Chapter 3

A Chance Encounter

It has been two months since Kate found out she's going to be playing a woman named Echo in the movie Thor. She's been spending her time getting things in order at her apartment since filming is starting in a week.

"Hey well at least things are picking up for you," her friend Rebecca says over the phone, "Try not to forget about us when you become rich and famous."Kate laughs as she gets her bags together, "I'll promise to send you an autograph from time to time." She hears Rebecca laugh over the line.

"Everyone misses you over here," she says to Kate, "You've got to visit more often. I feel like I haven't seen you in over a year." Kate stops packing for a moment and thinks back. She realizes it has been a while since she's been home back in Jersey. Her heart aches thinking about how much she misses everyone. She used to fly back home every chance she got back when things weren't doing so well, but after she started getting offers it became harder for her to go back and forth. Her mother and a few friends have visited her from time to time, but that also became too expensive and less frequent.

Rachel used to tell her, "The more you work in this life the harder it will be to take the time for your old one. You need to make sure that you're ready for that. Never forget what your old life made you, but know that it's time to move on to your new one."

She knows that this is what she wanted when she chose to move out to California, and she's happy she stuck with it even through the rough times, including weeks with barely any sleep and jobs that barely paid her enough for rent. She's finally getting her chance and she's going to stick with it.

"I promise that the first good week that I get off I'll come home to visit," Kate says, "Or find a way to get you guys here."

"Well I hope so," Rebecca says, "It's not the same here without you Kate."

"Is that Kate?!" yells a different voice through the phone. There's shuffling on the other end of the phone and then someone says, "Katie potato! I miss you! How are you?"

Kate smiles, "Hi Isabelle, it's nice to know that even after all this time, that nickname hasn't changed."

"Of course, cause you're my Katie potato and that's never gonna change."

"Isabelle, give me the phone back," says Rebecca, her voice muffled.

"Alright, wait one minute," Isabelle says irritated, "I hope everything is going alright. Keep in touch more and I can't wait till I can see you next."

Kate says goodbye to her and Rebecca comes back on the line. They talk for a few more minutes until Kate gets another call.

"Oh, hey Bec it's Rachel. I should probably go."

"Alright, well take care of yourself and I'll talk to you later." She hangs up and Kate takes Rachel's call.

"Hey, you ready?" Rachel asks, "I'm outside."

"Yea, I am, mind coming up and helping me with my bags?" Kate asks.

"So high maintenance, "Rachel teases. Kate laughs and Rachel hangs up, a few minutes later there's a knock at Kate's door. She lets Rachel in and they get all of Kate's bags together. After they get them in the car they head to the set in Manhattan Beach, California.

They make it to the set and Kate steps out of the car to see many people bustling about. It's something she has grown used to the past couple of years. People running, to get coffee or food, checking sets, looking for certain people. She was happy to be back in this atmosphere.

"You can gawk later," Rachel says, "Let's get your bags to your trailer." Kate doesn't hear her and walks off. She passes some trailers, cars, and other people walking from one place to another. She sees a very large facility where filming will be taking place and heads inside. When she gets inside she's awestruck. There are large structures that look like they're made of gold, statues standing tall; all made to look like a futuristic palace. She watches people working on different parts, moving them around and setting them up. She takes in everything, never having seen a set this expanse. If anyone were looking closely at her they would probably think she was a tourist who found her way onto the set.

"You're not lost, are you?" asks a soft British accent. Kate turns suddenly only to be met with the deepest blue eyes she's ever seen. She takes a moment to look at the man in front of her. He's wearing black pants and a leather jacket, a navy shirt sneaking out from beneath it. He has short, black hair, and fair skin. She's trying to place him. He's familiar to her.

"Are you alright?" he asks, concern in his voice. She nods still trying to figure him out.

"You must be quite shy or-

"You're Loki!" Kate blurts out before she can stop herself, cutting him off. His eyes widen and he smiles. Kate covers her mouth with her hands, her cheeks flushing slightly.

"Oh, that was rude, I'm sorry," Kate says looking away. He's still smiling as he says, "No, not at all. It's nice to know that you can speak. I honestly thought I might be scaring you." She shakes her head, "I was just trying to figure out why you were familiar. My mouth has a tendency to move before my brain can keep up with it." He puts out his hand and says, "It seems you already know who I am, but I'd feel rude if I didn't introduce myself. My name is Tom Hiddleston."

She takes his hand, smiling, "My name is Kate Pierce. It's nice to meet you Tom." Her heart begins to race from his touch.

"Well it's nice to meet you as well Kate Pierce."

She likes the way her name sounds on his lips. She wants to hear him say it again.

"If I remember correctly, you'll be playing Echo, correct?" he asks.

"Yes I'm really looking forward to it," she says enthusiastically.

"As am I, even more so knowing, I'll be working with someone like you. I hope you bring that energy to the set," he says his charming nature surfacing, but he says it with earnest. She laughs and says, "Well you're lucky I've always had a thing for bad boys."

"Do you now?" he asks, eyeing her curiously.

"Kate Pierce!" yells a voice clearly filled with irritation. Kate flinches when she hears Rachel. She smiles nervously, turning to face Rachel and says, "Oh Rachel, there you are." Rachel glares at her and says, "Oh, don't you play coy with me. You disappear and I have to practically run all over this set to find you."

"You mustn't be angry with her," says Tom stepping in to calm her down, "This lovely young woman was just helping me navigate the set. I mistakenly took a wrong turn and ended up lost." Rachel looks at him, just noticing his presence and recognizes him. She takes a deep breath, relaxing slightly, "It's kind of you to try and make an excuse for her, but I know she walked off on her own to explore. I know her well enough now to know how her curiosity gets the better of her." Kate exhales deeply and says, "She has the uncanny ability to know when someone is lying, especially regarding me."

"Well that is quite an admirable trait. I apologize for lying to you," he says sincerely. Kate feels disappoint setting in, Here we go again. Rachel shows up and all eyes are on her.

"But I didn't wish for Kate to get into trouble. She looked like she was enjoying herself. It was quite interesting watching her expression change as she took everything in, even if I believed her to be lost at first," he says looking to Kate with a genuine smile on his face. Her heart skips a beat knowing he thought that. Rachel watches her and sees the way she's looking at him, "Well it's nice to know you were watching out for her even though you hadn't met yet; which inclines me to ask you a favor Tom." He looks to Rachel as she continues, "I admit I'm protective of her, she's like the little sister I never had. Yet now I won't be able to be around as much. High demanding people I work with, real big pains in the ass. I could use someone to keep an eye on her."

"Rachel!" Kate hisses, "I'm not a child. I'm 24 years old, and besides this isn't my first time on a set on my own. I can handle myself just fine."

"Yes I know, but please, humor me. It'll comfort me. This is a much bigger atmosphere," she says looking at Kate with concern in her eyes. Tom chuckles lightly, saying, "I have no doubt you can handle yourself Kate. It doesn't mean we can't help each other out from time to time. This is a bit new for me as well, and I could use a friend in all this, especially someone I'll be working so closely with." Kate blushes thinking about some parts of the script she read. She shakes her head and tries to compose herself. She straightens her shoulders, crosses her arms, and looks away from him as she says, "Alright fine, but only cause you asked nicely."

"Okay so as long as we all understand each other, Kate, we really need to get you situated," Rachel says obviously in a bit of a hurry, "I need to catch a flight to New York to handle some business."

"I will let you ladies go. I don't wish to keep you," he says addressing both of them. Kate shakes her head, "No it's okay you're not keeping us."

"She's right," Rachel says, "I know she would rather stay here and walk around the set, but I am so not carrying all her bags and setting things up for her."

"Yea, yea, I know. We can get going," Kate says and turns to Tom, "It was nice meeting you. I guess I'll be seeing you around." He nods, "Yes, I surely hope so." They all say goodbye to one another and part ways. Rachel elbows her, "He's much more attractive in real life isn't he?" Kate smiles, but tries to act nonchalant, "He's good-looking, I suppose."

"Oh My God!" Rachel enunciates, "I saw the way you were looking at him. To you he's more than just "good-looking." Kate blushes and looks away focusing on some birds flying as they make their way to the car.

"He seems like a sweet man, and at least you'll know someone before filming starts," Rachel says as they get Kate's bags, "I won't be around as much since things are picking up again. Jessica Stern, she's one of the PA's, will be around to help you navigate the set and show you how things are going to work, when I'm not here." Kate nods as she listens. She knows this will be different than before, and even if she's a little nervous, she's much more excited than anything else. They make it to the trailer and set things up inside, getting her bags unpacked. After they finish it is time for Rachel to leave.

"I'll see you soon alright," Rachel says, standing outside as she gives Kate a hug, "I'll call to keep in touch and make sure everything is going alright."

"Things will be fine," Kate says smiling at her as they pull away, "I'll see you when you get back." Kate watches Rachel disappear down the road and then heads back inside. She sits down to take a moment to herself, taking the events of the day in. She smiles as she thinks about Tom. She wonders how things will go once they start working together, as her insecurities begin to surface.

"Even if I wanted to pursue this, I doubt he would ever look at me that way," she whispers softly to herself. She leans back and stares at the ceiling. She hates how things get like this. Her insecurities have the tendency to keep her from pursuing things or people that she wants. When she's acting, they disappear and she wishes often that she could push the insecurities away as easily when she's not in front of a camera or audience.

Suddenly there's a knock at the door.

"Who could that be?" she wonders aloud as she stands up and heads for the door. She opens the door and gazes upon a familiar face.

"Tom?" she asks surprised.

"Were you expecting someone else?" he asks curiously.

"Oh, no, uh, um," she stutters, "How did you, uh, find me?" He smiles but turns and points to something in the distance, Kate looking to what he points to, "My trailer is actually not too far from yours. I was returning to my trailer after a walk and noticed you and Rachel parting ways and I thought you might like some company." Kate smiles at what he says. He shows her a rolled up group of papers in his hand, "I also thought maybe, if you wanted, we could go over some lines in the script. It'd be nice to memorize them with someone I'll actually be working with."

"Oh, yes of course," she says looking to her purse remembering that's where she left the script, "I could use the help with them anyway." She steps back and gestures for him to come inside, "You can come in. Sorry it's a bit of a mess, still getting things relatively comfortable." Tom looks around, finally settling on Kate, "It doesn't look like much of a mess to me. This is your space after all. You should keep it exactly how you want it."

He is right though, it isn't much of a mess. The couch sits against the wall across from the door outside, a television hanging on the opposite wall. There's a small kitchen that has the basics in it, as well as a small dining table. Beyond that is a hallway that leads to a bathroom and the bedroom. It's not much, but it's enough for someone to live in for a few months while filming. Her bags are piled in the hallway and there are papers scattered all over the dining table. That, Kate, considered a "bit of a mess."

"I guess you're right," she looks down, blushing slightly.

"May I?" he asks, gesturing to the couch. Kate quickly looks up and nods, "Oh yea sure, sorry."

"No need to apologize, I did show up unannounced after all," he says smiling softly at her. Her heart jumps as he looks at her and begins to race. She wonders if he can hear her heart pound in her chest. He doesn't seem to notice as he opens the script to a certain page and looking up at her with a smile, "Shall we Kate?" Her cheeks continue to flush as she goes to her purse and grabs the script.

Maybe this is my chance at something more, she thinks to herself, I'll never know if I don't take it.

She grabs her script and turns to face him, a new confidence building inside, "Yes Tom, we shall."