A Dangerous Affair Chapter 16

A Chapter by Repgreece

A restless night for all

That night Stephanie found it almost impossible to get any sleep. She couldn’t stop the events of the last forty eight hours from playing back through her head, like some kind of movie which kept getting stuck on rewind and replaying itself again and again. And all through the movie Tom played a central character. He was charming and fun, exciting and dangerous, intriguing and often unfathomable, sometimes harsh but always there, especially when she needed him the most. This had been foremost in her mind as she had driven home, got unchanged and climbed into bed. She had focused on that as a way of justifying her actions, or more accurately her lack of action, in the car park and later whilst on the sofa. My god, she had almost got shot, but he had been there to protect her, warn her, and get her to safety. She realised during her drive home that she hadn’t really thanked him for that, after all, he had put his own life at risk to get to her. All of these things considered, no wonder she was acting out of character with him; it had been one hell of an emotional day. But from now on she would act more responsibly and who knows, they may get this story into print and become good friends at the end of it.

However, despite the very reasonable conclusions she had come to, there was a niggling anxious feeling in her stomach every time she recalled those intimate moments with Tom.

She eventually fell asleep just before daylight began to seep into her bedroom, and she awoke just a few hours later with a splitting headache. Forcing herself out of bed, she trudged into the kitchen to find some painkillers in one of the drawers. She couldn’t face the day with a headache, especially if that day was going to be anything like the previous one!

About half an hour after Stephanie had arrived at the office, she heard the booming sound of Brick’s voice calling her to him. Although she was used to his unpredictable ways and bursts of temper, the sound of his voice still never failed to make her feel nervous.

“Where is that bloody maverick reporter colleague of yours Stephanie? He’s late! Again!” Brick growled at her as she entered his office.

“I’ve no idea Sir,” she replied.

He looked suspiciously at her. “What did you two finally get up to yesterday anyway?”

She was horrified to feel a slight blush creep into her cheeks as a vivid recollection of Tom’s hands slowly travelling down her body hit her. Brick narrowed his eyes.

“We went to Hugh Carlton’s house, but he wasn’t in, so we left the housekeeper a contact number. We are expecting a call from him today.”

“Hmm.” He looked as if he didn’t entirely believe her. “Well you’d better go and get Tom because I have tried his phone four times now and he isn’t answering!”

“Oh…okay,” she looked surprised.

“Well go on then,” he said sharply when she didn’t immediately move.

“Yes Sir,” she said, turning on her heal and leaving his office.

“Stephanie!” he called after her, “Don’t you need to know where he lives?”

“No, I already know that,” she shouted without thinking, biting her lip as she left the department.

Brick frowned and stared at the door through which she had just left. They seemed to have become very familiar with each other all of a sudden. What was that Casanova up to? Stephanie was one of his best reporters. He’d be damned if he was going to let Tom throw her life into chaos just because he had a roving eye!

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Stephanie rang the bell for the third time, keeping her finger on the button and listening for evidence of movement inside Tom’s flat. She must have woken up half the building by now so what the hell was wrong with Tom? She could feel a growing impatience.

"Okay! I'm coming!" A dishevelled Tom finally opened the door. Stephanie pushed past him to enter the apartment.

"I've been here for fifteen minutes now, didn't you hear the bell?" she asked. He rubbed his hands over his face and stifled a yawn, heading back for the lounge. "You look dreadful!" she observed, following him, glancing around the room and taking in the empty Vodka bottle on the coffee table and the pillow on the sofa.

"Alarm didn’t go off," he said looking dazed and confused, "what time is it anyway?"

“Half past ten. Brick is screaming blue murder.” She turned her attention back to the sofa. “Did you actually get to bed last night?”

“Not exactly. Ended up putting another film on and fell asleep in here.” He still looked half asleep.

“Brick’s going to love the sight of you!” she said, folding her arms. “You look like you could do with at least a couple of hours in bed.”

He leant backwards against the sofa, moving his eyes over her. "Good idea, want to join me?"

She smirked. "Don't think Brick would be too pleased."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Ah, so it’s just bad timing then?"

She frowned. "You know what I mean. Come on, we've got to go, and you look as if you need to sober up!"

She took him by the arm and pushed him towards the door.

He looked backwards at her. "So domineering all of a sudden.”

“Well, I would like us both to keep our jobs!” she exclaimed.

“Sure, but I’m not going anywhere without coffee first,” he insisted, changing direction and making for the kitchen. She followed, watching as he flicked the switch on the kettle. "Hey, you want some?" he asked.

"No thanks; just get a move on."

"My head isn’t working properly yet." Leaning over the counter, he rested his head on a cupboard.

"Hangover Tom?"

"Hmm." He stood up and busied himself making some coffee. "Want to grab some aspirin for me Steph? They’re in my room somewhere, door next to the lounge."

Would she take the bait?

Sighing, she left the kitchen and shouted over her shoulder, "Can you be a bit more precise? Where exactly are they?" She made her way into his room, tripping over the clothes that were strewn across the floor.

"In the drawer by the bed I think!"

She sat on the bed, opened the drawer and searched inside but saw no sign of the aspirin. Then she glanced at the table on the other side and moved over the bed to look in there. She pushed the items in the drawer aside and finally found a bottle of aspirin. Glancing at the floor, which resembled an obstacle course, she tutted and crawled back across the bed, but rushed to get off when she heard Tom approaching.

"Ha! Got you in my room..." he halted at the door when he saw her. "... and reliving a fantasy at the same time!" he said with surprise, watching her crawl across his bed.

At last she managed to reach the edge but caught a foot on the bedclothes, flying forward. She slid down the side of the bed and ended up half crouching, half standing, holding onto the bed covers for support.

"Well almost..." he said, watching her with amusement, "...I'll handle Brick, let’s work on the details."

He reached out and caught her by the arms, pulling her upright and towards him. He smiled slowly as he watched her upturned face fill with colour. There was a pause, but then she shook her head abruptly and untangled herself from him.

"He'll have your guts for garters if you don't get a move on. And you might like to think about tidying up sometime, it's like any army assault course just to get across this room," she chastised, pushing the bottle of aspirin into his hand and leaving the bedroom.

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