Stumbling Into the Spotlight - Tom Hiddleston FanFic

25 - Eliza

Though the weather was certainly warmer here in LA but I missed the cool crispness of New York, or maybe it was just the simpler life I'd had there that I missed. It felt like I'd been on the go since I'd got here. Shelly had set up signings every day since I got here last Saturday. It is now Monday and the first day I didn't have anything wiith the rest of the week looking much the same as the last one.

The signings and meet and greets weren't bad really, though I doubted I'd ever really like them. They made me miss Tom that much more. Majority of the questions would be about my books and myself but there were always a few about Tom and I. I knew there would only be so long that I could keep giving the vague answers like I have been but telling the truth that we weren't together anymore hurt too much.

As if that wasn't complicated enough I'd somehow managed to strike up a real friendship with Henry since that first meeting. I still refused to read the gossip magazines but Katy filled me in on what they were saying about me every day when we talked. They were speculating that Tom and I weren't together and that I was now with Henry and though the first part was technically true the other part was completely wrong.

"Hey, are you alright?" Henry asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, yeah. Just thinking. What were you saying?"

"Nothing of importance." He smiles at me, "I know you've been on the go since your feet hit the ground. How about we take the day off work completely? We can continue working on this later."

A couple days ago he'd approached me with a rough draft of his idea for my book being turned into a live action film. What had surprised me was that instead of making it a movie like everyone had suggested so far he wanted to make it into a tv series instead. I'd looked over the pilot episode he'd finished and I was sold. We'd been working on the next few since then but I really did need a break.

"Would you mind terribly? I am pretty frazzled."

As he laughs a shadow falls across us and I turn to look at who ever had just walked up. We always met at the Bistro where we'd gone that first day, mainly because I didn't want pictures of either of us entering the others hotel. But meeting at the same place every day had meant one or both of us had fans stopping by our table.

Turning expecting that I was completely caught off guard as a glass of ice water is thrown in my face. Wiping the water from my eyes I look up to see who I was going to thank for the cold shower only to groan as they come into focus.

"What the hell are you doing?" Henry asks angrily, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Henry, it's okay." I say putting my hand on top of his arm and look up at Zawe who was smirking down at me. "Hello Ms. Ashton. I don't believe we've formally met."

"So it wasn't enough that you stole my boyfriend but now you're going to sit here and cheat on him just weeks later? You're even worse than I thought." She spits in my face.

I chuckle and wipe my face again, standing up slowly turning to face her.

"First off, I didn't steal Tom from you. You dumped him so don't blame me for your poor choices."

"There is no way you two could be that close that quickly. Just admit it; you two were seeing each other before we broke up." She yells, making those who hadn't turned to look at us after the water to my face turn to look now.

"I am many things but a homewrecker isn't one of them." I say calmly back. "And secondly, whom I do or don't have lunch with is literally none of your concern."

She surprises me and slaps me across the face.

"You're just a whore." She spits in my face again. "I told Tom you would just use him but he wouldn't believe me. You're pathetic."