You've Only Just Arrived (a Tom Hiddleston fan fiction)

Part 50

After his short stay with you and the calm that came with it, you feel Tom's absence more clearly when he heads back to continue filming. You leave one of the kitchen chairs slightly askew, his forgotten jacket hanging on the back of it. It's a nice reminder that greets you each morning before you leave for work – a way to help motivate you to face another day.

The bouquet of tulips is now nearly entirely red. Richard is still throwing it away every time it appears, but really – what's the point? It is obvious that MC won't stop delivering them. The thought shakes you as soon as it registers in your brain that you'd considered it. You're trying to make it easier on the person keeping you on edge? That's supremely messed up.

You're seeing tulips every time you close your eyes. Flashes of red fill the void on the counter-space in your dressing room when the bouquet isn't there. You're starting to hate the color red altogether – incredibly unfortunate that in Touring Sundays 2 you are clothed in varying shades of it.

Your father has gotten it in his head that he needs to hear your voice every morning, making it a requirement that you call him once you arrive on set. The one morning you tried texting and then turning your phone on silent ended with the call from your father coming through Richard. He's worried, you get that, but having him daily reiterate his desire that you leave the production and come home doesn't help matters in the slightest. For the time being you make reassuring noises and hope that the reevaluation of all the security clearances issued to the building will soon render something fruitful.

You've survived the notes and flowers this long, every day telling yourself: surely MC will slip up soon and be caught in the act of delivering them. The studio has had enough. They have faith in Richard and the security team but higher-ups have decided that it has gone on too long. To take more immediate action, they post someone outside your dressing room door permanently - determined to catch the person in the act. Once they've been caught, the matter settled, you can go back to focusing on your job and the fact that Tom will be staying with you on a more permanent basis.

But the reason Tom will be daily making the long drive back and forth is MC – so if that reason is gone, will he still stay? It isn't exactly a convenient arrangement, no matter how enjoyable it might be to spend more time together.

You silently scroll through your phone on the ride to set with Richard. The car rides will return to the laughter filled adventures of the past once all this is behind you. Both you and Richard are just stressed. Neither of you are up for the usual banter, not even after consuming the usual coffee. Maybe you'll be in better spirits once Tom returns tomorrow. Tom will have both Bruce and John accompanying him – Richard will surely appreciate that for Ben's premiere the following evening.

Richard nods hello to the guard standing to the side of your dressing room door. For the first time in so many weeks you can walk into the room without wondering what surprises lay in wait. Maybe you'll actually be able to sit and enjoy the room once more – no more trailing after Andrew or Matt during your downtime like a quivering puppy.

No you're not quite there yet. You still feel the stranger's presence prompting the haunting thought that you'll turn around and discover another something from MC.

A few days of calm. A few days of security. A few days of normality, that's all you ask. Maybe then you'll stop seeing phantom tulips.

Perhaps normal isn't quite the right word for your life now. Interviews, commercials, highly anticipated film projects, innumerable invitations to events... Thinking about upcoming events turns your thoughts towards Benedict's premiere.

You've gotten the dress choices for the premiere narrowed down to two, two that hang in your bedroom demanding you make a decision. The first is a deep blue something that will surely bring out the blue of Tom's eyes when he stands next to you under the barrage of flashing lights, the other choice is a vibrant emerald green dress featuring an asymmetrical hemline and a more daring neckline.