Chapter Nine
Tamara sat waiting for her clients to walk through the door. The previous two days, her classes had been fully booked, so she expected the same that day. She got the room ready and then sat and waited. There was always someone that arrived early, so she was surprised when five minutes before the class nobody had arrived. At seven, when the class was meant to begin, there was still nobody. By five past, she started to get worried, and by ten past, she was beside herself. How did she go from a full class the day before to having nobody in her class that day? Was she losing her mind? She was about to start phoning some of her clients, when she heard someone open the door. Relief washed over her. She waited to see who was going to come through the door, expecting a few people to rush in, apologizing about being late. The last thing she expected was to see Thomas Winter come striding through. He was holding a yoga mat and a towel, and he was grinning at her in his charming way.
"Thomas? Am I dreaming?" she said and blinked a few times.
He laughed. "Do you normally dream about me?"
"Uh? no. I mean? I just -"
He laughed again. "Well? I certainly dream about you."
"Thomas, what are you doing here? And where are my clients? And why on earth are you carrying a yoga mat?"
"Well, let me go through each of those questions. I'm here, because I wanted to see you. Your clients will be here tomorrow. I phoned them all to tell them that you had the day off. Don't ask me how I got their numbers - I'm a resourceful guy when I want to be. And I'm holding a yoga mat, because I now own one. I'm not actually here to do yoga. I just thought it seemed appropriate to walk into a yoga class with one."
Tamara stood back and regarded him with suspicion. "Uh? I'm confused. You phoned my clients?"
"I certainly did. I thought it would be nice for us to have breakfast together."
"Breakfast?"
"Oh yes. I spoke to your friend, Wendy."
"Wendy? You spoke to Wendy?"
"I did. She's a lovely girl. She told me the two of you enjoyed a few glasses of wine together recently. She said she had me to thank for that. I'm not sure what she meant, but it was nice, regardless. Anyway? I know she works at that caf? you always go to. So, I've organized for them to bring us breakfast," Thomas said. Then, before Tamara had the chance to say anything else, the doorbell rang. "Ah, that must be breakfast."
Tamara watched as Thomas walked over to the front door. He walked in carrying a tray of food, with Wendy behind him carrying coffees. "Wendy? what's going on?"
Wendy just grinned. She looked completely over the moon. Tamara could only imagine how giddy she must have been when Thomas had gotten in touch with her. The fact that she had said nothing about it to Tamara was very impressive. She handed Thomas the coffees and then giggled all the way out of the room and out the door. Suddenly, it was just the two of them. Thomas had placed the food and the coffee on the floor and invited her to sit down with him. He'd put out his yoga mat in front of him, where the food and coffees now sat.
Tamara giggled. "You do know that yoga mats are not meant to be placemats for food and coffee?"
"What? You mean I actually have to do yoga on this thing?" he teased. "That is not the reason I bought it."
"Seriously, Thomas, what is going on?" Tamara still could not believe she was sitting with Thomas Winter in her studio. It still felt like a bit of a dream.
"What? You don't like this? I made sure to get all the food you like, except I also got a little chocolate brownie for afterwards. It's only little, but I thought it would be a nice addition to the otherwise very healthy breakfast."
Tamara looked at the food. Everything was perfect. "It's amazing, Thomas. I can't believe you did all this. I just? I don't know why you are doing it. I mean, I'll be honest. I didn't think I would see you again. I honestly thought the next time that I see you would be when I watched you on the big screen."
"I didn't think I would see you either. But, I haven't stopped thinking about you. I cannot get you out of my mind. I've tried, but you just keep popping up. I even saw an old fling, and all I could think about was how much I wish I was talking to you. You're the most amazing woman I've ever met, Tamara. And everyone keeps telling me how different I am. They say I look all radiant and stuff. And I know that's because of you."
Tamara giggled. "People keep telling me how different I am too. I didn't realize I was so uptight before."
"And I didn't realize what a big ball of mess I was before. I think I'm falling for you, Tamara. I've never felt this way about anyone before."
Tamara gulped. "I feel the same way about you. I didn't really want to admit it to myself, but I've also never felt this way before. But? could it work? I mean, we're both so different. You're this big party animal, and I'm a yoga teacher who likes to keep healthy. You couldn't find two more different people if you tried," Tamara said as honestly as she could. She'd wanted to see Thomas again so badly, but she could never imagine how someone like him would want to be with someone like her. The fact that he was now sitting in front of her was proving her all wrong.
"And yet, somehow, I feel better when I'm around you. Maybe it's those very differences that work for us. Maybe we need each other."
"Maybe you're right."
"And anyway, I figured that I was going to go out of my mind if I didn't at least kiss you once. I held your hand all night not so long ago, and the next day, the only thing I could think about was the fact that I hadn't gone in for the kiss. I hadn't wanted to ruin the moment, in case you got upset with me, but I woke up wishing I had at least tried."
"Kiss me?" Tamara said, but before she had time to say anything else, Thomas leaned in to kiss her. Tamara felt her entire body cave into his. She'd never felt something like that before.
"Wow," Thomas said, "I'm glad I came."
"I'm glad you came too. I have to say - never in my whole life did I ever think that I would be sitting in my studio, kissing a movie star, while a delicious breakfast and a cup of coffee sat on a yoga mat."
"You see - your life will never be dull with me around. Are you prepared to have a little more chaos in your life?"
"I am. And are you prepared to have a little more serenity in yours?"
"I am. You see - we're the perfect match."
"Or perfectly mismatched??."
The Hacker's Love
(A Clean and Inspirational Romance Novella)
Veda Whitfield
Copyright 2017 - Veda Whitfield
The Retreat (A Clean and Sweet Romance Novella) Page 9