Airship City

Chapter 32

IONE

She woke early, and lay in bed, feeling miserable. She hadn’t meant to lead Joseph on, her hug had just been the action of a friend. Hadn’t it? He was very attractive, there was no doubt about that, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t just be friends with him. Or maybe it did, for him. She hadn’t known that he liked her in that way, and perhaps he wouldn’t settle for anything else. In which case she had just lost a friend.

After a while she became annoyed with herself for wallowing in self-pity, and she got up and had breakfast whilst deciding what to do. She ended up phoning the hotel to ask Joseph to meet her for lunch at the Glass House, but the the hotel front desk reported that there was no reply from his room, which was odd, as it was only eight. But perhaps he had gone down for breakfast, so she left a message asking him to call her back.

By the time she was washed and dressed it was near nine o’clock, and there was still no word from Joseph, and when she phoned back, still no reply from his room. She hoped that he hadn’t returned to London.

Ione was not the sort of girl to sit around waiting for things to happen, so she decided to try tailing Clive Thornton again. There was clearly something odd going on with this Jimmy Wales. Or perhaps she should just confront Thornton and see what his reaction was.

She made her way down to Security HQ, but was told that Thornton had not yet reported in for the day. Frowning in irritation, she wondered where he could be. Then a thought occurred to her, and she left the HQ and made her way back down to the pilots’ quarters.

As she approached the door to Jimmy Wales’s room, she saw that her instinct had been correct: Thornton was standing outside, facing the open doorway. He seemed oblivious to anything other than the inside of the room, so she moved closer. This brought Jimmy himself into view, standing with his body partly shielded by the half-open door.

“I mean it, Clive,” he said. “Go away, and don’t come back. Ever.” He held himself rigidly, tension evident in every line of his body, and his fingers were white where they gripped the door.

Thornton stepped forward, stopping on the threshold, and looked at the other man imploringly.

“Please, James. Don’t do this,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. But Jimmy simply stared at him, his face hard as stone, mouth set in a thin line. Just as Ione got the first inkling that she might not have an entire understanding of what was going on in front of her, Thornton did the most extraordinary thing.

He leaned forward, grabbed Jimmy’s face in both hands, and kissed him full on the lips.

For a moment Jimmy stood motionless. Then he jerked his head back and straight-armed Thornton in the chest, who staggered backwards into the hall. Jimmy closed the door with a slam. Ione heard the sound of bolts being shot home.

Thornton continued looking at the door with a dazed expression on his face. After a few moments, he turned away, and did a double-take as he saw her.

“Ione! What are you doing here?” He drew himself up to his full height and adjusted his cap, his normal humourless expression beginning to reassert itself.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I might ask you the same question.”

“Me? Oh, I was just visiting… an old friend.”

“Oh really? Do you kiss all of your old friends, or just the ones you’re conspiring with?”

Thornton stared at her, open-mouthed, while a range of emotions vied for dominance on his face. Anger, fear, and confusion traced their paths where normally nothing but sourness showed. But then they all faded away, to be replaced by a stony blankness.