Chapter 5

       Emeline spent the rest of the weekend nursing a surprisingly brutal hangover.  Just a reminder that she wasn’t 21 anymore.  Going overboard on champagne was never a good idea, and definitely not now that she was closer to 30 than 20.  She had spent all of Saturday, on her couch wrapped in as many blankets as she could find, sipping tea and eating cookies.       To add insult to injury, she had not been able to forget how completely, utterly embarrassing her run in with Tom had been.  She’d made a complete fool of herself, multiple times.  She was used to be somewhat bumbling, and often a victim of the old foot in mouth syndrome, but she had taken it to a whole new level on Friday night.  And Tom…Tom had been a complete and total gentleman the entire time.  In fact, he’d been gracious and sweet and rather helpful.  And she had called him a douchebag.       By the time Saturday night rolled around, Emie had replayed the entire evening in her head over and over at least a hundred times.  At least she hadn’t botched her maid of honor speech—well perhaps except for the part where she’d forgotten her own name.  That wasn’t totally her fault though.  She had looked at Tom and he…he…  Well, he had simply looked back at her.  And then her mind had been completely blank.       Flipping through the channels, Emie paused on one of the Entertainment daily shows that often played right after the news, and before the regular nightly programming.  She hated these shows.  It was the whole reason why people like her sister had to live under the constant scrutiny of cameras.  She paused on it though, because the same eyes that had made her forget her name the other night were now staring back at her from the screen.       “Tonight we have an interview to show you with one of our favorite new, leading men.  He’s been in some of the biggest action movies lately, and his next project is a play in the London theater.  Let’s go to our interview that Katie had with actor, Tom Hiddleston.”  The perfectly coiffed blond woman on the screen smiled, and then they cut to the interview.       Emie paused, staring at the television.  Her mouth hanging open quite a bit.  Sure, she knew he was an actor.  She knew he worked on big, famous projects.  He worked with Chris all the time.  It just never felt normal to see people you’d just met on television though.        Tom was sitting comfortably across from the interviewer, wearing a fitted light blue dress shirt.  He was smiling and talking about his latest projects.  Emie just stared and watched, barely breathing.       “How do you feel going back to your roots? In a few months you’ll be in a production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse in London.” The woman asked.  Tom nodded, looking a bit serious.       “It feels fantastic, actually.  I look at movies and plays as one in the same.  You’ve got to throw yourself into those roles, whether they are big budget action movies or more intimate plays.  I feel really fortunate to be able to work on Coriolanus, because it is a bit like home.”         Emie remembered to breathe, exhaling slowly.         “And where is home for you right now, Tom? London? California? New York?” The woman asked.  Tom nodded, breaking into a bit of a smile.       “Right now I live out of suitcases.  I have a base in London, and will be there for Coriolanus.  But I’m a bit of a vagrant, at the moment.” He smiled.  Emie turned the television off, throwing the remote on the couch.  She didn’t understand that lifestyle, and a lot of the people she knew seemed to live like that.  She liked having a home.  She liked stability and knowing what she was going to be doing the next month or year.  Sure, not everything was written in stone, but at least she knew where to have her mail sent.        The truth was, ever since her parents had died, she’d craved stability.  Her father had been a writer as well.  He’d worked mostly on movie scripts, and was constantly traveling.  Her mother was a costume designer.  They’d been rather unstoppable in their prime.  Emie remembered travelling all over with them when she was young.  They’d go from movie set to movie set.  It was probably partially why Lucia had gotten the acting bug so early.  The girls had been exposed to it rather young.  It had been fun when she was young, but then she had hit puberty.  She suddenly wanted friends she would get to see every day.  She wanted to know what state she would be living in in the next year.         After fighting her parents on it for quite some time, they had agreed to let her live with her Aunt in Arizona when she was 14.  Lucia had stayed with her parents, travelling and going through school using a private tutor.  Emie had flourished at school in Arizona, making friends and relishing the monotony of every day life.  She saw her family quite frequently, and sometimes for weeks or months at a time, depending on work.  It wasn’t a traditional arrangement, but it worked for her family.       Then, the accident had happened.  It had been the end of her junior year of high school.  She’d been barely sixteen.  Her life at the time consisted of writing for her school’s literary club, her friends, and her first boyfriend, Kenny.  Lucia was in college, and slowly getting into the acting and modeling scene.       Emie still remembered the call from Lucia.  It had changed both their lives in an instant.  Their parents had been en route to a movie production in Morocco.  The plane they had been on was a small one, fitting only about 15 people.  No one was quite sure what had happened, but it had gone down somewhere over the Atlantic.  In the span of just a few hours, Emie and Lucia’s non traditional but very happy lives had been turned upside down.       That had been almost 13 years ago.  After it had happened, Lucia had moved to back to Arizona to stay with Emie and their Aunt Erica.  The two girls had grown even closer over that time.  After Emie graduated from high school, she had decided to go to UC Berkeley in California, and Lucia had dove head first into acting and modeling.  Although so much time had passed, Emie still often felt like that lost 16 year old.  Angry and frustrated at her “vagrant” parents who were constantly travelling the world and never at home, and also fighting hard to find the footing she needed to continue on without them.  Lucia had helped her.  Lucia had always been much more confident.  It was Lucia that had convinced her to stay in California after college.  A brief stint back home in Arizona, and then Emie had claimed, for now, permanent residency in LA.       Emie sat back against the couch, staring at the blank tv screen.  She still had anxiety over flying.  She often broke out into a cold sweat whenever she knew Lucia was flying somewhere for work.  She made Lucia text and call her before, during and after the flight.  She knew it was silly.  She knew plane crashes were few and far between, and riding in a car was more dangerous…blah, blah, blah, but she couldn’t help herself.         Sighing, Emie wrapped herself in her blankets and decided it was time for bed.  She stood up, stretching and yawning at the same time.  Her hangover was nearly gone.  By the next morning, she should be fine.  Perhaps she’d get up early and go for a run.  She needed it after all the chocolate wafer cookies she’d eaten earlier.       Just as she went to her bedroom, she heard her phone beep, alerting her to a message.  She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and opened it.       How are you today? It was Lucia.  She smiled, and walked toward her bedroom, texting as she did.       Not so great in the morning, but better now.       Did Tom ask you out? Lucia asked.  Emie rolled her eyes, sliding into her bed.  Lucia got right to the point.  Emie snuggled under the covers, and replied to Lucia.       No, of course not. I’m a mess.       A hot mess. In a good way. Lucia texted.  Emie laughed.       If you say so.       He was asking about you, that’s all.       Stop, Lucia. I know what you’re doing. Emie sighed, rolling onto her side.  Had he been asking about her? Probably inquiring whether they let her out from the crazy house for entire days at a time or just hourly.       At least his accent is real. Lucia said.        Please, don’t remind me.  Goodnight, Lucia. Emie quickly set an alarm for six thirty the next morning, and was about to put her phone on the charger when it started vibrating and beeping loudly.  Most likely Lucia calling now, to grill her more.  She looked at it, and was surprised when she didn’t recognize the number.       “Hello?” She said, unsure.         “Hello, Emie? It’s Tom.  Tom Hiddleston.” He said, as if she wouldn’t know him by his first name or his rather inimitable voice.       “Tom. Hi!” She squeaked, surprised.       “I didn’t wake you, did I? I’m terribly sorry, I know it’s a bit late.  I just got in from a flight from Nevada.  I was there for the day.” He said.  His voice over the phone was like butter.  Soft, warm, a bit rough around the edges.  She sat up in bed.       “No, not at all. I just got in from…an evening…out.” She said, her brain coming up blank.       “Excellent.” Tom said, not seeming to notice her rather obvious lie.  Or if he did, he wasn’t letting onto it.  “I was calling to see if you were busy tomorrow morning.  Perhaps we could meet for lunch or something.  I’d really love your input on this idea I have.” He asked.  Emie paused, her mind still blank.       “I can’t.” She said quickly, without much thought.       “Oh okay, maybe another time?” He asked.         “Sure. I’m sorry I’ve just got some really…important things to do tomorrow morning.  It’ll probably take all day.” She said, looking around the room until her eyes landed on her cat, Marius.  “My um, my cat…is having surgery.” She said lamely.         “Oh, darling, I’m so sorry.  Is he alright?” Tom said.  Emie felt her stomach clench when he said ‘darling’.  She knew it was a common term, but coming from him was something else.  He said it so casually.       “Yes. He’s just…old.” She rubbed Marius’ belly, hoping karma didn’t come back and kick her in the ass.       “Yes, well I guess those things happen.  Well, good luck to your cat.  Let me know when you are free next?” Tom asked.  Emie sighed, closing her eyes.  Why did he have to be so damn polite?       “Of course, sure. I’ll let you know.” She said, suddenly wanting nothing more than to get off the phone.       “Okay, thanks, Emie.  I’ll speak with you soon.” Tom said.  He sounded a bit dejected, and Emie had to admit she felt bad about it.  He was nice.  He was talented, and from what she could tell, rather smart.  Not to mention, he was ridiculously handsome.  She didn’t trust herself around him.  The less they saw each other, the better.  He was an actor.  He had admitted to not even having a home at the moment.  He stood for everything she’d been fighting against since she knew what stability meant.       “Good night, Tom.” Emie said softly, and then quickly hung up.  She flopped back onto the bed, groaning.  Enough with this weekend.  Maybe she should have just continued the booze on through til Monday.