What's Past is Prologue (A Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction)

Chapter Six

May 2015, London, England, UK

I knew with absolute certainty that I needed to escape the run-down Turkish restaurant the moment he mentioned his 1989 Porsche 911. This was after he had gone on and on about some old Ferrari that he used to have before he had to sell it in order to afford the Porsche.

"James," I interrupted him, but I really didn't care. I knew I would have to see him on Monday at work, but this couldn't go on. "Do you think maybe we could talk about something else?"

The man across the table pushed his glasses back up his nose and sat up straighter, making his beer gut protrude even more. Why had I agreed to this? "Erm, what do you want to talk about?"

I wanted to ask him how he could have eaten so much already when we only got our food five minutes before, but I decided against it. "Do you have any siblings?"

He scratched his short brown hair, and I watched as a tiny fleck of skin floated down to rest on the kebab in front of him. "No. You?"

"No."

There was a moment of silence before he started going on about his Porsche again. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, I heard the most beautiful sound in the world: my phone. I quickly grabbed it from my purse, and without even looking at the screen, told James it was important and fled to the bathroom.

I finally checked the caller ID and smiled. "Hello! Thank goodness. Have I told you how wonderful you are lately?" I heard Tom's signature laugh on the other end and relaxed. Hearing my best friend's laugh always made me feel better. Shortly after our time in Stratford, I moved to London, and Tom was the first person I called. Thankfully, I didn't bring a lot with me on my journey across the pond, and Tom helped me find a small, second story flat in Camden Town. He even helped me find a job that I absolutely loved, even if some of the people, like James for instance, weren't exactly perfect. Since then, Tom had become my closest friend

"Not lately, no," he said.

"Well you are. But you know what would make you even wonderful-er?"

Tom laughed again. "Teaching you proper english?"

"No, shut up. What would make you even more wonderful is if you would fly home right now and come rescue me."

"Rescue you? Are you alright?" He sounded worried.

"Well, I'm not dying or anything, but, um..." I paused. I never told Tom I was going on a date with my co-worker James. I'm still not sure why, but it just felt weird to talk about other guys with Tom, not that I really did that much anyway. In fact, this was my first date since I broke off my engagement, and I was quickly reminded of how terrible dating was. "I'm on a date," I said cautiously, "And it isn't going very well."

The line went silent, and for a moment I thought the call had dropped. "A date?" he finally said. "With who?"

"Um... James. From work."

"The car guy?" I had often discussed my job with Tom, so he knew about the majority of our 14 person team at DuVille Designs.

"Yeah. He asked me on Tuesday if I'd like to go out sometime, and I stupidly agreed to this Friday."

"You never mentioned it when we talked last." Tom was in Toronto doing some pick up scenes for his new film directed by Guillermo del Toro, but we still found time to talk a few days every week, even if it was just a text every now and then.

"I guess I just forgot. Work was busy this week." It wasn't exactly a lie. We had four major clients this week. I knew Tom wouldn't believe me, but I hoped he would let it slide for the time being.