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JULY 26TH, 2017 — ❝ CHEESEBURGER IN PARADISE! ❞
It had taken an hour and a half longer than usual for Eloise to sleep.
She could believe that Tom Hiddleston was spending the night in her house. That he'd called her beautiful, an angel. That he kept running his hand through her hair, and said it reminded him of clouds.
Holy Christ Almighty.
When she woke the next morning, the morning sun was peeking in through her blinds, and she groaned, grabbing her phone. The clock read nine forty-five, and she rubbed her eyes. She flicked through her notifications, before finally pulling herself out of her bed.
Nikolai was already awake, and downstairs making eggs. Eloise was halfway down the stairs when she heard two different male voices, and knew that Tom must have woken up before her. She took a deep breath, rounding the staircase and into the kitchen.
"Good morning, my darling!" Nikolai smiled at his daughter, handing her a glass of orange juice. "I wish you had told me Tom was spending the night. I would have gotten him some pajamas!"
Looking over at Tom guiltily, she said, "It was, uh . . . Kind of a last minute thing. You were in bed. And I knew you'd overworked yourself, again." She was steering the conversation away from her and Tom, something she did too often when she was too nervous to talk about something.
Tom looked over at her, and then asked Nikolai, "How's your new book coming along?"
"Unfortunately, I'm not feeling this one that much." He shrugged, turning off the stove and separating the eggs onto three different plates. "If you want, darling, you're free to take the idea. It's synopsis hadn't been announced yet."
"Do you trade ideas often?" Tom asked, following Nikolai over to the table. Eloise nodded, sitting across from him, and replied, "That's how I got the idea for Sorrowful Beauty and Heart of Gold."
"And she's also the reason how I got most of my ideas for my series Stars Awaken." Nikolai explained, coming over with his own plate. "Juice, coffee, or tea, anyone?"
Eloise lifted her cup in response, signaling juice, and Tom asked, "Could I have some tea, please?"
"I like him." Nikolai said to Eloise, making both she and Tom asked. Once the three of them were all seated with their breakfast and drinks, Tom asked, "So, I've been wondering this. How do you have an slight English accent, but Eloise doesn't?"
Nikolai was sitting next to his daughter, and they exchanged smiles. "When I was a boy, I was sent to a boarding school in New Cross. I chose to go, and the scholarship was fully supported, which was a plus. I ended up just . . . Staying there, living there after I turned eighteen, and wrote letters to my father before his death.
