Seven

Chapter 71

Hannah and I leave the two boys in the work room to go hand our research papers into the history department office. During our walk across campus from the library to the large history building, Hannah steers our usual conversation of assignments off course and into uncharted territory taking me by surprise.

"So..." She begins, hugging her thick black binder of research to her chest.

"You're friends with Tom right?" Hannah asks though I have a feeling she already knows that I am, indeed, friends with Tom.

"Yeah." I answer casually though wonder why she is asking me this.

"You wouldn't happen to know if he's like... Seeing anyone would you?" She asks, the sentence slightly broken in her awkwardness. I stop walking to look at her, my mouth slightly open but with a smile trying to overtake my face.

"Do you like Tom?" I whisper loudly even though we're in a busy courtyard and literally no one is paying attention to our conversation.

Hannah also stops walking to shyly nod in confirmation.

"Oh my god!" I can't help the small giggle that escapes me. Hannah and Tom. Wow, they'd actually be such a great pairing. How did I not see that for myself and try set them up? Possibly because I'm so self absorbed in my own problems and love life - well lack of love life to have considered Hannah and Tom as a buddying couple. Mesha and Curby is probably a other example of this.

"Well, he's definitely not seeing anyone. Have you talked to him much?" I ask her as we begin walking again.

"Not too often. We go to the same gym and I've been trying to figure out how to approach him and when I stalked him on socials I saw you guys were good friends." Hannah admits freely.

"If you want I could ask him to come tonight? He'd actually really like you I think." I don't want to give Hannah any false hope but if I know Tom as well as I think I do he will definitely like her. Hannah is lovely, and so is Tom and I smile at the thought of the two of them getting to know each other.

"If you could introduce us that would be great." Hannah straightens her back slightly, clearly pleased with how well her reaching out about Tom has gone.

"I'll text him now." I assure her and pull my phone from my back pocket as we approach the history building.

Two hours later Paul sends out a group text to let us know he's completed and handed in his research work and to confirm the time and address of the bar we'll be meeting at. Not long later Alec confirms he's also handed in his work and I feel a sense of pride in our groups accomplishment. It's been no easy task and we've all put it a lot of work so these drinks will be well deserved.

It's times like this I wish I had someone to congratulate me. Someone like my parents or my grandmother. They'd be able to see all the hard work and dedicated hours I'd put into my education and would be proud and share in the celebration of my accomplishments. But instead I have no one and sit alone in my flat waiting for the clock to pass till Tom picks me up. He agreed, of course, to come out for drinks tonight. At first he had prioritised an early rising tomorrow but when I told him I had a girl I wanted him to meet he changed his tune. I do hope he likes Hannah, though I can't think of any reason why he wouldn't.

Sitting on my couch, staring around mentally monitoring the condition of each of my house plants and deciding which ones may need a drink themselves, my eyes land on the partly opened brown moving box under my dining table. I had started to open it the other weekend but got distracted.

I suppose unpacking it now will be a good way to pass the time. I get up from the couch and kneel down on the hardwood floor by the box, dragging it out from under the table and begin pulling out its contents. It's a real jumble of things, but my hand finds something shiny and smooth so I pull it out from the box.