Chapter 24
Dawn awoke with a sick feeling in her stomach. She did not know why for a moment and she almost just put it down to the beer she had had the night before. She knew she must have in fact seemed like a ladette.
But no, it was not due to the beer. Well, not all of it.
It was down to the way she had danced with Tommy when Tyrone had been there.
It had been dumb and it had been stupid but it had seemed as if it might be a good idea when she had gone out. Go and show him what he had been missing, she had thought.
Well, most likely the only thing he thought he was missing now was a whore.
Deep down she was a lot more like her grandmother than she cared to admit. She was loyal – and she was loyal to her heart above all else... or at least she tried to be.
But also, like her grandmother, she was no fool. Ty had given her up and he had said he was not going to be with her for a while at least. She had said no vow to him.
He had had no right to look at her as he had; even though part of her did just want to crawl under the covers and hide from what she had done.
XXX
Now that he had the alcohol out of his system, Tyrone could only look back on the night before with shame. Even if she had been flaunting herself in front of him, he had had no right to storm out the bar as he had. He should have risen above it or turned away... but not stormed out.
He had hoped he had not made it obvious but he knew it had been noted by the was Tommy came into the living room the next mortising as it he was nervous he was going to kick off at him.
"You ok?" his guest asked unsurely.
He nodded. "Yeah – last night it was just the drink inside of me, sorry about – well, you know."
"It's fine."
He knew the other apology was not going to be so easy.
"Was Dawn ok after I left?"
"Yeah – I mean, she calmed down a bit."
He hoped that did not mean he had stopped her from having a good time for that was the last thing he would have wanted to do –
Just how big had his ego got?
"Listen, I am sorry for the way I ran out on the two of you last night, it all just got a bit much," he said to him honestly.
He did not like to act like this in front of his new buddy. He did not want him to think he was an idiot but he had to understand. And he had a feeling that he did.
If only Jack was still about, Ty got the feeling he might be able to see his adopted son and his grandson become the brothers he could never have been with Terry or with Paul for that matter.
"Well, if anyone has a right to feel like that it is you," he said with a sigh as he put some bread in the toaster. "But I do want you to know me and Dawn – we were just missing about and having a good time. We both know that it is not going to go anywhere. Not really."
"Are you going to see her again?"
The two of them were in the same boat. They had just got to the street and they were on the lookout for a bit of fun. And it was not as if he was able to say he had not had a good time with her the night before as he had.
She was a good girl who he did not think was going to get to possessive.
"If she wants to go out again then yeah I think we are; I think I hope so." he said gently "if that is going to be o. with you?"
He had no right to stop them for he had said he didn't want to be with her. He guessed all along he had known she was not going to wait at home like a widow until he snapped his fingers.
It had just been a bit to a shock to see her dancing in them arms of another man the night before. He had not thought it was going to hurt him the way that it had.
And he had no way of getting ready for that sensation.
But he had to do the right thing. "Of course, I don't mind mate, –"he said even as he felt the not in his stomaching tightening up once more at the thought of the two of them together. "Just make sure you make that girl happy. God knows she deserved to be."
XXX
Eddie looked at Dawn. Ever since she had said she had had a good time the night before, he knew at least part of her had been lying, for it had been written all over her face.
At times, he knew the girl too well for her liking.
"So are you going to tell me what really went on last night?"
She gave a quick shrug as she got a sandwich ready to take across the road for when she got her tea break. Unless she got her skates on then she knew she was going to be late. Considering the house she was working on was the one she was going to be living in and the fact she lived just across the road, she had no reason to be late.
And she did not like being so either more to the point.
"Dad, I told you. It got a bit messy but I had a good time."
It was all he had to know. "Who went with you?"
"Tina, Rosie, Jason and Tommy. He only just got here as well, you know? It was good to hang out with him. Made me feel a little less like the new girl."
"Well, it is not as if any of them are taking your lunch money is it?" he said with humour in his voice.
"Not at all," she said jovially hoping she had driven him off the subject.
A silence fell for a moment and she had hoped she really had succeeded once more. And yet it was not long until the moment grew awkward.
She turned to face him with her hand on her hip and he was struck by just how much she looked like her mother when she did that.
There were plenty of good memories and he had to hold on to them.
"If there was any trouble, then you know you can talk to me," he told her with a smile but he knew the last thing she wanted to do was that.
Whatever had gone on last night to wind her up was staying secret from him clearly.
"I know, daddy."
"Dawn, if you do not run across the road now, you are not going to be on time," said Hilda, sealing the conversation.
"I am off now Nan," Dawn told her as she gave the two of them a kiss and made for the door.
"Is she alright, chuck?"
"I think so," sighed Eddie.
XXX
Tyrone arrived at work still in an oddly pensive mood, so much so that he was almost nice to Kevin when he got there. He was not ever going to forgive him for what he had taken from him but suddenly all he seemed to be able to think of was the night before.
It was weighing heavy on his mind.
He knew he had to say sorry for Dawn for the way he had looked at her. He was positive she had read the words which had been going through his mind on his face.
He put the kettle on, made himself a brew, told Kevin that the water had just boiled and considered asking how Jack was.
Even though he now knew he had never been a father in the proper sense of the word, he did miss the little lad.
He had been a dad in the ways that mattered he told himself. He had got up in the night and he had been the one changing the nappies. He had taken Jack out for walks in his stroller and he had rocked him to sleep.
He had been a dad. And suddenly he wasn't and as much as he knew Jack was alive and thriving it still felt to him as if the boy had –
He did not think it was a surprise he did not know what to do half the time. He had so much going on in his head and for a while he just wanted it to stop.
And he supposed he had had that in his he had when he had been considering Dawn. She had been through a lot to and he had hoped she wanted it all to stop for a while as well – somehow it had made sense to his mind if they were together then they were going to make it stop for one another.
It had not worked out that way though.
Turning to the front of the garage, he saw her with her lunch box walking over to the house. Considering how much she had had though drink the night before he was kind of shocked she had got up in time to make it into work.
He hoped he was going to catch her eye as he had done plenty of times before in the past and she might give him the chance to say sorry.
He had been an arse and he knew it. But before she had the chance too, Tommy Duckworth came out the corner shop.
XXX
"You pretty much look the way I feel," said Tommy as he walked up to Dawn.
He had been thinking about her most of the morning since he had had the chance to chat to Tyrone about her.
"Don't – why did you let me have that much to drink?" she sighed as she put her head in her hands. She had felt ok until she had got out then the fresh air and it had hit her. She was feeling a little tender and she was literally on her way to work at a building sight for rest of the day. Her life was just wonderful sometimes...
She did not think she was going to be up to much by the end of the day.
"Well, it was not as if you were slowing me down either!"
"We're clearly bad influences on one another."
"Obviously!"
It was then that she really felt his eyes on her. Of course, she had seen them before but he really felt as if he was studying her then.
"Listen, Dawn, I had a great time last night."
"Me too," she nodded. "I mean, from what I remember, we had a pretty great time."
"Yeah – I had no idea you were going to be a little wild when you had a bit of beer in you."
Dawn had the good grace to blush.
"So I was thinking that the two of us night have a great time together one of these days again." Whatever she had been thinking he was going to say, it was not that.
For one thing, she had danced with him as she had, because she had really thought nothing was going to come of it. He seemed as if it was such a play boy that he would not even consider having something more with her.
No strings attached had been how she liked it.
But now he said it she had had a good time - and that was what she had been looking for.
A good time boy who was going to keep her entertained for one night...
But perhaps, maybe also a good time boy who was going to make her laugh and hang out with her on a Friday night and not pull her down into his own mess?
Perhaps she a been so caught up in the idea of her and Ty she had not even given any real though to the fact she and Tommy might make a go of things properly.
She was young free and single and she had no reason in the world to say no...
So why should she?
"Why not?"
Please review!