The Cards We Are Dealt (Scarlett Johansson Fanfic)

Chapter 3: Too Many Questions and Not Enough Memory

Tinsley woke with a groan, her head pounding. The couch beneath her was far more comfier than her own, and the room....completely unfamiliar. A million questions popped into her brain at once. Footsteps echoed somewhere behind her, and she immediately snapped her eyes shut, her body freezing in place. Maybe if she pretended to be asleep, whoever it was would leave alone a little longer–at least until she could figure out whether or not she'd been kidnapped......again.

"Are you awake?" A voice asked softly from behind her. That voice.......there was something about it, something strangely familiar. Oh no. Was she hearing things? It couldn't be. That voice sounded exactly like.....No, there was no way.

More footsteps, closer this time, stopping in front of her. "I can tell you are awake," the voice said, a bit louder now.

Hesitantly, Tinsley cracked one eye open, just enough to peek at the figure looming over her. Oh. My. God. Her eye slammed shut again, panic flooding her body. No way. Was this some kind of fever dream? Maybe she'd finally lost her mind, seeing and hearing things that weren't there. Because nothing could be more terrifying than the very real possibility that Scarlett Johansson was standing just a few feet away, watching her.

She took a slow, deep breath, willing herself to calm down. Maybe this was some bizarre hallucination. Or a dream. But no, that didn't seem likely. The pounding in her head was too strong, too real. Whatever this was, she'd have to figure it out. She would be okay. She had to be.

Summoning her courage, Tinsley opened her eyes fully this time. Her gaze immediately fell on the woman leaning casually against the arm of a loveseat across from her–a woman she now confirmed was, indeed, Scarlett Johansson.

The internal screaming in her head was so deafening she barely registered Scarlett's words, but as she focused on Scarlett's lips, she caught the question: "How are you feeling?"

Tinsley's mouth opened and closed a few times before she managed to form coherent thoughts. How did she end up here? And why was Scarlett Johansson, of all people, asking how she felt? She tried to push past the loud, debilitating pounding that was overtaking her head. It was making it nearly impossible to focus. She struggled to remember how in the world she ended up here, on this couch, in the presence of Scarlett Johansson. She came up blank.

"Well, um...my head's pounding, and I'm pretty confused. I have no idea how I ended up here. I can't recall anything. I'm half-wondering if this is some kind of dream." Tinsley finally replied, rubbing her temples in a weak attempt to ease the throbbing.

Scarlett nodded, her expression understanding as if she'd predicted and expected every word. She gestured toward the coffee table. "Why don't you take some Advil for your head first? Then I'll explain everything."

Tinsley slowly pushed herself upright, leaned forward, and grabbed the bottle of water and Advil bottle off the neat, rectangular coffee table. She could feel Scarlett's eyes on her as she twisted off the cap, shaking four circular pills into her palm. Feeling the weight of being watched, she quickly popped all four into her mouth and washed them down with three gulps of water.

Setting both bottles back down, she murmured, "Thank you."

"Hopefully, the Advil will help. But before I go into what happened....can I ask your name?"

Tinsley blinked, realizing she hadn't introduced herself. It was odd, knowing so much about Scarlett's life without having to ask, while Scarlett knew nothing about her. And in that instant, she sensed a flicker of uncertainty and vulnerability beneath Scarlett's composed exterior. Tinsley understood the feeling all too well. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to ease it, and the warmth slipped into her voice before she could stop it.