✔ | CHASING CARS | T. HIDDLESTON

Chasing Cars (38)

"Yep. Um, now I just have to prepare myself for any kind of reaction he could have." I scratched the back of my neck, "It's not like I'm going to force him to raise a baby with me, I just want him to know." I shrugged, "It's the right thing to do, isn't it?" Lila nodded.

"You have to prepare yourself for your own reaction when you see him man, I've seen his photos and that man is looking quite..." She bit her lip and wiggled her eyebrows making me chuckle, "Oh, you've got an email from Clay's lawyer a.k.a. 'dad' I was on YouTube when it popped up, don't worry, I haven't read it."

"I'm not saying anything!" I chuckled and grabbed my laptop, "Gosh, I don't know why this shit is taking so long! It's been almost a year and I'm still stuck in this."

"Divorce is like that. My parents spent two whole years signing stuff and it seemed like it wasn't going anywhere."

"I just want to drop the McCain and return to Oakley." All my documents had that bloody surname.

"Well, I have to go now. I'll send you the information tomorrow in morning." She said. I was working at home, I couldn't leave the baby with the first person that crossed my path.

"Okay, see you." I saw her closing the door and grabbed the ticket from the coffee table, "Hi Tom, how are you? Good? That's great! Hehee, what about me? Oh, you know...work is good, I'm back in London, I got divorced, I have a three-month-old baby at home, and you're the dad!" I sighed, "This is gonna be harder than I thought." I looked at my laptop and bit my lip when I saw Google's home page, "Shall I google him?"

I hadn't known anything about him since the day at the museum.

"Nic you've resisted the temptation to google him during months, you can resist five days." I said to myself.

The day of the play arrived and I sat in my seat as we all waited for the play to start. I went to the toilets like three times before it started, I was so nervous. I looked at myself in the mirror and waited until the room was empty.

"This is it Nicole. Everything's going to be alright, you just have to smile at him and tell him in the most delicate way you can." I said to myself, "You can do it, you-" A woman walked in and I smiled at her, awkwardly. I returned to my seat and after a few minutes it started.

I admit that I wasn't paying attention to the actors, I was encouraging myself. When Mark Gattiss said something about the belly, I began to pay attention. I'm sorry, but I only could think of Mycroft Holmes while watching him, I wondered if he was going to pull an umbrella out of nowhere.

"Hail, noble Martius!" I startled when I heard Tom's voice echoing in the dark and I paralysed when I saw him walking into the stage.

"Damn." I muttered before he continued. Lila was right. God, his butt. Sorry.

"What's the matter, you dissentious routes, that, rubbing the poor itch of your opinion make yourselves scabs?" Just kill me already.

I couldn't stop staring at him and I enjoyed the play...and see him in that costume and see him without that costume was one of the best parts. But there was a moment where I began to feel insecure to tell him. The play was about to end and I had to stand up and go to a quiet place and think, re-convince myself that I was capable of doing it.

I got in the toilet and walked in circles repeating 'you can do this' over and over again in my head. I was so nervous that I let out a small scream when my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was my lawyer.

"Joe, this isn't a good moment." I said, "I know it is important, but I can't talk right now, I'm in the middle of, a crisis." He said that we had to talk. I gave him ten minutes to tell me everything and I ended the call, I stayed in there for a while. When I got out of the toilet I found a lot of people in the corridor. The frigging play had ended. Many girls were discussing the fact that there was no signing at the stage door that night.

I ran towards a huge man with a headset, I thought was some sort of security guard.

"Hi, sorry, um...is Tom gone? Has he left already?" I said.

"Sorry, but he won't be signing anything tonight." He said. That man was like a rock, I thought my neck would break if I didn't stop looking up at him.

"No, I don't want a bloody autograph, I need to talk to him, I'm a friend and I have to tell him something really, really important."

"Miss, I'm gonna ask you to leave, you're the fourth girl who's told me that tonight."

"What? No, I'm not a fan. He's my friend-" I cut myself off when he began to talk through the headset, "This is a life or death situation!" I said in a pleading tone when he ended.

"I need your ID." I pulled out my wallet and the ID. He read it, "I've got a Robin McCain and she claims to be friends with Hiddleston."

"Oh gosh, thanks, but there's a problem with-" He made a gesture for me to wait.

"Right, thanks." I looked at him waiting for an answer, "He doesn't know any Robin McCain."

"He knows me as Nicole Oakley, please you have to believe me. This is very important."

"Even if I wanted to help, I can't, he just got in the car and he's leaving." I grabbed my ID from his hands and rushed to the door. There were a lot of people shouting his name, and surrounding the car with dark windows.

"Tom." I said under my breath, "Tom!" Even if I tried, he wasn't going to hear me. I tried to call him but his phone was off, I guess, so I called Lila to tell her what had happened. I even went to his flat, and the only answer I got came from a man telling me that he had moved into that flat a year ago, now I had no clue of where did he live.

I returned home, feeling defeated and spent the entire night thinking of how close I had been.

I continued my routine. I called him sporadically for two weeks. I was in Lila's flat, we were working, the baby was asleep an I called Tom as I toyed with a pencil.

"Hello?" I startled, I didn't think he'd actually pick up, "Hello?"

"Hello, um, it's me, Nicole." I heard a small chuckle coming from his mouth.

"I know, I saw your name popping up in my phone."

"Oh, yes. Sorry, I'm so stupid." I saw Lila raising her arms and mouthing 'finally' I rolled my eyes and stood up, "Well, I-"

"Nic, you're not stupid." I smiled.

"Are you busy?"

"No, I'm not busy." He said, "How are you?" His voice was so soft that it made me want to close my eyes and listen to it forever.

"I'm fine, a little bit tired to be honest." I hated that feeling of awkwardness between us. I walked to the balcony, "You won't believe what I did a couple of weeks ago."

"What did you do? Something silly like we used to?" I imagined him grinning and wrinkling his nose as he did it, "You must be having fun in Scotland, huh?"

"Nope, actually I'm back in London, I'm back at my tiny flat, I like it more."

"Oh, work holiday?"

"Not at all. The point is that I, went so see the play two weeks ago. " He chuckled.

"Really?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I tried to call you, also talked to one of the security guards, he thought I was a fan and he asked for my ID and he said wrong my name."

"God, I remember! They told me there was a Robin asking for me, was it you then? Robin."

"Yeah Robin and certain guy's surname." I sighed, "Um, Tom...there's something I need to tell you, it's very important."

"Okay. Are you alright?" Yes, only afraid of definitely losing my best friend when he learns I've got a baby and he's the father.

"Yep, um...can we meet one of these days? If, you're not too busy, of course."

"Sure, how about this weekend? I can pick you up if you want."

"No, it's okay, I don't want to bother you, I can take a cab. What if we meet at the old French café, at four?"

"Sure, I'll be there. I want to see you already." I closed my eyes.

"Me too, so this Friday at four."

"This Friday at four."