Flash of Violet

Tom sat on the brick wall as he waited impatiently for Violet. He had his camera strap around his neck and was tapping his finger against the shutter button over and over again. He heard the clicking of high heels and lifted up his head to see a tall girl wearing a short black dress with a pair of purple heels, a long white coat pulled over it, walking as fast as she possibly could to get out of the cold weather. Tom shivered and played with the snaps on his Drop Dead coat, an 'early' Christmas present from Oli.

It was pointless for Oli to give early presents. They always ended up being just gifts, because he still went all out on Christmas day. Tom's pocket began vibrating and he reached down, prying it out of the jean material with red fingers. He pressed the answer button with a numb finger.

"Allo?"

"'Ave yeh seen 'er yet?" Oli's eager voice asked on the other line.

Tom had made the major mistake of excitedly calling Oli after he decided to meet up with Violet. Ever since he'd called him, Oli had been on his back about it for the last sixteen hours, helping Tom get dressed, coaching Tom on what to say, telling Tom to take money for coffee. Everything.

"No, Ols." Tom said, now getting irritated, "I told yeh, I wasn't supposed teh meet 'er until 'alf noon."

"What time is it?"

Tom shrugged, "Dunno. I got 'ere at 12:20, and 've been 'ere for like fifteen minutes, so 'm guessin' she's just a bit late."

"Well, just make sure when she gets there, yeh take 'er inside somewhere an' buy 'er somethin' teh drink."

"Bye Olleh." Tom said, cutting his brother off.

"Get 'er a muffin. Birds like muffins."

Tom hit the end button on his phone and dropped it into one of the pockets on the side of his jacket. He rubbed his hands together and looked around him, still not spotting Violet. He jumped off the wall and walked a few circles around the fountain, frozen with water. He raised his camera up and took a few shots of the ice hanging from the stone walls, not really finding one he was all too interested in. He walked around a bit more, trying to get feeling back into his legs. Pulling out his phone, he checked the time. Violet was already twenty minutes late.

His stomach dropped. What if that whole thing last night was just a huge joke? What if he was being a complete twat about this entire situation? That girl last night IMing him, (if it even was a girl) could have been anyone. It could have been one of Oli's crazy fans, trying to get with Oli because they knew Tom. It could be one of the guys in the band playing a joke on Tom. Someone from high school playing a trick on Tom.

As Tom stood there, thinking of all the possibilities of who could have been in front of the screen last night, typing to him, the familiar scent of cigarette smoke drifted into his nose. He suddenly felt so stupid, so naive and young. Did he really think Violet was actually interested in him? She probably thought he was some kind of fucking weirdo, snapping pictures of her at parties and then proceeding to search the internet for her, just because he really wanted her number. Tom clenched his teeth and balled his hands up in his pockets. He spun around on his heels to turn around so he could make his way home, when he crashed into someone.

"Aye," He said, out of breath from being so angry, "'m sorry. Let meh 'elp yeh up."

"'ts quite alright Tom."

Tom looked to his right to see the smiling face of Violet. Her blonde hair fell across the logo on her t shirt, and she held a cigarette in her right hand, the end of it snapped off, hanging loosely from the filter.

"'m sorry."

"Aye, yeh snapped meh smoke," She laughed, standing up.

Tom looked up at her from the ground as she tossed the cigarette down. She was dressed in a pair of purple jeans, a pair of classic black vans covering her feet, wet from the snow on the ground. She was wearing a bright yellow jacket over her t shirt, and her hair hung loosely over her shoulders, looking unbrushed.

"'m sorry." Tom said again.

She held her hand out to him, "Don't worry 'bout it. Guess I deserved it, huh? 'm what, 'alf an hour late? 'm sorry, I woke up late. Couldn't sleep last night."

"It's alright." Tom nodded, trying to tear his gaze away from her and finding that it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do in his life.

"Yeh cold?"

"Yeah," He laughed nervously, "Yeh wanna go in and get somethin' teh drink?"

"Sounds nice."

They both walked awkwardly into the coffee shop and walked up to the counter. Tom immediately ordered a plain black coffee, just wanting something warm in his body before his intestines froze together.

"I'll 'ave an iced mocha." Violet said, pulling out her wallet.

"What are yeh doin'?" Tom asked, quickly pulling out some money and handing it over, "'m payin'."

Violet's face turned a light red color and she shoved her wallet back into her pocket, stepping off to the side to wait for her coffee while Tom picked up his cup and filled it with the canister of coffee sitting on the counter. Once they both had their coffee, they sat down across from each other at a table. This way, Tom could stare at her all he wanted without looking like he was trying to.

"So," Violet said, taking a long drink from her coffee, "Why didn't yeh leave?"

"Leave where?"

"The park. Yeh've been waitin' fer 'alf an hour. I'd 'ave left by now."

Tom shrugged, "Wanted teh see yeh."

"That bad?" Violet smiled.

Tom blushed. He pulled at a napkin hanging from the dispenser and tore the corner of it off. Feeling his face grow red, he kept his eyes focused on the table top. Only five minutes into meeting up with Violet, and he was already making a complete twat out of himself. Tom felt Violet's hand reach over the table and she touched the strap on his camera, picking it up with her finger. Tom still refused to look at her, his face starting to burn.

"Do yeh ever let people take pictures of yeh?" She asked Tom, staring straight at him. Her green eyes sparkled against the light, the make up around them smeared, bags forming under them. Tom could see every single hair on her head, in complete disarray. His eyes suddenly went into picture mode, and he spotted chapped skin on her lips. Noticing every imperfection about her, he realized how gorgeous she really was.

"Tom?" She asked softly.

"No." He paused, staring at a scar between her collar bones, "Well I guess no one's really asked teh take meh picture."

"Can I?"

Tom laughed, out of habit. Every time someone even joked about wanting to take Tom's picture or pretended to mess around with one of his cameras, he knew they weren't really serious. He knew that pictures were taken so that people could remember that moment. No one wanted to remember Tom. He wasn't that important.

Tom rubbed his finger against the neck strap on his camera, thinking about all the times Oli asked if he could see the camera and Tom had said no. He never really trusted anyone with it. And here he was, lifting the strap from around his neck and handing it over the table, into the hands of a girl who he was only infatuated with, and knew absolutely nothing about.

Violet lifted the camera up, so it covered almost her whole face. Tom's first reaction was to grin slightly, a stupid toothy grin, and Violet took it as her chance to snap a picture of him. He laughed, and the button clicked once more.

"Alright. Yer done," He mused, reaching over the table.

Click.

Violet saw Tom's eyes. Blue in the camera's eye. Blue as she'd ever seen them. She clicked the button once more.

Tom's hand reached towards the camera, and a picture of the space between his finger and thumb was taken, his mouth protesting in the back ground.

"Aye, come on. Give it 'ere."

"Yeh 'ave teh come an' get it." Violet giggled.

Before Tom could even reach across the table one more time, Violet was out of the coffee shop, her feet sliding over the ice, dragging her wherever the hell they wanted to. She laughed loudly and clutched the camera in her hand, turning around to see Tom catching up to her. Her face turned back around and her feet danced over the slush, sending her into the grass. As she turned around to see where Tom was, he crashed into her and they fell to the ground in a heap of laughter. The camera crushed Violet's hands and pressed against Tom's stomach, causing them both discomfort.

Either of them were laughing too hard to care much about that fact. As Tom rolled off Violet, the grabbed the camera from her and took a shot of her lying only centimeters away from him, capturing the scar between her collar bones and the smile gracing her chapped lips.

He sat up and aimed the camera at her, taking pictures of everything he could. The top of her jeans meeting the white skin of her stomach. The bright yellow of her jacket clashing with the thigh of her pants. The logo on her t shirt. Her shoes over her feet, her ankles red from the cold. The pack of cigarettes tipping out of her pocket. The tips of her finger nails, cracking polish covering them. The smudged make up around her eyes.

And the palm of her hand as she reached up and grabbed the camera from him, laughing at the surprised expression on his face.

"Yeh make takin' pictures easy." Tom breathed.

"Yeh make smilin' easy."

Tom smiled.

Violet laughed, "Yeh see?"

"Is that a good thing?"

She sat up and leaned a little too far over, laughing loudly in Tom's ear. Her lips then met the side of his face.

Between the ringing in his ears and the burning sensation on his face, the only thing Tom could do was sit in the grass and smile to himself.

It had finally worked out for Tom.

Finally.