Freefall: a Tom Hiddleston Fanfiction

Chapter 24

"Whatever he's doing has nothing to do with Peony. Stop going through his trash like a goddamn raccoon."

Adam scoffed. "You can't tell me you don't want to know what he's up to. Regardless of whether or not it's got anything to do with Peony, he's sneaking around." She gave him a warning look. "Did you know he has a burner phone?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"He has a second phone. He prepays for minutes. Did you know that? I saw him talking on it yesterday in his car."

She was losing her patience. "How can you tell what kind of phone he's talking on when he's in his car, Adam? You sound insane."

"Burner phones are like two inches wide. It's not that hard."

She swiveled back and forth in her chair and picked at her nails. "Just leave him alone." She said, feeling much less certain that that's really what she wanted.

"And if I don't?" She met his eye. His expression was stony. He wanted to dig, he wanted to get to the bottom of this. But what the hell would he find? He didn't tell her a single thing she already knew.

"I can't stop you." She admitted.

"Are you going to tell him what I told you?" She didn't know how to respond. Of course she wanted answers. She wanted to interrogate Tom and find out why he was keeping all these secrets. The plane landing early, the large cash transactions, meetings with Vicky. But he'd be hurt to hear she was suspicious. Could she really not bring herself to trust him, after all the guarantees he'd made her? After all the times he promised he'd protect her best interests?

"Why shouldn't I?" She asked.

Adam polished off his can of soda, and crushed it in his hands. "If you tell him someone is watching, he'll start hiding better."

She tried to swallow the knot in her throat but it wouldn't budge. "I can keep this between us."

He grinned. "Then I will keep you informed."

She wrapped her sandwich back up. "This makes me feel awful." Adam checked his watch, saw that it was time to head home, and began to pack his things.

"Don't feel bad, Atwood. Lots of couples have private investigators."

"Not in my world." Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Two week notice- sent. Celebrate? Tonight? Drinks? Same place as last time? Tom had sent it to Nora and, to her surprise, Christine. Yaaaasssss!! was Christine's response. Nora began typing. Meet you both at the bar at 8? She asked.

Adam waved goodbye and left her office. It wasn't unlike Adam to be starting his car thirty seconds after his shift ended. Can I get ready at your place? Tom sent her directly. She took a deep breath and typed, I'd rather meet there. See ya. She sent it back without giving herself the time to overthink it. I love you. She stared at his three word reply until her vision blurred. He loved her and she was betraying his trust. She was going to tell him everything.

She locked the screen to her phone and tossed into the depths of her purse. She would get absolutely plastered. That would solve everything.

She suppressed the doubt swirling in her mind as best as she could. She caught herself shaving the same row of hair on her leg over and over as she pondered what Tom could possibly withdraw $5,000 for. She almost burnt off a chunk of hair in her hair curler as she imagined what he said in his conversations with Vicky. Christine asked Nora if she'd like a ride, which she happily accepted. She didn't intend to be able to drive herself home.

She knew her friend was out front by the sound of pop music blaring from the street. The obnoxious double-honk just confirmed her suspicions. Nora stuffed her flat shoes in her purse, slid into her heels, and ran for the door. The summer wind was a literal breath of fresh air. Nora was ready to forget work, and enjoy the night with her two favorite people.