unfortunate timing | wroetoshaw fanfic

chapter 32

We walk in silence contrasting to the noisy life of New York City. I'm following Sally as I have no idea where Tom lives. I watch her face as it's glowing in the lights of cars driving past. I watch as a tear falls down her cheek. I grab her arm and stop her in her pace.

"Sally, you're crying." She wipes her cheeks immediately, and turns back around. "Can we talk about this?"

"I'm sorry, I just... you understand this is hard for me don't you?" She says quietly.

"Yeh, of course I do."

"And especially when Theo gets like that!" She shouts at me, out of nowhere.

"Okay, okay, please don't take it out on me." I say to her gently. After a while I ask, "Does he get like often?"

"So often. We argue about everything. He works all the time. I have work and Jamie, obviously. Finding time for each other is quite hard. But, he doesn't make it easier, and after he's had alcohol he can be..." She goes quiet.

"He can be what?" I demand, suddenly feeling angry.

"Erm, nasty. He's sometimes gotten so bad I've left the apartment and gone to a hotel for the night, waiting for him to have cooled off by the morning."

"Does Tom know?" I ask in disbelief. I feel myself becoming tense at this man's actions.

"No, god, you can't tell him!" She cries. I stare into her eyes, realising she's panicking.

"Sally, don't panic. I won't." I pull her into a hug and she cries into me. "Shh, it's okay."

I stroke her hair, calming her down as she gets her breathing back to a steady pace. She pulls away and looks up at me. Our lips are so close I can feel her breath on me. She slowly reaches up, kissing me gently, but I pull back. This wasn't the way I expected tonight to go.

"Sorry, Sally..." I start, "I shouldn't have done that."

She widens her eyes.

"God you're married. I'm in a relationship. What the fuck is wrong with me?" She looks away, shaking her head.

"No." I reassure her, "There's nothing wrong with you, you're perfect. And I'm not married." I laugh.

"But, Olivia?" She questions.

"No, we, um, split up a few years ago. She cheated on me." I say, looking at her, waiting for her reaction that I was worried about.

"Harry, I'm so sorry." She puts her hand on my arm out of instinct, but pulls it away when she notices.

"It's alright I got over it." I shrug, "But then... I found out I have a son." I raise my eyebrows at her and she smiles back sheepishly.

"I am sorry I never said anything. We weren't together at the time, we were drunk and then you were engaged at the time to my best friend. Plus, your whole career is in London and we were both young and..." She rambles, but I interrupt.

"It's fine Sally. I forgive you." She looks up at me, obviously shocked.

"Thank you, I appreciate that so much." She smiles and we return to walking, in a comfortable silence.

"Can you believe we're 31?" I say after a while, and she shakes her head.

"I really can't. Half the time I feel like I'm still a teenager, even though I have an almost 7 year old." She laughs, before going silent.

"What's he like?" I ask, rubbing my neck.

She smiles up at me, putting her hand on my cheek. Her eyes are watery and I wouldn't doubt mine are the same.

"Exactly like you." She chokes out before walking on. So I walk on after her.

———

"Are you ready?" She asks as we're standing outside of Tom's apartment, she grips my hand in support. I nod so she knocks on the door.

It opens within a few seconds to a brunette girl, the one I'd seen in a photo before.

"Hi Sal, I'm surprised to see you here, I thought Jame was here so you and Theo could have a date night." She smiles but looks confused. She gestures us in, giving me a small smile.

"Hey, yeah sorry I should have called. Uh this is Harry." Sally gestures to me. And the girl's eyes widen.

"Uh, hi! I'm Eva, Tom's girlfriend." She holds out her hand to shake and I oblige. She then calls out to Tom.

He comes out of the living room, but stops in his tracks when he sees me. The whole room becomes frosty as he stares at me, clenching his fists. He starts walking towards me when Sally steps in front of him putting her hand on his chest.

"Tom." She warns, "Don't."

"Sally, I'm not going to hurt him." He says, putting his hand on her shoulder. I stand there uneasy as he paces towards me, I wouldn't be surprised if he punched me right now.

I close my eyes, preparing for a sharp blow to my face but instead I get a pat on my shoulder. I open my eyes to Tom standing there smiling at me.

"Really, I'm not going to punch you, man." He says laughing, he pulls me into an embrace and I meet it, patting him on the back.

"Thanks, but I wouldn't have been surprised if you did." I say, laughing sarcastically.

"No, I'm over it. I mean if I had have been in London when I found out I would have driven straight over to your apartment." He laughs, I smile. "Hang on, how did you find out?"

"My parents. Thanks for telling Rosie by the way!" I say sarcastically, shoving him playfully.

"Sorry, I let slip. But to be fair I'm surprised she kept it from you, knowing her." He laughs.

"Yeh, I suppose." I agree, shaking my head at how much I know that's true.

At that moment I see him. He looks exactly like he looked in the photos, although in real life he looks even more like me. I watch as he walks towards Sally rubbing his eyes holding a little blue monkey in his other hand.

"Mummy, what are you doing here?" He says in an American accent, he then looks at me with a puzzled face, "Who's that?"

He points at me.

"Honey, that's Harry. He's one of Tom's friends from London." She says, giving me a look to play along. I can't say anything though and my mouth is wide open. I can't believe how much this little boy looks like me. He walks over to me, and hugs my legs before pulling away and holding out his hand.

"Hi, Harry. I'm Jamie." He says with a cheeky grin on his face.

A/N i don't want to sound annoying but PLEASE can you vote if you like it because i want to know if people are actually enjoying this or not. i don't want to write this for people to not enjoy if you get what i mean...