Coffee & Biscuits

24|surrounded by women

A stressed and sleepless Tom jogged into the office with his Starbucks coffee hot in hand, he only have a few minutes until his follow up meeting with Michael Dubois and he desperately needed to finish this coffee before. He rarely entered this office looking this disheveled but these last three nights had been brutal for him. Since almost kissing Aria he hadn't been able to think of much else than 'what if's' that had Aria Willows as his leading woman. Choosing to stay away from The Cafe as well as her was necessary for his sanity but not for his heart. The afternoon's seemed longer without her and the nights were unbearable since she penetrated his mind every time he attempted sleep - but he doubted he'd see her this afternoon either. 

After finishing his coffee and straightening his tie Tom dragged his feet to Michael's office more nervous than last time as he was unsure that he'd succeeded with his task. When he entered Michael's office he was sitting by his coffee table reading a book, he didn't move when he saw Tom but simply asked him to sit down.

"You're looking a little tired today, Tom. How are we doing this morning?" Michael smirked and put the book by his side, on the sofa.

"Everything is fine, sir. I assure you my work performance hasn't faltered or--" Tom began but Michael put his hand up.

"Your performance is fine so you can stop excusing yourself. I just wanted to know how you were doing." Michael's French accent appeared very strong in that moment, for some reason. 

"Well I--" Michael began but then silenced himself. There was quite a lot to tell but he wasn't sure if he could trust Michael with his Aria since she was still so young. But considering how badly he'd been feeling lately perhaps some advice could make it better, "I have a conundrum that I'm currently dealing with--" he vaguely explained.

Michael raised his eyebrows in intrigue and leaned forward slightly. Tom wondered if Michael enjoyed other people's problems or if he was just a person that liked to help, he was hoping for the latter. 

"I enjoy to solve conundrums, let's hear it!" Michael said excitingly and encouraged Tom to continue. 

He nervously looked around the room as he gathered facts about Aria in his head. He played their entire history in the blink of an eye and it sent sensational vibes throughout his body. He knew better than to reveal her true age even though she was legal because he was concerned about possible judgments from Michael. 

"There's someone in my life that I...enjoy to spend my time with, but at the moment dating isn't really on the table for me. A couple of days ago we found ourselves in a...compromising position and even though nothing happened I knew she wanted them to, so did I, but we can't go there." Tom sighed.

"Why can't you go there with her? Is she married or taken?" Michael frowned.

"No, nothing like that. The timing isn't good for me right now--and she's far too young for me anyway." Tom shook his head.

"How young is she?" Michael asked curiously with a bright white smile blinding Tom.

Tom bit his lip nervously, "She's just too young, let's just keep it at that. It wouldn't be wrong...in the eyes of the law so to speak, but it wouldn't work between us." He kept it vague and was thankful that Michael didn't cut him off in the desperation to know. 

"I'd love to know when you have time to see this woman considering all you do is stay here at the office," Michael vocalized his thoughts, "unless she's someone from the office." 

"No, absolutely not!" Tom objected quickly and thought of Victoria.

He knew she was flirting with him but he was in no need of that attention, that's what Molly was for. He wasn't entertaining anyone from the office for romance but somehow that would've been less terrifying than taking the judgmental looks and comments if he was dating Aria.