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She woke up cold. Without opening her eyes, Kimberly reached out and tried to find the edge of her comforter. Eventually grabbing onto the blanket, she pulled it up around her shoulders.
"Blanket hog." An arm curled around her waist, pulling her close.
"I think you're confusing us." She smiled and pulled more of the comforter her way. "I wouldn't have to hog them if you didn't pull them your way first."
"Hmm." The arm around her grew tighter. "I don't think you need those anyway."
"But I'm cold!"
"I know a better way to stay warm." He rolled her around to face him and kissed her in an early morning, all the time in the world kind of way.
"Not bad," she smiled at him, "but that's not exactly what I had in mind."
"What'd you have in mind?" he asked grinning back at her.
"Let me show you…"
She woke up with her arm outstretched and her hand clutching the sheet. "Seriously?" She sighed and rolled over. Picking up phone from the bedside table, she cringed when she saw the time – 5:38 am. "Seriously?" she asked again. Closing her eyes, she tried to go back to sleep, tried to remember who it was she was supposed to be in bed with, but to no avail.
Kimberly groaned and pushed herself out of bed. No sense in waiting for an alarm: now was as good a time for a run as any. She groaned again, taking a second to stretch. Maybe a run would help shake whatever feeling was left over from the dream. Heaven knew she needed all her wits about her today.
Stretching out her arms above her head, Kim scanned the room for a clean pair of shorts. She should really do laundry. Locating a pink pair (how ironic) across the room, she quickly changed, grabbed her phone, and headed out the door.
"Good job, Caitlin." Kimberly watched as the girl prepared for a dismount off the balance beam. "Now visualize where you're going to land and breathe!"
Caitlin took the advice, and after a deep breath she gracefully flipped of the beam, landing in an elegant pose on the ground.
"Wonderful!" Kim clapped for the girl. "That was perfect."
"And it only took six tries," Caitlin muttered.
"Please," Kim walked over and handed her a bottle of water. "I'm not even going to embarrass myself by telling you how long it took me to land that. You're doing great."
"Really?" The girl grinned.
"Really." Kim checked her watch. "And that's our time. Are you doing another session tomorrow?"
"No." Caitlin looked at the ground, "We could only….I could only make it for one."
"Ah." Kimberly noted the slump in her shoulders. "You know, your coach has my lunch scheduled from eleven to twelve. I don't know about you, but it only takes me, like, five minutes to eat, so I'll probably get some practice in myself in that hour."
Caitlin nodded, "I normally practice at my lunch, too."
Kimberly smiled, "I know tomorrow is Saturday, but if you happen to be around here at eleven, I would love someone to work with."
"Really?!" The girl's mood visibly lifted. "You would let me come back?"
"It's a free gym." Kim winked. "And I would love the company."
"Okay!" Caitlin grabbed her bag. "I'll see you tomorrow, then!"
"Sounds good." Kim watched her leave the gym before bending down to grab her own gym bag.
"That was nice of you."
Kim gasped and spun around, fists raised.
"Easy," Tommy held up his hands. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't," she automatically denied.
"Right. Well, sorry for sneaking up on you, anyway. I just didn't want you to have a chance to get away this time." He laughed, though it sounded little awkward.
"Yeah." She sighed and set down her bag. "I'm sorry about that. I was just…." She shook her head, "It was childish. I'm sorry."
"No, I… I understand," he said with a shrug. "It's been awhile."
"Yeah, it has." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "So, are you doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm a teacher here," he was quick to answer. "I got the job awhile ago, after I graduated from grad school."
"Right. Billy told me about the Ph.D."
"Yeah." He looked down at his feet a moment before looking back at her, "No one's told me much about you, other than that you live in Europe now."
"France," she clarified. "My mom and step-dad moved there after I won nationals several years ago. I was invited to be part of a team there."
"And you still compete."
"I do. A little. More teaching now."
"I guess we have that in common."
She smiled. "I guess." More awkward silence.
After awhile Tommy cleared his throat, "Would you want to, maybe, go get something to eat? Catch up in a more…comfortable place?"
"I…" Kimberly stopped herself. What did she want? To go with him – to a restaurant, coffee shop, apartment, home, whatever. She worried her bottom lip. But how would going anywhere with him end? Badly. "No. I…I don't."
"Oh." He looked taken aback, but she held her ground. "Okay. Well."
Picking up her bag again, she smiled. "It's good to see you doing well."
"Yeah." He ran a hand through his – now short – hair. "You too."
"I'm going to go." She shrugged the strap of her bag over her shoulder. "I'm only in town another day or two, so I doubt we'll run in to each other again."
His eyes caught and held hers for a moment before he responded. "Okay."
"Good bye, Tommy." She headed for the door.
She thought she heard him say something as she was walking away, but she didn't look back. She couldn't look back. If she did she knew she would run back. She missed him. She could feel her heart literally aching.
"It would end badly," she stated under her breath as she walked outside. "Very, very badly.