After the End

Prologue - Betrayal

One month ago.

          The lights faded to black, sending the final crowd into a standing ovation. People cheered and whistled with excitement, amazed at what they had just seen, whilst others shuffled out of the room impatiently, hoping to meet the main star of the show.

     They waited in the main foyer of the Harold Pinter Theatre, it's Victorian-style and glow making everyone feel higher class than they already were.

     The fans were so proud of him and how hard he had worked for the performance, but no one was prouder than the blonde girl at the side of the room. She looked more casual than the guests; with a grey beanie hat on her head which forced her light hair to frame her pink face, but all of the fans knew exactly who she was, and as he entered the room, she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck.

  "Wow, you were amazing!" she squealed.

  "Thank you," he laughed, planting a soft kiss on her forehead before turning to face the audience, a polite smile on his lips.

  "Mrs Hiddleston, over here!" someone in the crowd called, cameras raised into the air above many heads to get a photo of the couple.

  "They still haven't stopped calling me that," she whispered through her smile as she posed for the cameras. This time last year, she felt unconfident and tended to shy away from the flashes, but these days the smile came natural to her, and she found how to work the cameras as her confidence had begun to grow.

  "I think it suits you," he whispered back, a grin in his voice.

  "We're not married yet, Tom," she smiled, turning her face to look directly at him with her blue eyes.

  "'Yet' being the most important word," he said with a smile. Suddenly, he turned around and grabbed a nearby chair, standing on it so that he could look over the audience as he spoke. "Thank you all for coming," he said. "It's been an absolute pleasure performing this amazing work for you night after night, and I'm very sad that it has come to an end. But, as my mother always says, when one thing comes to an end, another beginning starts. Here's to new beginnings."

  "To new beginnings!" everyone echoed with another excited cheers as they all watched Tom step down from the chair. He dusted the seat off before he placed it back neatly under the table and turned to face the blonde woman beside him.

  "Is Naomi here?" he asked her.

  "Hi, Tom."

  "Ah, yes, she is," he confirmed to himself, another smile on his face as Naomi walked around him to stand beside her sister.

  "Allie, I'm going," she said.

  "What? Why?" Allegra asked, a confused frown in her blonde brows.

  "I'm tired," Naomi shrugged as she put her coat on and pulled her long dark brown hair from out of the back.

  "Aren't you coming back to ours for celebratory drinks?"

  "No," she replied simply, shooting a look at Tom. "I'll see you later."

  "Oh... Ok."

  Allegra watched her older sister walk out of the theatre, allowing a cold breeze into the room as she opened the glass doors that led out onto the dark street outside.

  "Is everything ok?" Tom asked his partner gently.

  "Yeah, uh... She just... I don't know," Allegra laughed awkwardly, embarrassed by her sister's attitude.