Life Is What You Make It (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfic)

Part 29: Action!

Going for It

I recruit my ever-present partner-in-crime, Anna, as back-up. I honestly don't know what I'll run into when I go to Simone's, so it's best that I have someone who can at least dial 911 if I need it.

"What's the number you call here in case of emergency?" I ask Anna. "Isn't it 911?" She responds in the form of a question. "It's 999'" responds our taxi driver. Anna gives me a wide-eyed look. "Just in case," I say, smiling a bit.

The taxi drops us at the address Chris gave me. I don't know what I was expecting - maybe some seedy neighborhood or at least a suspicious character lurking about with beady, squinty eyes. I find neither - it looks like an ordinary London neighborhood.

I pay the driver and we start toward the apartment building that is our destination. As we enter the elevator, Anna starts fishing around in her purse and pulls out a steak knife. When I look at her like she may have lost her mind, she says, "Just in case."

We stand in front of the apartment door - I'm riddled with doubt while Anna looks like she would knife a Girl Scout if she approached her asking if she wants to buy some cookies. Finally, I knock.

"Hold on a sec," I hear from inside. A few moments later the door opens and there stands my twin - Simone. "Hi, I don't know if you remember me..." Simone tries to shut the door, but I lodge my foot in the gap.

"Simone, I need to talk with you," I say, pressing my shoulder against the door to keep it from closing any further. "Go away. If you don't, I'll...I'll call the police!" Simone says. This woman, who holds my vindication in her hands, is getting on my last nerve. "Go ahead. I'll wait." At that, Simone stops pushing against her side of the door, and Anna looks at me like I've finally lost it. She's very close to the truth.

Simone's neighbor, an older woman, steps into the hall to see what the commotion is. She's carrying a cane, and by the way she's holding it, I don't think it's the first time she's used it as a weapon should it come to that. I look at Anna, hoping she suddenly becomes the equivalent of a swashbuckling pirate in handling steak knives. "It's alright, Gertrude, just messing around with my friends," Simone says suddenly. With that, she opens the door wide to her apartment to let us in. Gertrude seems to relax a bit, though I swear there's a dirty look exchanged between Gertrude and Anna.

"Okay, you found me. What do you want?" Simone asks. "I want my life back the way it was before all this shit hit the fan," I say, looking Simone in the eye. "But since that's likely not going to happen, I'd like you to come forward with me to straighten out the mess I'm in."

"I can't. I have...I have a boyfriend," Simone says. "If I admit to hooking up with Chris, Mike will dump me for sure."  "You mean like Tom dumped Mia?" Anna asks from behind me. I swear she's guarding the door like Gertrude may try to break it down at any moment.

"That's not my problem," Simone retorts, and I see her shutting down.

"You're right, Simone, it's not your problem. In fact, Tom dumping me is not really my problem anymore. It's just that, if you don't come clean, I'm screwed. I mean, I'm royally fucked. It's not about Tom or even my career. It's that I just can't spend one more day of people thinking I'm a liar.  Do you see my dilemma? Without you, I can scream my innocence until I'm blue in the face and no one will believe me."

I continue to look at Simone with a pleading look, hoping that by baring my soul to her, she'll do the right thing. Just as I think she may be considering it, the front door opens.

"Hey, Babe, what's got Gerdy all riled up?" asks who I can only assume is Mike when he enters the apartment. I'm sure the three of us make quite a sight, especially Anna with steak knife in hand. "Hi Babe. These are my friends from work," Simone says. She's now the one with the pleading look.

If I were a vengeful person, I could really screw things up for Simone. Just a word or two, or maybe a picture from a certain website, and Simone's world would come crashing down. I don't, though. I can't, knowing what it's like for everything to be gone in an instant.

"Nice to meet you," I say, walking toward the door. "See you at work, Simone."  "Yeah, see you later, Mia," Simone replies as Anna and I walk out of the apartment. We head toward the elevator and push the button for the first floor. When I look at Anna's hand, I see she's still holding the steak knife. "What?" she asks, then she looks at the knife. "Gerdy looked like she could hold her own. But who brings a cane to a knife fight?" Anna asks, raising an eyebrow. I start to laugh as Anna puts the knife in her purse. When she looks at me again, I'm crying like my world has crumbled all over again.

This is a Grey Area

The next two days move slowly, and I sleep a lot. Sleep and eat ice cream. See? I'm on my way to becoming a recluse that has to be removed with a crane from my apartment. By the third day, I'm pretty sick of myself, so I get up early and go for a run. It feels good to get some fresh air, and it's early enough that neither the paparazzi or rival gangs of Loki and Wonder Woman fans are out and about yet.

I pop into a corner cafe for a cup of tea. Above the order counter, a TV is playing a 24-hour news channel. I'm ordering my tea just as the news changes to entertainment. I'm just about to turn away because I don't want to hear another 'Mia MacKenzie is a Slut' story when I freeze at what I hear. "And in the news today, it seems true love never dies. Tom Hiddleston was seen at a recent party with his old flame, Allison Grey. Hiddleston and Grey, who dated several years ago, reportedly ran into each other in Paris at a UNICEF charity event. And it seems the timing was perfect, given the recent demise of the reported relationship between Tom and Mia MacKenzie, star of Wonder Woman due to hit theaters next summer.  Though spokespersons for the couple have not confirmed their relationship, a person who knows both Allison and Tom say the two have grown very close again in a very short period of time."

"Miss, don't you want your tea?" asks the girl tending the counter. I barely hear her, though, as I'm already walking out the door to resume my run. I break into a sprint as I clear the door. Where I'm running to, I don't know, but I sure as hell know what I'm running from.