Tommy Oliver, Doctor of Paleontology and science teacher at Reefside High School, was the guy every man wanted to be and every woman wanted to be with. He was silent and mysterious with a physique guys would kill for and girls would kill to touch. To an outsider, he had the perfect life but very few people really knew what went on inside the man's head.
Four people. That's how many people Tommy had really let into his life and given the chance to know the real Tommy Oliver. One was his best friend from high school, a man named Jason Scott who was currently a detective for Angel Grove Police Department.
Haley Ziktor, a college friend and his "assistant" in certain activities was another. They had known each other for years and had tried dating but they were simply destined to be lifelong friends and nothing more.
An older man named Anton Mercer was the third. Anton had helped Tommy through college and given him a job upon graduation. Tommy trusted Anton with his life, even if things had been a little rocky between them in the past.
As he strolled up and down the aisles of a Los Angeles Safeway, he managed to block out the memory of the fourth person. He was in town for a conference with Anton and was just picking up a few necessities to take back to his hotel room for the next few nights.
Grabbing random items off the shelves and tossing them into the basket, he quickly began to fill the shopping cart with more things then he had planned on buying. As he entered the produce department, he passed by a couple teenaged girls flipping through a magazine and giggling with each other.
"How sweet is that?" one of the girls squealed "You never forget your first love? That's just so damn cute. He must have been a lucky guy to get a girl like this."
You never forget your first love.
Tommy knew and understood that better than anyone on the planet. Kimberly Hart had been everything to him. A perfect dream that lasted for over three years and then turned into a horrible nightmare when she sent him the letter and broke up with him. Not only that, but she was the fourth person.
Katherine Hillard had tried to replace Kimberly and she had succeeded in one way but the pretty Australian knew she'd never be able to take the place of the brunette gymnast in the way she wanted to. After losing the Turbo Powers Tommy and Katherine called it off, both agreeing that their relationship just wasn't going in the right direction. Katherine wanted more of a commitment and Tommy just couldn't give her what she wanted.
"You're an amazing girl and you'll make some man very happy one day," Tommy had said to her as tears filled her eyes "I just can't be that guy. I want to be that guy for you Kat but I'm just not ready yet. I'm sorry."
Unlike his first breakup, though, this one was a mutual decision and the pair had remained good friends, exchanging emails regularly and the occasional phone call as well. Katherine had actually ran into Billy a couple years later in New York where she was attending dance school. Billy had returned from Aquitar a few months prior to the meeting and was working for a genetic research company in Manhattan. The pair hit it off quite well and had begun dating shortly after which culminated in a marriage a couple years later.
Tommy was glad that Katherine had finally found someone who could make her happy in the ways he couldn't. He loved Katherine but it was more of a sisterly love, the same love he shared with Trini, Aisha and Tanya.
As Tommy continued to make his way through the grocery store and towards the checkout line, something on the magazine rack caught his eye so he walked over to investigate. He picked up the magazine in question and almost lost it in the middle of the grocery store when he read the headline under the word "TIME."
America's sweetheart reveals all - A TIME exclusive with Olympic gymnast Kimberly Hart
He wanted to stand in the grocery store and read it right there but resolved to add it to his cart and read it when he got back to his hotel room. Twenty minutes later he was back on the road, heading towards the Marriott with only one thing in mind.
After unpacking his purchases, he turned the television on quietly and flopped down on the couch with the magazine in hand. The cover was an action shot of Kimberly after her dismount from the beam at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where she had won gold in the vault, uneven bars, all around and balance beam while taking silver in the floor exercise.
Quickly, he flipped to the table of contents and found the page number for the interview with Kim. A smile crept across his face as he saw more pictures of his first love and read the introduction to the interview/article.
Kimberly Hart, better known as America's Sweetheart after her performance in the 2000 Olympic Games, has been a mainstay on television for the last eight years since her performance at the 1998 Pan Global Games. But what do we really know about the gymnastics superstar? Ms. Hart has never been one to dive into personal details about her life but she has agreed to this exclusive, one-time interview with TIME Magazine. We here at TIME are proud to bring you the insight America has always wanted in to the life of one of its' most famous athletes and one o People Magazine's Most Beautiful People for the past three years in a row.
Tommy skimmed down a little bit further until the actual interview started. To say he was unprepared for what he was about to read was a definite understatement and would change how the 27 year-old teacher felt about, literally, everything.
TIME: So, Ms. Hart, first off let me just take a moment and thank you for your willingness to do this interview. It's a great honor to be the one to do this.
Kimberly Hart: No problem. I'm glad to do it, so let the grilling begin (laughs).
T: Okay then, we'll just dive right into it, I guess. What have you been up to recently? Still training future Olympic hopefuls?
K: Absolutely. Gymnastics is my passion and training lets me stay involved in the sport I love. Being able to train young girls to follow in my footsteps is an amazing feeling and gives me a huge sense of satisfaction. Jessica (Krauss, Hart's teammate on the 2000 Olympic team) and I opened a gymnastics school called Soaring Crane in Los Angeles a few years back and it's going absolutely fantastic right now. Attendance is up and the girls really like training with us two old fogies.
T: Old fogies?(laughs) I'm sure they don't see you as old. You're only what, 28?
K: 27 thank you very much (laughs).
T: My sincerest apologies to you, Ms. Hart. So tell us about how you got into gymnastics. I think we all want to know how you became the best in the world.
K: I don't know about the best in the world. (laughs then pauses briefly) Unfortunately, I grew up in a very dysfunctional household. I had two very loving parents but they were always at odds with each other. My mom signed me up for gymnastics when I was five as a way to keep me out of the war zone that our house had become. Obviously, I fell in love with the sport and that's why I'm here with you (laughs slightly).
T: Speaking of love, is there anyone special in your life? Every time we see you in public it seems like you're either alone or with a former teammate.
K: (takes a deep breath) There's no one special right now. I've had my eye on the same guy since I was sixteen. Can you believe that I just don't have the guts to tell him?.
T: Kimberly Hart who medaled five times in one summer doesn't have the guts to tell the man she's after? You'll have to pardon me but that definitely is a shock. Would you like to tell us about him?
K: Not really but that's what this interview is for, I guess. Like I said, I met him when I was sixteen. We actually dated for a few years, it was getting pretty serious and then I moved to Florida to train for the Pan Global Games. The distance was too much and I couldn't take it so I broke it off with him. For as much as I cared about and loved him, I couldn't stand being away from him and it was just easier to end it and try to move on. I've never really moved on .(long pause) I don't think you ever forget your first love (starts to cry).
Tommy's heart skipped at least a few beats when he read those lines. As much as he hated Kim for breaking up with him he had never managed to shake the feelings that he knew he still harbored for her. She had been the best thing to ever happen to him and the breakup had torn him up inside but he knew that he still loved her and, unless Kim had been playing him for three years, she apparently still felt the same way about him.
The rest of the interview was pretty basic stuff, more talk about gymnastics and her social life with no other mention of the love she had left behind. He skimmed back over the interview and paused when he read her answer to the first question. Kim had a gymnastics school in Los Angeles. He was in Los Angeles.
"Get a grip, Oliver," he mumbled to himself and tossed the magazine on the coffee table "What would you even say to her after all these years? 'Hey Kim, I know you broke my heart and that we haven't talked in ten years but I still love you and I haven't gotten over you?' Yeah, right. Real smart. Like locking your car door when a giant dinosaur is chasing you, smart."
Conceding defeat, Tommy opted for a quick shower before turning in for the night. He had to leave with Anton for a different hotel across town at nine the next morning for another conference and, after the drive to L.A. and the conference they had already attended earlier, he needed the rest.
The interview with Kim stayed on his mind the whole night as he tossed back and forth in the bed, unable to get the sleep he so desperately desired. Sleep finally claimed him at three in the morning but not before he made a promise to himself to do something he was almost positve that he would end up regretting.
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Tommy groaned angrily as the phone rang at six for his wakeup call. After starting a pot of coffee, he disappeared for another shower and came back out thirty minutes later clean shaven and wearing black slacks, a black dress shirt and a white necktie.
He poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed a small pair of scissors from his travel bag before retreating to the couch and turning on the television. The morning news played in the background as Tommy cut away at the magazine cover. When he had finished what he was doing, it was only seven and he didn't have to be at the conference until nine.
"It's now or never, Tommy," he grumbled as he dialed Anton's cell and waited for him to pick up but all he got was the answering machine "Hey Anton it's me. I'm gonna run out and grab some breakfast. I should be back by around eight-thirty to pick you up. I have my cell if you need me."
With the cutout from the magazine in his hands, Tommy scribbled a quick note on the back of it, verified the address in the phone book and quickly left the hotel room. It was a twenty-five minute drive to his destination and he made it in fifteen in the Mercedes-Benz that Anton had rented for the trip.
Soaring Crane Gymnastics Academy the sign read as Tommy pulled up in front of the building that was dead of all activity. Nervously, Tommy got out of the car and walked towards the entrance to the school with the cutout and a small roll of Scotch tape in hand. As he taped his work to the front door, he prayed that Kimberly would be the first one to arrive that morning.
When his work was done, he got back in the car and exited the parking lot before heading back to the hotel room. He was so caught up in what he had just done that he didn't see the black BMW pass by him and turn into the same parking lot he had just been in.
Since he had told Anton he was stopping for breakfast, he figured it would probably be a good idea to return with something so he stopped and grabbed a few bagels on the way back. Forty minutes later, he and Anton were in the Mercedes again, heading for the other side of town. As they drove back by the familiar area, Tommy didn't even bother to take a second look at the school he knew was on his immediate right.
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Forty Minutes Earlier…
That's weird Kimberly Hart thought to herself. A silver Mercedes coupe had exited the parking lot of her school just as she had pulled into the parking lot. She shook it off as someone lost in the big city, using her parking lot as a place to turn around and made her way towards the entrance to the school.
"What the hell?" she muttered as she approached the door and found her picture from the cover of TIME taped to the door "Damn stalkers."
She pulled the picture from the glass door and almost crumpled it up when she saw the writing on the back of it. Her heart stopped momentarily as she read the message that was written in a handwriting she instantly recognized.
I never forgot either. it said in sloppy red cursive 555-9276. Call me, Kim. I miss you.
Tears filled Kim's eyes as she tucked the picture in her duffel bag and made her way to her office at the back of the building. She sat down in her leather chair and stared at the pictures on her desk. Every picture had anywhere from five to nine people in them at a time but there was one consistent with each and every picture.
She was in all of them as was a sandy haired teenager who she knew had ended up marrying the woman her only real love had replaced her with. Now she was full on crying as she unlocked one of the drawers in her desk and pulled out what looked like a huge binder which actually turned out to be a scrapbook. And a very personal scrapbook at that.
Where she had group pictures all over her large desk, the scrapbook never featured any less or any more than two people; a petite brunette girl and a tall, olive skinned man who either had his hair pulled back in a tight ponytail or flowing freely against his neck and back.
"Why did I leave you?" she asked herself silently as she found herself reaching towards her duffel bag.
After retrieving the picture and re-reading the message on the back, she decided to call him. He knew how she felt about him and he obviously still had some feelings for her as well. She picked up the phone off her desk , dialed the number and listened to it ringing until it clicked over to voicemail.
Hi, you've reached Dr. Tommy Oliver. I'm currently unable to get to my phone right now but if you leave your name, number and a brief message I'll, uh, try and remember to get back to you. Bye.
Kim chuckled slightly as she listened to the pre-recorded message and Tommy's admittance to his memory problems. His inability to remember things had delayed many a date between the pair in the past.
"Hey, uh, it's Kim," she said when she heard the beep "I got your message. Or at least I think I got your message. If you didn't leave the note on the door of my school, then I'm sorry for calling you but if it was you, please call me back. The number at the school is 555-0787 and my cell is 555-1439. Maybe we can get together for coffee or something if you're in town. Bye, Handsome."
She cursed herself for saying 'handsome' and hung up the phone with an embarrassed expression on her face. Luckily, the first class of the day was starting soon and the girls had already begun to show up which gave Kim something to take her mind off of what had just happened.
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Same day, late afternoon
"Well, that was exciting," Tommy grumbled sarcastically and nonchalantly as he and Anton exited the hotel conference room "So what's on the agenda for the rest of the day?"
The scientist grumbled something about needing a stiff drink after the boring conference and Tommy let out a slight chuckle as they made their way towards their rental car. As they started to drive away, Tommy reached into his pocket and turned his cell phone on before returning it to his pocket. A few seconds later, he felt it vibrate against his leg and he retrieved it to find a new voicemail and a missed call from a number he didn't recognize.
Tommy quickly had to look the other direction as he listened to the message and tried to hide his expression from his friend. Unfortunately for Tommy, though, Anton had known him for years and his tenure as Mesogog had given him even more insight into the personal life of the young teacher.
"What's bothering you, Tommy?" Anton asked as Tommy kept his focus out his window.
"It's nothing. Just an old friend who knows I'm in town and wants to get together for coffee," Tommy answered casually.
"An old friend or an old girl friend?" Anton asked intuitively as Tommy looked at him in surprise.
"It's Kim," Tommy relented as Anton gave him an understanding look.
The pair had been friends long before Tommy's time as the Black Ranger and Anton's stint as Mesogog and the two had actually shared a lot over the past few years. Anton talked mostly about raising Trent and how hard it was on the boy to not be with his real family and Tommy mostly talked about Kim and how much he cared about and missed her even after all those years apart.
"Are you going to see her?" Anton asked encouragingly and Tommy shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know. I'm the one who initiated the contact so I guess I should," Tommy answered quietly.
"You didn't initiate anything Tommy. She did when she did that interview with TIME," Anton replied as Tommy stared at him in surprise "What? Just because I'm a scientist doesn't mean I don't like to know what's going on in the real world too."
"It's just been so long," Tommy admitted "We haven't seen each other in years and we rarely even talk to each other."
"Tommy, if I can give you one piece of advice it's this," Anton began "Some people spend their whole lives searching for their "soul mate" and a good portion of them don't succeed. You know how you feel about Kim. I know how you feel about Kim. Maybe it's time Kim knows how you feel about Kim. You already let her get away once. Do you really want to spend the next ten years like you've spent the last ten? Always wondering what could have been?"
"Screw it, I'll call her back," Tommy conceded which surprised both of them a little bit and he dialed the number for her school. It rang a few times and a young girl answered.
"Soaring Crane Gymnastics Academy," she said with a hint of over-perkiness in her voice.
"Yeah, hi. My name's Tommy Oliver," he told the girl "I'm an old friend of Kim Hart. Is she around by any chance?"
"She's in the middle of a class right now. Can I take a message?" the girl asked as Tommy rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. Just tell her Tommy Oliver called and that he wants to talk to her. Tell her it's important too, please," Tommy answered and then hung up the phone.
Tommy returned the phone to his pocket, content to play the Waiting Game or Phone Tag or whatever it was they were getting into when he felt it vibrate against his leg again. He pulled it out and saw that he was getting a call from a blocked number and he answered it hesitantly.
"Hello?" Tommy asked and then waited.
"Seven p.m.," a female voice answered that he didn't recognize "There's a coffee shop three blocks from the school on J Street. Don't be late."
Tommy's eyes widened in surprise as the line clicked and he put his phone away. He looked over at Anton who was wearing a smile as the pair pulled up to the hotel.
"What was that about?" Anton asked as they got out of the car.
"Well, if it's what I think it is, I think I have a date," Tommy answered, still in shock over the last phone call "You wanna go grab some lunch in the hotel restaurant?"
"As long as they have a bar," Anton answered with a smile as the pair made their way into the hotel restaurant for lunch.
As they sat down at their table and placed their orders, Tommy couldn't help but feel nervous about the coming evening. What if it wasn't Kim who he was meeting? What if someone had set him up?
"I guess we'll just have to see," Tommy muttered and Anton gave him a quizzical look which Tommy quickly waved off as the waitress came over with their plates "Never mind. Let's just eat."
Tommy kept his head down the whole time, only talking if Anton asked him something. He was worried, maybe even a little scared but if he had known that, a few miles across town, a short brunette woman had been nervously pacing back and forth in her office for close to an hour, he probably would have felt a lot better.
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"You did what?!" Kim yelled angrily at her receptionist Samantha and her partner Jessica "What the hell were you thinking?!"
"You've been moping around ever since that interview with TIME ran," Jessica answered with a smile "I don't know why you're making such a big deal about this. He returned your call which means he obviously wants to at least see you. I thought that's what you wanted."
"NO! I mean…it is, but still," Kim fumed "I wanted to do it on my terms, not yours. You don't even know Tommy."
"Tough shit, Hart. Deal with it," Jessica grinned "The way I see it, you have two choices. You can either go see him and hope for the best or you can cancel and probably never see or talk to him again. It's up to you."
Kim rolled her eyes and stormed out of the foyer as she marched into her office and locked the door behind her. As she looked around the room at her trophies, medals, plaques and other various awards she came to the conclusion that they didn't mean anything. Part of the reason she had gone to Florida and devoted so much time to gymnastics was to make Tommy proud of her and all she had done was alienate herself from the man she loved.
A single tear slid down her cheek and landed on one of the photos in the open scrap book. Slowly, she closed the book, returned it to the desk and locked the drawer before looking at the clock. It was already four o'clock and the last class didn't finish until five-thirty which only gave her an hour and a half to shower, change and get to the coffee shop…if she even decided to go.
So many thoughts clouded Kim's mind as she tried to decide what she was going to do. She knew what she wanted to do but she didn't know if it was the smart decision. They hadn't seen each other in years and it tore her up inside to know it was all her fault.
Even though she had broken up with him, he still tried to keep in contact with her but she always found an excuse not to return his calls. They exchanged emails every once in a while but it was nothing special. Tommy sent emails to all his former teammates but he rarely called any of them except Adam and Jason. Yet, he had called her numerous times and she had ignored him, justifying her actions by saying talking to him would only hurt them both more.
But what would happen if she went and met him? How could she tell him to his face that there had never been another guy and that the letter had been her way, her selfish way, of making herself feel better even if it was only temporary relief. She felt liberated for the first few weeks after breaking up with Tommy but after that it was nothing but emptiness.
Outside of practicing and competing, she had nothing without Tommy. His letters and phone calls had kept her going but when she broke up with him, she thought that she had lost her only motivation to keep going. It wasn't until having an Olympic Gold Medal placed around her neck that she realized she had still been doing it for Tommy, to make him proud even if he wasn't around to see it which was why all her medals and awards meant nothing to her. Without Tommy to be proud of her, her years of training had been completely worthless.
"So, are you going?" Jessica asked over the intercom on Kim's phone.
"I don't know, Jess," Kim answered "I'm scared. What if he hates me and yells at me?"
"Kim, he won't do that and you know it. He said he misses you didn't he?" Jessica asked in reply "That should be enough to tell you that he won't do those things. If you go and things don't work out, at least you tried but if you don't go, you're gonna spend the rest of your life hating yourself for not knowing what could have been."
"I know. You're right," Kim conceded "Can you do me a favor and cover the last class without me? If I'm going to do this I don't want to go in there smelling like sweat and looking like hell."
"Sure," Jessica replied "Go on and get out of here. I'll lock up when we're done."
"Thanks, Jess. I owe you one," Kim muttered and then pushed the red button to end the conversation before lowering her voice "Don't ask me to be friends. Please, love me or hate me but don't ask me to be friends."
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Tommy was nervous. So nervous, in fact, that he had actually arrived at the coffee shop nearly fifteen minutes early. The young woman behind the counter had tried to flirt with him and he had tried to give off the impression that he wasn't interested but she was persistent. It took quite a bit of finesse to get her to leave him alone but eventually, she gave up and went back to work.
The drive from the hotel to the coffee shop hadn't helped and only made his nerves wrack even more. He didn't know the radio stations in L.A. and he flipped through them until he found a song he liked on some country station.
That wasn't what made things hard, though. It was the song that had followed it. Tommy nearly burst into tears when the melody hit his ears. "Don't Ask Me To Be Friends" by Teddy Thompson was the song playing and tears filled his eyes as he sang along with the lyrics.
After all we've been
To one another
How can we become
Like sister and brother
Darling, I beg of you
If our love must end
Ask me to forget you
But don't ask me to be friends
After being the one
That you took pride in
I just couldn't be
The friend you confide in
If it's goodbye for us
We'll never meet again
Ask me to forget you
But don't ask me to be friends
Wanting you so badly
Needing you like this
How can I just look at
The lips that I used to kiss
If there's someone else
Don't let me see him
Cause I'll spend my life
Wishing I could be him
Darling, I beg of you
If our love must end
Ask me to forget you
But don't ask me to be friends
The song made him think of Kim every time he heard it. The lyrics fit perfectly into what their relationship, or lack thereof, had become.
"God, if you're out there, can you please help me out with this one? I know I don't ask you for much but I really need you on this one," Tommy pleaded quietly "Don't let her ask me to be friends. She can love me or hate me but please, don't let her ask me to be friends."
As Tommy reached the coffee shop, he wiped his eyes and put on a pair of dark sunglasses to hide his now bloodshot eyes. After ordering his drink, he took it with him to a table near the restrooms and sat down quietly.
He sat with his back to the door next to a man who had his face hidden behind a newspaper. Tommy began reading the sports page from the day before and sipping his mocha as he waited for Kim. It tasted terrible in comparison to Haley's drinks but the chocolate was enough to make it at least bearable.
Kim walked in a few minutes late, at 7:05 and immediately started scanning the coffee shop for Tommy. None of the visible faces belonged to him and there were no ponytails on any of the men with their backs towards her.
Just like Tommy she grumbled to herself as she walked past the counter towards the restrooms. She passed a man with spiked brown hair and as she walked by, he lifted his eyes a little but he looked too late and only caught the rearview. The body was familiar though and he thought it might have been Kim but he wasn't going to go after her just to find out it was some other girl.
He returned his eyes to the newspaper, frequently checking his watch and looking at the door but she hadn't arrived yet. When 7:10 rolled around, Tommy was convinced he had been set up and was about to leave when he heard her voice coming from the restroom area. It was her that had walked by him a few minutes earlier.
"I'm telling you Jessica, he's not here. I looked all around the coffee shop and he's just not here. I told you he didn't want to see me," Kim hissed into her cell phone as she walked out of the bathroom and their eyes met "Um…I'm gonna have to call you back."
"Kim…" Tommy muttered quietly as he got up and walked towards her "Hey there."
"Hey yourself," Kim replied with an awkward silence that preceded an even more awkward greeting. Kim went for a hug as Tommy went for a handshake then Tommy went for a hug as Kim went for a handshake.
Great, things are already weird Tommy said to himself as they finally got in a quick hug "Can I get you something to drink?"
"I'll get my own. I like my coffee a certain way but thanks for the offer," Kim answered with a polite smile as Tommy nodded and she got in line.
She came back to the table a few minutes later with her drink in hand and sat across from Tommy. She hadn't recognized him from behind because she hadn't seen him without his trademark long hair before but she liked the new look. It was more sophisticated and it went well with the little soul patch he had on his chin.
"So…" Tommy muttered, trying to break the silence.
"So…" Kim returned awkwardly "Uh, what brings you to Los Angeles?"
"Paleontology conference," Tommy answered shortly as Kim got a shocked look on her face.
"Paleontology? Like, dinosaurs and stuff?" Kim asked in surprise and Tommy nodded "Wow. I didn't peg you for that at all. How's that going for you."
"It's good. I got my doctorate a few years back and I teach high school science in a little town called Reefside," Tommy answered as the tension between them began to slowly disappear "Congratulations on the Olympics by the way. I tried to call you after the games but you didn't return my call."
"Reefside, huh?" Kim asked, ignoring the last part of what Tommy had said. She knew the confrontation would come but she wasn't ready for it yet. "Didn't they have Rangers in Reefside?"
"Yep," Tommy replied and he knew what was coming next so he didn't even wait for her to ask "Black."
Kim nodded her head and tried to conceal the smile on her face. Being a Ranger had been Tommy's life as a teenager and it didn't surprise her in the least that he was still doing it even if he was nearing thirty.
"Sorry about being late," Kim muttered quickly to avoid another long silence "Traffic sucks in L.A. especially around this time of the day."
"It's okay," Tommy said reassuringly "I was late to plenty of things when we were kids. Turnabout's fair play or so they say. So what about you? I mean, I know about the school and the Olympics and everything but what else have you been up to?"
"It's really just the school for me. It takes up so much of my time," Kim answered as Tommy nodded slightly "Don't get me wrong, I love it and it makes me happy to know I'm helping train future stars but I've always had this feeling like something's missing. Do you ever get that feeling?"
Tommy knew Kim was trying to bait him and that left him with a decision. He could either go along with it or turn the tides and put the pressure on her.
"Eh, not really," he said simply as Kim got a dejected look on her face "Between teaching and keeping up with the Ranger teams, I don't really have time to think about anything else."
Touché, Oliver. You've finally learned how to play the game Kim grumbled to herself "Any special women in your life?"
"Just Haley," Tommy answered, watching as Kim's expression clearly got sadder.
"Is that your girlfriend?" Kim asked softly.
"Nope," Tommy replied, not saying anything else.
They had played this game before but it had always been Kim on the winning side. He had her right where he wanted her and wasn't about to let her get any sort of advantage over him.
"Wife? Fiancée?" Kim asked again and Tommy shook his head "Who is she then?"
"After over ten years I'm surprised you care," Tommy answered and immediately knew he had gone too far "Sorry. Haley's a friend of mine from grad school and she helped me with the team. She's probably the only woman I actually trust."
"Oh," Kim murmured, not seeing the smile on Tommy's face "Look, clearly this was a bad idea. You obviously don't want to talk to me so I'm just gonna go, okay?"
Tommy just nodded his head as Kim stared back at him in surprise. She was hoping that he'd make some kind of move to try and stop her but he didn't even flinch when she said she was going to leave. Kim muttered a goodbye and picked up her purse as she turned for the door, tears quickly filling her eyes.
"Now's the time to make your move, my friend," Anton muttered as Tommy looked to his left in shock. He didn't even see Anton when he walked in and then he realized that it was because he was the man hidden behind the newspaper. "Go before it's too late."
Tommy nodded his head quickly and, without a second thought, sprinted out of the coffee shop. Kim was sitting in her car, hands buried in her face as Tommy crept stealthily around the car. Kim jumped from her seat as Tommy opened the passenger side door and slipped in next to her.
They sat there for a few minutes in silence, neither of them really knowing what to say to the other. Kim was sobbing hard now and, instinctively, Tommy reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder which got him a small smile. Even if it was small, in Tommy's eyes it was still progress.
"I'm sorry for how I acted inside, Kim," Tommy admitted "You didn't deserve that. I just…why don't you ever call me back? It's not like I haven't tried to stay in contact with you. Everyone from Jason to Justin knew what I was doing except for you. And not for lack of trying on my part, either."
"I know. I guess I was scared. Obviously you read the interview and you know how I feel," Kim answered sadly "The only reason I even did that interview was out of the hope that you'd read it and see that I still care about you. That I never stopped caring about you. I didn't know how to say it to your face. Clearly, I've never been good about telling you how I felt, huh?"
"That's an understatement," Tommy chuckled "You know, I never ever thought we'd break up but I always hoped that, if we did, we'd still be friends. Even if I couldn't be your boyfriend, I still would have liked to be a part of your life. It was so hard to watch the Olympics on TV and see Jason and Trini in the stands knowing I should have been there with them to cheer you on."
"You actually watched?" Kim asked in surprise.
"Every single event," Tommy answered with a nod "You were better than Ivanova too. I yelled at the TV for almost an hour when they gave her first place in the floor exercise."
"Thanks. That means a lot," Kim said with a smile "Look. I know I owe you a lot of explanations, Tommy but I really don't want to talk about everything in a Starbuck's parking lot. Would you be okay with going back to my apartment? It's quiet and I could really use something stronger than coffee if you catch my drift."
"Yeah, we can do that," Tommy replied "I'll follow you in my car."
Kim nodded her head in agreement and then was caught completely off guard as Tommy leaned in and quickly kissed her on the cheek. Before she could react or say anything, he had jumped out of the car and shut the door behind him. When he was finally in his car, Kim squealed like a teenaged girl who just got asked to the prom by her crush.
Only one man had kissed her since she broke up with Tommy and the thought of Robert kissing her nearly made her vomit. Robert was the type that couldn't take a hint and it took a knee to the groin and a punch in the face from Kim to finally stop his advances. They had a couple classes together in college and, while Kim just wanted to be friends, Robert had more in mind.
And it wasn't like she didn't want to date, either. She tried a few dates in college with guys her friends knew but they never worked out because…because they weren't Tommy and would never be Tommy.
Kim pulled up to her apartment building with Tommy just a few seconds behind her. As Tommy got out of the rented Mercedez coupe, he let out a chuckle at her vanity plates that read PNKCRNE. She offered Tommy a drink when they got into her apartment and he graciously accepted the beer she handed to him.
While Kim fixed her drink, he took a few minutes to observe the décor of the apartment. There were a ton of pictures on the walls, mostly of Kim with her gymnastics friends and it struck Tommy odd that there weren't that many of the Rangers but that was because most of them were sitting in Kim's office.
She had a huge entertainment center in her living room and, right above her plasma TV was a piece of paper encased in a small frame. A smile crept across Tommy's face as he recognized the paper as the lyrics for the song Kim and Zack had written for him in high school.
Happier times. Before things got really complicated.
When Tommy lost the Green Ranger powers, he thought it was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Without powers he wasn't a Ranger anymore and he thought that meant he was going to lose his friends. Lose Kim. But they all showed him that day that you didn't need powers to be a Ranger and that you didn't have to be a Ranger to be friends with them either.
"Can we talk now?" Kim asked, snapping Tommy from his nostalgic thoughts as he turned around to find her sitting on the couch.
"I don't want to talk, Kim," Tommy answered with an exasperated sense of honesty "The past is the past. I'm over it. Really."
"You may be over it but I'm not," Kim snapped "I fucked up and now I want to make it right by you. So sit down and talk with me or leave and don't. It's up to you."
Tommy had just lost his advantage over her in less than ten seconds. In his momentary lapse of thinking, he had briefly let his guard down and Kim had turned the tables on him. The ball was in his court now and it was Kim's turn to wait for him to make a move. But, unlike Tommy, she wasn't going to go after him if he walked out on her. She was giving him one chance to do the right thing and Tommy knew that so he conceded and sat on the loveseat across from her.
"What do you want us to talk about?" Tommy asked softly.
"I don't want us to talk about anything. I'm going to talk and you're going to listen and not say a word until I've said my peace, okay?" Kim asked in reply as Tommy nodded slowly "Good. Then the first thing I want to do is apologize. Not for breaking up with you but for the way I did it. You deserved better than a letter to the Youth Center."
"So you don't regret breaking up with me?" Tommy questioned as Kim stared at him angrily.
"I said don't interrupt. There's an old saying that goes something like 'Don't regret anything because, at one time, it was exactly what you wanted,'" Kim answered "I don't regret breaking up with you because it was what I wanted at the time. What I do regret, though, is not going after you when I realized how stupid I had been. I wanted to but you had Kat and Jason told me that you seemed happy with her. After how much I had hurt you I just couldn't try and get in between you and Kat."
Tommy opened his mouth to reply but quickly shut it at the look on Kim's face. She gave him a small smile and went back to her explanation.
"Then there was Murianthis. I had finally gotten the courage to come back and try to make things right with you but then between Divatox and the tournament and Katherine, I figured you wouldn't want to hear it," she continued "I've spent almost a decade hating myself for not fighting for you when I had the chance. I saw the look in your eyes when I was being possessed and I knew that, deep down, you still cared about me. Or am I completely off base with that assumption?"
"Can I answer?" Tommy asked hesitantly as Kim chuckled and nodded "I never stopped caring about you. Don't get me wrong, I wanted things with Katherine to be like they were with you but the way I felt about her was the same way I felt about Trini, Aisha and Tanya. I love them all but I could never be in love with any of them. The fact of the matter is that I haven't been truly happy since you broke up with me. Being a Ranger helped me cope but when that was taken from me I had nothing."
"Can I ask you a question and know that you'll give me an honest answer?" Kim asked and Tommy nodded "When we were kids, where did you see yourself in ten years? What did you picture your life to be like?"
"Honestly? Nothing like it is now," Tommy answered with an awkward laugh "Doctor of Paleontology wasn't exactly high on my list of things to do as an adult but, then again, neither was losing you. I was never sure what my future was going to be like but I always knew I wanted you in it. I, uh, I've never told anyone this before but I was going to ask you to marry me after graduation if we had stayed together."
Tears filled Kim's eyes as Tommy told her exactly how he felt. She had no idea that Tommy had been that serious about their relationship. Marrying Tommy had been like a dream to her as a teenager and knowing that she could have had that dream only made the pain worse.
"I'm so sorry," Kim muttered through the tears "I destroyed something so rare and perfect and beautiful. I loved how we didn't have to be physical to be so in love because it made the times when we actually did kiss that much more special. I hate myself for what I did to you."
"Don't. Kim, we were kids. Everyone I knew was expecting 'us' to fail at some point," Tommy replied "My mom told me that there were other fish in the sea and my dad even tried to sneak me in to a strip club after we split. Even if he had gotten me in I think I would have hated it because I would have looked at all those girls and realized none of them could compare to you. The fact that you looked better in a sundress and hat then any of those girls could have looked naked only made me realize why I loved you so much. You never had to dress slutty or provocatively or wear lots of makeup to look beautiful. You just were…and you still are."
Tommy scooted over from the loveseat and took a seat on the couch next to Kim. With gentle hands, he reached up and wiped the tears from her face as Kim gave him another smile and smiles were good signs for him.
"Where do we stand, Tommy? I mean, what do you want out of this? Out of us?" Kim asked.
"I don't want anything except to be in your life," Tommy answered "If that means you'll give us a second chance, then great. If you just want to be friends, then I'm okay with that too as long as we don't make these visits so sporadic. I hate that we don't ever talk or see each other."
"So do I. I hate that I've let it get to the point where I don't know anything about you or what you're doing anymore," Kim muttered "But what I do know is that I don't want to be friends. Jason, Trini, Adam, Zack and the others are my friends but you…you've always been so much more. I want to try and make things work between us, Tommy. I know things won't just be like they were before but maybe in time, if we both work at it, we can get to that point again. I miss you, Tommy. I miss hugging you and kissing you and holding your hand. I miss everything about you. I miss everything about us."
"You really want to give it another go?" Tommy asked as Kim slowly nodded her head "Anton and I are in town for a few more days. We have conferences at nine for the next two mornings and they usually last a couple hours. I want to spend every minute outside of that time with you and getting to know who you've become and I don't care if I have to camp out at your school to do it."
"You don't have to do that. I'll call Jessica and let her know I won't be in for a few days," Kim answered "Let's just spend the next few days getting to know each other again. If things go well while your in town, we can decide where we want to go from there."
"That's fine with me," Tommy replied as he reached out and hugged Kim tightly "But I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot more of each other real soon."
"I think you're right. But Reefside and L.A. aren't exactly close though," Kim muttered bitterly.
"It's only like a hundred miles, Kim. Besides, I'm not going to let any distance get between us again," Tommy retorted confidently "I can come down on weekends or you can come up to Reefside if you want to as well. Kira, my Yellow, is just like you were when we were teenagers. She sings, plays guitar, has her own little style that no one can quite match and she's a fireball if you piss her off. Ever since she saw the video she's been begging me to introduce you two. Now I finally can."
"The video?" Kim asked hesitantly "What video?"
"I made a video about the history of the Rangers for the kids to watch in case something bad happened to me," Tommy answered "There were a few scenes with you in there but they were all action shots. Ethan, who's like my Billy, managed to find stuff that wasn't intended for them and they ended up seeing a few pictures of you and I together. Kira, Ethan and Conner, my Red, backed me into a corner and demanded I tell them about you. Obviously, I didn't go into details about everything but I described you as best as I could. Kira wanted to meet you immediately when I told her you used to sing and play guitar. Conner wanted to meet you too but only because he thought you were hot."
"What do you mean he thought I was hot?" Kim asked sarcastically and then flipped her hair "I am hot."
"No you're not," Tommy answered as Kim stared back at him in surprise "You're beautiful and don't ever let anyone tell you different. Anything less than beautiful is an insult."
"Gee, you really know all the right things to say to make a girl blush, huh?" Kim asked with a chuckle as her cheeks grew red "Thank you, Tommy."
"For what? The compliment?" Tommy asked and Kim shook her head no.
"For listening and understanding. I was afraid you were going to hate me," Kim murmured "I was afraid to even go to the coffee shop but I'm so glad I did. And for giving me a second chance, too. I promise you that I'm going to make things right between us."
"You're not going to do anything. We're going to do it together," Tommy replied as his stomach started to rumble "Sorry. Guess it's close to feeding time."
"There's a killer Chinese place down the street if you're up for a little walk," Kim enticed "I mean, if you want to go with me and everything."
"Like a date?" I asked and Kim shrugged her shoulders "I'll go with you if we consider it an official date. That means you have to let me open all the doors, pull out your chair, pay for dinner and walk you back to your apartment."
"I'm okay with that," Kim grinned "And if you're lucky, you might just get a kiss goodnight."
Tommy smiled at Kim as they got off the couch and left her apartment together. As they walked down the street towards the restaurant, Tommy slipped his hand into Kim's as if nothing had changed between them. If you think about it, nothing had really changed between them at all. They were still two kids hopelessly in love except, this time, they weren't afraid to let the world know how they felt about each other.
As they continued down the street hand-in-hand, Tommy bent down and gave Kim a soft kiss on the cheek. Tommy looked down at her with a smile and she caught him off guard by standing on her toes and kissing him on the lips. Tommy tried to reciprocate the kiss but Kim put a hand on his chest and stopped him.
"I just wanted to give you a sample of what you're going to be getting later," Kim teased and then got serious "I'm really glad we're taking another shot at us, Tommy, and I have this feeling that things are going to work out great."
"Me too, Beautiful," Tommy answered as they arrived at the restaurant "Me too."
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Jeez, how much do I freaking love writing for you guys? I started this story at 11 yesterday morning in my Astronomy class, went to work 2:30, got off at 11 pm and still finished this story for you at 2:30 in the morning. Kinda funny about the 11 and 2:30, huh? I know it's not a chapter for The Things You Don't Know but I was feeling spontaneous and adventurous so I went for this. This story is for everyone who reviews my other stories with a special shout-out to you if I PM you regularly and thank you personally for your reviews.
I appreciate everyone who reviews my writings but I think every author has a few favorite people they really look forward to getting reviews from. If you like my writing please don't be offended if I don't mention you but instead, thank the people I do mention for keeping me going. I wouldn't still be writing if it wasn't for them. So thank you kdmarks, jps1926 and M-n-R (if you're still out there). You three make it easy and worth it to sit stay up until almost three am to write a story. Hope you liked this one guys, it was for you..
Cheers,
WK