A New Road ➢ Thomas Brodie Sangster

Lovely Ladies

I've only been in London for two days, but it has been packed with so many laughs that it feels like longer.

Ava and I were sitting on the floor watching tv, or as it is called here, the telly.

Thomas was at a meeting with his agents, his mom was busy in another room working on some music for her band, Winnet, and Mark had gone off to the grocery store for food.

"So you haven't been to any of the sights tourists usually go to. We can do that tomorrow," Ava said as she flipped through channels.

I nod my head and unlock my phone to look at my calendar.

"Wait, Thomas has to get ready for the Jameson Empire Awards tomorrow. The 29th. We can't go without him," I say kind of frantically.

Ava looks at me and laughs. "Of course."

We turn towards the front door as we hear Thomas and Mark enter the house.

"Well hello, lovely ladies!" his dad says as he sets some food on the little island.

Thomas comes over and plants a kiss on my head before taking his coat off.

"What have you been up to love?" he asks as Ava runs up to the island, digging for food.

"We've been planning! Jade's going to be a tourist but she says not tomorrow because you have some awards thing," I hear Ava yell from the kitchen.

"Oh right!" Thomas says and turns back to me. "How about, you accompany me tomorrow to the awards and then the day after that you get to be a tourist?" he says with a big smile on his face.

"Then it's settled! Jade's going to the awards tomorrow. Now get out of the kitchen, Ava so I can start making supper," Mark says as he pushes Ava out.

I am stunned at the sudden turn of events. I've never been to an awards show and they're making it seem like an everyday thing.

"Are you alright, love?" Thomas asks worriedly.

"I, I umm. I've never been to an awards show before. I don't even have anything to wear! Are you sure you want me to go?" I say nervously.

He and his family laugh and I just smile awkwardly.

"You can borrow one of my dresses! We already know you're my size since we borrowed each other's clothes," Ava says with a smile and hands me an apple.

I nod my head feeling a little bit of relief.

"And we've been to plenty of premieres and awards with Thomas. You should go! It'll be a lot of fun. Also, it's not something everyone gets to do when they visit London for the first time," Mark points out.

"Please, Jade? It won't be fun without you," Thomas says as he pouts his lower lip and places his hands together and shakes them in front of me.

I look at him and laugh before grabbing his hands and kissing his nose, "Okay."

He smiles in victory and gives me a big hug before pushing me to Ava, "Help her find a dress. But don't let me see until tomorrow!" Thomas yells as Ava drags me up the stairs and away from Thomas and Mark's laughter.

~~~~~

Ava and her mom sat on the bed in Ava's room, patiently awaiting for me to exit the bathroom with a dress on.

I squirmed in the dress and walked into the bedroom.

I had on one of Ava's tight, form-fitting dresses on. It was maroon with long sleeves and came down to my fingertips.

"Thoughts?" I asked, spinning around in a circle.

Both Ava and her mom crinkled their noses and shook their heads in a "no". I laughed and went to the closet with Ava in search of a dress.

"Umm.. try on this emerald one," she said while holding it out to my body.

I did and this dress looked really good, but we all agreed it wasn't right for an awards show. More like a day-out kind of dress.

After several dresses tried and no appropriate ones found, I sat on a chair and was ready to fall asleep.

"How about I work my magic and pick out a dress!" Tasha mused and looked through Ava's closet.

She pulled out a pale pink dress and handed it to me.

I took it to to the bathroom and tried it on and when I walked out, they both giggled and shook their heads yes.

"It looks so good on you! And this is perfect for the awards. Simple and chic," Ava said and pulled me to the long-length mirror.

The pale pink dress was strapless and tight at the top but flowed at the skirt. This dress, like the first, came to my fingertips.

Tasha came up and put her hands on my bare shoulders and smiled.

"See darling, my magic touch always works," she says with a light laugh.

It was truly a pretty dress, and I loved it.

"Thank you, Tash-" I started but when I say her face, I corrected myself.

"Mom," I said as my face flustered. It was gonna take some getting used to calling someone else besides my mom "mom".

"I can do your makeup and hair tomorrow, if you don't mind," Ava offered. She looked unsure of my answer.

"Of course," I said. I was never good at makeup and hair anyways, but it would be fun to bond with her more.

Ava yawned, which of course made me yawn and we both started laughing at each other.

I took off the dress and Ava tossed me one of her shirts to put on while her mom was taking pictures of us.

"Come on you two, smile!" Tasha said while holding the camera up to her face.

I grabbed Ava and smiled while she was laughing.

"I'm going to bring up some supper while you two clean up this mess," her mom said while gesturing to the pile of dresses on the bed.

As soon as we were done putting them away, Tasha brought up English Roast to fill up our hungry bellies.

"I'm am stuffed," Ava said as she laid on her back on the bed.

I laughed but it hurt my stomach with all of the food in it, "Same here."

I lied down on the corner of the bed as Tasha leaves with our dishes.

"Hey Ava,"

"Yeah?" she says, lifting her head up.

"You know, I've never had a sister, but you're a pretty close bet to one," I say with a smile and sit up.

She gives me a wide smile at what I said and gives me a hug.

"I'd have to say the same for you. It's just not the same having an older brother!" she laughs.

For the rest of the night, we stay in her room talking about our brothers, what the differences are between the U.S. and England and whatnot.

Eventually Ava falls asleep and I am just on the brink of it.

Before I slip into the darkness, I hear the door creak and see Thomas poke his head into the room.

As soon as he sees us, he smiles and turns the light off before shutting the door closed.