Tom walked forwards, a mischievous grin painted on his face like a masterpiece. He grabbed Chris's extended hand and they bumped shoulders, patting each other on the back in a friendly fashion.
"Good to see you," Tom smiled before nodding to the beautiful lady beside Chris.
"Hello!" Chris called to Allegra, who was frozen in shock where she stood.
The neon lights from the walls had turned Allegra's white playsuit and her pale skin a bright pink, making Allegra's entire body look like it was blushing, rather than just her cheeks.
"May I introduce Miss Allegra Mullins," Tom announced proudly, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her shoulder in an attempt to pull her from her shock, even though he was clearly enjoying it.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Mullins," Chris smiled with a warm welcoming manner, extending his hand to her. Allegra took it hesitantly and he planted a kiss on the top of her knuckle, overwhelming her with a feeling that she would faint, but Tom continued to support her by holding her waist close to him.
"Please, call me Allie," she managed, sputum getting caught in her throat as heat burned her internally.
"What did you say it was short for?" Chris asked, addressing Tom who had not taken his eyes off of her once.
"Allegra," Tom told him proudly.
The beautiful woman sat down behind the table stood up, brushing the skirt of her royal blue dress so it would flatten around her perfect figure.
"Interesting name," Chris said, smiling back at Allegra again who turned her face away in embarrassment, making Tom smile even more.
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"I'm Chris. This is my beautiful wife, Elsa," he said, extending his arm to the beautiful lady who wrapped her arm around his waist. Chris kissed her head, offering her his pride and affection, and Elsa smiled beautifully at Allegra.
"Hi, Allie!" she said, undeniable warmth in her voice. "I'm not a Queen, though," she laughed, referring to the Disney film Frozen.
"You're my Queen," Chris said, kissing her head again.
Allegra couldn't help but think about Naomi, and how much she would love to be there, and smiled to herself at the thought of telling her.
"Lovely to meet you," Allegra smiled at them both before turning to Tom. "I'm going to kill you if my sister doesn't," she said into his ear through gritted teeth, making Tom chuckle.
They sat around the circular table- Chris at one end; Elsa next to Allegra; and Tom the other end, as the waiter from the entrance approached them with a messy notepad and a chewed pen in his hand.
"Drinks?" he asked.
"Your finest tap please, good sir," Tom said.
A frown creased Allegra's brow and she turned to Tom.
"You're just having water?" she asked.
Suddenly, Chris, Elsa and Tom burst into laughter, and Allegra felt herself slip slightly in her seat, embarrassment making an appearance again. Allegra wondered how many more times it would strike her that night.
"Beer, darling," Tom eventually told her, kissing her temple softly and erasing every embarrassed particle from her existence.
"Oh," Allegra laughed.
"For you, ma'am?" the waiter asked, interrupting her and saving what was probably going to be more embarrassment.
"The same, please" Allegra replied, remembering what Tom had told her earlier that evening.
"Mr and Mrs Hemsworth, would you like a refill?"
"Would I not like a refill?" Chris asked in a drunken slur as the alcohol from his empty beer glasses finally hit him. Everyone stared silently at Chris, trying to translate and understand what he had just said.
"That makes no sense, dear," Elsa told him.
"I want another one," he said sadly, looking at his empty glasses from earlier.
"You don't need another," Tom told him, winking at him to subtly show his encouragement.
"I didn't say I needed one, I said I want one," a drunk Chris Hemsworth said in another slur.
"Very well. Mrs Hemsworth?" the waiter interrupted again, saving Chris from further embarrassment.
"No, thank you," Elsa smiled politely.
"Thank you," the waiter said, before trotting off to the bar.
At that moment, Allegra felt the biggest wave of happiness she'd ever felt crash into her, washing every negative thought, feeling and fear away from her body and leaving her with a happy froth on her soul. This time two weeks ago, she was preparing her questions for the surprise mystery interview Lucy had booked for her, and now here she was sitting with a drunken Chris Hemsworth, his perfect wife Elsa, and Tom Hiddleston.
***
Laughter filled the corner of the room, 'Capital Letters' by Hailee Steinfield played behind the joyful expressions and hysterical drunken voices.
The neon lights had turned green, staining everything it could a different shade, hundreds of different colours painting the room.
"It was so difficult for me not to laugh because Joss was like "Tom, I need you to make a strained dying whale noise"," Tom said between pauses of chuckling, making the four of them erupt into laughter again.
"And then you fell over the set and banged your face whilst filming," Chris said, turning completely serious.
"Yeah, and they were going to keep that in the film!" Tom laughed, pulling everyone into laughter with him again.
"Stupid," Chris grinned, taking a swig of beer from his eighth glass on the table.
"At least I didn't get my prop caught in the floor during a fight scene," Tom responded, taking a swig of his beer, his arm resting on the back of the sofa behind Allegra the whole time.
"That was meant to happen," drunk Chris mumbled, frowning.
"Oh yeah?"
"Totally. I did it to make you laugh. You looked sad," Chris shrugged, pulling his glass to him again. "Probably from where you'd fallen over," he took another swig of beer and spilt some down his beard, but he was too drunk to notice. Chris kept eye contact with Tom the whole time, making Elsa, Allegra and Tom start laughing again.
"So, Allie, what are you interested in?" Elsa asked, resting her elbow on the table and her chin in her palm.
"I'm currently writing a book," Allegra blushed.
"Wow. Can I read it?" Chris asked.
"Can you read?" Tom mocked, acting genuinely surprised.
"Yes," Chris shouted dramatically, banging his glass on the table for effect.
"What's it about?" Elsa asked with genuine interest.
Allegra opened her mouth to speak but Tom placed his free hand on top of hers and squeezed it slightly.
"It's about a castle and the family that lived there. It's a place that Allie is fond of and made many happy memories there growing up," he explained, observing her face the entire time.
"Have you already read it, Tom?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow. Tom laughed, leaning forwards to try and suppress his amusement. "I didn't know you could read," Chris mocked as he drank more beer.
"No, she interviewed me for it. That's how we met," Tom said, smiling at the memory. Allegra observed him as he spoke, and for the first time, she swore she could see him blush beneath the green light.
"Aw, that's so romantic!" Elsa gasped, her hand clapping to her chest to feel her heart flutter with excitement.
"Really?" Allie asked.
"Is it?" Chris mocked.
Elsa turned to her husband and slapped him playfully, nudging him with a smirk.
"Yes," Elsa told them both.
Allegra grinned, butterflies fluttering in her stomach and bringing her attention to her full bladder.
"I'm just going to the toilet," she told them, and Tom stood up so that she could get out.
Elsa and Chris looked across at Tom once he had taken his seat again, raising their eyebrows in anticipation.
"So..." Chris began, extending the 'o' for dramatics.
"So," Tom repeated, a grin tattooed on his lips.
"She's adorable!" Elsa called excitedly, her face lighting up with happiness as Tom chuckled.
"She's pretty amazing, isn't she?"
"She's very different from all of your previous interests," Chris noted.
"Is she?" Tom asked.
"Isn't she?"
"I suppose she is, yes."
"What attracted you to her?" Elsa asked him, slotting herself back into the conversation.
"I'm not going to go all soppy tonight," Tom chuckled, shaking his head gently and swirling the last mouthful of beer around in the bottom of his glass.
"That makes a difference, brother," Chris grinned, mocking Tom yet again.
"Come on," Elsa begged, shuffling impatiently in her seat.
Tom looked at his hands and sighed.
"Well..." he began.
Allegra rounded the corner from the ladies' toilets but stopped suddenly, as she heard Tom's velvet voice quietly drifting over OneRepublic's latest song 'Connection'. She stopped to listen, realising he was talking about her, nerves hitting her like a brick wall at the thought of him mentioning one of her flaws or saying something negative about her.
"When you two first met, did you feel a physical connection? Like, actual electricity the first time you touched?" he was saying to his two drunk friends.
"Yes," Elsa breathed.
"No," Chris said, unable to say anything serious.
"I just remember walking in to the café and seeing her at the till, and I remember thinking..." he paused, looking down at the dark polished wooden table top. "She's beautiful." He smiled to himself, remembering the time he first laid eyes on her, and it was as if in that moment he was talking to himself. "She was lost in thought... Eyeing up the cakes and pastries... Absorbed in her own little world..." he smiled again. "And then she turned and walked to our table. I was so pleased. I shook her hand and..." Tom paused again, his blue eyes looking up at his friends, his smile fading. "I remember thinking how much it would hurt me to let it go."
Elsa's palm slapped her chest again as she melted internally, the romantic in her heart swallowing every second of the conversation.
"I feel sick," Chris mumbled, pretending to throw up on the floor.
"Stop it," Elsa begged him, slapping his muscular arm again.
Chris's expression changed suddenly, and he placed his glass down, turning his full attention to his smitten best friend.
"No, but seriously," he started. "You seem happier in the last week than you have in the last two years. Maybe even longer."
"I've never felt like this, Chris," Tom said with a frown. "I've only known her for just over a week, but..." Tom chuckled to himself for a moment before the frown returned. "When I'm not with her..." he paused again, making Elsa and Chris lean forwards in their seats, eager to hear the end of the sentence. "I feel empty."
Allegra had frozen for the second time that night and couldn't find the right moment to return to the table. She wanted to hear more, she wanted to hear every good thought he'd ever had about her. Was this real? What had she done to deserve this? Did he... Did he love her?
"Do you love her? Like... Really love her?" Elsa asked, stealing the thoughts from Allegra's mind.
"...I think I do," he said.