Naked Hero - The Journey Away

resolved to adhere to it. He returned to his packing, revising his selection yet again.

Chapter 36
    Meanwhile in Melbourne, the article in the Herald was causing further consternation . Scott Taylor had read it over breakfast in the privacy of his room – Eggs Benedict were a favourite, and the Langham did them well, but the dish lay untouched, his appetite ruined.
    What was written wasn’t actually all that bad. The editor was smart enough not to step over the line where litigation was at risk. The facts were adhered to and the conjecture was mild. To be honest it was nothing if you had nothing to hide, which technically was the case for Scott. But it was drawing the sort of attention that he had always aimed to avoid. Inferences could be made. Speculation would abound. And of course things could only get worse by the end of the day. Lee Porter’s appearance in the box this evening would place the media’s spotlight firmly on Lewis and anyone connected to him. And if he were to win tonight’s match, knock out the home country’s last hope on the eve of Australia Day, then the knives would be out, and Scott could end up one of the casualties in the bloodletting.
    Scott paced the room, his breakfast forgotten – a sip of coffee was all that he’d taken. He tried to think things through, and force some calm into a cauldron of alarm, but the more he thought, the more the cauldron bubbled, spewing out trouble in scanty disguises.
    Porter! Porter! Damn that man! That was the clarion call in the troubled American’s head. Arguably Lee’s arrival would do Scott a favour. It would certainly deflect attention from the recent conjecture. But on the other hand it would provoke even closer scrutiny. Curious eyes would turn to Scott to see how he reacted – reacted to Lee, to the website, and to the relationship with Lewis which was about to become sexual if it wasn’t already, because why else would he want to be involved with such a man.
    Scott felt torn. He had grown to like Macleod so much – and like him in a way he wished he didn’t have to fight. Perhaps he could have risen above it – laughed the article off which he knew was the proper reaction, and worked things out privately away from the public glare, perhaps even dare to chance his luck and satisfy his snarling curiosity. But what was the point when Porter was coming – a man that he felt he could never compete with, even if he did pluck up the nerve to try.
    Porter! Porter! Damn the man to hell! Damn his fine body and confident smile, and that incredible ass that I’m curious about as well! Scott realised he had been pretending that he was immune to the arrival. He’d hoped to come across as a modern thinker who saw no problem at all with what the man did and how he displayed himself so lewdly on the internet. For surely that was the ‘proper’ reaction – but only where a relationship was on a professional level. What he felt for Lewis went way beyond that though. He liked him so much on so many levels. He yearned for the lad: to ravish him with his eyes; to hold him in his arms; to meld with him in bed in a torrent of passion. But Porter was coming! And with all the public interest he’d bring in his wake, Scott’s true sentiments might be cruelly exposed. Perhaps it might be best to make a dignified retreat and not risk becoming a laughing stock as the jilted curious suitor.
    Hoping for some guidance, and wanting to test waters to see how others were reacting, a call was made to Ben Harding, his production manager at ABC. Scott wanted to put the relationship with Lewis into perspective, and explained his role in assisting him earlier in the week. He played the situation down, and offered to sever the link if it was felt there might be a conflict of interests. But it was not a problem for Ben, quite the contrary in fact - he found the whole thing quite amusing, and thought the exposure was a bonus.
    “Lots of commentators have a working relationship with players on the tour, Scott. You can explain it this evening when you’re covering Lewis’s match. Just don’t side with him blatantly when you’re commentating.”
    “Are you sure it’s a good idea that I cover the match?” asked Scott. He didn’t relish the prospect, but obviously didn’t mention his real reasons for reluctance.
    “Hell, yes! If you don’t, then people will read something into it. Just go about your business as usual.”
    “Are you certain you wouldn’t