A Chance Meeting | Chris Evans

Chapter 120

A/N: Hey everyone. I just wanted to say thanks for all your kind words and your patience while I've been going through stuff. Things are still pretty shitty, but I want to try and get back into the story if I can. No promises, and I don't know if I'll be able to, but I'll give it a go.
So, I wrote this with that aim - it's very much a filler chapter, for my own benefit. I wasn't even going to post it, but my reading guru Lindsay told me that people might want to read it.

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London, 8.45pm GMT
Monday 10th December

Becca picked her phone up and checked it for the thousandth time.
Damn it, Becca! Stop checking your phone! There won't be any messages from Chris! You blocked him, remember?
She put it down again with an annoyed huff.
'Hey.' Justin said softly. 'How're you holding up?' He nodded his head towards her phone. 'You've checked that a lot today.'
'Yeah...I know. Sorry.' She replied, irritated. 'He used to message so much, and I think checking every five minutes has just become a habit now.'
'A bloody annoying one.' She added. 'I'm seriously considering flushing it down the toilet, or smashing it with a hammer or something.'
Justin laughed.
'You know you can talk to me about it, don't you?' He said. 'If it helps.'
Yeah, that wouldn't be weird at all.
'Or your mum, if you're not comfortable talking to me.' He added, perceptively. 'She knows there's something up.'
'Yeah, I know. But there's not really a lot to say - he didn't like me as much as I thought he did.'
Again.
Seems to be the story of my life.
'His loss.' Justin said.
Yeah, right.
'I will talk to my mum, I just haven't gotten round to it yet.' Becca said.
That wasn't entirely true - she'd been avoiding the conversation until she decided what to say, or more to the point, how much to say.
They sat in companionable silence for a while, until Justin's phone started ringing.
'It's John.' He said answering it. 'Hey John. How're you doing?'
Becca listened to Justin's half of the conversation.
'Just on the train on the way back from London. Christmas shopping and seeing the lights. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, she's here with me, now.'
He mouthed 'he says hi' and Becca waved back.
'Yeah, she says hi too. Oh right. Whereabouts are you? Hang on, I'll ask her.'
'John says that him, Claire, Sarah, and some others are at Riverside, and do we want to join them?' He said to Becca.
'Err...well, I'm not exactly dressed for clubbing.' She said, gesturing to her jeans and sweatshirt.
'Me either, but we can just go for a few drinks if you want. As long as you're not too tired?'
'No, I'm surprisingly okay. Those long sleeps helped with the jet lag.'
'Great. And we can dump all the bags in the car.'
'Yeah, she's up for it, John. Okay, see you there in about an hour.' He ended the call. 'We're meeting them in TGIs - apparently there's a new Christmas cocktail menu.' He told Becca.
'Excellent.' She smiled - maybe a night out with friends would prove to be just the distraction she needed.
'But, Justin?'
'Yeah?'
'Don't say anything to them about Chris.'
'Of course not.'

Norwich, England
9.33pm GMT
They threaded their way through the bar towards their friends and Becca was met with a chorus of greetings and hugs.
'Well, that's charming - I am here too.' Justin joked.
John laughed and pulled Justin into a tight one-armed hug. 'We love you too man, we just haven't seen Becca for ages.'
'When did you get back?' He asked her.
'Saturday morning.'
'How're you feeling? That jet lag's a killer coming back from America.' Claire said.
'I slept for sixteen hours straight the first night, so I don't feel too out of sync. It'll probably hit me later though.'
'I can't believe it's been nearly a year since we've seen you.' Sarah said, coming over and hugging Becca.
'I know.'
'How long are you back for?' Claire asked.
'I've got just over a week left - I fly back on the 19th. This lot are all abandoning me to go on a cruise on the 24th, so we're having an early Christmas.'
'Well, let's get you a drink, and you can tell us all about America.' John said.
'Yes, you've got to try this.' Claire said, putting a drink in front of Becca.
'What is it?'
'After Eight martini.' Sarah said
Becca took a sip. 'Wow! It tastes exactly like an After Eight!'
'Told ya.' Sarah said.
'Oh my God, that's so good.' She said, taking another sip.
'So, what's the score with you and Justin?' Claire asked after a bit. 'Are you two back together?'
'God, no!' Becca said, with a laugh. 'Strictly friends only.'
'Oh okay. When I saw that it was just the two of you I thought that maybe you were dating again.'
'Definitely not.' Becca said with emphasis.
'So where's Viv tonight?' Sarah asked.
'Right now? Somewhere over the Atlantic. She had tickets to see Wicked on Saturday night, so she didn't fly back with us. She's getting in early tomorrow morning.'

'So, are you enjoying being back home?' John asked her later.
'Yeah, it's really nice to be home and tick off all the British Christmas traditions - eat a mince pie, check, Christmas shopping in London, check, watch Strictly, check.'
John laughed.
'Don't they have Strictly in America?' Claire asked. 'Or mince pies?'
'They do have Strictly, but it's not the same - it's just another show over there, not the huge event that our Strictly is.'
'And as for mince pies,' Becca continued, 'you can't find them anywhere. To be honest, Christmas isn't such a big deal over there as it is here. They don't even do advent calendars!' She said in mock horror.
'Yeah, my cousin Rachel lives in America, and she says that they're more into Thanksgiving than Christmas.' Sarah said.
'Well, Thanksgiving was only a few weeks ago, and it was a huge deal.' Becca said.
'Did you get to do anything Thanksgiving-y when you were there?' Sarah asked.
Becca hesitated. 'Yeah, I got to spend it with...a friend and their family.'
But it hurt too much to remember that, so she quickly changed the subject.
'So what's everyone doing for Christmas?'

'So, if you're not back with Justin, is there anyone special back in the good old US of A?' Sarah asked later.
'Yes, any hot American guys in the picture?' Claire joked.
Well, I thought there was.
Becca forced a laugh. 'Oh, absolutely. I've been fighting them off with a stick.'
Sarah chuckled.
'There was someone...sort of, but it...umm...didn't work out.' Becca admitted.
'That sucks.'
'Yeah.'
'Ah well, plenty more fish in the sea.' Claire chimed in.
Maybe there are, but not like Chris.
Claire lifted her glass in a toast. 'To more fish.' She said.
Becca smiled wryly and clinked her glass with the others.
Claire grinned at her. 'You know my favourite way of getting over someone? Have fun with someone new.'
Becca laughed. 'Thanks, but I'm not looking to meet anyone - like I said, I'm only here for another week or so.'
'Well, I wasn't suggesting you propose marriage. Have fun tonight, then kick them out of bed in the morning.'
Becca snorted. 'You sound like Ella.'
'I'll take that as a compliment.' Claire laughed. 'But seriously, it always makes me feel better. And there are some very hot guys here tonight. Case in point - the guy in the suit near the bar.' Claire caught his eye and he winked at her.
For a second Becca almost considered it, heaven knows her ego could do with the boost from flirting with an attractive guy. But she knew that no matter how cute or funny or clever the guy was, she'd just end up thinking of Chris the whole time.
'Maybe another time.' She said. 'But don't let us stop you.' She added to Claire, nodding her head towards the guy at the bar.
Claire grinned wickedly. 'Don't wait up.' She said.

'Are we keeping you up?' John said a while later, as Becca stifled another yawn.
'God, I'm sorry. I think the jet lag is catching up with me a little.' Becca laughed. 'I think I might have to go in a minute or I'm gonna fall asleep on the table.'
'Aww, really?' Sarah whined.
'Yeah, sorry.'
'It's been so nice to see you.' Sarah gave her a hug.
'You too. Hopefully we can get together again before I go back.' Becca said.
'Why don't you come out with us on Thursday?' John suggested. 'We're going to go and watch Last Christmas.'
'Sorry, Thursday's going to be our early Christmas Day.' Becca explained. 'But it's a great movie - you'll love it.'
'How'd you know?'
'What?'
'How'd you know it's great?'
'Oh, I saw it a few weeks ago.' Becca replied without thinking.
'But you can't have - it's not released yet. Here or in America.' John frowned. 'Where'd you see it?'
'Oh...errr...it was round a friend's place. Well, friend of a friend. I...err think it might have been a pirated copy.' She said, not wanting to admit the truth.
'Oh right. Well, no spoilers.'
'Of course not.'

'Did you have a good time?' Justin asked as they walked back to the car.
'Yeah, I did.' Becca smiled tiredly. 'It was really nice to catch up with everyone.'
'Well, it must have been a good distraction because you've barely looked at your phone all evening.'
Becca smiled. 'You're right, I haven't.'
'Still thinking about him though, aren't you?'
'Yeah. Can't help it - everything seems to make me think of him.'
'Like the movie they're going to see? I assume you saw it with Chris?'
'It was...umm...round Robert's house actually. But Chris was there, yeah.'
'Robert's?'
'Yeah.'
'As in, Robert Downey Jnr?'
'Yeah.'
'That's wild.' He grinned.
'Why didn't you tell them?' He added after a moment.
'What?'
'About Chris, and meeting The Avengers, all of it?'
'I dunno. I guess there's no point - it's all over now, and I don't want to deal with all the questions.'
'It's a hell of a claim to fame.'
'I don't really care about that.'
'I know.'
'Maybe one day I'll tell people, but right now it just hurts too much to talk about or think about.'
'Sorry. I'll shut up.'
Becca gave him a smile. 'You're a good friend, Justin.'