Taming Lies (A Tom Hiddleston Story)

one: truth be told

Chapter One
Truth Be Told


I perked my lips into my largest ever smile, my teeth blaring. I pulled up at the school gates and watched my son sit on the curb with his teacher standing next to him, her arms crossed and her eyebrows dipped. William slung his bag over his shoulder and pushed himself up before opening the car door and slipping into the passenger seat. Mrs. Charles pointed downwards and I tugged on my lip, winding the window down. Her crossed arms were placed lazily on the window still and she frowned, "Ms Hiddleston...."


"I know, I know..." I grumbled, removing the Ray Bans perched on the bridge of my nose, "It just slipped my mind."


Mrs. Charles rolled her eyes, "Oh, Ms Hiddleston, I understand. It slipped your mind like every other time-"


"Oh, Mrs. Charles," I snapped in front of her, mid-sentance. Her face paused and she jerked back as I leaned forward, "It, in fact, did slip my mind. Do not instruct me on how to raise my child and do not call me Ms Hiddleston. My name is Avery Morrison."


And with that, I sped off, stepping on the ignition. I wound the window up and travelled down the road and further away from the school, the only audible sound being the muffled radio. William fiddled with his fingers and kept his mouth shut. I felt small glances upon me as he twisted his head up and down towards me. His curly locks flopped lazily and he tugged on my sleeve, "Mom, do you love me?"


I almost stopped the car to take a breath. I made a sound of disbelief and nodded my head madly, "Of course William! I love you endlessly! Why do you think that?"


He shrugged innocently and wished that he hadn't said it at all, "Well, you keep forgetting to take me and pick me up from school, you aren't friends with my teacher, you cry a lot at night and you won't talk about Daddy. I want to know who Dad is, Mum."


"William," I warned, "You know I can't get in touch with Daddy. Even so, he would never talk to us."


William looked up at me, "How do you know that, Mum? Can't Daddy speak?"


I chuckled a little, "No, Will, Daddy can speak. He's quite good at speaking, actually. He just... your father and I... we're not the best of friends."


"I'm sure you are best friends!" William cried, with his blue eyes gleaming back at me. He looked exactly like his father. His cheekbones popped out when he pulled a certain face, and his hair was a ginger crossing to a blonde. He had a dimple on both cheeks, like I did, but that was all that I passed down to him. Will resembled his Father more than anyone else, "I want to see him." He demanded, as if he had just read my thoughts.


I stopped the car at a red light and turned to my son, "I'll tell you what. You're turning six in two weeks, aren't you? So I think you're old enough to watch Daddy at his best work."


"Watch Daddy at work?" Will repeated confusingly, "Does he work in a shop like you, Mum?"


I leaned towards his ear and opened my mouth to whisper I'm his ear, "Daddy... Is an actor." William almost jumped out the window and his mouth hung open. I pushed it back up and laughed at his expression. His chin still hung low and I couldn't contain my laughter, "Are you alright Will?"


"Dad is in a movie?!" He exclaimed loudly, almost screeching. He began to blabber words that merged into sentences, which made him ask a million questions at once. I shook my head with a smile and Will bounced up and down on his seat, eager to get home. His curls flapped across his forehead and he could not physically wipe the smile off his face. I felt the exact same, my smile seemed to be stuck upon my face. How was this possible? I was a single mother suffering through depression, yet as I revealed William's father, I felt like the happiest woman on earth.


Sooner or later, we pulled up outside the apartments and entered the code in the keypad, the boom gates bringing themselves up. We disappeared into the underground car park and William could not possibly contain his excitement. Should I have done this long ago?  I could still vividly remember him with his glowing blue eyes that reminded me like the sky on a clear, summers day. And his smile that glowed, no matter what position or state he was in. I still see him; on that channel that seems to be the only one our TV box seems to show, in the newspaper, magazines. He's grown up on me, yet I know that he has changed dramatically. I mean, he's living the Hollywood life now. He even made an appearance as Loki at San Diego Comic Con (and the Internet went crazy). We haven't even divorced, so I'm legally stuck with the last name of Hiddleston.


The elevator doors opened and William dashed down the hallway. He extended his arms out by his sides and blew raspberries, imitating an airplane. I followed after him, my heels clicking as I worked up a small, safe run. I chased Will with my arms reaching out to grab him, making him squeal. He paused outside out apartment door, trying to get inside, yet he was too late. I scooped him up into my arms and he tried to wriggle out of my grasp as I inserted the key into the door. I pushed the door open and let him free; I had never seen William so happy. He propped himself right in front of the television as I placed my handbag on the island bench, looking back at me for approval, "Do you have the movie?"


I shook my head, "No, but I'll go and download it." That caused Will to leap up into the air and run towards the computer. He jumped into the larger chair as I walked over. I looked down at him with his cheeky grin and lifted him up, dropping myself into the chair and placing William on my lap. I wiggled the mouse and googled up the website. William couldn't help but begin to ask twenty questions curiously, so I bent down and whispered in his ear, "Did you know that Daddy is a super villain?"


William gasped, "He's evil?"


"Only in the movies," I responded, clicking 'The Avengers' to begin downloading, "He goes by the name of Loki; he's Thor's adopted brother. Although Thor is a good guy, Loki is a very bad guy." I continued my speech about Loki and the many other superheroes in the film, making sure that I didn't give away too much of the story line. Will listened to me in complete awe; his mouth wide open that seemed to twitch every now and then and his glassy eyes watching mine. He had a Spider-Man outfit handed down to him, but that was the closest to superheroes that he had ever gotten. Yet there was no doubt that kids had spoke about them in the playground to William.


I served William an early dinner of cheese and ham toasted sandwiches with tomato sauce and chips. He had such a peculiar appetite. He pretty much swallowed it in one go and grinned at me, "Now can we watch Daddy?"


I shook my head, "The movie hasn't finished yet..." I sniffed and jerked my head back, "Pew! You stink, William! Go have a bath and I'll think about the movie..."


William scrubbed himself with soap in every which way possible. Up and down, left and right, diagonal, everywhere. He then poured a bucket of water over his head and gripped onto the sides of the tub, looking up at me, "Now can we watch Daddy?"


I shook my head, "Get changed into your pyjamas and I'll think about it..."


I then left the bathroom and slid the popcorn out of the microwave. The kernels had popped into beautiful, buttery delights and I spilled them out into a bowl. Will emerged dressed in his favourite pair of pyjamas and sat on the couch. I laughed and inserted the DVD into the Blu-Ray device, making William squeal with delight. The movie loaded onto the screen and began nearly automatically. He jumped up next to me and snuggled into my arms like I was the only heat source. He pointed at the screen and asked if Samual L. Jackson was his father.


"Nope," I replied.


"What about him?" William asked, pointing to Stellan Skarsgard.


"Nope," I replied.


William pointed to many others; Jeremy Renner and even those with a minor role who would hardly be noticed. Then, out of memory, Loki was about to enter. Instead of blabbering out something, William paused and watched in awe. He didn't say anything. The tesseract began to behave strangely and William gasped as it opened a portal. Then he appeared, with his evil grin and sceptre and ridiculous outfit. Without taking his eyes off the screen, William tugged my shirt and pulled my ear down to his mouth, "Is that Daddy?" He whispered ever so softly.


Tears fell from my eyes as I nodded. My voice was shaken and unbalanced, yet it was certain. William looked up into my eyes and I smiled happily for the first time in years, "Yes, Will, that's Daddy."