My Hiddles Dreams

Strange things happen after midnight.

"God it's cold," I thought as I stepped out of the enormous office building. Usually I worked from home, but today my boss needed me to fill in for someone. The job wasn't that hard, it was being confined to a cubicle all day that really bothered me. How did people stand it? I missed my comfy couch, my laptop, and my music. As soon as the revolving door swung shut behind me, I felt a bit better. The city always relaxed me, with its countless cafés, and the thrum of people buzzing about that only ever slowed between about midnight and four am.

Fortunately, I didn't work far from my flat, so I decided to walk. It was gorgeous outside, even if the weather was unusually brisk. While I walked, I gazed into the familiar shop windows that lined the street. There was a little French café, and several small drug stores. When I finally rounded the corner and reached my street, I noticed that there was a moving truck next door. "Hmm, I guess they finally managed to rent out that flat," I thought. It had been empty for months now. I unlocked my door and walked in. Home at last. On the post-it pad in the entryway, I wrote a reminder to go next door and introduce myself. I would do it today, but it had been a long one already, and I wasn't really in the mood for awkward small talk with some random stranger. At least I had tomorrow off.

The hot shower I took seemed to wash the strains of the day down the drain. As I dried myself off, I felt much better. The day was done, and now all that was left to do was sit in bed and read until dreams took me.

Falling asleep was easier said than done. For some reason, the hum of the city that usually lulled me into unconsciousness easily only kept me up. At 2 am, I heard a drop of rain hitting my window. The initial splatter was followed by many more, as a steady downpour began. "Perfect!", I thought excitedly. I threw on some clothes so I wouldn't freeze, shook my hair out of its messy bun, and ran out the front door. The rain felt cool on my skin as my bare feet moved across the pavement. Once I reached the middle of the street, I stopped and just stood there, arms extended, reveling in the wonderful feeling of the rain. After a moment I realized that I was laughing, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't stop.
Then, I heard a low chuckle behind me. Turning around in embarrassment, I saw a tall man in the doorway of the flat next to mine. He must be the new tenant.

"You shouldn't make a habit of becoming wet in the cold, you know," he said with an amused smile. "You could catch a chill." He had an English accent the likes of which I had never heard. It was lovely. He walked toward me as he spoke.

He was dressed in a white v-neck t shirt, a pair of black skinny jeans, and no shoes. His hair was fairly short and reddish blonde, and he had blue eyes the color of the sea after a storm. When he finally reached me in the middle of the street, he said, "I'm Tom. Tom Hiddleston. I just moved in next door."

I gave him my name and teased, "If you're so worried about getting sick, why are you out here in the rain?"

He laughed, and I noticed that when he did so, his entire face lit up. "I was more worried about you getting sick, but it seems you're fine." He was still smiling.

"I love it when it rains," I told him. By now we were both drenched to the core and laughing. Suddenly, he bowed. "May I have this dance?" He looked up at me with those deep blue eyes, and I was so flustered that all I could manage was "S-sure."

He pulled me into his arms and the two of us began slow dancing. He was humming Van Morrison's 'Moondance' into my ear as I laid my head on his shoulder. I couldn't say how long we swayed and danced there in the middle of the street, him humming, and me smiling. Time had lost all meaning.

"I feel bad, I'm keeping you out here so late. I hope you don't have something to do tomorrow," I said with a worried frown.

"Don't be sorry. I'm enjoying myself immensely, and anyway, I have tomorrow off," he said.