HIDDLESTORIES

The past few months Tom had been in the US filming and he finally returned home to London. He could not wait to get off the plane into his car and head home for a relaxing evening. His car pulled up and a few fans corner him outside the airport.

"Hi. Tom is it ok if we could get an autograph and a picture? We are traveling through and you are my favorite actor." The fan excitedly hands him a piece of paper.

Tom as the gentleman he is, accepted the request and asked them where they were travelling to. They replied, " we are heading back to the US. We were visiting London only because of you!"

Tom laughs and says, "well I hope you had a great time and I'm glad you chose this beautiful place to see". He gently takes the phone from the fan's hand and points it towards them. He gives them quick hugs and hurries into his car.

He arrives home, he gives a sigh of relief and all the stress that had been bothering him seemed to have just melted away. The house was very simple and elegant. He loved the simplicity and wanted to keep it that way. It was one of the few things that kept him grounded from all the big changes after the success of Thor.

The past few days he just stayed inside his home relaxing watching his favorite movies and reading some new books he had bought in the US but never got a chance to open. On the sixth day he began to feel a little alone. The house was too quiet even though he would get occasional visit from his family and friends. He sat looking out the window watching the trees sway in the wind. He hears a buzzing sound, it's his phone. A text message icon appears, it's from Benedict.

The text reads, "Hey, How about we meet up tonight? Usual place? You know which Pub I'm talking about."

He smiles and hits reply, " Yes. I remember. 8:00?"

The sun begins to set, Tom looks at the time and it's almost 8:30 pm. He rushes and gets his wallet and phone. He arrives and sees Ben already a few drinks ahead of him. Ben sees Tom and waves him over. The two laugh and start talking about their day, their work, and Ben's engagement to Sophie.

Tom looks at Ben, "how on earth did you know she was the one?" Ben smiles and says, "I have no idea, to tell you the truth I just could not go one day without thinking about her. Wondering where she was, what she was doing, who she was talking to and how much it hurt to be away from her for one second.Why? Are you finally thinking of settling down Mr. Workaholic?" Tom laughs and looks around the place and someone catches his attention.

Elizabeth sat at a nearby table with a few friends enjoying the night on her last two days in London. The plan for this vacation was to get as far away from school as possible and just enjoy seeing a new part of the world.

"Come on! There has to be someone here you find attractive!" Elizabeth friend shouts to her. She looks at her serious and replies, "look I'm not looking for anyone, my plan was just to enjoy this place and experience something new." They all look at her like she was crashing their party.

Tom on the other hand could not take his eyes off her. Ben notices that Tom is distracted. "Why don't you go over there and talk to her? That's a lot better than staring at her like some kind of crazy person."

Elizabeth catches Tom's stare and gets nervous. She begins to shuffle in her seat and plays with her hair. She thinks to herself, "stop fidgeting! He's just a person... Who's really good looking... Oh no! He's coming over... Be cool... Be coo-..."

Tom begins to speak and his deep British accent catches the entire tables attention. "Excuse me, I am terribly sorry for interrupting your conversation but, do you mind if my friend and I join you?" He looks straight at Elizabeth waiting for an answer. She looks around at the table and finally replies, "y-yes." She sits up straight wondering what is going on. Ben and Tom walk over and both sit quietly, Tom keeps eye contact with Elizabeth. Her friends introduce themselves but Tom could be less interested. His attention was only on Elizabeth he wanted to know anything and everything about her.