I Hope You Love Me Back // TOM TRENCH X READER (old version)

002// Mixup

thanks for all the love on the first chapter <3. chapter summary; after the live broadcast, tom approaches you once again.

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You  stood  outside  of  the  broadcasting  room,  waiting  for  the  'ON SCREEN'  sign  to  change.  You  hoped  that the  broadcast  went  well-  if  not,  Katie  would  probably  use  your  bones  as  an  output  for  her  frustration.  Then  again,  she  didn't  need  a  reason  to  beat  you  up.  The  sound  of  a  buzzer  going  off  drew  your  attention  to  the  neon  light-  it  now  said  'OFF SCREEN',  so  you  straightened  up  and  waited  for  Katie  to  come  out.  First  was  the  recording  crew,  and  then  some  of  the  filler  demons.  Katie  came  out  seconds  later,  angrily  talking  to  a  cow-looking  demon  with  a  microphone  held  across  their  shoulder.  You  ducked as  it  swung  at  you,  and  waited  for  Katie  to  acknowledge  you.

“-never had so much feedback in any of my broadcasts! If you can't get your sh*t together, you'll be sleeping under a bridge on the south side the next time you see one of my broadcasts. Got it?!”

You  saw  cow-demon  nod  nervously  before  running  off  somewhere.  Katie  whipped  her  neck  around  to  look  at  you  (you  winced  at  the  loud  crack  it  made)  and  scowled.

“And you! That coffee was shit! What are you trying to do, get me fat?”

“No-”

“Zip it! I have unfinished business with the sound crew, so I'm letting you off the hook this time. But if I so much as taste a drop of vanilla creamer in my next cup, you're finished!”

Katie  jabbed  you  in  the  chest  with  her  finger,  then  turned  and  stormed  off.  You  rubbed  the  sore  spot,  thinking  about  what  she  said.  You  were  positive  that  you  had  given  her  and  Tom  the correct  cups.  There  must have  been  a  mixup  at  some  point  after  you  left  that  caused  Katie  to  grab  the  wrong  drink.  Still,  it  couldn't  happen  again.  Maybe  you  decided  to  write  the  anchors'  initials on  the  bottom  of  her  mug.  Nobody  would  notice,  right?

As  you  moved  to  retrieve  the  ceramic  mug,  one  last  demon  came  through  the  doorway  and  bumped  into  you.  It  was  Tom.  And  he  was  holding  a  half-empty  coffee  mug.  His  eyes  seemed  to  widen  once  he  noticed  it  was  you,  and  took  a  step  back.

“Oh hey. Intern. I didn't know you were still out here.”

“Uh... yeah. I can't exactly leave the station until Katie tells me to.”

“Uh-huh. Did you mean to..?”

Tom  brandished  the  mug  towards  you,  and  you  gulped.

“No! No, that was a huge accident. I swear I gave you the right drink, I just think there was a mixup-”

“Yeah yeah, there totally was. Katie wanted to switch cups because she said my coffee was apparently hotter. You should've seen her take the first sip, she looked like she was about to throw up. I thought you did it on purpose, because that would've been a genius prank.”

“You're not... mad?”

Tom  scoffed  and  sloshed  the  liquid around  in  its  container.

“Why would I be mad? It's not like you're my intern. Besides, it's Katie's own fault for being so self-entitled.”

You  stood  still,  thinking  about  the  bomb  Tom  just  dropped  on  you.  Although  he  had  said  everything  in  a  bored  tone,  it  sounded  like  he  didn't  think  too  highly  of  Katie.  This  was  a  big  surprise,  because  everybody  on  Channel 666's  set  either  admired  or  feared  the  red-eyed demoness.  You  must  have  been  quiet  for  a  while,  because  Tom  had  to  shake you  to  get  your  attention.

“Sorry. Did you say something?”

“Yeah. I said 'anyways, i'm starving' and then I asked if you wanted to go to a diner or something. There's this place down the street, they sell cronuts and mimosas. You wouldn't expect it to work out, but it really does.”

Okay,  this  was  crazy.  You  knew  nothing  about  Tom,  except  for  the  obvious  facts.  And  you  were  pretty sure  he  knew  nothing  about  you,  considering  that  today  was  the  first  time  he  ever  talked  to  you.  But  now  he  was  asking  you  on  a  date?

Woah,  where  did  that  come  from?  Tom  wasn't  asking  you  out.  He  was  just  asking  you  out.  As  in  outside.  An  oddly  nice  thing  for  a  demon  to  do,  but  it  was  still  a  normal  invitation.  Sighing,  you  looked  at  the  clock.  The  station  didn't  really  'close',  but  everything  started calming  down  at  12pm.  It  was  only 3:10  right  now.

“I can't. Katie will go hysterical if she calls me and I'm not here.”

“Aw screw Katie, amirite? She's a grown woman. She can do crap herself. And if she yells at you anyway, I'll vouch for you.”

This  was  such  a  bad  idea  for  one  good  reason.  But  what  could  you  do,  say  no  to  a  news  anchor?  You  didn't  get  paid  to  say  'no'  to  your  co-workers  of  higher  position.  You  didn't  get  paid  at  all  actually,  so  you  might  as  well  just  go  ahead.

“Okay then...”

“Wonderful! Let me just go pour this out and then we can get going!”

You  watched  Tom  walk  away  for  the  second  time  that  day.  You  weren't  prophetic  or  anything,  but  you  were  pretty  sure  that  this  man  was  going  to  get  you  in  a  boatload  of  trouble.