Streets vs. Sheets (A Tom Hiddleston FanFic)

And We Meet

Chapter 4:

I walk into Avocado and am seated near a window in the back. It’s a very lovely restaurant. The walls are painted white, along with all of the furniture, and there are red accents all around for Christmas. It reminds me of my living room which makes it all the more cozy.

As I wait, I sip a white wine and check my planner for the rest of the week. My head is down when I hear the sultry British accent that could only belong to Tom Hiddleston.

“Hello, dear, you must be Alice.” He out-stretches his hand for me to shake, but instead of him shaking it, he lifts my hand gently and kisses it. I swoon and nearly spill my wine.

“Yes, it’s so nice to meet you.” I try to remain calm and not fan-girl all over the place. He smiles his wonderful smile and sits across from me.

“Forgive me if I’m being rude, but how old are you?” He smiles and I laugh. Tom being rude? That’s not even possible.

“I’ll be turning 23 in a week, actually.” I smile shyly and take a sip of my wine.

“You just look so young. A week? Your birthday is on Christmas eve?” He takes a bite of his pasta salad and I smile into my plate.

“Well, thank you and yes, it is. It’s kind of a burden, really.”

“How so, dear?” I nearly faint every time he speaks, but hearing him say “dear” takes the breath out of me.

“It adds extra stress to my family and friends on top of the holiday stresses. I usually tell them to act like my birthday doesn’t exist to save them some trouble.”

We continue our conversation while eating and end up ordering dessert before we begin discussing me being his assistant.

“So, Josh told me to ask you some questions about my position as your assistant?”

“Ah, yes, of course. The business part of this business lunch.” He laughs. God, his laugh is adorable. Our waiter arrives with our dessert: white chocolate and hazelnut pie topped with caramel. We split the piece in half and he takes a bite before answering my question.

“I don’t really even need an assistant but they require that I have one. Essentially you will bring me water when I need it and will help me get my costume on. Nothing too major. You’ll mainly be keeping me company is all.”

“That sounds like my kind of job.” We laugh and chat with each other while we finish our pie. Once we are finished, he asks for the check and waves away my attempt to pay for my meal.

“No, no, no. I’ve got it. I will never let a lady as lovely as yourself pay for her meal.” He hands the waiter his credit card and when the waiter returns with Tom’s receipt, he rushes to my chair to help me up like I’m the queen of New York City.

We walk out of the restaurant and he walks me to my car. He grabs my hand and kisses it just the same as he did earlier. “It was so nice meeting you, Alice. I look forward to working with you on set.”

I blush and go to open my door but Tom beats me to it. He opens it for me and gives me his award-winning smile. His blue eyes pierce into mine and I get lost in them. “Thank you, Tom. You’re almost sweeter than the pie.” He laughs and replies “Have a safe drive home, Alice.” I smile at him and close my car door. I start the engine and wave goodbye to him and I pull out of my parking spot and drive away.

The entire drive home, I scream over Tom. He was so sweet and charming and everything that I always knew he was but never imagined could actually be real. I pull into my driveway and hurry inside. I run to my office and to change into my lounge clothes to continue cleaning the mess that Kylee made of my house. I walk into the laundry room and grab my bedding from the washer and transfer it into the dryer. I set the timer and walk back upstairs and into my bedroom.

I still have clothing that remains unfolded and unorganized. I pick up a light blue button up shirt and place it on a hanger for my clothing rack. My wardrobe ranges from business professional to damn-near homeless. I like the keep a clothing rack along my wall in my bedroom and put a handful of pieces on hangers that I wear the most often in any outfit. My favourite sweatpants, button up blouses, black leggings, an array of scarves and sweaters, and a pair of black heels, flats, and brown and black boots.

I finished up the clothing fiasco and made my way downstairs to grab the bedding from the dryer. I put my bed back together and arrange my pillows back to their usual placement. I have all white bedding with red and gold pillows for the holiday season. My walls are painted a slate grey with white wood trimming. White is a theme throughout my house, which has been a work-in-progress ever since I bought the house. Originally, the walls were painted a god awful tan and mustard yellow and the entire house looked grungy and terrible. I saw potential, however. I thought that with a little bit of redecorating and new paint and flooring, I could make this house worth double what I paid.

I spend the rest of my day lounging around my house in old boyfriends clothes and working on my unfinished nursing homework. My final nursing exam is in a few weeks and then I’ll officially be a graduated college student, nurse, and journalist. I take my education very seriously and when I’m in my study-zone, I hate being interrupted. But it always seems that the world wants to have a conversation with me over tea when I’m in that said zone rather than not. Of course, right as I’m minutes away from finishing my last paper, my doorbell rings.

I sigh heavily and walk over to the front door. I look out the peep-hole and see what appears to be a male but I couldn’t see a face. I unlock the door and open it only to find Tom standing there.

“Tom?” I say as I cross my arms over my chest to hide my breasts. I hardly ever wear a bra around my house unless I’m expecting company. But it’s almost 10 p.m. why would he be visiting me this late at night?

“Uh, so sorry to barge in on you like this. But I forgot to give you something.” He steps through the doorway and kisses me, hard, on the mouth. I close my eyes and sigh in relief. He pulls away and then I open my eyes. When my vision focuses on what’s around me, I realize that I had fallen asleep and that the kiss was just a dream. Of course it was just a dream. Tom would never find me attractive. We’re co-workers and he is very professional, anyway.

I get off of my couch and walk into my kitchen to make some tea. I find that warm tea with milk and honey calms me and helps me sleep at night. It also helps me study and makes me feel great overall. I gave up soda drinks years ago and switched over to tea, coffee, water, and I even started juicing. Over the years, I've become a bit of a health-nut. I can't tell if it's from nursing school or what.

I drink my tea and turn on my TV. I hardly pay attention to it but I enjoy the background noise when I’m working. I begin to actually work on my assignments until my eyes become heavy and my phone tells me that it’s well past 2 A.M. I don’t even bother to close up my books but simply plop on my bed and fall immediately to sleep.