Page 46 of A Clean Sweep

'It's fine. Sorry I overreacted. It was just a shock, you know, running into them.

But I'm OK with it. It's history now. Honestly.

' Tabitha smiled in a way she hoped conveyed she was absolutely over Tom and more than a little bit into Adam.

He smiled back in a way that suggested they were on the same page, with many chapters still to be revealed.

Phew! She cast a sideways glance at love's young dream as Adam dissected another slice of pizza and felt nothing.

No sadness, no envy, no bitterness. Just a sense of moving on and going with the flow.

Almost an hour later and they had shared some more wine, laughed a lot and confessed to a mutual liking for Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat .

Bill duly paid – Adam refused to split it – they headed off into the night singing in harmony.

Admittedly neither knew all the words but passers-by smiled indulgently as they warbled away.

Tabitha couldn't recall when she'd had so much fun, felt so at ease in someone's company.

It was a night to remember, not one to go in for the casual fumble and flaming cheeks in the morning.

They'd reached her doorstep. She already had her keys to hand, prepared to part with – hopefully – the promise of another date to follow.

She sent up a silent prayer as she opened the door and turned to face Adam.

'Thank you. For a lovely evening, despite the awkward bit. Can we do it again? If you'd like to?'

By way of reply Adam placed his hands on her face and kissed her.

A soft, barely-there kiss but enough to give her serious goosepimples and cause her to question her vow of chastity.

'Take that as an affirmative,' he replied, Tabitha's lips still tingling from their all-too-brief contact with his.

'We've still got a truckload of show tunes to work our way through, haven't we? '

Tabitha grinned and stuck her key in the lock.

'Absolutely. I think we should move on to Oklahoma next, then maybe Les Miserables ?

Although that always makes me cry.' As she opened the door she wondered if Adam would invite himself in.

Her virtuous side – not the dominant one – hoped he wouldn't. Her wicked side was screaming "Go on! You know you want to!"

Whether he could read the agonising dilemma on her face, or was simply a perfect gentleman, Adam stepped back and gave a little bow.

'Personally, I'm a big Oliver fan but we can argue the toss next time.

Would tomorrow be OK, or do you need more time to get into character?

Belt out some numbers in the shower? I can be patient, but only up to a point.

If I have to wait more than twenty-four hours until I see you again I may well spontaneously combust. And that would be messy and massively inconvenient for my boss. '

At the mention of Adam's boss, Tabitha's brain went into hyper drive.

She'd meant to quiz Adam about Steve during the evening but had been somewhat distracted.

Yes, it could wait until tomorrow but suddenly she needed to know where he stood on the availability scale.

'Erm, just curious and all that but is he single? Steve, I mean.'

Adam gave her a look that suggested her query was as unexpected as Hugh Jackman announcing he was gay and shacking up with Russell Crowe.

Presumably to serenade each other in sexy French accents.

'Please, don't tell me you have a thing for older men.

I couldn't bear it. Plus, I happen to know that Steve is a very good singer but not really a fan of musicals so that would probably put a nail in the romantic coffin.

I know he's extremely good-looking but—'

Tabitha cut him off with a glare worthy of a schoolteacher facing a classroom of belligerent teenagers.

'I am not , repeat not interested in your boss in that way.

' She ignored Adam's overly dramatic sigh of relief and continued.

'I just wondered. You see, my boss, Meryl, has had a really shit time with men recently and I saw Steve and I was just thinking… '

'You were just thinking you could pair them up? Before I spill, you need to tell me a bit more about your boss. Is she cute, funny, not prone to stalking innocent men and boiling bunnies?'

Tabitha gave a quick rundown on Meryl, wondering why they were conducting this conversation on the doorstep when it would be much easier inside. But she knew if they both went indoors her wicked side would win the day and her clothes would fall off all of their own accord.

'Sounds perfectly nice. OK, Steve is widowed.

His wife – Joe's mum – died around five years ago.

Cancer, I believe. They both took it hard.

I think Steve's dated on and off in the past couple of years but nothing serious.

He doesn't really talk about it, why would he?

All I know is he's a great guy and if he met someone who made him happy that would be fantastic. '

Tabitha was now a woman on a mission. Both to somehow introduce Meryl to Steve and to keep Adam in her life.

As well as checking that all was well with her mum and Joe.

Crikey, she almost needed a spreadsheet to manage all the potential love lives in the frame.

'So, if I somehow managed to introduce Meryl to Steve, do you think … ?’

Adam nudged her inside, a finger pressed against her lips. She fought back the urge to open her mouth and lick it. Her wicked side was definitely going for gold and a few victory laps .

'Off to bed with you, scheming wench. I'll pick you up tomorrow around seven and we'll eat, drink and plot devious ways to ensure global peace and harmony. Sweet dreams, sweetheart.'

With a giggle and a final kiss – slightly less chaste than the previous one – Tabitha closed the door.

Her head was a complete jumble, thoughts of Adam at the fore, thoughts of the other cast members in her life shouting for attention.

Sleep seemed a remote possibility, so she headed to the kitchen and made herself a cup of hot chocolate.

On the way, she scooped up the morning's post and dumped it on the counter.

Bills, bills and more bills. And another that caught her eye.

"Party People Inc." Wasn't that the company who'd hired her for the wrap party for that mad Scottish reality show?

She ripped open the envelope and scanned its contents.

Oh. My. God. It seemed that Big Tam had bigged her up with the powers that be (despite her aversion to artery-clogging choccie delights) and now they were offering her a job!

Well, at least an interview for a job. A proper, event-planning job involving planning events from the ground up.

Everything she'd studied for but had had little chance to put into practice.

The interview was scheduled for a week's time in London.

She'd have to tell Meryl, take time off work, polish up her resumé and dig deep for confidence she knew existed but was buried under layers of self-doubt and abject fear.

You can do this, she told herself. The hardest part would be leaving Meryl. If she even got the job, that is.

Sipping her hot chocolate and rereading the letter, Tabitha couldn't help but dwell on the vagaries of life and how things could change in little more than a heartbeat.

One minute she was living with Tom and an increasing sense of dissatisfaction, the next she was singing and feeling totally connected with a man called Adam and possibly embarking on a new career.

Maybe even managing to match her beloved Meryl up with a man who seemed to be everything the website weirdos were not.

Tucked up in bed, Tabitha could feel another ear worm coming on. ‘Love Changes Everything’. She wasn't sure of the show – something Andrew Lloyd Webber – but it seemed right. She drifted off to sleep, contentment written all over her face.