Just Like That

Part 12

The next month had been somewhat of a blur as the two of you settled into a cozy routine. When summer came, you were free from work obligations and instead could work independently from the comfort of your home on different projects. It gave you the flexibility of changing your hours to match Tom's.

Tom. Even the thought of him brought a smile to your face. It was incredible how close two people could become although never having met. He had talked you through the heartache of a school year ending. You had talked over his career decisions with him—despite the conversations having to be vague, which you understood completely. Besides, if he had told you anything specific about his projects, you didn't know if you could contain your "fangirling" tendencies. Gushing over the man to the man was a bit much.

The phone calls couldn't occur nearly as often as either of you would like, only because you both had the awful habit of never wanting to get off the phone. After the third night in a row speaking on the phone late into the evening, the five in the morning wake-up call was unbearable for Tom. You forced him to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and you both decided that you would leave Friday and Saturday nights for long chats.

However, that didn't stop you from letting him know you were thinking about him. Once you found out that Tom had two phones (one for business and one for personal) and his personal one (the one you had access to) was always set to Do Not Disturb as he was sleeping, you formed an idea. Just as you were about to settle in for the night, you would call his phone. It would go directly to Tom's voicemail.

"Good morning, Mr. Hiddleston. I do hope you have a lovely day, being a very busy man," your mock gravitas dripping from your words. "Seriously though," you added with a grin. "I hope you have a wonderful morning and your day goes as smoothly as possible. I'll talk to you later."

Sometimes it would be immediately or an hour later before you would receive a response. You couldn't lose. He knew you'd be sleeping soon, so his replies were always in the form of texts. Your favorite responses were those that greeted you as you woke, waiting on your phone. The ones that always held some sort of invitation or need for you to be in his presence...

I have a cup of coffee with your name on it. xo Tom

Or...

Why do I feel as though Bobby would have behaved for you at the park this morning, but not me? xo Tom

Or your absolute favorite...

I would have preferred to wake up to you here... xo Tom

He was a charmer, that's for sure. You were even beginning to believe he actually meant what he said. This wasn't all some sort of time killer for him. He chose to talk to you. He chose to involve you in his life.

Today's voicemail would be different though. It was Friday or—it was Friday for Tom, to be precise. Your favorite day. You already had movie suggestions for you two to watch together. It was Tom's turn to decide what you'd both attempt cooking first—although it was a known fact that neither of you were skilled. He was always heavy handed with the spices and you never had the patience to measure anything out. Still, it was an activity and made it feel as though you were together.

As you snuggled deep into your bedding, you prepared yourself to call the actor. You pressed his name in your phone, Tom, dear and waited for it to go straight to the messages.

"Good morning, Y/N!" Tom nearly shouted into the receiver, causing you to flinch. There was obviously noise in the background, causing him to talk a bit louder than usual. The sense of excitement and energy was palpable as well. You'd heard this level before, but there was something slightly off about it all.