Chapter Eleven

Gruffydd wanders away without saying goodbye and I decide to do the same.  Tom is still standing staring at his feet and I stand next to him. Gently tapping him on the shoulder,  he finally looks up and jumps a mile.  "Hey I'm not that scary, am I?" I ask.

"No,   I just thought you were staying with him", he replies glumly, strangely emphasising 'him'. "Anyway, you're here now..." What's up with him? Does he not like me? Maybe it's because I crashed his sheep. Do I ask him? No, no, the Kelly that always burnt her bridges by asking too many questions is old now. That Kelly was unlucky and didn't have any real friends,  this is Welsh Kelly,  she's popular, confident,  independent.  Don't break the friendships you've only had for a day. However, my curiosity is burning away at me and I have to force my lips together to stop myself blurting something out. I screw my face up and Tom raises an eyebrow. No, you dare Kelly Mackenzie Kennington, don't you dare screw this up. Just hold it together and don't say a word...

"Why don't you like me?" I blurt out. Are you kidding me? I've just made myself look like a complete idiot and basically told myself DO NOT SAY ANYTHING and what do I do, go and blabbered.

"Huh? What?", he says, getting very defensive.

"Shoes", I continue, not quite thinking anything through. "Why don't you like me shoes, matey? Oh, I've gone all pirate". I laugh falsely, but Tom sees right through me.

"I do like you Kelly. I lot. In fact maybe too much for my own good..." he trails off and then after a long and (very) awkward silence, he walks away. Great, that's two men walking away from me, maybe I need a shower, I'm still caked in mud. But before I can even think about finding a shower, my phone vibrates in my jeans pocket. Putting my phone to my ear, I hear lots of voices talking over each other. "Hello?" I call into the speaker.

"Oh hello, DARLING" shouts a drunken voice and I don't recognise it at first, but then the dialect sparks a thought. The drunkenness, the "darling", the American accent, it's my ex-boss. What the Hell does she want?

"What do you want Julia?" I yell angrily.

"Shh, shh, don't shout, my supervisor doesn't know I'm on the phone", she whispers.

"What?" I say, getting more and more aggressive.

"I NEED you, DARLING", she pleads. "This place is DEAD without you!"

"Go away Julia, you were one of the reasons I moved away", I yell and slam the phone down. I breathe slowly and look around seeing most of the village had come out of their cubby-holes to see my tantrum. Including Gruffydd. And Tom. Hey, actually, I'm happy about them being here, I still have my romance streak. You know what they say - once they get a piece of the Kelly, they can't say goodbye. Okay, this is just getting weird now. I know, I'll stop.

"Sorry everyone!" I call and everyone turns back into their cubby-holes. Everyone except the boys who approach me. Gruffydd gives me a big hug and over his shoulder I see Tom with a sad expression on his face. He turns to leave and I pull out of Gruffydd's hug (even though I was enjoying it). Running after him I pull his arm. "What is up with you?" I say. "I mean you're sending me tons of different messages. What the heck is up?"

"I need some advice", he murmurs. "I'm in love".

"Oh! Who's the lucky gal?" I ask.

"She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life and she is sensitive and sweet, but, well, she can certainly put a man in her place. And all I want to do in my life right now is tell her that I love her with all my Celtic heart", he answers.

"Well, it's obvious you like her a lot, you should tell her that", I suggest.

"There's just one problem: she has a boyfriend, well I say boyfriend, they've kissed, but I don't know if they're dating", he trails off.

"Well, still tell her and get her to choose", I smile.

"Okay, well, um, I better go tell her then", he says and leaves.  Wow, I'm great at giving advice. Wonder who the special lady is. I then feel a gentle tap on my shoulder, but when I turn around there's no one there. But there is a box on the floor that I'm certain wasn't there before. I pick it up and inside is a single daffodil with a note wrapped around its stem. Its petals are as yellow as the taxi cabs back home. Home... I'm missing it. I unwrap the note and scrawled on it in bright green pen are the words "I love you Kelly.  Tom". Oh. My. God. I was the woman. Wow. I did not expect this coming. Right, now my advice has backfired on me and now I have to choose. Gruffydd or Tom. Who do I want to be with? 

Well, Tom has told me he loves me, well wrote it down, but Gruffydd has kissed me, twice. Well, the first time was to probably make me shut up and the other one was a thank you. So, has he friendzoned me or what? Tom on the other hand seems to absolutely adore me, but he can't make his mind up with the messages he's sending me. What's a girl to do?

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