A Collection of Imagines

Tom

Just a fling

I walk down the shady hallway of the stadium, listening the shaking of the walls that were created by the voices in the stands. The clamping of heavy boots, designer shoes and patterned sneakers that stride next to me give me a headache. I turn the corner towards my dressing room. My stylist opens the door and walks in with my light director with their schedules and samples. I stop in the doorway, taking a deep breath. 

I can tell she's uneasy. She does this thing that doesn't just make her uncomfortable, but also makes me nervous and its not my job to be nervous. She tilts her head to the side and takes a deep breath. It always comes in staggered and leaves her lungs periodically. I can tell that a few things are going through her mind. So, before she steps into the room, I touch her discretely. 

I feel a hand brush against my fingers. I look to my left to find him leaning up on the door frame, out of sight from Lexi and Aaron. He looks down on me with a concerned look on his face. When he first started doing that to me, I thought it might have been protocol for him, but then all of the other things came along. I happen to like the little check-ins that he does. They make me feel like my feelings are actually being accounted for. He nods his head slightly upward in question. I nod my head and give him a small smile. He starts to stand up straight and begins to walk into the room, but I stop him. 

Her hand grabs mine before I walk in. Her fingers mix in between mine and I look down at her face once more. Her face looms with an expression of gratitude. If it weren't for her team being ten feet away, I would lean down, place my hand on the small of her back to pull her in close to me and smash my lips on hers. I look into the room to see if anyone's looking. No, it's too open. I would love to, but I can't. Instead, I squeeze her hand which prompts another large smile from her. 

I walk into my dressing room with this empty feeling of not having his touch on me. I sit on my chair in front of my mirror. My stylist spits out a couple of things that are down on my 'style' schedule for the week considering I have back to back shows. Aaron goes on about a couple things for lighting, but I'm not listening to any of that. I'm looking at my bodyguard through the mirror. He sits in the corner of the room, legs crossed, palm covering half of his face, looking at me through the mirror while pretending to listen to what Lexi was saying. I'm pretending to do something else too like touch up my makeup or listen to Aaron about his complaint, but I can't focus. His stare is so intense that I want to pounce at him this very second. Sometimes he smiles at me. And I smile back. 

She watches me intently through the mirror. I don't move an inch under her stare. No one else can intimidate me as much as she can. And my job is to not be intimidated by anyone. What's so different about this woman? I can never put a finger on it. The door swings open to reveal the man that makes me roll my eyes to the back of my head. Scott pulls his gaze up at her for just a moment from his blackberry. 

"Can I speak to her for one moment alone please?" 

"Scott, we need to go over this."

"It will only take a second, Lex." 

She sighs and moves away from my girl. Her and Aaron walk out the door and I get up from my seat. 

"No, Tom. You stay." 

Something about the hint in his voice made my whole body freeze for a moment. I move back in to my chair. I look over to her and she has the same confused look on her face. 

I can't help but feel nervous now. Scott sits down on one of the sofas and takes out his smartphone. It takes him a second to find something within it. He takes a deep breath and hands it to me. I look down at the photo he hands me and my world comes crashing down. I try not to change my expression when I look down at the picture of me and Tom's embrace outside of my hotel room last night. He was leaving my room. Scott must have taken it when I wasn't looking. I look back up at him with tears in my eyes. We've been caught. 

I just know by the look on her face. Scott found us out. He looks over at me and sighs. 

"What am I supposed to do with this? Huh?" 

I stare blankly into his empty eyes. Of course, this has to be his problem. He handles everything like it's his problem. He looks at her with the same face. I wanted to punch him so bad right now.  

"You know this can't come out right?" 

She shifts in her seat, uncomfortable under his interrogation. I desperately wish this wasn't happening right now. 

"What am I supposed to do? Tell me because I'm out of cards to play here?" 

He doesn't take his eyes off of her, but hers turn sour under his stare. I want to chuckle at how she's staring daggers at him. And I know that if that was directed at me, I would want to die as well. 

"How long?" 

By his tone, I don't want to tell him anything just to spite him. Though I know it will only make the matter much worse than it already is. I look over at Tom before I speak. "Uh ... about four months." Scott falls back into his chair dramatically. 

"Why? I mean I get why, but why did you choose this? You know how deteriorating this can be for your career." 

"Yes, I do know Scott. That's why we've been keeping it a secret."  

"We? Now, it's we? Oh, that's adorable."

"Mock me all you want. It's not going to change anything." 

"Oh, please, you can't be serious. This can't be serious." 

He waves his hands in the space between me and Tom. That annoys the fuck out of me. I stay silent at this point and I move my gaze to Tom. It softens the second I see his calm state. 

"This can't go on. Why are you still holding onto this? This is just a fling. A sex-capade. This is nothing compared to your career and your future ahead of you. Let's not even talk about the age difference and how that would appear to the public. This isn't good for you press-wise, marketing-wise, and contract-wise. You have to understand that. You know he's going to be fired soon because I can't trust you around him now. Do you hear that? I can't trust you around him because I know you will be out of a job if it weren't for me keeping you in line. So, why do it? Why are you still holding on?" 

My eyes stay on Tom. I let the truth fly for once in my life. "Because I love him."

I don't hear anything when Scott rambles on. I don't hear his footsteps throughout the room. I don't hear him when he shuts the down behind him. All I can hear is her words ringing in my ears over and over again. Her eyes still haven't left mine. She doesn't leave me when I smile tremendously. She doesn't leave me when I lean forward. She doesn't leave me when I rub my hands together. I get up from my seat and walk over to her. In one swift motion, I dip down to her, take her in my arms, and place her legs around my waist. Lips colliding together. She takes a sharp inhale. I pull away from her. "I love you, too." 

AN: I took a little inspiration from the movie The Bodyguard. It's a good one. Watch it.