11 Years Earlier

He felt silly regardless of what Sybil said. Never in his life had he thought he be dressed as he was now. Then again he never would have imagined being in a house like Downton Abbey.

Although he knew she was Lady Sybil Crawley, something she only confessed to him months after they began dating, and had surmised she was from a wealthy family just based on her clothing, he couldn't help but notice the cashmere jumpers, the fine silk blouses, the expensive necklaces with their matching earrings, nothing had prepared him for his first sight of her family home.

"Feckin hell" he had uttered when the car had made the turn on the driveway that allowed one a full view of Downton Abbey. "It's a feckin castle."

If the outside had caught him by surprise, the inside was even more impressive. As he stood in the grand hall his eyes taking in the enormous stone fireplace, the plush chairs scattered around the huge room forming small seating areas, the carved wooden stairs leading to the second floor balcony overlooking the floor below, he wondered how someone could call this place home. Even more he wondered how someone so down to earth as Sybil could have grown up in a home like this.

"Without a doubt you'll be the most handsome man here" Sybil said as she finished adjusting his bow tie.

"I'll be the man most out of his league" Tom replied as he looked at himself in the full length mirror. He momentarily wished he was back home in Dublin spending New Year's Eve with his mates at a pub. Then, as he saw Sybil reflected in the mirror he knew he didn't want to be anywhere else but with her.

Present Day

In the end Tom went to the party at Dave and Sheila's and of course he wore black tie. The party was in full swing by the time Tom arrived since he had dithered for quite some time as to whether or not to go. He had given great thought to just popping into his local pub for a pint or two instead, he knew the place would have lots of familiar faces although probably none of his mates.

He had even thought of just staying in. So what if it was New Year's Eve? Why did everyone think they had to go someplace that night? Maybe he should have stayed in Dublin rather than coming back the day after Christmas, that way he could have avoided this whole issue. Although the more he thought about that Tom realized that might have been just as bad.

His youngest brother had become engaged on Christmas Eve. Although Tom thought he was too young and hadn't really experienced life, after all he wasn't even one year out of university and was marrying his high school sweetheart, his mother was ecstatic. Now with her two younger sons married, or soon to be in the case of Etan, her oldest daughter married, and her youngest daughter deemed still too young to marry since she was only in her second year of university, her attention turned to her oldest son.

"You're almost forty Tom, don't you think it's time you thought about marriage?" his mother had asked sincerely while they sat at the kitchen table drinking tea. It was rare, especially during the holidays, for it to be just her and Tom alone in the house.

"Ma!" Tom sounded irritated. "I'm not almost forty, I'm 33."

"Well you'll be 34 in a few months."

Tom just rolled his eyes. Her question had taken Tom by surprise but then again his mother had always been a no-nonsense straight forward woman.

"And is there an age limit on getting married?" He knew he sounded testy but he didn't want this conversation. "I'll get married when I'm ready to, when I meet the right girl, when the time is right."

Now it was his mother's turn to sound exasperated. "Well with the number of women that have been in your life I'm surprised you haven't meet her yet."

Tom glared at his mother not believing what she had said. For her part, realizing what she had just said his mother reached out with her hand and covered one of Tom's, gently patting it.

"I'm afraid that didn't come out the way I meant it Tom" she said gently. "I just … I meant …" she floundered trying to put into words what she wanted to say. "I don't want you to wake up some day and realize that you let the right one get away because you didn't see it at the time."

"I want you to be happy Tommy. That's all I want for all my children."

Now as Tom sat on the edge of his bed, fully dressed in his tuxedo, his mother's words came back to him. His mother was right, he had dated a lot of women but there was only one that haunted his dreams.

Since he had come back to England, Tom had thought more about Sybil than he had in years. During his time in Hong Kong and then Berlin, Tom had thought of her but sometimes it would be months and months between such thoughts and then he'd see a dark-haired girl in the distance and there would be something about her shape or her walk or the way she tilted her head that would remind him of Sybil.

It was probably a year or so ago that he had unexpectedly seen her father. He was covering some financial story that had political overtones and had interviewed someone who worked in Westminster. Afterwards he had paused to sit on a bench outside the building to collect his thoughts before going on to his next appointment.

As he glanced around at his surroundings, Tom saw two men walking towards him, one of whom he thought looked familiar but couldn't quite place him. It was only as the men passed by him that Tom realized it was Sybil's father, Lord Grantham. Although the man had looked directly at Tom he had given no indication that he recognized him.

Seeing her father so suddenly made Tom wonder about Sybil. He began looking at the society pages in the newspapers. Her sister Mary seemed to be a regular fixture on the social charity circuit and it wasn't unusual to see her photograph in the paper. On rare occasions there were photographs of her other sister Edith or her mother but Tom never saw any photograph or mention of Sybil.

The last time he had heard of Sybil was about a year after they had broken up when his pal from graduate school, Jaime, sent a letter with his annual Christmas card and had written that he had run into Sybil at a takeaway curry shop. She was as lovely as ever Jaime wrote and had inquired if he still heard from Tom. Jaime had never mentioned Sybil after that and now that he was living in Glasgow there probably wasn't much chance he'd see her. She's probably still in Edinburgh married to some wealthy guy with a child or two Tom thought.

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Sybil was glad she had held fast despite last minute pleadings from her mother.

"I understand about Larry" her mother had finally conceded. "There will be so many people here you don't even have to speak to him. But really darling it's New Year's Eve you shouldn't have to work."

Sybil shook her head. Her mother would never understand Sybil's desire to lead a life so different from the rest of her family's. She loved working and loved having a job that mattered, that made a difference in people's lives. She knew she could never be like her sisters both of whom enjoyed the perks of being the daughters of an Earl very much.

Mary loved being in the society pages of the newspapers for her charity work as well her tireless promotion of Downton. As the wife of the future Lord Grantham, Mary made it her mission to ensure the sustainability of Downton. Edith had made the society pages, or more likely the scandal rags, more for her avant garde lifestyle than any good works. But now she was happily married, content to write an occasional article and call herself a journalist.

Sybil shunned social charity functions with only her mother's annual ball for children's aid the exception and even then she took great pains to ensure her photograph wouldn't be in the newspapers. Except for two or three really close friends, no one in London even knew Sybil was actually Lady Sybil Crawley and she intended to keep it this way. Not that she was in any way ashamed of her title or her family but Sybil didn't want people to treat her differently because of them.

"Even if I wanted to Mama I couldn't find anyone to cover my shift." Sybil hoped she sounded conciliatory because although her mother did annoy her at times she did love her. "And I won't be alone. There's a big party that a lot of the staff is going to and I can go there after my shift."

That was the truth but Sybil knew she probably wouldn't go to the party. She'd be too tired. And besides, to Sybil it was just another day. Why did everyone think they had to do something special on New Year's Eve?

Not that she was opposed to parties even ones on New Year's Eve. She had certainly been to her share of them although she usually attended the annual New Year's Eve ball her parents hosted. Maybe that was it, she was just tired of that party, surrounded mostly by people her parents' age, making the same conversation over and over again, I'm living in London now, I'm a nurse, I'm still single, I don't have much time for such dances or dinners or whatever, how is Annabelle or Lucinda or James or whatever the name of their child was doing, yes I'd love to see them if they come to London have them give me a call.

Sybil quietly chuckled. There had once been a time when she thought the annual Downton ball was something out of Cinderella or some other fairy tale. She remembered the first time she had snuck out of the nursery and had spent what seemed like an hour with her head peeking out from the upstairs banisters and looking down at the great hall so alive with couples dancing. The women all looked so beautiful in their flowing gowns. She probably spent every year from the time she was five until she was twelve on that second floor balcony watching the party and wishing she could be part of it.

There had even been the time when she had felt like she was Cinderella and she was dancing with her Prince Charming but unlike the fairy tale there hadn't been a happily ever after for them.

And now she was spending her evening working at a hospital just so she had an excuse not to attend that ball. My how times had changed or rather had she had changed.

Sybil's shift began at two in the afternoon and ended at eleven. It was her first time working on New Year's Eve and she had been told by her co-workers to expect anything and everything although most of the patients wouldn't show up until after midnight when people began leaving their parties, many fully drunk.

Since the weather was rather mild, surprisingly bright and sunny, Sybil decided to walk to the hospital. She rarely walked to work since she was often running late and needed to take the short tube ride to make it on time. However, she found the half hour walk a pleasant way to unwind after her shift and usually only took the tube if the weather was unpleasant or she had some kind of engagement that didn't allow her to take the time to walk.

Even when she didn't get off until two or three in the morning Sybil found it more pleasant to walk home than take the tube. One of the things that Sybil had found surprising was the people that were out and about at all hours of the day and night. While her parents thought only those up to no good were out at two or three in the morning, she had discovered that people came and went to their jobs, or walked their dogs, or returned home from dates or clubbing at all hours, it seemed that we were now living in a truly 24 hour world. Of course it helped that her walk was in a fashionable area of town with many bars and restaurants.

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The party was in full swing by the time Tom arrived at half past ten. Fearing that Tom would bail at the last minute, Simon had insisted that Tom come with him and his girlfriend Siobhan. They stopped by Siobhan's neighbor's for a quick drink before proceeding on to Dave's. It was a small but lively party and Tom wished they were staying here for the evening.

Tom had only been to Dave's flat once before when he attended a birthday party for Dave. It had been summer and the crowd spilled out from the flat into the large back garden but now that it was winter this party was confined to the indoors making the room, one of those open floor plans where the kitchen, dining room, and living room were just one large space with no dividing walls, seem overly crowded.

Considering he wasn't currently seeing anyone, Tom had come without a date because he thought it wasn't the right night to ask someone for a first date. He had spoken briefly to his hosts and the other three or four people he knew and was eyeing the small buffet table filled with platters of tiny puff pastries, meatballs, cheeses, and veggies, when someone sharply tugged his arm.

"Oh my God I can't believe you're here"

Tom tilted his head in the direction of the voice and found a face just barely an inch or so from his. He immediately stepped back but her arm remained firmly planted on his.

"Don't tell me you don't remember me" she said in a voice a little too shrill and a little too loud.

Sophie … Isabelle … Olivia … it was one of those trendy names Tom thought … "Sienna" her name had finally come to him. "Of course I remember you. Happy New Year."

"I can't believe I haven't seen you in ages" Sienna began in that voice that Tom found rather irritating. He couldn't remember quite where she was from but her English accent wasn't pleasant to his ear.

"Well it was nice seeing you now" Tom smiled in reply as he turned to leave her. "I need to get a drink refill." He lifted his empty glass and shook it slightly hoping she would take the hint that he wasn't interested in chatting with her.

Although he hadn't taken any food, he didn't want to stand here talking to her. They had met on a blind date set up by Dave and Sarah. Thinking that maybe he hadn't given her a fair chance, especially since Sarah had pretty much dominated the conversation, he had asked her out on a second date much to his later regret.

Unfortunately for Tom, Sienna hadn't taken the hint and she kept popping up next to him as he circled around the room mingling with the other guests. There were two women that caught his eye but with Sienna following him around he didn't have much opportunity to chat with them.

He looked at the large wall clock near the front door and was surprised to see it was only half past eleven. When Sienna finally took a break to go to the loo, Tom saw it as his opportunity to leave the party.

He quickly darted into the bedroom to grab his overcoat and scarf, not taking the time to put them on fearing Sienna would magically appear beside him before he got away. He didn't stop to put his overcoat on until he had reached the end of the block. Even though he knew it was poor form to leave without saying a word to his hosts, and to leave before midnight at that, he thought he'd call Dave the next day to explain things.

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Her shift had been surprisingly quiet. It wasn't the kind of day where people came in complaining of stomach pains or headaches or had children in tow sniffling and coughing. There had been a few patients who had started their celebrations a little too early, how would they have lasted until midnight she wondered, and had taken a serious fall breaking their arm or collar bone and in one case a broken ankle.

It seemed like most of the patients they did have had brought along three or four others and soon the waiting room took on a festive air. Some had even brought food which they happily shared and booze which the staff insisted be put away or it would be confiscated.

The gravest case came in just before Sybil's shift ended. A young man had fallen off a porch and landed head first on the concrete walkway below. CT scans showed he had suffered brain injury and was quickly whisked off to surgery to relieve the pressure inside his skull. Although Sybil had worked on the team determining the extent of his injuries she was not part of the surgical team for which on a night like tonight she was grateful.

Although her shift technically ended at eleven, it was half past before she was able to leave. Sybil always kept spare clothing, besides another set of scrubs, in her locker since she often changed before going home. But tonight she just opted to don a soft but warm jumper over her scrubs. That, along with her woolen coat, would keep her warm on the walk home. Once out in the cool but not unpleasantly so air, Sybil decided to head for home rather than the staff party. The streets were rather quiet except for the few people hustling to be at their destination by midnight which was now only minutes away.

As she strolled along, Sybil thought she must be the only person in the city that didn't have someplace to be. There was a group of five or six people standing on the steps of a house from which laughter and music could be heard coming through the open doorway. As Sybil walked by they congenially invited her to their party but she politely declined.

She had walked about half way home when she suddenly realized she was hungry. She knew there was a kabob shop on the next block and she hoped it was open. Desperate for a cup of tea she thought she'd just eat there rather than order a takeaway.

To her relief it was open although there was only one customer waiting for takeaway and a couple sitting at one of the tables eating their meal. She had just placed her order for a kabob and a pot of tea when the clock behind the counter struck midnight. The man waiting for takeaway nodded at Sybil and pleasantly said "happy new year" as did the owner and his wife while the couple at the table seemed too engrossed in each other to notice anyone else in the room.

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Tom finally put on his wool overcoat and his leather gloves which were still thankfully in one of the coat's pockets, and loosely hung his scarf around his shoulders. He had left so hurriedly he hadn't notice that he had gone the opposite way from the tube station. Not wanting to take a chance passing back by Dave's flat, he decided to walk for a while since the night was surprisingly nice.

He had to chuckle when he thought about the way he had fled the party to avoid Sienna but he just didn't want to get tangled up with her again and he always found it hard to tell someone he just wasn't interested. At least he did these days although that hadn't always been the case. There had been a time in his life when … he shuttered thinking about how he had been.

His mother was right there had been a lot of women in his life. Some had only been for a night, some lasted a few months, some even a year or so.

He was embarrassed that he couldn't remember all their faces let alone their names. Actually there had only been three that Tom considered long term girlfriends but except for Sybil he had never thought of a future with them.

Tom was awoken from his thoughts by the sudden noises of car horns blaring and a few people yelling out their windows. Midnight! It was now 2016.

He didn't know how far he had walked or even where exactly he was. Maybe he would stop some place for a drink or even some food since he now realized he was hungry since he hadn't eaten at the party.

He passed a couple of rowdy bars that seem to be overflowing with customers but he wasn't in the mood for such a place. The only restaurants he passed were certainly the types of places that reservations had been made weeks ago for tonight.

Spying the bright lights of a takeaway joint that spilled out onto the sidewalk Tom headed for there. Hopefully they had a seating area and he could rest and get his bearings and decide how to get home.

The overhead sign said "Amoo's Kabob" and Tom saw through the window that there was indeed five or six tables in the small shop of which only one seemed to be occupied.

He placed his order at the counter for a beef kabob and a soda since the place didn't offer beer. He chuckled at the thought that this was probably the most sober New Year's Eve he had ever spent as an adult.

He turned towards the tables and saw that in addition to the table occupied by the couple he had seen from the window there was another table hidden from his window view by the counter which was occupied by a woman. Since there was a pot of tea on the table but only one cup he assumed she was alone. From his angle, her face was obscured by her dark curly hair that fell forward as she leaned over to pour a cup of tea.

He was rather intrigued at why a woman would be sitting alone in a kabob shop on New Year's Eve. He doubted that she was like him and running away from a party. She must have sensed that he was looking at her because she turned and looked up at him.

He blinked his eyes a few times to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. He couldn't believe he was looking at her, at that beautiful face that still haunted his dreams.

"Sybil" he gently cried out. "Sybil"

Did I surprise you with how they met? Not sure if I'll end it here or do an epilogue.