For the Love (a Tom Hiddleston fanfic)

Chapter 2

     Emie sat still, trying very hard not to move.  It was difficult since one woman was giving her a manicure, and another was working on her feet.  Since moving to LA, the one thing she did often indulge in was a good mani/pedi every few weeks.  What she really wanted to do right now, was lunge to the side and strangle her sister.
       “I didn’t know he was going to do that, Emie.  He was perfectly normal on set.” Lucia said, blinking her big, blue eyes.  She was so good at playing innocent.  Emie glared at Lucia. 
       “What a complete idiot.” She grumbled.  “Johnny, not you.  Though…” She tilted her head to side, pursing her lips.
       “I said I’m sorry!” Lucia exclaimed.  “Maybe you could give him another chance.” She flipped her long blond hair over her shoulder.  Lucia and Emie looked remarkably alike though Lucia was older by three years.  They both had sun kissed blond hair, and crystal blue eyes.  The typical California look, though it was all natural.  At least on Emie.  She was pretty sure Lucia had had some work done recently, but it had been done well and Lucia would never admit to it.
       “I don’t think so, Luce.  I’m just so sick of the guys here.” Emie sighed, leaning back in the massaging chair she was sitting in.  Lucia was always trying to talk her into giving guys a second chance.  It never worked.  Once Emie had made up her mind, she usually didn’t sway.  She felt a big knot form in her shoulder, and she shifted so the rolling massagers hit the right spot.
       “Emie, you could go back to Arizona.  You know that you don’t have to stay here with me.” Lucia said gently, her girlish voice high and soft.  That was one thing that was different about them.  Lucia had a girlish voice, very feminine and perfect for the leading lady roles in romantic comedies that she was often working on.  Emeline’s voice was a bit deeper, and smoky. 
       The sisters may have looked the same, but they were very different.  Lucia bought in to the whole Los Angeles lifestyle.  Which was perfect since she was a ridiculously famous actress. She got paid by the millions to look beautiful, and always be perfect.  Her blond hair was always long, straight and glowing.  Her stylist always picked out the perfect, chic outfits for her.  She only dated other gorgeous, perfect, male specimens.
       Emie on the other hand, was a writer.  She had come to Los Angeles two years ago, and was still adjusting.  She was used to California, and its laid back vibe, but she would much rather be surfing on an empty beach than walking a red carpet.  She’d been to a few events with Lucia, but they had always made her so nervous.  Emeline kept her hair a bit shorter than Lucia, her wavy golden blond hair cut in a long, shoulder length bob.  She dressed much more casually than Lucia, and had only used Lucia’s stylist when they had attended any kind of formal event.  But, Emie wasn’t often stalked by paparazzi like Lucia often was.  In fact, there were four or five of them waiting just outside the salon they were in at the moment.
       Emie adored her privacy.  She loved her sister more than anyone else in the world, which was why she had moved to LA to be closer to her.  The girls had lost both their parents when they were seniors in high school, which had propelled them both together and in separate directions at the same time.  Lucia decided she wanted to be a star.  Emie decided she wanted to live a quiet, peaceful life.
       But, she loved her quiet, peaceful life.  She wrote, she surfed, and occasionally she went with Lucia to fabulous movie set locations, just to break up the monotony.  Although her sister lived the celebrity life, Emie wanted nothing to do with it.  Occasionally, just by association, Emie would see herself in a tabloid or there would be a blurb written about her.  It always had something to do with her famous sister though.
       She supported Lucia in whatever she did, but Emie was happy to be quietly successful and usually rather anonymous. Her books had hit the New York Times Bestseller lists a few times, but being a famous author was much, much different than being a famous actor.  Though people may know her novels, not many cared what she looked like.
       “You know why I moved here.” Emie glared at Lucia, and Lucia broke out into a gorgeous smile.
       “To be near the sister who you love and adore.”
       “Yup, right.” Emie smiled at her sister, shaking her head.  Lucia reached across the aisle, and gently rubbed Emie’s arm.  It was true. Being closer to Lucia was worth dealing with all the crap that came along with Los Angeles.
       “I really am sorry you’re having a hard time with the dating, Emie.  I hope you don’t totally hate me since all I’ve been talking about is the wedding.” Lucia said softly, turning back to her style magazine.  Lucia had recently gotten engaged to another actor, Christopher Worth.  He was gorgeous, sweet and almost perfect.  The one thing that kept him from being an Australian god, in Emie’s opinion, was the fact that he was a famous actor as well.  He’d been in a few action movies recently that had sent his career skyrocketing. 
       A perfect match to Lucia’s damsel in distress.  Emie watched as Lucia flipped through the style magazine, scrutinizing each outfit.  Emie thought it was hilarious that Lucia read those, as if she didn’t already get the hottest, trendiest clothes on the scene before anyone else.  Usually, Lucia would pass down any of the designer samples she’d receive to Emie, but Emie wasn’t always able to fit into the sample size.  At one point, she’d been her sister’s size.  She’d long ago stopped torturing herself at the gym and had become comfortable with her curves.
       “Of course not, honey. Don’t be crazy.  I couldn’t be happier for you and Chris.  He’s amazing, you’re amazing, it’s all amazing. And don’t feel too bad for me. I’ll be fine.  At least I have some good stories to tell.” Emie smiled at her sister, genuinely happy for her.  Lucia had gone through quite a dry spell in the dating scene as well, but then she had met Chris. 
       “That is true.  Not much can top Johnny and his fake accent.  It’s kind of cute though.”
       “No, not really, not at all.” Emie scrunched up her nose, shaking her head. Emie loved her sister and one of the reasons was that they could make each other laugh so easily.  Lucia choked back a laugh, covering her peachy pink lips with her now perfectly manicured hand.
       “I’m sorry.” Lucia said, unable to stop giggling.
       “Let’s change the subject.” Emie laughed herself, leaning back in the chair.  Lucia nodded, trying to stop laughing.  “Have you finished decorating the house yet?” Emie opened up the style magazine on her lap, and flipped through it idly.  Lucia and Chris had just moved into a gorgeous house together. Emie had thought it was a bit large and over the top, but then Lucia and Chris as a couple was a bit over the top.  It fit them.
       “Oh god, Emie, you just reminded me! I can’t believe I forgot to tell you.  It’s the craziest thing.  I think our housekeeper was stealing from us.” Lucia sat up suddenly, remembering.  Emie raised an eyebrow, not quite as excitable as her sister.  Something dramatic was always happening to her.
       “What happened?” She asked, frowning.
       “Well, we think some things went missing after we moved it.  They only come in once a week to clean up a bit. And we had a bunch of boxes in the guest room.  Some of them were opened, and neither Chris nor I had gone through them.” Lucia sighed, twisting her mouth to the side. 
       “What was in the boxes?”
       “That’s the thing…don’t be mad.” Lucia started hesitantly.  Emie looked up quickly, narrowing her eyes at her older sister.
       “Lucia?”
       “I think it was some of your stuff.  From college. From Mom and Dad’s house.” Lucia said gently, making a face as she waited for Emie’s response.  Emie felt relief wash over her.  The stuff from her parent’s house was ridiculously old.  Some old books and yearbooks, maybe an ancient laptop, and some notebooks from high school and college.  After her parents had passed away, the girls had eventually sold their house.  The stuff they had decided to keep had moved with them wherever they went.  Now, Lucia’s big house was acting as a bit of a storage center for Emie while she made do with her small, but cute apartment.  She made good money as a writer, but was in no hurry to buy a big house to live in all by her lonesome.
       “OH god, Luce. You scared the shit out of me.  Don’t worry about that stuff.  It’s all ancient.  I hope whoever took it has a great time with my old Physics notes.” Lucia shrugged, looking back at her magazine and flipping idly through the glossy pages. 
       “Oh good, I was so worried.  We ended up firing that service, and we’re looking for a new one. So let me know if you hear of any good cleaning services.” Lucia sighed.
       “Sure, I’ll just ask my butler, Jeeves, the next time I see him.” Emie said jokingly.  As Lucia groaned, Emie paused on a magazine page when she noticed there was a picture of Chris on it.  He was on set at one of his newest action movies, his arm around one of his costars. 
       “Look.” Emie held up the magazine with a smile, knowing that Lucia had probably already seen these pictures.  Or had possibly been there the day they were taken.
       “Oh my hubby is so adorable.” She crooned, reaching forward and touching the glossy photo.  Emie laughed, pulling the magazine away.
       “He’s not your hubby yet.  And too bad he doesn’t have any brothers.” She sighed. 
       “I know, but there’s the guys he works with—“
       “Lucia, please.  No actors.” Emie groaned, but she smiled as she stood up from the chair.  Lucia stood as well, and they both made their way over to the lounge, waddling slightly because of their wet toenails.
       “But some of them aren’t so bad.  His closest friend, Tom—“
       “Lucia!” Emie laughed, cutting her off again.  “I’ve told you.  I just can’t. I can’t deal with that lifestyle. I can’t deal with the paparazzi.  It’s not for me.” They both sat down on a tan, leather couch in the spa lounge.  A woman walked over, handing them glasses of lemon water.  Lucia thanked her and took the glass, then grabbed the magazine from Emie.  Emie stretched her legs out in front of her, looking at her red toes.
       “Just look at him. He’s cute.” She held up the magazine to Emie’s face, making her look at the photo she’d just been looking at a second ago.  Chris stood in some kind of latex super hero costume, complete with large, menacing looking weapons.  His arm was around another man, who was only slightly shorter than Chris.  That wasn’t surprising since Chris was a giant.  Most people were shorter than him.  His costar had to still be around 6’1” or 6’2”.  He had dark, slicked back hair and was wearing a similar costume.  Both men were smiling.  Emie frowned.
       “He looks..evil.” She said, taking a sip of her water.  Lucia chuckled, shaking her head.
       “I can’t believe you’ve never seen these movies.  He is evil. Sort of. It’s complicated.  But, anyway, he’s really sweet in person.  You’d like him.  Chris loves him, maybe more than me.” Lucia chuckled. 
       “That’s nice.” Emie said blandly, closing the magazine. “I’m sure whats-his-name is great, but I don’t care. NO actors.” She said loudly, grabbing Lucia’s knee and squeezing.  Lucia sighed, putting the magazine on the table nearby.  She checked her nails, gingerly, then grabbed her bag.
       “Well, maybe you will meet him at our party Friday.  He’ll be there.  He’s Chris’ best man.” Lucia waited for Emie as she gathered her things.  Emie wrapped her arm around her slender sister, pulling her to her side as they walked toward the front of the spa.
       “I will make sure to stay away from him.” She grinned, knowing it would annoy Lucia.  Lucia was predictable and she huffed loudly.
       “Are you ready to face the mob?” She asked, nodding toward the door of the salon, where there were undoubtedly a few photographers waiting to snap what Emie was sure would be some of the most boring, mundane photos of them to ever exist.  She sighed loudly.
       “You first.” Emie raised a slender arm toward the door, a big, fake smile plastered on her face.  She slipped a pair of wayfarer sunglasses on and took a deep breath as Lucia pushed open the frosted glass door.