A Question Of Love

Happy? Sad? Confused?

Jamie woke the next morning and yawned, stretching her feet out the end of the small sofa bed and feeling the cold air hit them. With a shiver and a small "ooof," she immediately drew them back in. Not that she was overly tall, at just over 5 feet, she was barely in the 'not Hobbit' range, let alone 'tall'. It was just that Mandy had never quite gotten round to getting a new sofa bad and as a result, she was now lying on the fold out relic that had Jamie had used since they were teenagers back home. It was, despite the cramped conditions, oddly comforting. As they'd navigated the transition into adulthood, that one constant, well that and shared life experiences as well as a downright weird sense of humour, had kept them grounded.

She was in the living room, the Docklands being just that bit too expensive for a second bedroom, even for the newly promoted Mandy. The picture window let in the morning light. It was looking to be a nice day, even if it was still early. She looked at her phone, 6.30 am - good grief! Did the world even EXIST at this time in the morning? Apparently so! That explained the cool air, no heating on yet. Snuggling back down under the quilt, she opened her emails to scan for the usual rubbish.

She wasn't disappointed. A mix of gossip, special offers on things she could neither afford nor use, and boring reminders that direct debits were coming off soon. Bad enough she had to pay the damned things, just don't rub my nose in it, she thought huffily. As she scrolled down, however, one caught her eye. She half recognised the sender, so rather than automatically delete it as unwanted spam, she marked it for reading later and set the phone aside.

Standing, her jumper over her nightie, she walked over to the window and looked out. Dawn was breaking slowly, and the rosy glow spreading from the east end of the city made even the drabbest concrete into something that much prettier. Her stomach rumbled, seemingly it was awake now too. Turning away from the unfolding day, she walked into the small kitchen and brewed herself some tea. Mandy was not a morning person by ANY stretch of the imagination so she knew she had at least the next three, maybe four, hours to herself. What to do? Stay and loll about on on the sofa watching tv or do something a little more constructive?

Sitting on the sofa, she carefully balanced her mug on the arm and grabbed her phone from where it lay on her makeshift bed. At first she'd intended to see if there were any markets nearby, she knew Borough Market would be in full swing shortly but it was a little further away than she planned. Maybe there was something closer?

As she unlocked the screen, the mail icon winked at her, and she remembered the one she'd set aside. Ok, she thought, let's get that out the way first, then get down to the exciting stuff. Little did she know....

Mandy was woken by a shriek in the living room. Sitting up, rubbing her eyes she realised it was Jamie. What in God's name had gotten into her? And in the middle of the bloody night too! She grabbed her phone to check how far into the middle they were. Yep, as she suspected 6.45am, middle of the night.

Groaning she got up and walked through to find Jamie standing in the middle of the living room, looking at her phone with tears streaming down her face, just screeching. "Oh my God! Oh my GOD!"

"Jamie, calm down, what's wrong? What IS it?" Mandy put a hand on her arm and Jamie turned to her, eyes wide proffering her phone.

"Look....." was all she managed to say before she started sobbing again.

Mandy took the phone with more than a degree of trepidation. What was she about to read? It was an email. She didn't recognise the logo at the top, but she certainly recognised the name at the bottom. No way? Surely not!

Filling in the middle bit was an email that looked like it was from some PR Agency, but it wasn't just PR promo stuff. This was the stuff of -Jamie's - dreams.

'Hi Jamie!
Firstly , congratulations darling, you won! You were so kind to take the time to write your question and submit it, truly.

I thought your question was intriguing and challenging. I'll need to give it some thought so I can answer you properly when we meet. Yes ,I would love it if you could join me, along with the other selected interrogators, on Friday 14th April at 2pm, for a bite to eat and a good old question and answer session? I do hope you can make it!

Please just rsvp to this email, and my friend and all round Man-Friday Luke (Windsor) will pick it up and be in touch to make the arrangements for you.

Looking forward to meeting you for myself,

Kindest regards

Tom H. Xx

Ps Luke says to please bring your sketches. I believe they're very good! Till Friday!"

Mandy looked up, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. "What the absolute HELL!?!?" She was the last one to ever be lost for words, but now? Her mind couldn't quite comprehend what her eyes had just read. "And how in the world did he know about your sketches?" For a moment they both stood in shocked silence.

Jamie sat down on the sofa with a thud, her face as pale as the designer walls. "Oh my god "Luke" was the cute guy! On the plane!" she turned to Mandy who now mirrored her shocked expression. "LUKE WINDSOR WAS THE CUTE GUY!"

For a second there was silence then the two of them jumped and grabbed each other, jumping up and down shrieking like banshees. God alone knew what the neighbours thought of the noise!

"You Won!"

"I Won!"

"You're meeting Tom Freaking Hiddleston!"

"I know!"

Suddenly they stopped. Jamie re-read the email "the 14th? That's next weekend. Oh dear God! How am I meant to be ready to meet him THAT soon? I mean LOOK at me!" she wailed.

"What do you mean you silly moo!" Mandy sat next to her "You look great - ok maybe the jumper/nightie combo might have to go, but otherwise? Heart racing like a steam train? Check. Desire to ravish him at any given time? Check. Bed hair and sleepy smile that you want him to see for real? Check. " she grinned " I think you're good to go, Lovely!"

"Oh Mandy you're terrible!" she punched her arm gently and laughed. "Bed hair? It'll be a cold day in hell before he sees MY bed hair I can guarantee you that much." she winked "but it's a nice thought!"

"Ok, so, since you've managed to get me out of bed before the day has even started, you owe me breakfast. And I mean a PROPER breakfast. Let's get dressed and go out for a celebratory Full English somewhere. YOUR treat Mrs-I'm-Meeting-The-Man-of-my-Dreams-and-Then-Some!" Mandy stood and walked to her bedroom again. "Oakley is never going to forgive you, you know. Two weekends in a row? Outrageous!" and with that she disappeared, her laughter cackling all the way to the bathroom.

Jamie sat back and re-read the email. It wasn't a scam, she'd crossed checked the email with the t&c bit on the competition. It was absolutely 100% genuine. And absolutely from Tom himself. She held the phone to her chest as she lay back for a minute basking in the reflected glory of winning. This, she believed, was the best day of her life so far. What could top it? Instantly she knew. Friday the 14th April would, forever, be TomDay. No matter how briefly they would meet and chat - they would have at least another 9 companions - this would be a milestone. She felt a little ungrateful that she would have to share her moment. But hey, 10% of a moment was better than nothing wasn't it - just ask Pepper Potts!

The day would turn out to be one that she would come to look on with mixed feelings. Happy, sad and very confused feelings. At least, to begin with.