Love Rekindled: A Tom Hiddleston
Fanfiction
A/N: Hello darlings,
having been stressed out with my personal statement for university I had a
dream that I was at university, I couldn’t have told you which university it
was, although for this story I`m going to say its Southampton Solent where I
really want to go. My friend was in her room crying because she had just seen
her boyfriend kissing some girl. This was where the idea came from and I
thought why not make it as though Tom was her boyfriend and the one that kissed
the girl. It goes back from different time periods from their time at
university in 2001 to the year 2013 when Thor 2 is released. This is what I
came up with. Hope you enjoy <3
Prologue: November
2013
Sophie’s POV
I never thought I’d see him again, yet here he was strolling
down the red carpet greeting fans, smiling for photos and talking to press and
I was now one of them, working for one of the most famous film magazines in the
world: Empire.
I’d got the job a couple of years after university having to
work in a few offices before getting the job I so wanted. It was worth the wait
though, I loved my job, and it was everything I wanted and more. Not because I
got to go to all of the red carpet events and meet and interview celebrities,
but because I generally enjoyed writing and researching about the next
celebrity I’d interview so I could watch their filmography.
I couldn’t believe he was here, and so was I, and I had to
interview him! As he approached the press pen near where I was standing waiting
to interview him he looked over at me and smiled, a wide smile showing two
pearly sets of white perfect teeth. I smiled back; all these memories came
flooding back to me. Tom cheating on Charlotte
I was pulled out of my trance by a “Thankyou, Mr Hiddleston”
from an interviewer next to me. “My pleasure” Oh my god, his voice, the many a
times he sat reading and quoting Shakespeare to me. It all came flooding back.
Then I realised I had been staring at him the whole time lost in thought. He
walked over and stood in front of me. I stood admiring his gorgeous lean frame
and perfect face. Dressed in a white shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his
elbows, a back waist coat, black trousers and dress shoes and a black and blue
striped tie. His blue eyes shining, gorgeous cheekbones and lips and a few days
stubble grown around his chin and top lip. All these feelings came flooding
back.
“Hello Sophie, darling. It’s so good to see you. I knew you
could do it” he leaned over the pen and kissed my cheek. “Tom” I whispered, not
quite believing it. Quick women,
professional film journalist mode. He’s just another actor. But he’s not my
conscious screamed back. He’s Tom Hiddleston. Tom, your Tom. He smiled
pulling away. I coughed trying to regain my composure and be professional.
“Mr Hiddleston, it’s a pleasure” I smiled.
“The pleasure is all mine my dear, and please, call me Tom”
he smiled.
“Okay, Tom. You’ve played Loki twice now, first in Thor and
The Avengers, and now Thor 2, what is it like to be playing him a third time
and how has he changed since both Thor and The Avengers?”
The interview went well. After I had asked him the last
question and he’d answered I thanked him. He smiled before saying “A pleasure
darling”, he leaned across the pen again kissing my cheek and whispered in my
ear “Meet me after the film outside the main entrance, I’d love to catch up”
before kissing my cheek again and moving along the line to as yet more
interviews. I continued doing my interviews, interviewing Chris Hemsworth,
Natalie Portman and director Alan Taylor before making my way into the theatre
to watch the film with the other journalists. I couldn’t help but let my mind wonder
walking into the theatre about meeting Tom afterwards.
Tom`s POV:
I hadn’t seen Sophie since university. I never expected to
see her again, especially after I left in my second year of studying drama at Southampton to go to RADA. Yet here she was, behind the
press pen at the premiere of Thor 2. I knew she would fulfil her dream.
She lived in the same flat with me and Charlotte, my ex
girlfriend at university. I loved Sophie from the first moment I met her, but
ofcourse I couldn’t admit that to her as I was with Charlotte
Instead I done the unforgivable and ended up getting drunk
and kissing some random girl right infront of Charlotte Charlotte
Either way we didn’t
get off to a good start and we pretty much ignored each other whenever we were
in the flat together, well she ignored me anyway. I guess I couldn’t blame her.
We didn’t start getting on properly until she had to come
and write a review and interview me after my performance of playing Romeo in
the Christmas production of Romeo and Juliet. We went out to dinner afterwards
and something just clicked. Suddenly I didn’t want to be a way from her, I
never did but even more so once I got to know her properly.
We started to get closer as friends and then when welcoming
in the New Year of 2004 everything changed. I kissed her and from that moment I
knew that she liked me back. We had a relationship, hiding our relationship
behind charlottes back, I wasn’t going out with her as we broke up not long
after she saw me cheating again but still, myself and Sophie both felt as
though we had to hide out relationship, which we did pretty well, for a while.
It was all going great but then I got that letter I so longed for but the
letter that changed and wrecked everything. The letter letting me know that I
had gotten accepted to The Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts. Everything
changed after that, ofcourse I took it but broke both mine and Sophie’s hearts
in the process. We hadn’t spoken since and now here she was. I took it as
though fate was on my side and bought us back together after all these years
for a reason.
As soon as I got close enough to see it was her, my heart
leapt into my chest. I couldn’t believe she was here, Sophie, my Sophie, the
teenage girl who at the age of eighteen stole my heart, was here. She didn’t
look any different, still as beautiful as ever. All these memories came
flooding back to me, the amount of times I sat and read Shakespeare to her,
taking long walks in the park, that afternoon she gave herself to me
completely. My heart swelled at the memory.
I turned around and smiled at her, showing my set of pearly
whites. She smiled back, a tiny smile that formed on her perfect red lips. The
amount of times I had kissed those perfect lips. I longed to do it again. I
kept stealing odd glances and smiles at her throughout my interviews. She
stared at me lost in thought. Was she remembering all those memories we shared
less than eleven years ago, too?
I finally got to the journalist next to where Sophie was
standing. It was so hard to not focus on her especially as she was gauping
right at me. I answered the journalist’s questions as best I could feel two
piercing eyes staring at me in the process, not just any eyes however, the most
beautiful big green eyes I had ever seen, the eyes of Sophie Evans, my Sophie,
my love who I have never gotten over.
The journalist finally finished her questions thanking me
for my time. “My pleasure” I replied. As soon as I said that Sophie looked up
and froze. I locked eyes with her; it was as though time stood still. I walked
over to her keeping eye contact.
“Hello Sophie, darling. It’s so good to see you. I knew you
could do it” I said to her, leaning over the pen and kissing her cheek. I
probably shouldn’t have done that but it was just a natural reaction and as
though there was no one else in the world but us.
“Tom” she whispered. I smiled pulling away from her. She
coughed trying to regain her composure before addressing me. “Mr Hiddleston
it’s a pleasure” she smiled.
“The pleasure is all mine my dear, and please, call me Tom”
I smiled. I disliked being called Mr Hiddleston; especially by Sophie, it was
so formal and she never called me Mr Hiddleston, only Tom or Thomas on
occasion, especially when we used to make love. Oh how id love to make love to
her again. Tom stop that thought right
now, you haven’t seen her in years and you need to get your trust and
friendship back first before you start thinking about that.
“Okay, Tom.” She smiled. The way her name rolled off her
tongue, only Sophie could make my name sound like poetry. “You’ve played Loki
twice now, first in Thor and The Avengers, and now Thor 2, what is it like to
be playing him a third time and how has he changed since both Thor and The
Avengers?” I answered all of her questions giving fully detailed answers to
every question she asked. It was just like we were back at university and as
though she was interviewing me for the first time all those years ago.
Once she had asked and I had answered the last question she
thanked me. I smiled before saying it was a pleasure and leaning across the pen
and kissing her cheeks again before whispering in her ear for her to meet me
after the film outside the main entrance as I’d love to catch up. It was true,
I did. I longed to hear all about what she had been up to since leaving
university. I continued with my interviews just as she continued with hers. I
finally made my way into the theatre joining my other cast members including
Chris and Natalie as we sat and watched all of our hard work over the last few
months play out on screen. In the back of my mind I couldn’t help but wonder
what Sophie would think of it and about meeting her afterwards.
.Hello dears this is
just a fill in chapter and back-story to Sophie getting into Southampton .
I know Tom went to Cambridge but for this story
and as Southampton is the university I really want to go to I set it at Southampton . I unfortunately do not own Tom Hiddleston
just the story and characters of Sophie and Charlotte. Hope you enjoy. Written
for my fellow Hiddlestoners. Enjoy darlings. I love you <3
Chapter 1: February
2001
Sophie’s POV
My phone bleeped. 1
new email.UCAS: Something has been changed on your UCAS application. Shit shit, shit! Id spent ages filling
out my UCAS application, trying to get my personal statement right. I lost
count on how many drafts I had done but after about ten drafts I finally had a
decent draft I was happy with. I wanted it out of my hands and sent off before
Christmas so I didn’t have to worry about it. What’s done is done I thought.
The hardest thing about my personal statement was that I was
applying for two separate courses at five different universities and it was
rather difficult to combine both courses into my personal statement. Magazine
Journalism at Southampton Solent and Bedfordshire, Creative Writing and
Journalism at Middlesex and Creative Writing at Twickenham and Winchester
I went and looked round Southampton
and completely fell in love with the place, with the course. Everything. I knew
when I was fourteen that I wanted to go there and the course really appealed to
me. I just hoped I had done enough to get accepted.
I’d gotten offers from Middlesex and Twickenham already, I
liked the idea of being in or near London so I
could still attend my premieres even if I didn’t get into Southampton .
Plus the idea of being able to sit down Southbank and write really appealed to
me. I loved London Southampton
I would be happy to go to either of the others I had been accepted to.
I hated getting UCAS emails, my future depended on them. I
opened my UCAS track and screamed when I saw what was on my screen. Conditional offer: Southampton Solent
University Southampton Solent
University
The next few months consisted of making my final choices
accepting my place and trying to get my head round the fact that at the age of
nineteen I was going to be moving away from home, to a place I barely knew but
had fell in love with when I saw it, on my own, having to cook for myself and
fend for myself and pay my own rent and generally look after myself. Ok so I
was scared and excited at the same time, especially as I was one to get
homesick easily. Me and my mum had always been close, but even more so since I
was eleven when dad left us for a few years. I remember that time clearly in my
head.
I had just started secondary school and he wasn’t around.
That was strange. When a few of my friend’s parents split up I thought oh yeah,
it won’t happen to me, mum and dad love each other and always will. How wrong I
was. In the long run however, it’s made us closer. Mum and dad are as close as
they used to be and are still pretty much together; dad just doesn’t live with
us.
It was going to be weird saying goodbye to my childhood
friends and family and home. I’d lived in Dover
Over the next few months I made the most of the time I still
had at home by catching up with my friends, well the friends I had that still
lived in or near Dover London studying Film and Television
Studies, Sophie was at Bournemouth studying Public Relations while Megan stayed
local in Canterbury
The good thing about going to Southampton
would be that I would be near Sophie if I needed her if I got homesick. Me and
Sophie were alike, in many ways than one. Aswell as having the same name, we
were both really close to our parents, as was Lucy but with Lucy being the
oldest out of the four of us at twenty one she seemed to settle in rather
quickly.
September soon approached and in a couple of weeks I’d be at
Southampton Solent studying the degree that I’d been dreaming of for five years
in hope of getting a career as a magazine journalist. Over the next few weeks I
got the last minute essentials that I would need including silly things like toiletries,
bedding and kitchen utensils.
The day id been dreading and couldn’t wait for had arrived.
September 23rd, the day I was moving to Southampton
to university. We got an early start
packing up everything in the car ready to leave for nine in the morning to get
there for twelve and start moving my stuff in.
When I found out my flat building and number I started
adding people in my flat and course on Facebook to get to know them beforehand.
I found that I would be sharing a flat with a couple of girls, Charlotte and
Emma and a boy called Tom. Me and Charlotte got talking and swapped numbers so
we could text each other on our way there and when we arrived to meet up once
our families had left.
I text her when I was halfway there letting her know where I
was and that I was nervous and excited and that I couldn’t wait to meet her.
She too, like me was a huge film fan and would be studying Film while at Southampton . I liked the idea of hanging about in each
others flats or in the common room watching films and having a gossip. I had a
feeling that me and Charlotte were going to be as close as me and Lucy are. I
was right, even now after all that’s happened were still friends.
We arrived at about half eleven and started unpacking my
stuff. My room was small but had the essentials I needed, bed, desk, pin board
and en-suite with a toilet and sink. It wasn’t like I was going to be in my
room much anyway I’d most likely be in the library doing work.
Me, mum and dad went out to lunch as mum wanted to make sure
I’d eaten before her and dad left me on my own. I was starting to get teary as
soon as I got there. Knowing that they would be leaving me in a few hours was
horrible. Although I was only a few hours away it was going to be weird not
being in the same house as mum anymore, her not being there if I needed her. We
had a nice lunch before walking through the park and back to my flat.
When we arrived back mum and dad said that they had better
get going to dodge the traffic as it was nearing five already and they wouldn’t
get home till about eight. I didn’t want them to leave. Tears were starting to
prick at my eyes. I may be an adult and nineteen but there was never going to
be a time when I didn’t need my mum and dad.
My mum pulled me into a hug as the tears started to fall
from both of our cheeks.
“Were both so proud of you remember that. We love you and
always will and will support you no matter what”.
“As long as you’re doing what makes you happy we will always
support you” said my dad.
“Thankyou for everything, I love you both so much”
“We love you too” they both said in unison,
“If you ever need us then were on the other end of the
phone” I smiled letting my dad join in the hug. We stood like that for a good
few minutes before dad pulled away saying they had to go. We had our last hugs
before they left and as I closed the door I realised that this was it. I now
felt like an official adult, and let me tell you, I was scared, nervous and
excited as hell.
Tom`s POV
Myself and Charlotte had met during our last few years of
sixth form at school. Charlotte
I wasn’t very popular at school nor was I one of the good
looking boys; I had a goofy smile and blonde curly hair. No one would ever
fancy me. I always used to crack jokes between my group of friends to lighten
the mood. Charlotte
She finally agreed and we went out to dinner and enjoyed
each others company. We then began to see more of each other. She was a really
nice girl. We began dating shortly afterwards and did until we finished sixth
form.
We broke up for a while once we left school thinking we
wouldn’t seen each other again. Little did we know that we had both applied and
would both get into Southampton Solent University ,
myself to study Drama whilst Charlotte
I originally applied for The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts but
didn’t get past the audition process because I wasn’t what they were after that
year. I was gutted but they informed me that I would be kept on their records
and a letter would be sent to me if I got offered a place next year.
I was gutted but applied for five different universities
anyway, Southampton being one of them and my
first choice. I didn’t realise that Charlotte
We were both really excited and really hoped that we’d still
be as close as we were at school. I was looking forward to moving from Oxford to Southampton .
I’d grown up in Oxford
Mum and dad divorced when I was thirteen, I was studying at Eton at the time and I took it really badly but threw
myself into acting to take my mind off it.
This chapter is more
where the story begins and the relationship between Sophie and Tom really
forms. I hope you enjoy <3
Chapter 2: December
2001
Sophie’s POV
I couldn’t believe I had almost completed my first term at Southampton . The course was absolutely amazing and I’d
made some incredible friends on both my course and in my flat. Me and Charlotte
immediately became the best of friends cooking our dinner and doing our laundry
together.
Charlotte was the same age as me and was originally from Oxford,
like our flatmate, Tom who she had been dating a few years before coming to
university, they had both put down to study at Southampton, Charlotte to study Film,
while Tom, Drama both not thinking they would get their places let alone be in
the same flat together. Tom treated her exactly as a boy should treat his girl,
a complete gentleman. We all got along well in our flat, until the Halloween
party in October.
October 2001
As it was Halloween we decided to throw a Halloween party in
our flat. Many people from our courses and in the Kimber building came. The
drinks were flowing and everyone was enjoying themselves. Tom stayed with Charlotte
I wasn’t one for drinking but I enjoyed socialising and
dancing. After a couple of hours and a few drinks I headed back to my room telling
Charlotte that I’d be in my room if she needed me as I had a deadline to meet
within the next few days.
I’d just set up my
laptop and opened my notebook to begin typing up my essay when Charlotte
“Charlotte
“It’s…Tom” she said tears streaming down her face.
“What about him?” I asked
“I…I just saw him…kissing another girl” she said between
sobs. I was going to kill him! No one
treated one of my closest friends like that. Jerk. “I don’t understand,
he’s been with you the whole evening, why...why would he kiss another girl?”
We spent the rest of the evening talking and watching
Bridesmaids. Needless to say none of my work got done that evening but I didn’t
care. Charlotte
Tom tried to talk to me the next day. I was just making a
cup of tea to take with me to my lecture when Tom came into the kitchen dressed
in dark jeans and a blue t shirt.
“Morning Soph” he said cheerily. He had a cheek.
`Morning Soph` really Tom?
You really expect me to talk to you
and be all civilised with you after what you’ve done to Charlotte
“I didn’t mean to I was drunk, I`m so so sorry Sophie” he
pleaded with puppy dog eyes. Was he
really pulling the puppy eyes on me? Really? It may work for Charlotte
“Tom, you
shouldn’t be apologising to me, you should be apologising to Charlotte
“Soph”
“No, Tom. I have to get to class, talk to Charlotte
I came back to the flat after my lecture to find that Charlotte
It was weird for a while in our flat after that incident. We
all remained friends however as we didn’t want to make it awkward and cause
more arguments. Even if I still hadn’t forgiven Tom for what he did to Charlotte I was still civil with him for Charlotte
Tom`s POV
As soon as I saw Sophie Evans I fell in love. She was one of
my flat mates along with Charlotte Charlotte
We decided to throw a Halloween party in our flat inviting anyone
who wanted to come. The night started off fine, everyone was having a great
time. I spent the evening with Charlotte
The drinks were flowing and by the time it hit half ten I
had had quite a few to drink and was quite drunk. I tended to be more
affectionate towards people when I was drunk. Charlotte usually didn’t mind me
kissing and showing her affection in public which is why I was shocked when I
began kissing her and she kissed me back but then pulled away when my hand
moved to her bum. She pulled away and we ended up getting into a huge argument.
It started off with the fact that I had started kissing her in public which was
silly as she didn’t usually mind it, it then turned into this huge row about
how we had barely seen each other since being at university and that I never
said I loved her anymore. I shouted and she got upset and went outside to get
some fresh air.
We’d never had this big of an argument before and I would
usually go out and be the one to apologise. Yes, I was in the wrong but for
some reason I didn’t want to make up with her. Instead I done what any other
boy would have done, well what any other foolish boy would have done anyway,
have another beer and kiss a random girl.
The only problem is you’re not meant to get caught or even
do it in the first place. Charlotte
I woke up with a banging head ache the next morning barely
remembering anything until I read a text from Charlotte
I can’t believe you
done that to me after 3 years together, you go and cheat on me, you said you
were different, you’re clearly not. Were over. Finished. Don’t talk to me again.
Shit, shit shit. What the hell had I done? It didn’t take
long for me to realise what a complete and utter ass id been, kissing some
random girl I didn’t know- right infront of Charlotte
When I finally pulled myself together I slung on a pair of
jeans a light blue t shirt and went into the kitchen to grab a class of water
and some paracetomal.
I walked into the kitchen and saw Sophie at the counter
pouring hot water into a travel cup. She looked so pretty dressed in a pair of
black leggings, purple skirt and black t shirt her brown wavy hair down to her
shoulders.
“Morning Soph” I said cheerily. I could tell that Charlotte
`Morning Soph` she said sarcastically “really Tom? You really
expect me to talk to you and be all civilised with you after what you’ve done
to Charlotte
“I didn’t mean to I was drunk, I`m so so sorry Sophie” I
pleaded with puppy dog eyes. I hated to know that Sophie was upset with me more
than Charlotte Charlotte
“Tom, you
shouldn’t be apologising to me, you should be apologising to Charlotte
“But... Soph” I stuttered.
“No, Tom. I have to get to class, talk to Charlotte, I wont
forgive you until she does” she walked out the door without looking back. I
stayed in the kitchen for a while nursing a terrible headache. Great, now I had
upset both my girlfriend and the girl I was falling for within the space of a
night. Great one Tom, just brilliant! Well Done!
After lounging in my room and taming my headache I finally
text Charlotte Charlotte
For some reason however, I couldn’t remain happy with her
for long, I think we had just begun to drift apart and thought we’d maybe be
better off as just friends which I agreed with after yet another long argument
about me cheating on her again. I really don’t know why I cheated twice, I
really wasn’t one to cheat normally, I believed that you should be faithful to
your girlfriend. If I was faithful then why the hell couldn’t I get Sophie out
of my head? We were friends but we never saw eye to eye, especially after that
incident. We were all civil however as we didn’t want it to be awkward between
us.
December 2001:
Sophie’s POV
Being a magazine journalism student I was expected to go and
review the universities Christmas production and interview the leads of the
show afterwards.
This year it was Romeo and Juliet and guess who was the lead
as Romeo? Only Tom Hiddleston. Urgh I sighed when I got told that. I still
hadn’t forgiven him for what he had done to Charlotte
Can’t I just pretend that it isn’t Tom playing Romeo and
pretend its someone else? I need to be professional and write a high standard
review but I can’t with that idiot playing the lead. I tried my best to write
as many positive comments and points as I could about it. Romeo and Juliet was
one of my favourite Shakespeare plays along with Henry V and here he was as the
lead, he was good I had to admit but why did he have to be such a jerk in real
life? Urgh.
I guess I had to suck it up and treat him as any normal
actor. I only wished I didn’t know him as personally as I did.
After the performance I went backstage ready to interview
him, he was back wearing his normal clothes, a pair of dark jeans and a light blue
t shirt with some sort of writing on rather than his leather costume, his curly
blonde hair all over the place crossed legged on a chair waiting for me to come
over.
The interview went well, I was professional enough. The
performance had made me realise how good of an actor he actually was, his
performance was enjoyable and he made me fall in love with his portrayal of
Romeo, more than I had with Leonardo Dicaprio and that’s saying something. It
seemed Tom was born to be an actor, especially Shakespeare as in a few years
time I would fall in love with him all over again with his portrayal of Henry
IV and Henry V in the BBC version of The Hollow Crown.
Why did I have this
strange feeling in the pit of my stomach? Maybe it was because his performance
had moved me a bit. Surely I wasn’t feeling something for Tom in real life, was
I? No, ofcourse not, this can’t happen.
After we had finished Tom asked if I wanted to grab
something to eat before heading back to the flat. I agreed purely because I was
hungry and needed to eat before going back to write up my review and transcribe
my interview.
We came out of the drama theatre and walked side by side
into town Tom with his hands in his jeans pocket. We had a quick bite at pizza
hut before walking back to the flat.
Over dinner I realised I didn’t actually know that much
about him, even though i`d been living with him for the past few months. I
didn’t really get to see him as he’d always been with Charlotte
“So how did you get into acting?” I asked casually. He
looked up from his pizza and smiled.
“Well my parents divorced when I was thirteen, I was in my
final year at Eton and I turned to drama for
comfort and ive loved it ever since. I can’t imagine myself doing anything
else. I`m really hoping doing drama here at Southampton
will give me my break you know? What about you?”
“Same as you really, I’ve always written with having to do
English and everything but I didn’t consider it as a career until I had two
poems published in year nine and when my parents split up I turned to writing
and wrote all my feelings and emotions down rather than having to talk about
it. The journalism passion came in through watching TV programmes such as
Gilmore Girls and I took media at GCSE and completely fell in love with the
subject and creating magazine articles and layouts. I then studied Media
Production at college and realised that this was what I wanted to do”. Why was I telling him this, he didn’t need
to know my life story. Because he asked you, my consciences yelled back and
look at him he’s listening intently to everything you’re saying. I looked
up and my conscience was right he was listening
intently to everything I was saying.
“You sound like you have a real passion for it, darling, I
have faith that you will become the magazine journalist you wish to be.” I
blushed. Did he really just complement
me? Oh my god what are these feelings im experiencing. Push them back down. You do not feel anything for him. You don’t. You can’t.
After dinner and once we had finished discussing our
families and hopes for the future we walked back to our flat and said our
goodbyes and goodnights. I went to bed feeling happy with my review and
interview but confused about my feelings for Tom. I really couldn’t wait till
Christmas. I was ready to go home and spend some time with my family.
Luckily enough for me Christmas was just around the corner
and a few weeks later we were saying our goodbyes and have a good Christmases
agreeing to all be back before New Years so we could bring in the New Year
together.
Tom`s POV
I was ecstatic when I got the role of Romeo in the Christmas
production of Romeo and Juliet. Growing up it was one of my favourite
Shakespeare plays. Being in the productions at Southampton
gave me and the other performers a chance to act on a real stage infront of an
audience and get critiqued at the same time.
It was the job of the magazine journalism students to write
a review and interview the actors afterwards to give them an idea of what it
would be like out in the real world, Sophie was one them. I wanted to give the
best performance I could so I could impress Sophie and get a good review. I
really liked her.
The performance went well and I had great fun being up on
that stage, it felt like home and where I belonged. I only hoped Sophie liked
it. I couldn’t wait to see what she thought and what her verdict was.
After the performance I got changed out of my Shakespearean
outfit back into my dark jeans and a light blue t shirt and went and sat cross
legged in a chair waiting for Sophie to come over and interview me.
Sophie seemed to enjoy it and mentioned one or twice that my
performance of Romeo was even better than Leonardo Dicaprio`s which I ofcourse
took as a compliment. She did a great job of interviewing me, asking a lot of
questions about the role and why I was drawn to it etc.
Once the interview was over I asked her if she wanted to
grab a bite to eat before heading back to the flat. She agreed and we set off
out the drama theatre and into town to Pizza Hut before walking back to the
flat.
Dinner was lovely and gave me a chance to get to know her a
bit better. I found out about her family, that she was an only child and that
her parents had split up when she had just started secondary school. We had
that in common. I also found out why she wanted to become a journalist and that
she was inspired from programmes such as Gilmore Girls in which the main
character became a journalist. I told her about my parents divorce and how
acting was my escape and a bit about my sisters. It was nice to be able to talk
to her and I think she thought it was nice too.
After we had eaten we took a slow walk back to the flat
saying our goodbyes and goodnights as she had to write her review and
transcribe the interview before she went to bed. I liked her even more now I
knew a bit more about her and her childhood.
I went back to my room and had a shower and done a bit of reading before
going to sleep and dreaming of a little girl with brown hair and bright green
eyes.
Chapter 3:
November 2013
Sophie’s POV
Tom`s portrayal of Loki in Thor 2 was once again absolutely
incredible, he played him with such passion, just like he did with all of his
other characters.
After the film had finished I filed out of the cinema with
all the other journalists. My friend Emily who worked for Total Film asked if I
wanted to go for a drink. I politely declined saying I was meeting a friend for
dinner.
“You’re meeting Tom, aren’t you? She asked.
“N...no” I stammered. I looked down trying to hide my face.
“Come on Soph, i`ve known you for a good few years and even
though you haven’t told me about Tom, I know that you knew each other before,
please, it was so obvious by the way he looked at you and the way you looked at
him. Go have fun and I want a full report when I next see you.” she smiled. I
smiled back hugging her.
“Thanks Em”.
I gradually made my way out of the cinema to find Tom
waiting for me at the entrance. His face lit up when he saw me, a huge smile
that reached his gorgeous blue eyes appearing on his face. I smiled back
walking over to see him.
“Hello, darling” he said kissing both my cheeks and bringing
me into his embrace. I hugged him back. “Tom-Tom” I whispered. I took in this
moment, the feeling of his arms wrapped securely around my back and the smell
of his Armani aftershave and smell of Tom I loved so much. How I’d missed him
so.
“I’ve missed you, Sophie, darling”
“I’ve missed you too, Tom-Tom”
And it was true, I didn’t quite realise how much I’d missed
him until I saw him again and was back in his arms. I often thought about him
but for some strange reason didn’t think about texting or calling him. But then
he hadn’t called or text me either. We were both so busy recently that we
actually hadn’t had a chance to keep in contact. It had been non stop for both
of us, well it was for me anyway, constantly having to transcribe interviews
and watch films and write articles. It seemed Tom had been busy too by the
amount of films he had starred in and how famous he had gotten since we left
university.
We broke from the embrace Tom holding me at arms length.
“You look beautiful, darling you haven’t changed one bit, maybe become more
beautiful and successful but you haven’t changed as a person”. I smiled.
“Neither have you, although you’ve maybe become a famous actor and more
taller”. I laughed. He laughed too his ehehe that was so infectious.
“So how does dinner sound, my dear?”
“Perfect, I`m starving”. He offered me his arm. I took it
without hesitation as we walked along the streets of London
After a bit of roaming around we settled on an Italian
restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden . A
quite place with Italian music playing in the background. It was at times like
this that I loved London
The waitress recognised Tom when we walked in but didn’t say
anything thinking he wanted his privacy. The waitress led us over to a table near
the back of the restaurant so we weren’t to be disturbed.
Tom pulled out my chair for me allowing me to sit before walking
round to the other side of the table and sitting down. The waitress passed us
our menus and asked what we wanted to drink. Tom ordered a bottle of Moet
champagne as he said we were celebrating. I smiled remembering seeing the
pictures of him at the tennis finals a year ago with a glass of Moet and
pudding in his hand. I laughed.
“What’s so funny, darling” he asked. I smiled.
“Oh…nothing I just remembered some pictures I saw of you a
year ago with a glass of Moet and pudding in your hand” I said.
“Ah... So you’ve been keeping tabs on me have you?” he asked
his big blue eyes boring into my green ones.
“Erm…well” I stuttered. “It’s a little hard not to when you’re
now this big movie star” he laughed. “I`m just joking with you, darling” he
smiled. I smiled back. The waitress came back over carrying a tray with a
bottle of Moet and two champagne glasses on. She put them down and smiled
before getting out her notepad and pen and taking our order of spaghetti
bologonse for me and a cheese and tomato pizza for Tom before leaving us to it.
Tom picked up the bottle of Moet cracking it open, some of
it spilling on the floor in the process. He laughed “Thomas” I scolded a smirk
on my face. “Oopsies” he said laughing, throwing his head back and sticking his
tongue out. He thought it was so funny that he almost spilled the whole bottle
over the floor. I had to take it from him before he’d wasted god knows how much
money on some champagne we hadn’t even drunk. I took it from him filling the
glasses with the fizzy liquid. I put the bottle down and went to take a sip but
Tom stopped me putting a hand on my wrist. “Wait, we need to make a toast.”
“Why, what is it were celebrating?” I asked.
“That were back in each others lives, is that ok darling? He
asked”
“Ofcourse, Tom” I answered a big smile forming on my face.
“To being back in each others lives” he toasted.
“To being back in each others lives” I agreed clinking our
glasses together and taking a sip. We both smiled knowing that it both meant a
lot to one another to be back in one another’s company.
Conversation flowed over dinner as it always had. It was as
though we hadn’t been away from each other and just picked up from where we
left off more than twelve years ago.
Tom told me all about his acting career and RADA and how he
started doing small television roles before landing his big break thanks to
Kenneth Branagh in Wallander. He told me all about what it was like to work
with all these amazing actors and directors including Woody Allen and Stephen
Spielberg, how much he loved what he did and how much of a joy it was when he
got the role of Prince Hal and Henry V in the TV series of The Hollow Crown. I
knew how much that meant to him as it meant a lot to be me too, especially as
it was one of my favourite Shakespeare plays and when he got the role in the
university production of the play I rehearsed his lines with him. That was also
the afternoon I gave myself to Tom completely, the afternoon I gave him my
heart and became his. A single tear rolled down my face at the memory. Tom
leaned across the table and wiped my tear away. He must have been remembering
it too. I admitted to him that I had seen all of his work and how much he’d
grown up since university. He’d grown up into the most handsome talented actor
I had ever known. I was so proud of him.
Our dinner arrived while he was talking about his role in
The Hollow Crown. We exchanged pleasantries about how nice both of our meals
were and allowed the conversation to slow as we enjoyed our food. A comfortable
silence. Even after all these years we could just sit and enjoy each others
company without having to fill it with conversation.
We continued our conversation half through our meal with Tom
asking about my job at Empire and my writing. I told him about the office jobs
after leaving uni and how much I longed to be a journalist.
I kept applying for
magazine jobs and not getting them but I got a call from Empire a few years
later saying that my name had been kept on record from when I done my two week
work placement with them whilst at Southampton and that there was a job open if
I wanted to apply.
I applied expecting
not to hear anything but got an interview and the job purely based on my
degree. Now with a job at Empire it gave me the opportunity to fulfil my other
dream of going to live in London Dover
to London as I’d moved back home once finishing
uni as there were no jobs in Southampton . Dover
Even though the job
at Empire was just a runner job I was still happy to be in a magazine office,
even if it was just a job that involved getting people coffee and sorting the
mail I still felt like I’d made it as I knew in this industry you had to get
your foot in the door and work your way up. That’s exactly what I did.
I kept writing in my spare time and once id been there a few
months I asked my editor to look at my writing. She did. She said it was good
and to keep writing and that she would see if I could go to the next premiere
that they were covering and shadow one of the journalists.
I got the opportunity to attend the premiere of Never Let Me
Go in 2010 starring Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield. That
was a big moment for me, I mean I’d been to loads of premieres in my spare time
but this was completely different. This time I was behind the journalist pen
rather than the fan pen. At every premiere I went to I would look across at the
press pen at all the journalists getting ready to interview the actors that
walked the carpet and thought how much I wanted to do that and now I could.
Well almost, being behind the pen was a start even if I wasn’t allowed to
interview as of yet.
I also got to watch the film and had the responsibility of
writing a review about the film to be put up online. This became a regular
occurrence and I soon worked my way up writing regular features and articles
for the magazine and online, attending the film premieres and getting the
opportunity to do my own interviews. I’d achieved my dream and running into Tom
made it even better.
Tom listened intently the whole time I was talking about my
work just like I had with his. We both generally found each others work
fascinating.
We’d finished our food by the time
I finished talking. “Sorry, I feel like Ive talked too much, you probably
didn’t need to know every single detail.” Tom took my hand across the table. I
forgot how nice his hands felt in mine. All these feelings came back. “Don’t
apologise darling, it has been lovely to catch up with you and you’ve done so
much and achieved your dream just like I knew you would. You always were so
passionate about film and journalism and now you’ve achieved what you set out
to do all those years ago. Im so proud of you Sophie, darling”. Tom brought my
hand to his lips kissing my knuckles. I smiled. “Thankyou, Tom you have no idea
how much that means, you always told me not to give up on it so I really have
you to thank for not allowing me too. I`m proud of you too, Tom, you’ve worked
so hard and with every performance you talent shines through even more than the
last.” Tom grinned. “Bless you for saying that, darling, truly, that means so
much”.
The waitress came back over and cleared our plates asking if
we wanted desert. Tom`s face lit up, as it always did when pudding or desert
was mentioned. We ordered a tiramisu to share. Not long after the waitress
bought it over and we tucked in. I took a mouthful and Tom laughed his ehehe.
“What is it, Tom? What’s so funny?” I asked him.
“Darling, are you saving that bit for later, you seem to
have some on the side of your lip.” How
embarrassing! I wiped it with my hand but Tom laughed again. “Guessing I
didn’t get it?” he laughed.
“Here darling, allow me”. I smiled. Tom got up from his
chair and walked round to where I was sitting. He kneeled down in front of me
placing his left hand on my left cheek moving his thumb over to where the
tiramisu was on my lip and wiping it off. I automatically closed my eyes and
leaned into his touch forgetting where I was. How could something that simple
be so sexy? Maybe because its Tom`s hand
said my conscious. Tom coughed. I opened my eyes and saw him looking from
my lips to my eyes. He done this for a few minutes. Does he want to kiss me? Do I make a move? Tom’s eyes slowly
closed, as did mine. He leant in and placed a soft kiss on my lips. “Ive missed
you Sophie, so much. I didn’t quite realise how much until I saw you this
evening. I`m so sorry I left you to go to RADA.” He let his hand fall into his
lap and looked up at me a sad expression on his face before looking down at the
floor. Oh, Tom, my poor Tom, it was my
fault as much as yours we just drifted apart, we were both so busy but both of
our dreams have bought us back to each other.
“Tom, look at me” his eyes stayed glued to the floor. My
hand went to the side of his face cupping it in my hand. “Tom, look at me” I
repeated again. He finally looked at me. “You can’t be sorry for leaving me and
fulfilling your dream and going to RADA. It wasn’t your fault that we didn’t
keep in contact, it was neither of our faults, we just both drifted apart and
both became so busy, well you did anyway but just think if we hadn’t drifted
apart then our dreams and careers wouldn’t have bought us back to each other.”
“Yes, but we could have had so much longer together if I
hadn’t have gone to RADA, we could have been married with children by now.
“But if we hadn’t have broken up and you gone to RADA then
we wouldn’t have had time to grown as people and we would have argued because
you would have been away a lot and it wouldn’t have worked because you was here
and I was back in Dover so im glad we met again tonight.”
“I am too, darling but-“
“No, Tom, no buts, we need to live in the moment and in the
future, not in the past and what could have been, ok?” he smiled. “Ok”
Tom gave me once last kiss on my lips before pulling away,
walking back round to his side of the table, sitting down and continuing eating
the tiramisu. It was just like old times, it was nice to be back in his
presence. I had missed him terribly.
We finished our pudding and the waitress came over to
collect our plates. I pulled out my purse ready to pay my half but Tom was
having none of it, saying it was on him as he hadn’t seen me in so long. I
tried to argue but he took my purse from me, saying he wasn’t going to give it
back until we got out of the restaurant.
Tom put down the amount that needed to be paid along with a
tip on the table for the waitress to collect who came back over a few minutes
later to collect the money with a piece of paper and pen in her hand. “Im sorry
to disturb you Mr Hiddleston but would I be able to have your autograph? I
didn’t want to disturb you during the evening and I’d kick myself later if I
didn’t atleast ask”. She smiled.
“Ofcourse, it would be my pleasure and bless you for not
disturbing us, it really is much appreciated. Who am I signing it to?” Tom
asked the girl.
“Louise” said the waitress.
Tom signed the napkin out to her before handing it back
along with the money for the meal and tip. She smiled. “Thankyou so much Mr
Hiddleston, have a lovely evening” “Thankyou, and you” replied Tom. She took
the money and left.
“Ready to go, Soph?” he asked.
“Sure am” I smiled. Tom grabbed his suit jacket off the back
of his chair and slipped it on. He then walked round to my side of the table
offering me his arm and handing me back my purse. I took both allowing him to
escort me out of the restaurant.
With it being mid November it was beginning to get cold and
I didn’t think to bring a coat with me as we were only allowed minimum items
behind the pen and I thought that I was going to get straight in a taxi after
the film so didn’t think of bringing one with me. I was dressed in a black
dress that ended just near my knee, black tights and black flats with a red
cardigan over the top, my long brown hair tied up in a ponytail. We were
required to wear black while on the carpet so we couldn’t stand out from any of
the stars. The cold hit me as soon as we got outside. I shivered. Tom looked at
me and automatically removed his jacket tucking it snugly around my shoulders.
I smiled looking up at him. “Thankyou Tom-Tom”.
“You’re welcome, darling, wouldn’t want you catching a cold
now would we?” he smiled taking my hand in his and walking along the streets of
London
“I`m so glad you was there tonight and that you got to
interview me darling, I knew you could do it” I smiled.
“It was an honour to get to interview you, just like back at
uni. Do you remember?” You’re not meant
to be talking about the past, what happened to thinking in the present and
about the future rather than the present?
“Ofcourse I
remember darling, I couldn’t forget any of my memories with you. You’ve gotten
much better at interviewing though, not stumbling over your words as much” I
smiled.
“Thankyou, you’ve gotten to be a better actor too, not
saying you weren’t amazing back then, you were but now that you’ve grown up
you’ve gotten so much better. It was nice to be able to interview you then and
interview you now to know that you haven’t let the fame go to your head and
that you’re still so down to earth. I forgot to ask you, how’s Diana and James
and Emma and Sarah? You used to talk about them a lot back then and I realised
that I haven’t seen them in ages either.”
“There well, Sarah now lives in India London ,
dad at Westminster and mum here in Covent Garden , im sure they’d love to see you again. They
often ask about you, you know” I smiled at that. I loved Tom’s parents and
sisters. They were so lovely. He invited me round there a few times while we
were at university.
By now we were walking near Trafalgar Square London
“Southbank” I replied.
“Ah, you always did like Southbank, didn’t you?” I smiled at
the fact that he remembered after all these years.
“I did, and still do”. I smiled. “It’s handy because it’s
near the office too and where all the premieres are so if I don’t want to go
out to the after party after I can just go home. Which I often do, im not one
for partying”
“You never were” Tom commented.
“You weren’t either, really though, were you?” I replied.
That was one of the many things we had in common.
“No, I never have been, I mean ive had to go to a few
because it was the cast of one of the films I had made but I often prefer not
too” Tom missed out on one of his cast
parties to spend time with me.
“You missed out on the Thor 2 after party tonight and it was
all because of me, now I feel bad.” I stopped walking. Tom stopped too looking
down at me.
“Sophie, don’t feel bad, yes I was going to go but then I
saw you and I wanted to spend some time with you, catch up with you, on your
own and if we had went then I wouldn’t have seen you and been able to do this”
he leaned down and brushed a strand of hair that fallen from my ponytail out of
my eye before placing a soft kiss on my lips. Before I knew what I was doing my
hands fell around his neck playing with the curls at the back of his neck
deepening the kiss. He smiled kissing me back with as much passion as he could
muster. I moaned into his mouth. One of his hands travelled down to my waist
while the other rested on my cheek. We pulled away after a while catching our
breath. I moaned at the loss of contact. He rested his forehead against mine. “Ive missed you so much Sophie” he whispered.
“Ive missed you too, Tom-Tom, so much. We both smiled. Tom gave me one last
kiss before taking my hand and escorting me back home.
When we arrived at my door he asked when he could see me
again. I said that I worked everyday from 9-5 but was free in the evenings and
on weekends. We swapped numbers again as we had both changed phones and numbers
since university and he gave me a long passionate kiss before turning round and
walking back down the road.
I unlocked the door and went into the house going straight
upstairs and putting my pyjamas on before going downstairs taking my phone out
of my bag, going into the kitchen and making myself a cup of tea and going into
the living room to cuddle up infront of the TV.
I checked my phone. A message from Tom:
Thankyou for a lovely
evening Sophie darling. It was so lovely to see you after all this time. I look
forward to seeing you again soon. Sweet Dreams. All my love. T xxx
I smiled rereading the message a few times before typing a
quick reply how lovely it was to see him too and that he can text me whenever
he likes to arrange to meet up again before switching off the TV and going
upstairs to bed. I went to bed happier than I had in a long time.
Tom`s POV
All the hard work and time spent getting in and out of my
Loki costume had once again paid off as the cinema full of journalists erupted
in the sound of applause. This was one of the main reasons I did what I did. It
was truly an amazing feeling to know that the audience enjoyed the film you had
spent months working so hard on. It was moments like these I was truly
grateful. The Lord in heaven bless thee indeed.
It meant even more to know that Sophie was one of those many
journalists applauding me, her opinion always meant a lot to me, even after all
of these years.
The cast and journalists all began to file out of the
cinema. Alan Taylor, the director took us all to one side to congratulate us on
our performances and to thank us for all of our hard work.
Once Alan had given us praise I walked out of the cinema
into the foyer with Chris. “You going to the after party mate?” he asked me.
“Not tonight, mate, I`m meeting Sophie.” I couldn’t help the
smile that appeared on my face when I thought of her.
“Ah, so you’re blowing me, your brother, off for some women
you had some history with during university? Chris asked me. “You still haven’t
told me the full story but I can tell she means something to you by the way you
looked at her when you saw her behind the press pen. She must be special if
you’re blowing me and you other cast mates off to spend the night with her”
Chris replied in his Australian accent. Oh
she is Chris, if only you knew her as I knew her.
“Mate, you know
I’d love to spend the evening partying with you and everyone but I want to
spend time with Sophie, too, catch up with her.” I replied apologetically.
“Tom, brother I`m just playing with you. Go and have fun
with your girl, you owe me a beer to discuss this girl of yours at some point
though” I laughed. “Cheers brother” I replied patting him on the back and
saying goodbye to the rest of the cast before heading to meet Sophie outside
the entrance of the cinema.
Sophie came out of the cinema a few minutes later. My face
lit up as soon as I saw her, a huge smile plastered on my face. She looked
beautiful dressed in a simple black dress, a red cardigan over the top to
contrast the black, paired with thin black tights and shoes, her hair tied back
in a loose ponytail just like it always used to be. She smiled back walking
over to me.
“Hello darling” I greeted her kissing both her cheeks
bringing her into an embrace. She hugged me back. “Tom-Tom” she whispered. I
smiled. I didn’t let anyone else call me that, only Sophie, I was her Tom-Tom.
The way my name fell from her lips was beautiful. Pure poetry. She smelled
heavenly, a hint of mint mixed in with her strawberry shampoo and Sophie smell.
“I’ve missed you, Sophie darling” I told her. I’d missed her
so much; I couldn’t quite believe she was here, back in my arms after all these
years.
“I’ve missed you too Tom-Tom” she replied. That alone was
music to my ears, to know that she had missed me as much as I had missed her
was enough.
I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt forming in the pit of
my stomach however. It was my fault that our relationship ended, if I hadn’t
gone to RADA then we could have still been together, even thinking about a
wedding. Oh to marry her and be a father
to her children. How beautiful that would be. I pushed the thought out of
my mind not wanting her to see me upset.
I broke from the embrace holding her at arms length. “You
look beautiful, darling, you haven’t changed one bit. Maybe become more
beautiful and successful but you haven’t changed as a person” she smiled before
replying “Neither have you, although you’ve maybe become a famous actor and
gotten taller. She laughed. Oh how I had missed her laugh, one of the most
beautiful sounds in the world. I laughed with her. “So, how does dinner sound
my dear?” I asked her offering her my arm.
“Perfect, I`m starving” she replied taking my arm without
hesitation as we walked along the streets of London
We finally settled on an Italian restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden , a quiet place with beautiful music playing
in the background.
I had a feeling the waitress recognised me as we walked in
as she smiled at me and led us over to a table near the back of the restaurant
as though not to be disturbed. I’d had a few fan encounters in the past where
my dinner got interrupted with people asking for photos and autographs when
really all I wanted was to enjoy a nice meal, so it was nice that the waitress
took that into consideration.
I pulled Sophie’s chair out for her, allowing her to sit before
walking round to the other side of the table, sitting opposite her. The
waitress passed us our menus and asked what we wanted to drink. Seeing as it
was a special occasion I thought we’d celebrate with a bottle of Moet
champagne. Sophie laughed at this. I couldn’t quite understand why. “What’s so
funny darling?” I asked her. She smiled. “Oh, nothing. I just remembered some
pictures I saw of you a year ago with a glass of Moet and pudding in your hand”
she replied. I chuckled at the memory. That was a great evening, id been to
watch the tennis final at the 02 and pictures had been taken of me with a
bottle of Moet in my hand.
“Ah... So you’ve been keeping tabs on me have you?” I asked
getting lost in her beautiful green eyes.
“Erm…well” she stuttered.” It’s a little hard not to when
you’re now this big movie star” she commented. I laughed at the look on her
face, so serious.
“I`m just joking with
you, darling” I smiled. She smiled back. The waitress came back over carrying a
tray with a bottle of Moet and two champagne glasses on. She put them down and
smiled before getting out her notepad and pen and taking our order of a cheese
and tomato pizza for me and spaghetti bolognaise for Sophie before leaving us
to it.
I picked up the bottle of Moet cracking it open, some of it
spilling on the floor in the process. I laughed “Thomas” she scolded a smirk on
her face. The way she pronounced my full name. I hadn’t heard her say it like
that since the last time I made love to her all those years ago, her moans and
whimpers filling the room. The way she begged me to stay with her and not go to
RADA. Oh my darling girl. She had no idea the effect she still had on me. I had
to make a joke about it and laugh in order to stop the thoughts that were
forming in my head from all those years ago still as clear as they day they
happened.
“Oopsies” I said laughing, throwing my head back and
sticking my tongue out. It really wasn’t that funny but as soon as I started
laughing I could stop causing myself to almost spill the whole bottle over the
floor. Sophie took the bottle from me filling the glasses with the fizzy
liquid. She put the bottle down and went to take a sip but I stopped her
placing my hand on her wrist “Wait, we need to make a toast.”
“Why, what is it were celebrating?” she asked.
“That were back in each others lives, is that ok darling?” I
asked her, I was so glad to be back in her presence and company even if it was
just for the evening. Fate had bought us back together after all these years
and I said a silent prayer to God to thank him for bringing this angel back in
to my life.
“Ofcourse, Tom” she answered a big smile forming on her
face.
“To being back in each others lives” I toasted.
“To being back in each others lives” she agreed clinking our
glasses together and taking a sip. We both smiled knowing that it both meant a
lot to one another to be back in one another’s company.
The conversation flowed over dinner, just as it always had
when we were in each others presence all those years ago.
Sophie asked me all about RADA and the television shows I
was in before getting my big break thanks to Kenneth Brannagh. I owed my career
to Ken and he had become a dear friend since. I told her what it was like to
work with all these incredible actors and directors who shared my passion, it
was a true honour.
It was such a thrill to get the role of Prince Hal and Henry
V in The Hollow Crown series, especially as Sophie had rehearsed lines with me
when I got the role in the university production. She tensed up when I
mentioned this, a single tea falling from her face. I leaned across the table
wiping it away with my thumb wondering if she too was remembering the memory
that haunted my dreams and mind whilst I was shot it. Henry V had always been
my favourite Shakespeare play but it had meant so much more to me that day.
That afternoon, that afternoon the first time me and Sophie made love for the
first time, the afternoon she gave herself to me completely, for the first
time. She had given me her heart that day and I had treasured it and kept it
safe all these years.
In return I asked Sophie all about her writing and job at
Empire. She told me about the amount of office jobs she had to bear before
finally getting her dream job, telling me she moved back to Dover
after finishing university as there were no jobs in Southampton .
She got her job at Empire based purely on her degree and started as a runner
working her way up until she got the chance to attend premieres and write
reviews. I was so proud of her, listening intently to all she had to say. I
only wished I could have been with her to celebrate her well deserved success.
We’d finished our food by the time Sophie finished talking.
“Sorry” she said “I feel like Ive talked too much, you probably didn’t need to
know every single detail.” She really had no idea how much I loved listening to
her voice and how much she had accomplished after all our years apart. I was
having none of her apologies. She was truly magnificent. I took her hand in
mine across the table caressing her knuckles with my thumb. “Don’t apologise
darling, it has been lovely to catch up with you and you’ve done so much and
achieved your dream just like I knew you would. You always were so passionate
about film and journalism and now you’ve achieved what you set out to do all
those years ago. Im so proud of you Sophie, darling”. I brought her hand to my
lips kissing her knuckles. She smiled. “Thankyou, Tom. You have no idea how
much that means, you always told me not to give up on it so I really have to
Thankyou for not allowing me too. I`m proud of you too, Tom, you’ve worked so
hard and with every performance you talent shines through even more than the
last.” I grinned. “Bless you for saying that, darling, truly, that means so
much”.
The waitress came back over and cleared our plates asking if
we wanted desert. Desert, pudding! I love pudding! My face lit up at the word.
We ordered a tiramisu to share. Not long after the waitress bought it over and
we tucked in. Sophie took a mouthful and I laughed. “What is it, Tom? What’s so
funny?” she asked me
“Darling, are you saving that bit for later?” I asked her
stifling a giggle. “You seem to have some on the side of your lip.” She wiped
it with her hand but didn’t quite reach it. I laughed again. “Guessing I didn’t
get it?” I threw my head back sticking
my tongue out. She was truly adorable.
“Here darling, allow me”. She smiled. I got up from my chair
and walked round to where she was sitting. I kneeled down in front of me
placing my left hand on her left cheek moving my thumb over to where the
tiramisu was on her lip and wiped it off. She automatically closed her eyes and
leaned into my touch. I coughed. She had no idea what she was doing to me.
Sophie opened her eyes. I couldn’t help but look from her beautiful pouted lips
to her beautiful green eyes. She looked so beautiful. Do I kiss her? I don’t want to force her in to anything.
Before I knew it my heart had ruled my head and my eyes slowly closed, as did
Sophie’s. I leant towards her and slowly placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Ive
missed you Sophie, so much. I didn’t quite realise how much until I saw you
this evening. I whispered. “I`m so sorry I left you to go to RADA.” I had to
help her understand how sorry I was. I looked up at her with a sad expression
on my face before looking down at the floor. I loved her so much and had never
regretted anything more in my life than leaving her.
“Tom, look at me” she said. My eyes stayed glued to the
floor I couldn’t face looking at her, my darling girl who I had hurt and
abandoned all those years ago all to become an actor. Sophie’s hand went the
side of my face cupping it in her hand.
“Tom, look at me” she
repeated again. I finally looked at me. “You can’t be sorry for leaving me and
fulfilling your dream and going to RADA. It wasn’t your fault that we didn’t
keep in contact, it was neither of our faults, we just both drifted apart and
both became so busy, well you did anyway but just think if we hadn’t drifted
apart then our dreams and careers wouldn’t have bought us back to each other.”
“Yes, but we could have had so much longer together if I
hadn’t have gone to RADA, we could have been married with children by now. “
“But if we hadn’t have broken up and you gone to RADA then
we wouldn’t have had time to grown as people and we would have argued because
you would have been away a lot and it wouldn’t have worked because you was here
and I was back in Dover so im glad we met again tonight.”
“I am too, darling but-“
“No, Tom, no buts, we need to live in the moment and in the
future, not in the past and what could have been, ok?” he smiled. “Ok”
I gave her once last kiss on her lips before pulling away
and walking back round to my side of the table where we continued to eat our
tiramisu. It was just like old times, it
was nice to be back in her presence. I had missed her terribly.
Once we finished our tiramisu the waitress came over to
collect our plates. Sophie took her purse out of her bag insisting she pay her
half. I was having none of taking her purse from her hand asking her what kind
of gentleman would I be if I let her pay for her meal when I hadn’t seen her in
so long.
I put the amount of money owed on the table along with a tip
for the waitress to collect. She came back a few minutes later to collect the
money with a piece of paper in her hand and asked for an autograph. I smiled
asking who I was signing it to. “Louise” she said. I signed the paper out to
her thanking her for allowing us our privacy throughout the evening before
escorting Sophie out of the restaurant.
It was cold when we got outside. Sophie shivered as she
didn’t have a coat. I automatically offered her my blazer jacket placing it
over her shoulders. She smiled thanking me.
“You’re welcome, darling, wouldn’t want you catching a cold
now would we?” I smiled taking her hand in mine walking along the streets of London
“I`m so glad you was there tonight and that you got to
interview me darling, I knew you could do it” I told her. She smiled.
“It was an honour to get to interview you, just like back at
uni. Do you remember?” Was she serious? Ofcourse I remembered, I could never
forget any memories with her she stole my heart.
“Ofcourse I
remember darling, I couldn’t forget any of my memories with you. You’ve gotten
much better at interviewing though, not stumbling over your words as much”
“Thankyou, you’ve gotten to be a better actor too, not
saying you weren’t amazing back then, you were but now that you’ve grown up
you’ve gotten so much better. It was nice to be able to interview you then and
interview you now to know that you haven’t let the fame go to your head and
that you’re still so down to earth.” I smiled I was glad I hadn’t let fame go
to my head, that was one of the things I promised myself, if I ever became
famous I wouldn’t forget where I came from or forget my manners.
We continued walking for a while just enjoying the January
evening. It was just after ten and the stars twinkled in the sky. After a while
Sophie asked how my family were saying that I used to talk about them a lot
whilst we were at university and how she hadn’t seen them in ages. I told her
that they were fine, both mum and dad still lived in London ,
dad in Westminster and mum here in Convent Garden
that Sarah was now living in India
Mum often asked after Sophie wanting to know how she was
letting she’d seen and read a few of her reviews and articles in Empire and how
much of a lovely girl she was. I remember taking her to meet mum, dad and Emma
the summer before I went to RADA. Sophie and Emma immediately became friends. I
made a mental note to take her to see mum and Emma again if we continued seeing
each other letting Sophie know that they often asked after her and would love
to see her again.
I casually bought up the subject of what part of London Trafalgar
Square
“Southbank” she replied.
I was right. She always used to go on about how much she loved Southbank when
we came down to London
“Ah, you always did like Southbank, didn’t you?” she smiled.
“I did, and still do”. She replied. “It’s handy because it’s
near the office and where all the premieres are so if I don’t want to go out to
the after party after I can just go home. Which I often do, I`m not one for
partying”
“You never were” I commented.
“You weren’t either, really though, were you?” she replied.
She was right, I never had been, I used to enjoy a few drinks with friends but
that was about it.
“No, I never have been, I mean ive had to go to a few
because it was the cast of one of the films I had made but I often prefer not
too”
“You missed out on the Thor 2 after party tonight and it was
all because of me, now I feel bad.” She said suddenly and stopped walking. I stopped
too looking down at her.
“Sophie, don’t feel bad, yes I was going to go but then I
saw you and I wanted to spend some time with you, catch up with you, on your
own and if we had went then I wouldn’t have seen you and been able to do this”
I leaned down and brushed a strand of hair that fallen from my ponytail out of
her eye before placing a soft kiss on her lips. Her hands automatically fell
around my neck playing with the curls at the back of my neck deepening the
kiss. I smiled into the kiss, kissing her back with as much passion as i could
muster. She had to know how much I had missed her and how much she meant to me.
She moaned into my mouth. One of my hands travelled down to her waist while the
other rested on her cheek. We pulled away after a while catching our breath.
She moaned at the loss of contact resting her forehead against mine. “Ive missed you so much Sophie” I whispered.
“Ive missed you too, Tom-Tom, so much. We both smiled. I
gave me one last kiss before taking her hand and escorting her back home.
We arrived at her house far too soon for my liking. I didn’t
want to leave her but I didn’t want to push her to invite me in either, I
didn’t want to rush her just incase it wasn’t what she wanted, just incase she
only saw me as a friend. Instead I asked when I could see her again. She said
that she worked all week but was free on the evenings, I said I would text her
to arrange something before reswapping numbers and giving her a long passionate
kiss and embrace before turning round and walking back down the road.
I text her as soon as I walked out of her house and down the
road letting her now how nice it was to see her and that I couldn’t wait to see
her again. Memories of Sophie haunted my dreams that night, our first time
making love, her interviewing me after Romeo and Juliet, the way she cried in
my arms when I told her I got my letter from RADA, seeing her tonight, kissing
her and being hers. Some good dreams, some bad but either way I was glad she
was back in my life. I was never going to let her go again.
Chapter 4:
December 2001
Sophie’s POV
After an amazing but stressful first term at Southampton it was nice to be able to go home and relax.
I’d been home quite a lot since being there but something about going home for
Christmas was different. My life at uni and my life at home were like two
different worlds, when I was at uni it was as though I hadn’t ever lived at
home but when I was at home it was as though I had never left.
Over the couple of weeks break I caught up with mum and dad
telling them all about uni aswell as Lucy, Sophie and Megan over Nandos to fill
them in and have a catch up about all of our different courses.
I told them about Charlotte and Emma and my course and they
told me about there’s. It was as though nothing had changed. Sooner or later
the topic of boys came up.
Lucy told us about her boyfriend Ben who she met on her
course and had been dating since October. She said it was nice to just be
herself around him and nice that he wasn’t forcing her into anything she didn’t
want to do. They enjoyed watching films together and enjoying each others
company.
Megan was the type to get completely drunk out of her head
and kiss random strangers including an incident where she almost lost her
virginity but stopped herself when she realised what she was doing.
Sophie was concentrating mainly on her course as she said it
was really intense and that she didn’t have time to have a boyfriend but if
someone came along that she liked then she would reconsider.
They then asked me about mine. I told them briefly about Tom
even though nothing had actually happened between us and as much I still didn’t
like him there was something in me that told me I did I just didn’t want to
admit it. I told them how he and Charlotte used to date and that he got drunk
and kissed another girl at a Halloween party in our flat and how Charlotte
Christmas was the usual affair, as though I hadn’t even been
to uni in the first place. A normal day
spent with mum and dad at home, eating as much food as possible with my new
Olly Murs CD on repeat waiting for the Downton Abbey Christmas Special.
A few days later me and mum went and visited my Nan , having a second Christmas with her and my cousins. I
couldn’t help but wonder what Charlotte, Emma and Tom were up to hoping they
were enjoying themselves as much as I was. It was nice not having to worry
about anything but I had to admit I did miss my room and flatmates at uni and
couldn’t wait to get back there.
December 2001: New
Years Eve
It was nice to get back to uni after the Christmas break. As
much as I liked being at home I liked being back, having my own independence
again and seeing my flatmates who were kind of like my second family in a way.
Even though I had only known them a couple of months it felt like id known them
forever. It was nice, I was glad me and my flatmates got along unlike Sophie
and her flatmates at Bournemouth .
Like on any occasion whether it be Halloween, someone’s
birthday or New Year we took this an opportunity to invite friends round from
different flats and throw one big party or have a few drinks before hitting the
town. Tonight was no exception. We were going to bring in the New Year with
style having a few drinks at our flat then a group of us were going to hit one
of the clubs in Southampton.
I’d bought a new dress for the occasion; I seemed to own so
many dresses yet still took liberty in buying a new dress whenever I could get away
with it. Dresses seemed to be my weakness, along with handbags. I had more
handbags than one could imagine.
Me and Charlotte had gone shopping to pick out outfits together.
That was one of the things I loved about Charlotte
A few days after we got back to university we went shopping
to find the perfect outfits for the New Years festivities. I decided on a
simple black dress as you couldn’t go wrong with it, being able to jazz it up
or down, plus id left my black dress at home thinking I wouldn’t need it. I
bought a silver sparkly bolorow and silver heeled shoes to go with it. I
thought id brave wearing heels for the evening as the dress didn’t look right
with flats. I paired it with a silver clutch so that I could fit my phone,
purse, camera and lip-gloss in it.
Everyone began to arrive at around seven giving people a
chance to have a few drinks before hitting the town around nine.
We hadn’t gotten a chance to see much of Tom as he had
recently been busy with his work, practising a monologue from Shakespeare’s
Othello and he had also been out of university shooting TV roles in The
Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby, Conspiracy and Armadillo and practising a
monologue from Shakespeares, Othello for a drama exam he had in the New Year.
It would be nice to see him tonight to hear all about it and bring in the New
Year together.
He came into the kitchen dressed in a white striped button down
shirt, dark jeans and slacks, his curly blonde hair all of the place, as
always. He reminded me of my first crush at secondary school, Ethan. He was
lovely. I liked him for the whole five years I was there but he said he
couldn’t go out with me because he was a Jehovas Witness and they apparently
weren’t allowed to date girls that weren’t. That hurt. We remained friends
though which was nice, I valued his friendship more anyway.
Tom walked over to get a Guiness from the table of alcohol
we had set out before coming over to where me and Charlotte and a couple of
other people were talking. He placed a hand on the small of my back and joined
in the conversation. Why was his hand on
my back? Surely he was just being friendly wasn’t he?
The conversation and drinks continued to flow and just
before nine we set off into town to Oceania
where we would bring in the New Year. It was busy but that was to be expected.
The dance floor was packed with people dancing to the music blaring from the
speakers.
We all made our way over to the bar ordering shots of
tequila and the different drinks everyone wanted. I stuck to my normal disarano
and coke. I planned on getting tipsy but not drunk as I didn’t like waking up
with a hangover or being sick.
The night continued with a lot of dancing and drinking. I
danced the night away with a few boys, loosing myself in the music, grinding
against them an andreline rush from both the alcohol and beat of the music. It
was great to be out enjoying myself and not have to worry about my studies.
I liked the attention. Boys used to be all over Charlotte
Tom wasn’t much of a
dancer but had a couple of dances with us before spending the rest of the
evening by the bar watching and taking in the couples and groups of friends on
the dance floor.
We still didn’t see eye to eye but I guess you could say we
were friends. We put our differences aside after I went and reviewed Romeo and
Juliet as I didn’t want to cause any arguments. I found he kept looking at me
throughout the evening, his body language had changed completely since we had
arrived at the club, he looked tense and seemed to be staring daggers at the
boy grinding against me. Was he jealous? Ofcourse he wasn’t, he didn’t like me
like that, did he? I didn’t like him like that either. Atleast I didn’t think I
did. Even if you did you can’t do
anything about it because of the sisterhood rule. Would Charlotte
Why does he keep staring at me like that? What is his
problem? I turned away from him and continued dancing with the boy, Joe I’d
been dancing with all evening. He was quite handsome with brown eyes and dark
black hair, quite like Orlando Bloom.
I kept looking over to see if I could see Tom. He was still
there, at the bar drinking his Guinness. As the night drew on and the music got
louder, myself and Joe got closer. When I looked around again at Tom, he was
gone. He must have gone to the bathroom or something. Why do you even care? My hands ended up around Joe`s neck and his hands
were inching towards my bum, it felt odd but I guess that was because Id never
been felt up before. I thought nothing of it and was just trying to enjoy
myself.
I didn’t see Tom come back. The next thing I remember Joe
was inching towards me about to kiss me. We were inches apart. I was about to
go through with it when Tom stepped in and threw a punch at Joe. Joe fell to
the floor. What the hell was he doing? I was so annoyed at him. I wasn’t one
for violkence and to hit boys but he just ruined my first kiss. I slapped Tom
right across the face. He had annoyed me so much.
“TOM! What the hell are you doing?” I screamed above the
music.
“I…I couldn’t let you kiss him” he stuttered.
“Why not? It’s not like it’s any of your business who I kiss
anyway. Is it? Why did you do that?” he was about to answer when Joe got up and
punched Tom right in the nose. Part of me wanted to help him up but the other
half was so annoyed at him that I didn’t care what happened to him. Instead Joe
took me by the hand and escorted me to the other side of the dance floor.
At around half eleven I decided to take my leave as the Disarno
was starting to go to my head and I was fuming at Tom. There was a lot ofs “You
can’t leave now; you need to stay till after midnight and bring in the New Year”.
I was usually one to stay out to the early hours of the
morning but in truth on New Year I preferred to bring the New Year in watching
the fireworks on the TV and Tom had really pissed me off. Why did he do that?
I arrived back at my flat just before 11:55 and switched my TV
on just in time for the fireworks to start. They were beautiful, all different
colours with the perfect soundtrack over the top. Then the countdown started. I
joined in even though I was on my own.
When it got to 2 there was a knock on my door. Wondering who
could possibly be knocking on my door at this time of night. I had a feeling I
knew who it was. I got up from the bed and went over to answer it just as the
clock struck midnight. I opened the door to find Tom standing in the doorway, a
graze on his nose.
“Happy New Year Soph” he said before leaning in and planting
the softest of kisses on my lips. It took me a while to function that he was
kissing me. We hadn’t gotten on at the beginning of the term and I mean yeah we
put our differences aside and became friends but I didn’t realise he liked me
like this. I pulled away holding him at arms length. I didn’t understand.
“Happy New Year, Tom”
I said before he closed the gap between us and leaned in for another kiss. In
the back of my mind I needed to know why he was here and why his feelings had
all of a sudden changed yet but my heart was ruling my head. I kissed him back
with as much passion as I could muster. What
are you doing? My consciousness screamed, you don’t like him! He’s Charlottes
“I…I`m sorry” he stuttered. I looked at him. His eyes were
filled with lust.
“N…No, it’s…its fine. I…you…you just caught me of guard. I
didn’t think you liked me like that”
“Sophie, how could I not? I’ve liked you since I first saw
you.”
“I...i don’t understand. You were dating Charlotte and then
you cheated on her with another girl and I was left to pick up the pieces and
now you come in here on New Years Eve and kiss me. And what was that all about
in the club? You punched some guy that was going to kiss me. For all you know I
could have wanted him to kiss me.” You
didn’t. “I don’t understand” I walked away from him walking over and
sitting on the bed cross legged, my hands in my lap.
Tom came over and sat next to me on the bed. We were both
silent for a moment and watched the view of London
“I cheated on Charlotte
“That sounds…good” I replied a smile appearing on my face.
“Good” said Tom leaning across to kiss me. I kissed him
back. When we broke away to catch our breath I said “I want to take this slow,
ive never really had a boyfriend and don’t know what im doing”
“You have nothing to worry about we’ll go as slow as you
like I really want this to work between us Sophie and I promise I will never do
anything to hurt you.” I smiled.
“Thankyou, Tom”.
“You’re welcome, darling” he said kissing the top of my
forehead. We spent the rest of the evening snuggled in each others embrace on
the bed his arm around my waist and my hand upon his chest bringing in the New
Year in each others arms watching the aftermath of the fireworks.
“Happy New Year Sophie, darling”
“Happy New Year Tom” I smiled snuggling closer into his embrace.
Before I knew it we were both asleep happy and content in each others arms.
Tom`s POV
It was nice going home for Christmas; it felt like I had
been away for ages when really it had only been three months. This was
something I was going to have to get used to in the near future if I wanted to
become and actor what with all the travelling and being away from home.
The whole family came down to Mums house in Covent Garden . Christmas was also the only time we got to
see Sarah as she moved to India Chennai
They now had a little girl, Sophie, my niece, so it was
lovely to finally get to meet her and spend time with the family eating
delicious food and exchanging stories of what we had all been up to.
I got asked quite a lot about my first term at Southampton . I told them that I was enjoying it and about
my performance in Romeo and Juliet aswell as the small TV roles I had recently
finished shooting, The Adventures of Nichollas Nickelby, Conspiracy and
Armadillo. They may have only been small roles but I knew that that was what I
was born to do.
After Christmas I caught up with a few of my old friends
from Eton, having a few pints and a bit of banter before going back to Southampton to welcome in 2002 with my flatmates. With
Sophie. I was hoping 2002 would be a good year, as good as 2001, if not better.
I went back to university a few days earlier than planned to
practise a monologue of Shakespeare’s Othello for a drama exam I had in the New
Year. I was quite looking forward to it; I always did when it came to
Shakespeare.
New Year was spent how it usually was in the Kimber flat when
a native holiday was upon us, a few drinks in the flat before hitting the town
to bring in the New Year.
I’d been so busy recently that I was glad I could have a
night off away from working, don’t get me wrong I was enjoying my course but a
much deserved night off was due. I had a quick shower before getting dressed into
a white stripped shirt, jeans and slacks and headed into the kitchen to join in
the festivities.
I walked into the kitchen to find quite a few people crowded
in little groups talking to each other. In a group in the middle of the kitchen
were Charlotte and Emma and a few other people. I then saw her. Sophie. She
looked absolutely gorgeous dressed in a simple black dress, her long brown hair
cascading down her shoulders. I smiled when I saw her going to grab a Guiness
from the table of alcohol that had been set out and making my way over to where
my flatmates were standing, placing a hand on the small of Sophie’s back and
joining in the conversation. The way my hand fit to the small of her back was
like a missing puzzle piece.
We hit Oceania around nine
downing tequila and yaga and having a great time in making the most of the rest
of 2001 before the year 2002 dawned and we were back to hard work rather than
partying. I wasn’t much for dancing but danced a few dances with Sophie and
Charlotte all the same before spending the rest of the evening at the bar
watching everyone else having a good time.
Sophie was especially having a good time by the way she had
a few boys dancing with her and one grinding up against her to the beat of the
music. My hands turned into fists at my sides. I wasn’t jealous. I wasn’t. You are. I just hated the fact that they
were taking advantage. Tom, shut up,
they’re not taking advantage of her they’re just dancing with her. If you want
to be close to her why are you not up there dancing yourself?
I downed the rest of my Guinness and went to find the
facilities; I couldn’t just stand and watch some idiots dancing up against
Sophie like that.
Once I’d finished my business I went and found my way back
to the dance floor. Sophie was even closer to the boy now her hands around his
neck whilst his hands were making there way from her hips to her bum. I
couldn’t watch this. I went back to the bar and ordered another Guinness. If I
had to watch Sophie dancing with some other boys then I was certainly going to
have a few pints whilst having to bare this torture. I could just have gone
back to the flat but I somehow felt like I had to stay incase things got out of
hand.
Just as I said that they boy she had been dancing with
leaned into kiss her. She was going to kiss him back. They were so close
together, only inches apart. I can’t let this happen. I wasn’t usually one for
violence but I couldn’t watch her be kissed by another guy, I just couldn’t.
As they inched nearer to each other I stepped in and punched
they boy she had been dancing with in the nose. I wasn’t expecting what came
next. Sophie slapped my right around the face and went ballistic. I guess I
couldn’t blame her but I just couldn’t watch her kiss someone else.
“TOM! What the hell are you doing?” she screamed above the
music.
“I…I couldn’t let you kiss him” I stuttered.
“Why not? It’s not like it’s any of your business who I kiss
anyway. Is it? Why did you do that?” I was about to reply and tell her how I
felt when the boy she had been dancing with, Joe I think was his name, took his
revenge and punched me back. I fell to the floor back first. The floor was
sticky, a mixture of all different types of alcohol.
Joe had disappeared and Sophie went with him. She obviously didn’t care enough to help you
up. Great one, Tom. You’re a right tit. As always. When I finally got up
from the floor I made my way to the bathroom to clean up my nose. It wasn’t too
bad just a cut but my god could that guy throw a punch.
By the time I had cleaned myself up and went back to the
bar, the countdown had already begun. 10…9…8... I tried to look for Sophie but
she was nowhere to be found. I saw Joe, now snogging the face off some other
girl but no Sophie. I had to find her. I had to apologise. She has to know how
I feel about her. I couldn’t bring in the New Year without her.
I made my way out of the club running back the flat as fast
as I could. I had to find her. If I made it in time I could knock on her door
before midnight and we could bring in the New Year together.
I knocked on Sophie’s door a few minutes to midnight. I
could hear the sound of the TV and fireworks and music coming from it. She must
have the countdown on.
She came to the door a few minutes later. She didn’t look
too happy to see me. Mind you I guess I wasn’t surprised especially after what
happened in the club. “Happy New Year Soph” I said. I then done the one thing I
had wanted to do since I first met her. Leaned in and planted the softest of
kisses on her lips. Her lips were perfect, just the right size and fit
perfectly with mine. She didn’t kiss me back. Instead she pulled away holding
me at arms length.
“Happy New Year, Tom” she said. I smiled closing the gap
between us and leaned in for another kiss. She hesitated for a moment before
she finally kissed me back.
I licked along her bottom lip begging for entrance. She
obliged our tongues invading each others mouths. I pushed her back into her
bedroom just as the others began to come back from the club. I kicked the door
shut with my foot and pushed her against the wall my hand stroking my face. We
pulled away after a few minutes to catch our breath.
“I…I’m sorry” I stuttered. She looked right into my eyes
that were now filled with lust before replying.
“N…No, it’s…its fine. I…you…you just caught me of guard. I
didn’t think you liked me like that”
“Sophie, how could I not? I’ve liked you since I first saw
you.”
“I...I don’t understand. You were dating Charlotte and then
you cheated on her with another girl and I was left to pick up the pieces and
now you come in here on New Years Eve and kiss me. And what was that all about
in the club? You punched some guy that was going to kiss me. For all you know I
could have wanted him to kiss me.” I don’t understand” She walked away from me
walking over and sitting cross legged on the bed, her hands in her lap.
I had to explain to her and tell her how I felt. How I had
liked her since the first time I laid eyes on her.
I came over and sat next to her on the bed. We were both
silent for a moment and watched the view of London
“I cheated on Charlotte
“That sounds…good” she replied a smile appearing on her
face. I loved her smile. I loved it even more when I know I had caused her to
smile like that.
“Good” I Tom leaning across to kiss her. She kissed him
back. When we broke away to catch our breath she said “I want to take this
slow, ive never really had a boyfriend and don’t know what im doing”
“You have nothing to worry about we’ll go as slow as you
like I really want this to work between us Sophie and I promise I will never do
anything to hurt you.” She smiled.
“Thank you, Tom”.
“You’re welcome, darling” I said kissing the top of her
forehead. We spent the rest of the evening snuggled in each others embrace on
the bed. My arm around her waist, her hand on my chest bringing in the New Year
in each others arms watching the aftermath of the fireworks.
“Happy New Year Sophie, darling”
“Happy New Year Tom” she smiled snuggling closer into my embrace.
Before I knew it we were both asleep happy and content in each others arms.
Chapter 5: January
2002
Sophie’s POV
I awoke the next morning to find I was still in my dress
from the previous evening; the covers draped over me and a note on my bedside.
It took me a while to realise where I was and what had happened. Maybe I had
drunk more than I thought, although I didn’t feel that hung-over just a little
headache. I looked at the note realising it was from Tom and the memories from
last night came flooding back. Dancing at the club, Tom being jealous and him
punching the boy I was dancing with when he tried to kiss me, me slapping Tom
and then him coming to my flat at midnight wishing me a happy new year and
kissing me again, admitting his feelings to me. I smiled at the memory picking
up the note from my bedside.
The following was written in his neat hand.
Good Morning, Sophie
my darling,
I trust you slept
well. Sorry I had to leave you I had to get to a lecture for 10 and I didn’t
want to wake you. You looked so peaceful. My lecturer finishes at 1 if you
wanted to meet me outside pizza hut at say 1:15 for a spot of lunch. Text me
once you’re awake darling.
See you later.
Lots of love
Tom
Xxx
I looked across at the clock on my bedside. 10 o clock it
read. Luckily enough I didn’t have any lectures today so I could have a chilled
morning before meeting Tom for lunch and then come back and get on with some
work later.
This was going to be a good year, I could feel it.
When I was fully awake I text Tom to let him know I was up
and that lunch sounded good before having a shower and getting dressed into a
pair of jeans, brown boots and a purple and white jumper, tying my hair back into
a side ponytail and heading to meet Tom at Pizza Hut.
I arrived a few minutes before Tom; I was never one to be
late. Tom came down the road a few minutes later dressed in a pair of dark
jeans, a blue t shirt and leather jacket, his blonde curls all over the place.
He looked adorable. I smiled as soon as I saw him. He smiled back coming over
and pulling me into an embrace.
“Hmm you smell heavenly” I sighed. Tom chuckled. The smell
of Tom and his Armani aftershave.
He grabbed my hand escorting me into the restaurant. We
enjoyed a nice lunch getting to know more about each other; he asked me more
about my course whilst I asked him how his lecturer was. He said that they had
found out that the next production was Henry V. I loved Henry V it was my favourite
Shakespeare play. He asked me to rehearse his lines with him for his audition
and if he got the part. Ofcourse I agreed, especially as Henry V involved the
wooing scene between Henry and Catherine, my favourite scene.
We also spoke more about our families. He told me more about
his childhood and that his mum was originally from East Angelia and his dad
from Glasgow in Scotland
We then took a walk through the park back to our flat hand
in hand. I loved the feel of his hand in mine. We enjoyed just being in the
moment and not worrying about the future, although in the back of my mind I
couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if or when Charlotte found out.
Somehow I didn’t think she’d be very happy. But it wasn’t as though Tom`s still
going out with her and that we were having an affair behind her back, far from
it. I guess we’d just face that bridge when we came to it, which we almost did
back in the kitchen at our flat.
Tom stood at the counter making us both a cup of tea. I
walked over to him placing my hands around his waist nuzzling my face into the
back of his leather jacket. I loved the smell of leather with the hint of
Armani aftershave. I could feel Tom loosen up and smile before he turned around
and placed a kiss on my forehead. I could get used to this I thought.
Suddenly Charlotte Charlotte
“Oh my god, Sophie I`m so sorry” Tom said wetting a tea
towel and coming over to mop the tea stain off my jumper. I stopped him pulling
away. Tom stood there with a confused look on his face.
“Tom, this is a new jumper and now you’ve got tea all over
it, how could you!” I said trying to raise my voice like it was a big deal
trying to stop the laugh that was working its way up.
A few minutes later there was a knock on my door. I knew it
was him by the knock. “Soph, it’s me” he said through the door. “Are you
decent?”
“Come in”
Tom walked in an apologetic look on his face. “I bought you
your tea” he placed it down on my bedside before coming to sit next to me on
the bed. “Thanks” I replied. “I`m so sorry, Soph” he said a look of apology on
his face. I burst out laughing. “Tom its fine, it’s not really new I just
wanted to make a scene infront of Charlotte
We stayed like this for a while before Tom stood up to leave
“I guess I better go and get cleaned up and get some work done” I frowned. I
didn’t want him to leave but I had to get on with work too and we both knew
that if I went into his room to study or if he bought his books in here that
neither of us would.
“Yeah, I guess you should, ive got work I need to do too,
unfortunately.” I replied. I got up with him pulling him into an embrace. He
hugged me back nuzzling my cheek before giving me a long passionate kiss and
walking out the door back to his room to study.
Tom`s POV
I was awoken around eight by my alarm and the sun streaming
brightly through Sophie’s window. I couldn’t help but take in the view of
Sophie beside me. The way the sunlight shone on her beautiful brown hair and
the way she stirred in her sleep from her position facing the wall to cuddle
close to my naked chest when she heard my alarm. It was as though she knew I
had to leave and she didn’t want me to. I smiled placing a strand of hair
behind her ear listening to her soft breathing until my alarm sounded again.
No matter how much I didn’t want to leave her I knew I had
to as I had to get showered and dressed for a lecturer I had at ten. If only it
wasn’t an important lecturer about the new college production I would have
stayed. Oh she looked so peaceful.
I placed a light kiss on her forehead before slowly slipping
out of the covers to find my shirt. We got so carried away in the moment last
night that my shirt somehow ended up over the other side of the room. Nothing
happened, no matter how much we both wanted it to. I wasn’t going to have her
like that, when we had both had a bit to drink. I wanted to make sure she
didn’t regret it in the morning.
I found my shirt and quickly slipped it on before finding a
piece of paper to scribble a quick note. I didn’t want to wake her, she looked
too peaceful and I knew she didn’t have any lecturers this morning so thought
she should sleep in. I also didn’t want her to think that I’d left in the
middle of the night and that last night, meant nothing to me so I thought
writing her note would be best. Kind of romantic in a way.
I found a piece of paper on her desk and in my delicate hand
scribbled her a note letting her know how peaceful she looked and apologing for
leaving her as I had a lecturer I had to get to. I let her know the time my
lecturer finished asking her if she wanted to meet for lunch and for her to
text me when she was awake just to check she was ok with me before placing it
by her bedside, taking one last look at her and closing the door quietly behind
me.
I headed back to my room getting showered and dressed before
heading into the kitchen to grab some breakfast. Luckily enough the kitchen was
empty and I ate my breakfast and drunk my coffee in peace before heading to my
lecture.
Just as I arrived at my lecturer I got a text from Sophie. I
smiled to myself before reading it.
Morning Tom-Tom,
Thankyou for the
note. I slept like a baby, whether that was because of the drink or having you
near me I don’t know, I`m guessing both. Hope I didn’t interrupt you from your
lecturer but thought id text you when you awoke just like you asked. Lunch
sounds good. I’ll meet you outside Pizza Hut at 1:15. Have a good morning
Tom-Tom.
Lots of love
S
Xxx
I smiled to myself. Tom-Tom? Was that her new nickname for
me? because if it is its kind of cute. I typed a quick reply before the
lecturer came in. The three hour lecturers usually drag but this one wasn’t too
bad. Maybe that was because he was talking about our new production or maybe it
was because I was meeting Sophie after for lunch.
Three hours later I emerged from the lecture with a smile on
my face. I found out our next production was going to be a production of Henry
V. My favourite Shakespeare play. I couldn’t wait to audition for it and if I
got the role of Henry it meant that I could ask Sophie to help me rehearse the
scenes, especially the courting scene between Henry and Catherine.
A few minutes later I arrived outside Pizza Hut. She was
already there waiting for me dressed in a pair of jeans, brown boots and purple
and white striped jumper, her brown hair tied in a loose pony tail to the side
of her shoulder. She smiled when she saw me. I smiled back. God, she was
beautiful, she was always beautiful but especially today.
“Hey Tom-Tom” she greeted me, smiling
“Hello, love” I smiled back pulling her into an embrace.
“Hmm, you smell heavenly” she sighed nuzzling my neck. I
chucked. I didn’t smell any different than normal, just a hint of my normal
Armani aftershave I loved so much. I pulled away grabbing her hand escorting
her into the restaurant.
We enjoyed a peaceful lunch of coke and margarita pizza. I
told her about my lecturer and what the latest production was going to be. She
smiled such a wide smile when I told her that it was Henry V as that was her
favourite Shakespeare play too. She agreed to rehearse lines with me for my
audition and if I got the role.
It was nice getting to find out more about her course. She
said it was much better than she expected, getting to write features and
reviews.. Sophie told me that once she finished her course she wanted to be a
journalist that specialised in film as she enjoyed both watching and reviewing
them. I smiled at this.
She asked me more about my acting, I told her that I had
grew up doing impressions for my family and that me and my sisters always used
to put on shows but that I didn’t get
into it properly until I was thirteen when my parents divorced. She told me
more about her family and that she found she wrote more once her dad left to
get her feelings down on paper. I gave her a sympathetic smile holding her hand
across the table. We continued eating like this, with our hands intertwined
while we ate and whist I told her the story of me playing rugby at Eton and my coach making me choose between dram and
acting when I came on the pitch still in my make up from the play I had just
finished. She laughed at this. I loved her laugh. It was one of the most
beautiful things I had ever heard.
After lunch we walked hand in hand through the park in order
to get back to our flat. Neither of us spoke about our relationship and what
the future held, we just wanted to live in the moment although there was the
issue of Charlotte
When we got back to our flat we went into the kitchen.
luckily enough it was empty so our time together wouldn’t have to be cut short.
Sophie came up behind me when I made the tea putting her hands around my waist
leaning her head on the back of my grey t shirt. I smiled turning around to
face her placing a kiss on her forehead.
Sophie suddenly jumped causing me to spill tea down both my
grey t shirt and Sophie’s jumper. “Oh my god, Sophie I`m so sorry” I turned
around to see why she jumped away from me so quickly. Charlotte
“Oh my god, Sophie I`m so sorry” I said again wetting a
towel, going over to mop the tea stain off her jumper. She stopped me placing
her hand on my wrist pulling me away. I really didn’t mean to do it, it was an
accident. I stood there with a confused, hurt look on my face hoping she would
forgive me.
“Tom, this is a new jumper and now you’ve got tea all over
it, how could you!” she said beginning to raise her voice. Oh no she’ll never forgive me. I`m such an idiot. Charlotte
Me and Charlotte stood there in shock for a while. This was
awkward. I needed to go and apologise to her. After a while Charlotte
A few minutes later I knocked on her door. “Soph, it’s me” I
said through the door. “Are you decent?” I asked her through the door.
“Come in”
I walked in an apologetic look on my face. “I bought you
your tea” I told her placing it down on her bedside before sitting next to her
on the bed. “Thanks” she replied. “I`m so sorry, Soph” I said to her again. She
burst out laughing. Why was she laughing at me?
“Tom its fine, it’s
not really new I just wanted to make a scene infront of Charlotte
We stayed like this for a while listening to each others
breathing. I could stay like this forever but I unfortunately had some work to
do. I got up to leave. Sophie grabbed my arm frowning at me. “I guess I better
go and get cleaned up and get some work done” I liked being with her, spending
time with her. I’d spend all my time with her if I could but then my work
wouldn’t get done.
“Yeah, I guess you should, ive got work I need to do too,
unfortunately.” She replied getting up and pulling me into an embrace. I hugged
her back nuzzling her cheek before giving her a long passionate kiss and
walking out the door back to my room to clean up and get some work done.
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