Love, A Fan • A Tom Hardy fanfic

2:3

"How was your weekend? You look not well rested," Elisa asked when Stella came strolling in with 2 large coffees in her hand.

"Don't I? I should be glowing," she checked herself in the reflection of the metal paper towel dispenser. "I probably had about 50 orgasms."

"I'm trying to decide if I find that gross or I'm jealous," Elisa took the extra coffee Stella brought.

"You should be jealous," Stella laughed. "It was amazing."

"When do I get to meet him?" Elisa probed.

"Uh. Never," Stella took a quick bite of an apple before clocking in. "He's only here until Wednesday."

"Oh," Elisa knew Stella really cared about this guy. He was all she could talk about when she got back from London.

"What?" Stella looked back at her friend from the computer login screen.

"It really was just for a day, huh?"

"I'm going to drive out there tonight actually, so I don't have to rely on public transit to get to work tomorrow," Stella nodded to herself, reaffirming that driving was the best choice.

"Yeah, but then what? He's gone again?" Elisa cocked her head to the side, her eyebrows creased in the center.

"Yeah," she said solemnly. "He's only in New York for a few days and he travels a lot for work. It's hard to explain."

. . . .

After work, Stella went home for a quick shower and change before getting back in her car and making the almost 2 hour commute into Manhattan. Sunday afternoon in the summer time had the Long Island Expressway jam packed through to the city. People who visited the beaches or the Hamptons on the weekend we're all to head back to their weekday homes Sunday afternoon.

STELLA: Hey, I'm stuck in traffic and I forgot my charger so I'm turning it off. I'll see you in a bit :) xo

Stella held down the power button with her battery at 13%. She made sure to write the directions down but wanted to save any juice in case she found herself lost in the chaotic city. Turning up the radio Stella sang along to every song, pretending the highway was her stage and all the cars her fans. Occasionally stopping to light up a cigarette between songs.

Once over the bridge, most of the traffic went north toward Westchester, while she went West toward Manhattan. It felt like ages, stopping at every light and getting beeped at for not hitting people in the crosswalk. She wished she took the train now, city drivers were impatient and rude. Taking an outer road to bypass busy Times Square, she finally arrived at Arthouse and pulled her car into the guest parking lot.

She grabbed her bag from the car and hopped toward the lobby door, excited to be seeing Tom again. Pulling the door open, she quickly got her bearings and then proceeded to the elevator. She checked the plagues in each door looking for room 522.

She knocked a cute musical rap on the mahogany door and waited. Quickly the door opened and Tom stepped outside, shutting the door behind him.

"Sorry, I tried to call you," Tom said, hurried.

"Why? What?"

"Charlotte came a day early for the premiere and she's just in the shower, thankfully," he said with an awkward laugh. He definitely did not want them meeting each other; from the moment Charlotte showed up Tom had been pacing around the kitchen right in front of the door waiting for a knock.

"Oh," Stella was disappointed and hurt.

"I know, I'm absolutely gutted, love," he reached out to pull the bottom of her shirt. "We can go get some dinner though, I'll just tell her I have to run out."