Taming of the Tom

Chapter 4

A week later, I walk down the steps of my house and onto the street, dressed in tight blue jeans and a white t shirt, carrying my purse and phone in my back pockets, and a large shopping bag in my hand.

I walk into Waitrose with earplugs in, listening to a podcast on modern warfare in the Vietnam War, as I'm teaching a course on it next year.

I pick up the essentials, and in my head I'm planning on what book to buy from my favourite bookshop down the street. 

I walk into the tea and coffee aisle, picking up a couple of boxes of herbal tea, when someone taps me on the shoulder.

It's Tom. Fresh-faced but slightly tired, I can tell. Grinning like the world depends on it.

I pull out my earplugs and stop the track.

"Tom! What a coincidence!" I extend my hand, though slightly full.

"It's great to see you again, Jen. I was wondering how I'd be able to get your details."

I laugh. "How are you?"

"Exhausted. I can't sleep for some reason."

"Have you tried Valium?" I joke, and he rolls his eyes.

"How are you, other than sarcastic as usual?"

"Just fine. Living life to the full in Waitrose!" We laugh. 

"Do you want to grab a coffee or something?"

I look down at my boxes of mint tea. "Why the hell not?"

We queue together and pay on different aisles, catching each others eyes and pulling ridiculous faces to get each other to laugh.

"Can I help you with that?" A seven-foot, twenty-something man stops in his path, offering to carry my big shopping bag.

Before I can answer, Tom's between us, reaching for it.

"I've got it thanks." He grins and we both look up at the man's protruding face, which is comically angry.

We step out of Waitrose and walk up the street in the direction of my favourite coffee shop.

"That was hilarious. He was close to starting a fight!"

"His face...I have to admit, I was almost regretting it."

"He was almost seven foot. You would have been crushed."

"You wanna bet, Jen? Look at these biceps!" I focus on his arms, muscular and chiselled. He lifts up the bags, flexing them even more so. 

"Impressive!"

"What a gentleman," an elderly lady passing by says. Tom and I hold back laughs.

"Oh, you're such a darling gent, Tom!"

"Could you carry my spam tins for me, sweetheart?" We both imitate the woman, not hesitating to chuckle now she's far down the street.

"Thank you, though. You didn't have to take it."

"Well I did anyway." He smiles sweetly at me, displaying perfect teeth.

"I guess chivalry isn't dead."

"I could be your knight in shining armour," he jokes.

"So I must be..." I pause, acting dumb. "...the damsel in distress!"

"You've got the beauty." He says, suddenly his tone serious.

I'm lost for words and witty one-liners. My brain scrambles to find something, anything to say. 

"You've got the hair!" I say jokingly, and he simply smiles to himself. I feel idiotic.

We walk into the coffee shop and he sets down the bags at a table next to the window. He gestures for me to sit down, awkwardness still lingering in the air.

"What would you like?" He asks, his voice soft.

"Espresso with a caramel shot, please. Thank you, Tom." When he walks off to the counter, I stare out of the window, my eye catching on a young couple.

Did he mean what he said? Why did he turn all serious? It was fun before that happened. Why did he have to spoil everything? Oh, what am I saying... He gave me a freaking compliment. I should appreciate that. 

I'm just too used to joking around. Maybe that's the problem with me. Never being serious. I should apologise. Explain why I acted in that way, because he deserves an explanation. I must have made him feel rotten.

The next chapter includes the 'explanation'. I apologise in advance if it's slightly full-on. 

I know these are quite short chapters, but it gives me a bit of extra time to write them. 

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