Crossroads

Chapter Two

"You're real!", she exclaimed.

"And so are you", he answered, a quirky smile lighting up his face.

"Blast!", she reacted and then covered her mouth when she realized that she had been speaking out loud.

"Char? Are you ok?", he asked in concern.

He had a cotton blue Hawaiian shirt on, two buttons popped open, donning a lighter set of khakis compared to yesterday, and comfortable-looking sandals. He was far tanner than she thought he was, and his hair was tied back, accentuating his deep blue eyes.

She hasn't seen him this close in... years.

"I'm not sure", she answered quite honestly, still too stunned to actually have him right in front of her.

A small laugh escaped him.

Maybe because it was obvious that she was terribly not herself or maybe just because is a gentleman, Tom guided her towards the bar and asked for a tall glass of water.

"How long have you been out in the sun?"

"Long enough, it seems."

He's really right there in front of her, solid and just as charming as he has always been. Dear gods, time has been kind to him hasn't it?

The man had a five-o-clock shadow on his face but it did not diminish how good he still looked. Tom Felton's gorgeousness is potently more dangerous in such close distance.

"Drink up", he told her as he put the glass of water on her hands and thanked the bartender.

Emma closed her eyes and then opened them again just to be sure she was not seeing things.

She knew she probably already looked like an idiot but her heart could not come to terms with how casually he had just come up to her, as though all those years of silence between them did not happen, while she had hidden herself from him just yesterday... too afraid to even say Hi.

How could he just –

The bartender, who was called by another customer, had gone back to them to ask whether Tom also wanted something to drink, putting a break on Emma's whirling thoughts.

The man shook his head before returning his focus on her, then motioning towards the glass of water she still held in her hand.

Did he look for her?

"Uhmmm... ahhhh... how did you know I was here?", the question was out of her mouth before she could compose it in a far better manner.

"You are looking more and more like a woman with a screw loose", she scolded herself internally as she watched him respond.

Something flashed in his eyes before answering. "I was having breakfast with a few friends when I heard talk that you were in Venice beach. Since this can be a very small place for someone trying to stay incognito, I looked around the hotels you might go to and confirmed you're staying here. I was thinking it would be bad form to not even say hi when I already know where you are."

She downed the glass of water in one motion then.

She really did not know what she should have expected as his answer and there really was nothing wrong in what he said. It was perfectly courteous and showed he had not lost the graciousness she had admired from him since their childhood.

Emma brushed off the twinge of sadness that made waved at her at the implication that he had only gone down to see her because it would be ill-mannered not to... not really because he just wanted to.