In the week since her kiss with Tom, Sybil had thrown herself into her work with the Help for Heroes team much more than she ever had before. She found it was the only way to keep her mind off of the huge risk she had taken in allowing herself to give in to his advances. She set up a website for donations, visited the hall when she could so that more meetings could be held and accepted two magazine interviews about her plight to the cause. She loved that people were suddenly desperate to talk to her about something other than her new lipgloss or choice of handbag. All the attention in having such a well known celebrity involved meant much more support for the charity which made Sybil happy, not only with herself but with what was being achieved. Being able to use her position as a wealthy heiress came in useful to more than just herself for a change, but it was her position as a daughter which made the biggest change of the week. She had convinced her Dad to give the old, worn down mens club a refurbishment. What with so many more soldiers becoming interested in coming, her and Isobel felt it was about time the hall looked more presentable. But this had meant for the foreseeable future the meetings would have to be held elsewhere...
Running down the grand corridor which led to one of the smaller, but no less grand halls of the Downton Hotel, Sybil and Isobel pulled back the doors so the delivery men could carry in the new sofa's.
"Thank you Miss. Crawley" Nodded the clearly star struck delivery men as they looked her up and down.
As Sybil tightened her messy ponytail, her and Isobel walked back to the lobby to direct further deliveries. As they strolled down the corridor Sybil entertained her companion with stories of her memories in the hotel. Isobel, who had agreed with great pleasure to run the evening meetings at the Downton, was still stunned that she was even allowed in the hotel.
"Oh don't be silly Isobel, anyone is allowed in the hotel! It's just people with more money than sense who actually stay and pay for the privilege." Both Sybil and the elder woman looked over their shoulders at this joke and laughed. "Which brings me to a point I was trying to talk to dad about earlier. Why do we have to have limited numbers, surely all soldiers deserve a place?"
Isobel looked thoughtful and Sybil hoped she would agree with her, "The normal meetings are for members only and your dad is offering this as a complimentary space, so the rules are the same I guess."
Sybil giggled at the way Isobel spoke of her father, the elder woman obviously had a little crush. "Of course, but I don't know if we can make that an absolute rule, not now we have more space."
"Well, if we didn't have to move back to the smaller hall in a few months I would rather agree with you." Sighed Isobel before hurrying forward to direct more deliveries down the hall.
Sybil looked about the lobby and smirked a little as Carson apologized to a guest about all the uproar of the hall furnishings being brought through. She knew how much it would bother him that things were not in their proper order and giggled to herself. Turning to survey the dysfunctional hotel, Sybil felt her heart race a little faster when she realised Tom was watching her across the room. He must have been watching her the entire time she was speaking with Isobel and the thought made her want to grab a mirror and check her appearence all over.
Ever since they had kissed, Sybil had decided to limit the crossing of professional barriers they had been breaking. Yet she had found, true to common knowledge, it was easier said than done. Every time she had gotten in the car she couldn't help from moving to sit next to him. She just couldn't stop herself from leaning over and stroking his hand on the steering wheel when they spoke. She couldn't even bring herself to want to move his hand when he would reach over to rest on her leg for a moment. She just couldn't seem to stay away from him.
And now was no exception. As she crossed the lobby toward him she thought of their kiss for the hundredth time. It had been so dangerous and risky out in the open like that, but Tom certainly hadn't given that a thought, or cared at all. She hadn't expected him to kiss her, she knew that for a fact. One minute she had been leaning in the car for a drink and the next she was wrapped around it's driver. And no matter how much she tried to convince herself that it had been a mistake, she could not help but feel as though it was something she had wanted to do for a very long time. So instead, she reminded herself over and over that it had been nothing more than a few innocent kisses. It couldn't have meant that much, could it?
As she got closer to Tom, a journey made longer by her crippling Jimmy Choo's and tight pencil skirt, she noticed he was twisting his palms into one another. She felt a blush colour her cheeks as she imagined his hands in her hair; embarrassed that the memory still made her shiver. Shaking her head to regain the present, she wondered if he was nervous because she was walking over to him. They had not spoken of the kiss, but it had hung between them everyday since, waiting, they both knew, until she was ready to speak of it. Instead they had carried on as normal, well not employee-employer normal, their normal. And Sybil knew that though Tom acted as though this was alright, he was frustrated. He had seemed distant and almost angry during periods of their journeys in the week and she felt guilty when she assumed she was the one causing this problem.
"Tom, why are you he- Wait, why aren't you in your uniform?" She questioned, noting his grey shirt and jeans for the first time. They look creased and messy and when she came to think of it, he looked a little shady himself. A horrible thought crossed her mind, had their kiss been spotted, had he been fired?
He seemed unsure of how to speak for a moment and edged closer to her in a way that made her subconsciously do the same toward him. She felt her panic increase when silence ensued, but then he stuttered as he replied quickly "Well, you see, I couldn't make it in this morning because I was in- well, I've been waiting to speak to your Dad. You look beautiful by the way." He paused suddenly and Sybil noticed how he raised his hand, as though to hold her waist, then realising their public predicament swung his fist back to his side. "You have no idea how worried I've been about losing my j- anyway, I was going to text you but I didn't really know what to say. I didn't really know if you would care?"
"About?" Forgetting where she was in her sudden worry, Sybil put a hand on his shoulder before quickly removing it. "Tom, what abo-?"
"Mr. Branson?" Came Mr. Carsons voice. "Sir Crawley is ready to see you now."
As Tom walked past her, Sybil felt him run his fingers along her own. Normally, such a touch would leave her tingly and shy, but this time she felt cold and scared. The gesture had only fuled her worry that she was about to lose him in some way. Turning to Carson she pleaded her case to the manager, "What's all that about?"
"I'm really not sure I sho-"
"Please. Please Mr. Carson." Sybil fluttered her eyelashes innocently.
Carson coughed. "Well you see Miss Sybil, Mr. Branson was arrested last night and after waking up in a cell, decided to come here and make his excuses. Though I don't think your father will take too kindly to the story and will have him fired before you can say- Get out!"
Carson ended his sentence with real meaning as he ran forward to stop a member of the paparazzi getting into the hotel doors. Sybil stood frozen in his wake, a million fears running through her mind, each one taking of piece of Tom from her memory as they passed. And as she turned to watch him walk away from her to her father, she wished she had been able to tell him that yes, she cared, she cared more than she wanted to admit.
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