Chapter 4

By the time the day of the party rolled around I was a nervous wreck. All I did that week was work and text Tom all day and work out and sleep a little at night. I wanted to be in the best shape I could get into before the party. I was going to meet of bunch of gorgeous Hollywood people. Luckily I was able to tone up a good bit by working my ass off, and I felt much better because of it. Scarlett was going to let me come over a little bit before the party so I could raid her closet and then ride over with her. She once again is a life saver for me. When I got over there she already had a bunch of outfits picked out for me. I walked into her room to see a bunch of cocktail dresses.

"I thought these things were supposed to be casual." I asked know I probably sounded dumb

"Usually they are, but Joss wanted to give all the none celebrities a chance to dress up. It's nice casual to dressy." she replied

Scarlett was always good at explaining things without being condescending way. I chose to try on a Tardis blue and black dress. I never felt sexier in a dress. It hugged me is all the right places and showed off my curvy hourglass figure perfectly. Scarlett looked me up and down.

"Damn girl. People are going to think that you're the famous one."

I smiled "Really? I love it. Does it really look good? I've been working out." I said trying to convince myself that it looked good

"Yeah I noticed. You look amazing." Scarlett walked over to her closet and pulled out a pair of black Mary Jane heels. "You'll need these."

"Oh god, heels? Dude, I'll kill myself." I said remembering all the times I have fallen to my humiliation whilst wearing heels.

"It's okay, these are nicely balanced, comfy, and only 4 inches." she said handing them to me.

I put them on and realized she was right. They felt amazing, and made my butt look awesome.

"Damn..." I said checking myself out in the mirror "...not bad for a commoner huh?"

Scarlett laughed at me handed me a little black clutch for me to put my stuff in. My hair was behaving today. I had big soft curls all the way down to the small of my back and side swept bangs. I touched up my makeup and then Scarlett and I were ready to go.

On the way there I tried my best to keep my confidence. My phone went off.

Hey E, I'm going to be running a few minutes late. Go ahead and find a table and I'll find you and Scarlett.

-T

Alrighty, we're almost here. See you soon!

-E

My stomach was now in knots.

"Who was that?" Scarlett asked as the cab pulled up to a stop light

"It was Tom. He's going to be a little late." I replied

"Good, that means you can meet a few other people before he steals you away from me." she joked

I laughed "Why would he steal me away?"

"Well he hasn't stopped talking about how funny and cute you are and asking about you." she gave me a snarky grin paired with a raised eyebrow "Besides, once you walk in with that dress, people are going to swoon."

I laughed and blushed "I guess we'll see."

"I guess we will."

The cab had arrived, we paid the man and walked inside. It was a great looking club. It had exposed brick, a bar that was around 300 feet long, high ceilings, large dance floor, and tons of tables and couches to sit at. I stayed as close as I could to Scarlett without grabbing her arm and clinging to her for dear life. Jeremy ran up to us.

"Hey guys! You're here!" he said giving both of us a quick hug "Wow, you guys look fantastic."

"Thanks." Scarlett and I said in unison

"Alright well everyone is over this way. Come on." He lead us over to one of the large tables halfway between the wall and the dance floor. There was a nice size group of people at the table, I recognized Chris Evans, and a few other faces from the set. Scarlett spent the next 10 min introducing me to everyone and starting up a conversation. I didn't have much to contribute, but I chimed in with whatever relevant information I knew from time to time. About every 2 minutes or so I found myself scanning to room for Tom. It wouldn't be hard to spot him since he would most likely be one of the tallest people there. I was snapped out of my thoughts by Jeremy.

"Okay guys, I'm going to get us a round of shots. E would you like something besides that?"

"A Jack and Coke would be awesome." I replied hoping that a drink would calm my nerves. I leaned in to let Scarlett know I was going to run to the bathroom. I walked around the dance floor and got a feel for the place. By the time I made it back Jeremy was just getting back with the shots of Jameson whiskey. I stood next to Jeremy and we all toasted to the start of the night. As we slammed our empty glasses on the tables and made our faces in reaction to the strong liquor, I heard a familiar voice.

"Sorry I'm late." Said Tom running up to us. I quickly turned around to greet him

"Hey you." I said with a smile. His eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open as he took a step back and looked me up and down.

"Oh wow. E...just wow." He said stepping a little closer and he ran his figures through his currently black hair. He looked incredibly sexy. He has his cowboy boots on, nice pants, gray t shirt and his sexy leather jacket.

"Is that a good wow or a bad wow?" I said not sure if I wanted to know the answer if it was bad.

"Umm..." he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck "...definitely a great wow."

I smiled big and blushed

Jeremy then came up next to me "Sooo hey, E here's your drink." he said handing me my Jack and Coke.

"Thanks." I said taking a quick sip

"I'm grabbing another round, Tom you want to join us?"

"Yes definitely." he said nodding and his hands on his hips. I couldn't stop myself from looking him up and down, he just looked too good. When my eyes found their way to his face I realized he saw me check him out. I quickly took a large gulp of my drink.

"So, um, how are you?" I asked trying to brush off.

"I'm was good, but I'm absolutely wonderful now." He laughed "How are you?"

"I'm-uh-I'm great." I said "Hey look drinks!" Tom laughed at me and put his hand on my back as we took a few steps towards the table to do our shots. Jeremy had gotten two for everyone, so we had a quick competition to see who would finish first. Women against men. The women won. I was starting to feel more relaxed and comfortable around everyone. Eventually Tom and I sat down at the table right next to each other. The night went on, and 3 Jack and Cokes and 7 shots later, everyone was either drunk or tipsy. When the dance music started to play, that's when half of our table left to get out there. Tom and I had to talk directly into ear others ears in order to hear what the other was saying. I was pretty buzzed, but being Irish decent I was more than capable of handling myself. Tom leaned back into his chair, crossed his arms and smiled at me while I finished my 4 drink.

"What see something you like?" I asked playfully

He laughed "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to figure out why a women as fun, smart, and gorgeous as you would want to spend a party talking to me."

I never felt so touched by a compliment. "Well, maybe it's because you are a smart, funny, wonderful, incredibly good looking man." I'm not usually this forward, but I had plenty of liquid courage.

Tom blushed and covered his face and giggled his trademark "Ehehehehehe" laugh. My heart melted as I smiled affectionately at him. He looked at me and we were lost in each other eyes. It was probably only a seconds in reality, but it felt much much longer. We were jerked out of trance with Scarlett coming up to us.

"Hey guys, want to dance?" she asked, her face flushed from drinking and dancing.

"Scarlett you know I can't dance. People will call and ambulance because I will look like I'm having a seizure." It seemed a little extreme, but it was close enough to the truth.

Tom laughed, leaned in to speak into my ear, and put his hand on my lower back. "Come on darling, show me your moves."

I turned to look at him, but he didn't back away from me. Our noses touched for a moment before we both pulled away, but barely. I smirked at him, and took a shot without breaking eye contact with him.

"Okay..." I took his hand and stood up "...let's go."

He gave me a mischievous grin and a raised his eyebrow as he stood up. He walked behind me so closely, his pelvis bumped against me a few times. I had to stop myself from turning around and asking him to take me. I was able to push my lust for him to the back of my mind. The club remix of I am not a Robot by Marina and the Diamonds was playing. I already knew Tom was a great dancer, but he seemed to take it easy and keep up with me.

"To be honest, I never dance at clubs." I said to him

"Well it sure seems like you do. Come E, let loose. Let's embarrass ourselves." he then started to dance in a very silly fashion. I couldn't help myself but to join him. For the whole song we were doing moves such as "picking up change" "playing basketball" and "the bowler" Scarlett was laughing at us, and soon we were laughing at ourselves.

The night went on and everyone started to sober up. Tom and I had sat back down to talk and to introduce me to more people. I got to meet the whole cast and a bunch of great people on the crew. We all talked and laughed. I got to hear great tales of the adventures they had on and off of set. I couldn't believe what was happening half the time. It seemed like just a wonderful intensely realistic dream. It was late, and I was getting really tired. It must've been apparent because Tom looked over at me and asked if I wanted to leave.

"I don't really want to, but I am pretty exhausted." I said resting my head on my hand

""I'm not surprised. You've been working your ass off this week haven't you?" he asked

"Ha, yeah. It's been non-stop this week. I finally have a few easy days. I'm actually able to take tomorrow off."

"Oh, well that's good. You get a chance to unwind." he said lightly running his fingertips up and down my arm. God, his hands. So strong, yet so gentle.

"How did you get here?" he asked. I didn't know exactly what his intentions were with this question.

"I drove to Scarlett's place then we took a cab from there. How about you?" I asked

"I took a cab too." he replied "So, um, do you know how you're going to get home?"

I smiled and shifted in my seat "Umm, I'm not sure. I'll have to talk to Scarlett since I came with her."

Scarlett jumped up behind us "Ride back with us Tom!" she said drunkenly "We can hang out some more!"

He laughed "That sounds fun I would love to." he looked at me "Is that okay with you?"

"Of course!" I replied.

After a while we were back at Scarlett's place. Soon after arriving Scarlett passed out, so Tom and I decided to go to my house and hang out. Luckily I had sobered up so I was able to drive us back.

"Would like something to eat or drink?" I asked as we walked into my house.

"Just some water would be fine, thanks." Tom said while taking off his jacket and placing it over the back of my armchair. I went into the kitchen and got us both water. I went back into the living room, but Tom wasn't there. I went into my little library room and of course he was there.

"See anything you like?" I asked walking in and handing him the glass.

"Yes, several things." he glanced over the books again and pulled out Shakespeare's Sonnets, looked through it and started reading aloud in his smooth deep voice:

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,

And every fair from fair sometime declines..."

I started blushing and giggling. He didn't even have to read from the book. We gazed into each others eyes for a while, when I decided to show off what I knew.

"When to the sessions of sweet silent thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,

And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste:

Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,

For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,

And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,

And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight:

Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,

And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er"

He smiled from ear to ear. "Impressive. I thought you didn't read Shakespeare."

"I said I hadn't read through the plays, but the Sonnets are addictive." I said sitting down on the large ottoman. Tom sat down next to me and started to reading out loud. His voice was intoxicating and soothing. I went from resting my head on his shoulder as he read, and eventually laid down on the ottoman. He laid down next to me and continued reading Sonnets to me. As I dozed all I could hear was his voice. I was just consumed by him. In my half conscious state I snuggled up to him and rested my head between his shoulder and neck. He put his arm around me and kissed my forehead while gently tucking my hair behind my ear. He leaned in close to my ear.

"Do you want me to leave E?" he asked in a whisper so soft and intimate it gave me chills.

"No Tom. Please stay." I responded quietly as I slowly ran my hand over his chest in order to wrap my arm around him.

"Thank god you said that..." he pulled me closer and held me tighter "...because I don't want to leave."

We both sighed happily before falling asleep in each others arms.