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“Tom Hiddleston! What the hell are you doing in a gay bar?!” I asked a little too loudly, absolutely pumped full of alcohol. He turned to me and I swear I saw his ocean eyes flick down to my feet and all the way back up before he smiled and said, “My good man Luke was interested in coming here, so I’m his wingman for the evening. What are you doing in a gay bar, ‘cause you definitely don’t look like a lesbian.”
Taken aback, I laughed and ordered drinks for myself and my friends Dana and Candace. Tom turned to me and spoke into my ear. “Seriously, what’s a stunning woman like you doing here?”
“Candace wanted to come here and I’m just going with the flow. It’s nice of you to come to support your friend. I suppose you won’t get hounded by crazy girls if you’re here, either, eh?” I winked.
He threw his head back and laughed, his tongue sticking out like it always did. “Not so much, no. Unless you’re a crazy girl, but I might not mind it if you hound me.” The last half of the sentence was spoken as a low grumble from deep inside his chest and I nearly fell over. Only my death grip on the bar kept me right side up.
“Well it might just be your lucky night then,” I said as seductively as I could.
At this point, the bartender had finished making the drinks I had ordered. “Eighteen dollars.” As I dug into my clutch for my money, I felt a hand cover mine and saw a 20 dollar bill get slapped down onto the bar. “I insist,” Tom said. I nodded and picked up the drinks. “Thank you Tom Hiddleston.” Smiling, I walked back to my friends, swaying my hips.
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A creepy shirtless waiter kept coming over to us after that. He kept touching me weirdly and it started to make me uncomfortable, even considering how much I’d had to drink. Luckily, Tom, who had been watching me, walked over and grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. With hands on my waist he guided me in and out of the dancing couples. He held me tight against him, moving my hips in time with his. “I can’t keep my eyes off of you.” I smiled and looked up at his lips, expecting him to kiss me... He didn’t. “Can we get out of here? I’m feeling really out of place now that I’ve got a girl to look after.”
I led him back to my friends, where Luke had appeared and was talking with them. “Let’s go somewhere else. We should walk over to the Strip and see what’s going on there.”
While Dana and Candace were in the restroom, Tom had me drink two glasses of water in an attempt to sober me up enough for the walk to the Strip, which he kept telling me was much further than I thought it would be.
Thankfully, that water kicked in pretty quickly, so I wasn’t falling over my own feet. I did however almost trip stepping off the curb into the crosswalk. Tom grabbed my arm to keep me from falling. “Thank you... This is embarrassing... I can’t believe I’m finally meeting you and you’re saving me from creeps and making me drink water and keeping me from falling on my ass...”
He just smiled, his enormous hand running down my arm to my hand. “Allow me to help you further,” he said as he tucked my hand into the crook of his elbow. “I don’t even know you’re name...”
I blushed, still embarrassed that I was drunk the first time I met Tom Hiddleston. “I’m Sophie.”
He smiled down at me. “A beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”
“Thank you,” I responded, my voice shaking. His voice was smooth as silk and deep as the sea and were it not for my friends only a few paces ahead I would have jumped him right there. Change the subject! “So why are you in Vegas?”
“Taking a quick vacation before life gets really busy. I have a lot of work ahead of me for the next six months and I had a lull in my schedule. Do you live here?”
“Pft. No way. I could never live in the desert.”
“Forgive me. I just assumed.”
“No. No need to apologize. Sorry, I just mean that I don’t think I could live without rain and snow and thunderstorms and bugs--even though I hate them--and clouds and real plants. I’ve decided that a cactus is just a wannabe plant. They don’t count.” He laughed. “I’m just visiting Dana this weekend. She’s my best friend from college--or university I guess to you. I sat next to her on the first day of freshmen Anthropology and we clicked instantly. We withdrew from the class after 3 weeks. Then we lived together our second year.”
“What about after that?”
“I transferred schools. It wasn’t a good place for me. Not really my scene. In fact, this isn’t my scene either--this whole clubbing thing. I rarely go out dancing or act like this...”
“Yeah, I’m kind of a homebody myself. I spend so much time with other people when I work that most of the time I just like to be home and watch my favorite films or read my favorite books.”
I smiled up at him as he smiled down at me. I felt a blush rise into my cheeks when I looked at him--he was more handsome in person than I ever imagined, and holy shit, did he smell exactly the way a handsome British gentleman should...
Just as we stepped onto the Strip, Dana slurred, “Nick’s ‘nhis way to pickus up at Aria. You ready dahgo?”
I looked up at Tom and saw his face fall. “Um, yeah I guess so,” I responded, squeezing Tom’s arm gently. “I had a wonderful time talking with you, Tom Hiddleston. Thank you for walking with us. I’m not sure we would have gotten here without you, considering the state my friends are in.”
“My pleasure, Sophie, but you’re mad if you think I’m leaving you now. We’re actually staying near the Aria and I need to make sure you ladies get back safely. I’m sure you could get there yourself, but I’ve had to save you from creeps already once tonight and it would be downright heroic if I got the chance to do it again.” He smirked as I giggled. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say more, then closed it again, looking down at his feet. I thought I saw a sadness in his eyes and wished that he would ask to see me again, but he lightly kissed me on the cheek and turned to continue walking to the Aria.
I had nothing to say after that--well, more like I didn’t know what to say, knowing that this was probably the last time I was going to see him. I tried as hard as I could to make a good impression, but it must not have been good enough. I wished desperately for him to invite me up to his room, or kiss me, or even just ask for my number, but no such luck.
When we got to the pickup area at the hotel, Luke said goodbye to me first and stepped over to Dana and Candace. Tom stepped forward. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Sophie. I sincerely hope I see you again.” I bent down and kissed my cheek again, lingering longer this time. I leaned into him and whispered, “Tom...” into his ear.
A whistle startled me. The man directing traffic nearly forced into the car. Tom watched me as Nick pulled around the circle of the hotel and out of his sight and he out of mine.
A single tear rolled down my cheek and into my hair before I fell into a dreamless sleep, safe and sound on Dana’s couch.
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A strong cup of coffee and aspirin cured my hangover the next morning... late morning...so Dana took me back to the Strip to walk through some of the hotels.
“Sophie! Sophie, wait up!” I turned to see Tom jogging up to me, smiling from ear to ear. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t completely overjoyed to see him.
“Tom! What are you doing here?”
“I’m staying at this hotel. I was going to grab some lunch and lay by the pool for the afternoon. What are you doing here?”
“We’re just walking around. I wanted to see the inside of this one. It’s totally cool!”
“Definitely. I like this one a lot. I’m glad I decided to stay here. Have you eaten lunch? Would you like to join Luke and I? He forgot his phone in his room, so he’ll be down soon.”
“That would be great, we were just thinking about getting some lunch. What’s good in here?”
“Well, I know I can go to pubs anytime in London, but the pub near the front does make a mean plate of fish ‘n chips.”
“Sounds amazing.”
After a lovely lunch full of laughs and quick glances, we decided to go see another hotel; Luke and Tom accompanied us. I was glad Dana and Luke got along, allowing Tom and I could talk together.
As we entered the hotel, a crowd of beautiful model-type girls, all looking at Tom sideways and smiling flirtatiously passed us on their way out. Tom grabbed my waist and kept his eyes forward, not even glancing at the girls passing. I was much more confident in myself and our relationship--whatever it was--after that. I smiled up at him when the crowd had cleared and he bent down so his lips were only several hair widths away from touching my ear. “I only have eyes for you, Sophie,” he whispered before kissing my temple.
After taking some photos in the hotel, we came across a cute hat shop.
“I think you should try this one on,” Tom said, holding out a giant white frilly headband with a bright rainbow colored bow bigger than my face stuck on top, complete with three foot-long blue feathers sticking straight up. It looked like a costume piece for one of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters. I stepped closer to Tom and let him put it on my head. “Well...” his eyes smiled, before he used his hand to cover up what seemed to be a snort and a giggle.
“Well what?” I asked, smiling. I quickly crossed to the mirror near us and burst out laughing. The hat was, in a word, hideous. “You little shit! You knew it was going to be ugly, didn’t you!?”
He laughed. “I thought it would be better if it was on you but I’m sorry sweetheart, even your gorgeous face can’t fix this abomination of a hat.”
I stuck my tongue out at him as a blush rose into my cheeks. It was my turn to pick a hat. I shoved the garbage hat into his hands and put on a black headband with a mini top hat attached slightly off-center on my head, pulled the bird cage over my face and walked to the mirror. Even I was awestruck with how cute the thing looked on me. I felt Tom walk up behind me and looked up at him in the mirror. “I have better taste in hats than you do,” I joked.
“Clearly. I want to buy it for you.”
“Oh no, Tom. I can’t let you do that. I wouldn’t wear it enough to make it worth it... I wouldn’t wear it at all. And I have no way to get it home without breaking it. I appreciate the gesture, but I really can’t accept... Not this at least.”
“Fair enough.” Later he bought me a bar of fancy dark chocolate from the Chocolaterie.
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“Tom, do you and Luke want to come hang out with us tonight? I think we were gonna get in the pool and order pizza for dinner if you want to come,” Dana asked when the street show we happened upon was over.
“I’d like that very much, Dana, thank you for inviting us.”
We stopped back at Tom’s hotel for him and Luke to grab their swimsuits and get into their rental car and went back to Dana’s apartment. As Dana and I changed into our suits in her bedroom, we had a hushed discussion about Tom.
“He’s totally into you. He can’t keep his hands or eyes off you.”
“Then why hasn’t he asked me for my number or even made an attempt to kiss me or anything yet?”
“He’s being a gentleman. He probably doesn’t want to seem too eager. Give it time. I’m sure he will.”
“I sure hope you’re right, cause I might never recover. He’s just perfect isn’t he?!”
As I stepped out of the bedroom, Tom’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened when he looked at me. Beneath a white see-through cover up, I wore a peach bikini top with a large scalloped ruffle and bottoms with the same scallop pattern. I stepped into my navy blue flip flops as I put my hair up into a messy bun and brightly asked, “Shall we?”
Tom kept close to me while we were in the pool. I laid on a floaty while his sexy half-naked ass guided me around and turned me in circles. After a beer or two, we got really playful and started splashing and laughing loudly, most likely disturbing the whole apartment complex. He chased me around the pool and would grab my legs and pull me towards him as I kicked away. Of course, he always caught me cause his limbs are three miles long. Then he, Luke and Nick started tossing Dana and I across the pool. By the time we were too tired and hungry to continue playing, my abs hurt from laughing so much.
I was still disappointed that he hadn’t kissed me yet, but I tried not to let on as we spent time together, glad that I was at least getting the chance of a lifetime to be playing in a pool with him. How many girls can say that? Yeah, not many.
After stuffing ourselves full of pizza and watching Clueless on Netflix, it came time for them to leave, and me to go to sleep, for I left early the next morning. I walked Tom outside while Luke said his goodbyes to Dana and Nick.
“Well...” I said.
Tom grabbed my hands and quickly said, “Sophie, can I call you? I should have asked you last night, but I didn’t want you to think I was trying to take advantage of you, considering that you had been drinking. Lord knows I want you, but my desire to get to know you and do things right is stronger, especially after spending time with you this afternoon. I only hope you want to get to know me, too.”
“Tom. Of course I do! I’ve been waiting for you to ask me that all day...” I looked down at my tiny hands in his. “I appreciate that you would be wary of taking advantage of me, but I’ll admit I was kinda disappointed that you didn’t ask for my number or anything last night. You don’t even know my last name...”
“I know, I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to start out on the wrong foot, but I’m supremely happy you happened to be walking through my hotel when I went to lunch today.” He smiled and leaned in closer. “There’s something about you. I just have this feeling that you’ll be in life for a long time,” he whispered.
“I would like that, Tom. And my last name is Campbell.” He pulled my face closer to his with his thumb and forefinger on my chin and kissed me gently; nothing suggestive, but totally passionate. I became absolutely smitten.
We stared into each other’s eyes for who knows how long before Luke “ahem-ed.” I pulled away, embarrassed, but Tom grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into another kiss. It took all of Luke’s strength to pull him away from me and drag him to their rental car.
I walked back inside, stars in my eyes, my heart a big pile of mush. “He asked to call me. And he kissed me. He kissed me, Dana! He kissed me!!” I couldn’t help but jump around and dance my excitement.
“I know! We were spying on you. Luke said he couldn’t stop talking about you this morning, so he texted me and asked what we were up to. He told me to come to their hotel--he set it up so you two could find each other.”
“He did? Wait. You have his number? Oh my gosh. I have to give that kid a big slobbery kiss when I see him next. And, you were right. He said he didn’t ask because he felt like he was taking advantage of me cause I was drunk. Ugh! Why the perfectness?!” I sank to the floor and struck overdramatic pose.
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I heard from him at least once a day after that, usually more. After 2 weeks, he flew me out to London to visit for a long weekend before he started filming his next movie. I visited 4 more times throughout the course of filming, enjoying the perks of being the girlfriend of the star of the movie. I stayed in fancy hotel suites, got to sit near the director when I was on set and got free lunch each day that I was there.
It was almost perfect. The importance of this film was very apparent, but Tom was so exhausted from filming, that he barely had time to spend with me outside of set. I felt totally and completely unimportant. I cried almost the whole flight home after my last visit.
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I called him two days later, after not hearing the voice that reminded me of that fancy dark chocolate since I’d left, which was unusual.
“Sweetheart, I’m so happy to--”
“Tom, I can’t do this...” There was silence on the other end.
“Pardon?”
I burst into a fit of sobs. “I can’t... This is too hard. I can’t be away from you like this. It feels like I’m in a relationship with your email address and not you. Your job is important to you, and I respect that, but I can’t stand feeling as if I’m at the bottom of your priorities list...”
“Darling, you’re not--”
“Yes I am, Tom,” I said forcefully.
“Sophie, how can you say this? I’ve flown you here to be with me, I’ve made sure you feel welcome while you’re on set... I don’t know what else I can do.”
“Well there’s another problem then, Tom, that you can’t even see it. I appreciate that you did that for me, but I barely saw you when I was there! Yes, you’d come give me a kiss in between takes, and we’d have lunch in your trailer, but when we’d get home, you were always so tired, we never got a chance to actually be together. And sleeping in the same bed doesn’t count. On my way home two days ago, I cried during the whole flight. The damn flight attendants checked on me a thousand times, for fuck’s sake!”
“I’m sorry, Soph. I’m so sorry. This film is just very important to me.”
“I know it is. And I’m glad, because you’re terribly perfect in it, but what’s going to happen during the next one, when that one’s just as important. And the next and the next. I can’t waste my time on someone who constantly has something higher on his list than me...”
“...Is that what you really feel? That this, you and me, is a waste of time?” I heard his voice break.
“No. No, I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I just... I can’t wait around for you to find the time for me, Tom.”
“Tom, you’re needed on set.” I heard in the background.
“Go, Tom. I sincerely hope you have a nice life. I am and will remain your biggest fan. I’ll be first in line to see the film when it is released, and every one after that,” and I hit the End button. A new round of sobs made their way out as I sank onto my bedroom floor. I felt as if I had willingly wrenched my own heart out of my chest and the directions for operation didn’t have instructions to put it back in.
I heard a knock at my door. It opened to reveal my sister, her arms open. I stumbled over to her and flung my arms around her shoulders and collapsed against her crying. The hardest thing I’ve ever had to do was over and I couldn’t find a way to make it better. I finally fell asleep after 7 hours of crying and sniffling and nose wiping and more crying.
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“Luke. I need to go see Sophie. Tonight... She broke up with me, but I can’t just let her go. She’s too important. I need her. You have to get me some time off, even just the weekend... Thanks man. I owe you big time. You’re getting a raise.”
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I felt pressure on my wrist, waking me from my troubled sleep. Then I felt pressure on my shoulder, then on my temple before hearing, “Sweetheart. Darling, wake up. I’m here.”
I peeked out of my half-closed eyelids to see Tom’s eyes, puffy and red looking down at me. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to make things right. I came to ask for your forgiveness and beg you to take me back. I can’t function without knowing you’ll always on the other end of the line.”
I wiped a tear off his cheek before kissing him hard on the lips. He pulled me into a sitting position before he lifted me onto his lap. We kissed for what felt like hours, more passion and love flowing between us than ever before.
“I’m so sorry, my darling girl. I spent the whole flight thinking about everything you said and you’re right. You’re completely right and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. You really are the most important thing in my life, even ahead of my work, but knowing that you were there, supporting me more than anyone else was enough to get me through the hard times. I’m extremely sorry that I didn’t think to make sure you knew that. You were constantly on my mind while we were separated. I’ve been putting so much work into this film and spent so much time thinking of you that I was so tired and even when you were around I couldn’t seem to break it. I want you with me always.”
I kissed him harder than ever and he gasped and fell backward onto my bed. I smiled against his lips. “I’m in love with you, Sophie.”
“You are?” I pulled back and looked deep into those ocean eyes that had captivated me a mere 2 months earlier. He nodded. “I’m in love with you, too, Tom Hiddleston.”
We kissed again, softly and passionately.
“How did you get away, though? I thought this week was the last week of filming...”
“I’m convinced Luke is some kind of magician. As soon as you hung up I called him and he moved mountains to get me a break.”
“He deserves a raise.”
I felt Tom’s laugh rumble in his chest against mine before he said, “Don’t worry, that’s already taken care of. Baby... I was wondering... I thought maybe you’d like to move to London with me...”
“What?” I was shocked. I honestly had not expected to hear that.
“I thought maybe you’d like to come live in London. Not with me necessarily. I’m not sure either of us are ready for that yet, but just in London. If you’re there, it will be much easier for us to be together. And I know you’ve always wanted to live there.”
“Tom. I’m an American... I can’t just move to London. If I could, I would have done it ages ago.”
“There’s a Visa for couples that are planning to get married, called a De Facto Visa. It used to be a six-month Visa, but it is now a year long. I have a barrister working on it already.”
“Are we going to be together that long?”
“Aren’t we?”