Naked Hero - The Journey Away

escape the tabloids.
    “I was going to...” he choked out. “Going to give him a chance... That first night when he came here... but he didn’t come back... nor did he show up at the practice the following day. Something better must have turned up... like it always would do.”
    Fiona looked on the back that was turned to her and fought her instincts, no less strong for being surrogate, to take him in her arms and crush his pain away. But reason took over, and words, not arms were used.
    “He went back to his hotel, Lewis. He was thinking about you and what the papers would say.”
    “They said it anyway... No, I was tempted then, but as I said, something better came along, that’s why he didn’t show up till the following afternoon. I set him straight then, and that’s how it’s going to stay.”
    Fiona let out a deep sigh, not having realised the extent of his self-torture. Well at least now she could put him right on the matter. “Oh, so you think he was with someone else do you? I would imagine you’re right! I’m sure he was seeing another man, but not at night, the following morning. Not something better. I’d be surprised if he could come up with anything better to be doing... but something more important.”
    Lewis turned round to see her sitting on the edge of his bed, a shirt still in her hands. “What do you mean, more important: his business?”
    “No, not his business, you dithering idiot... Yours!”
    Lewis shook his head refusing to accept. “He didn’t start any of this stuff till after then, that afternoon when I told him about losing my sponsor.”
    “Och, Lewis, can you not remember what happened that day? Lee didn’t turn up at your practice, but someone else did.”
    “You mean Scott? He changed his mind.”
    “Aye, he did. I wonder why?”
    Lewis gawped at her, his heart now racing, guilt again tearing – why did he always feel so bloody guilty about Lee – I’ve fucked well over a thousand men - Porter? “No! No! Lee wouldn’t have gone to see him. They don’t know each other, they’ve never met,” he insisted.
    “Is that so?” she batted back – the simplest of returns, letting him see for himself the way things were.
    “Did Lee say he’d done this?” asked Lewis, starting to accept the possibility.
    Fiona shook her head. “No. But I did tell him how important Scott was to you. Told him that I thought you’d lose the match against Gonzales. Not because you weren’t good enough, you proved that you were, I had no doubts there; but because you couldn’t take that sort of rejection, not fresh as it was, onto the court and play well enough to win. You never could.”
    Lewis stared at her intently, searching for a flaw , his heart now galloping like crazy, his knees almost buckling under the weight of realisation. “He would have had a motive. That’s if he actually did this.”
    Fiona rose and put the last shirt away before resting both hands on Lewis’s shoulders, looking up into his eyes as she delivered her final lines. “Perhaps he had a motive other than wanting you to win. He’s been up front about that as well. But I don’t think it would have been the main motive. Another man might have welcomed the split between you and Scott. Seen him as a rival and taken advantage of the situation, of the rejection you were feeling, just like you wanted him to. But a man that can put that aside, put your needs before his, that’s a man that I would trust… Oh, he might have a shady past, but that’s all it is… the past… history. I was never that bothered so much with history, the future always seemed more interesting. Now I’ll leave you in peace. Goodnight, Lewis.”
    Leave him in peace! Not much chance of that – but she had certainly left him with something to think about. Two things in fact: The Body Perfect Englishman and The American Idol, but which one was really The Best Man for Lewis Macleod? They both had faults which perhaps could be rectified. But could either somehow raise his game to become The Perfect Man? He’d mused from time to time about combining the two, for between them they certainly had all the qualities that Lewis was looking for. Flights of fantasy had to be ruled out though. One more day and the tournament would be over, and win or lose a decision would be needed.

Chapter 55
    The morning of the final had been a busy one for Lee Porter. Taking full advantage of the hotel’s facilities, he’d enjoyed a hearty breakfast