Part 9



Tad pushed his way into BJ's, untying his scarf and shaking the snow from off of his shoulders as he looked around. He spotted Kelly sitting at a table in the corner. He approached her slowly.

"Hey there, kiddo," Tad said, taking a seat in front of her at the table.

"Mr. Martin," Kelly said with a smile. "Thank you so much for doing this."

"No problem. And look, Kel, call me Tad. Mr. Martin's my father."

"Right... Tad." she said.

"So..." Tad laid his hands down on the top of the table. "What exactly is it that I have to do?"

"Well," Kelly started. She leaned over in her seat, digging through her backpack. He long blonde hair got in her face and she pushed it back behind her ears. Tad just watched as Kelly continued digging. As she leaned over further, her shirt began to creep up in the back.

Tad turned away, trying to knock some sense into himself. "She's half your age, Tad." he thought.

Kelly sat erect, pushing her hair back. "I had a whole list of questions to ask. I think I left them back at the dorm."

"No problem," Tad said without thinking. "We can just run across the street and you can get them."

Kelly's face lit up. "OK," she said quickly. She stood from her seat, putting on her coat and wrapping her scarf around her neck. Tad followed her across the street onto the PVU campus.

"You didn't have any classes today?" Tad asked as they entered the dorm area.

"Me? No. They canceled because of the snow." Kelly turned the key in her room door and swung it inward. The heat was the first thing that hit Tad as they entered.

"My God," Tad said, removing his coat and scarf. "It's 100 degrees in here."

Kelly laughed. "The warmest room on this whole floor. You can sit." Tad rested himself on the edge of the bed, undoing the top button of his shirt.

Kelly removed her jacket and scarf also, draping them over the desk chair before slipping her tee-shirt over her head to reveal a skin tight, spaghetti strapped tank top. Tad passed his tongue over his bottom lip, his eyes growing just a bit wider. Kelly reached out and picked up a piece of paper off of the desk, turning towards Tad. She approached him, taking a seat on the bed beside him.

"Do you wanna..." Kelly handed the paper to Tad.

Tad looked the questions over. "These don't look too bad," he said. Kelly leaned over him. "Here, check out number ten." She smiled, looking up at him. Their faces were just inches apart. Tad could feel himself urging to move closer, to catch her in a deep and passionate kiss. Kelly did move closer to him, their lips just briefly touching before Tad pulled back. He got to his feet.

"Maybe you should interview someone else, Kelly." he said, grabbing his coat.

"But..."

"Really. Really I think Liza would be a lot better to answer these questions." Tad paused. "I'll see you at the station tomorrow, kiddo."

Kelly pushed her hair behind her ears, biting her bottom lip. "Tad..."

"Tomorrow, Kelly," he said before stepping out of the dorm room.

Kelly let out a deep breath as she fell back against the pillow on her bed. All she could do was close her eyes, shake her head and try not to think about any of it.