of his neck. He moaned and broke off the kiss. His forehead resting against hers as they caught their breath.

"What did I do to deserve someone like you?" Tom asked breathlessly, a hint of wonder in his voice.

"I've been asking myself that same question for the last week," Maddison answered with a smile. She loved seeing his face light up with a smile in return.

"Let's go somewhere more private to discuss what happens next," he said, tugging her away from the tree, putting his sunglasses back on.

A/N: So as you may have noticed I finally came up with a title. Let me know what you think. I was going for a play on Crouching Tiger - Hidden Dragon. This is also my first chapter written solely on the mobile edition. I'm used to writing it in Word and then copy and paste, but I didn't have my computer available this weekend. I couldn't go another week without updating this story.
Thanks for reading my stories and please leave comments and vote.