Along Came Awkward

Tom sighed as he stared at himself in the mirror of the restaurant bathroom. He was never a confident one in facing himself. He always thought he could be so much more than what he was. Tom felt that he should be more confident, more attractive, more anything really. He felt vanilla. Sure he would go on wild excursions with his mates, but it wasn’t that he never did anything dangerous. He never felt dangerous.

Tom never felt anything less than who he was looking in the mirror at: Vanilla. Tom was Vanilla.

“Ouch,” he heard a girl harshly whisper in one of the bathroom stalls behind him. Quickly he turned just as the girl stumbled out of the stall.

“Oi, what are yeh doin’ in ‘ere yeh crazy bird?” Tom gasped, suddenly embarrassed at himself. It was always a touchy subject when it came to how he felt about himself and even though he wasn’t speaking aloud, he felt like he’d been caught red-handed.

“Sod off,” the girl replied going over to the sink and washing her hands.

Tom frowned at the lass, his head twisting in thoughts of curiosity and intrigue. “This is the men’s baffroom yeh know.”

“I couldn’t wait in the line. I really had to piss,” she replied, her American accent becoming more audible. “Is that a problem to you, Mr. Nosey?”

Tom rolled his eyes. “Well yeh don’t ‘ave to be such an arse. It was jus’ a question.”

The girl wiped her hands on one of the hand towels in the bathroom. “This is stupid.”

“What is?”

“This towel.”

Tom leaned against the wall, placing his hands in his jean pockets. “What?”

“This towel is stupid,” the girl groaned, throwing the towel on the floor.

Tom chuckled at her actions. “There is no need to be mad at the towel.”

“Shut up,” she scoffed. “You don’t know anything.”

“Well that’s a bit harsh, yea?”

“Nope, you and every other guy.”

“Whoa,” Tom finally spoke up, raising his hands in defense. “I didn’t do shi’ to yeh.”

“You’re the one standing there like an idiot!”

Tom’s eyes narrowed before he crossed his arms against his chest. “Yeh the one in the men’s baffroom, love.”

The girls face fell before she nodded. Her expression changed from fumed to sympathetic. “Sorry for snapping. I’m just so fucking pissed off.”

“Why?” Tom asked, “if it’s not too bold to ask.”

“I strongly dislike the person I’m here with.”

“Why are yeh ‘ere wiff them then?”

She sighed, looking back into the mirror and fixing her makeup. “Sometimes things don’t go the way you want them too.”

“If yeh hate-“

“I didn’t say hate,” she interrupted. “I said strongly dislike.”

Tom chuckled at her choice of words. “Yeh’ve been cursing since the moment yeh came in ‘ere but yeh won’t say the word hate?”

The girl nodded in the mirror before facing Tom again. “There really is nothing that any single person can do to be deserving of hate, you know? It’s just a bad fucking word, okay?”

A laugh escaped Tom’s mouth as he nodded. “Gotcha. I’m Tom by the way.”

“Tom, huh? That’s the name of the person whom I strongly dislike. Funny, isn’t it?”

“Weird,” Tom nodded. “Certainly weird.”

The girl smiled and patted Tom’s shoulder as she walked passed him. “You’re not too bad of a guy, Tom. Not bad at all.”

“Hey!” Tom turned just as she was about to leave the bathroom. “Yeh never told me yeh name.”

“You never asked,” the girl smiled, winking before exiting, her voice echoing in the tiled room.

Tom chuckled at the girl as she ran out. "Weird lass," he mumbled to no one in particular before looking back into the mirror one last time. His expression fell and quickly he ripped his attention away from the reflection and headed back out into the restaurant. His eyes glanced passed the mates he was with and landed quickly landed on the girl from before.

"Tom, will you shut up?" Her voice sounded. Tom's ears perked as he looked curiously longer in her direction. It wasn't until a few moments later that he remember the man she was with was also named Tom. The man with her was enormous. Not heavy, but so muscular to the point where it clearly didn't look well anymore. He had a beard way overgrown, his skin some shade of orange and his hair cleanly shaven off his head.

"Watch it," he heard the other Tom warn back at the girl. "You know what happens when you don't."

"Yea, I fuckin' know," she grumbled back, crossing her arms.

Something overcame Tom as he watched the two interact, and he found himself intrigued. It didn't take long before Tom decided that he should intervene in whatever the situation was. "'Ello!" Tom cheered haphazardly as he strolled up to the table. "Miss, it's been ages since I've seen yeh last!"

The girl's eyes narrowed up at Tom, unsure if he was crazy or not. "But we-"

"Yea! Weird seein' yeh here!" Tom pushed, narrowing his eyes down at the girl. "I can't even remember when it last was!" He cheered, winking at the girl.

Finally, the girl smiled and saw the little game he was playing. This new Tom was clearly a clever one. "Hey Tom! Fancy seeing you here!" She jumped up, wrapping her thin arms around this man whom she barely knew. "How have you been?" She asked, letting go of him and sitting back down. She patted the seat next to her in a pleading way.

Tom grinned and sat down, "lovely, fanks!"

The old Tom grumbled in his seat. "Oi! Laura, aren't yeh goin' to introduce me to yeh frien'?"

The young Sykes tried to hide his smile of success now that he knew the girls name. "Yea, Laura, where are yeh manners?" Tom joked as he stuck his hand out towards the mysterious man. "I'm Tom."

"Funny," the other man said. "I'm Tom as well."

"Weird," Tom commented, trying to sound as though he wasn't already aware of the information. "Listen," he said, turning to Laura. "I got a new phone so I don't 'ave any of my old numbahs, but," Tom felt around his pockets for a pen before grabbing a napkin and writing his number down. "Here is my numbah. Text me o' somefing and we'll catch up like we used too?"

"Sounds good," the girl smiled, waving as he got out of the seat.

Tom walked back to his table, not bothering saying goodbye to the other Tom. He felt bold and proud, something he hasn't felt in a while. Not only did he feel like he saved the girl from a bad situation, but he was suave enough to play along and get her name. The only thing he needed now was her number.

"Mate, where 'ave yeh been!" Oliver called from the table. "Did yeh fall in the bafroom stall?" He joked.

Tom shook his head, smiling. "Not exactly."

Matty, the other friend at the table, continued on with the conversation the two were having prior to Tom's return. Tom tried to pay attention, but he kept dazing off. It wasn't until his phone vibrated that he was pulled back into reality.

From: unknown
Thanks for saving me, superman.
I guess I owe you one. Name a time
and place. Also, call me Sunshine.

Tom smiled, saving the number in his phone before replying.

From: Tom
Tomorrow. My place. Noon. I'll text
you my address in the morning. And
what happens if I call you Laura? ;)

Laura peaked around the corner of her booth to see Tom sitting with two other males. She smirked as she read the message from him and replied with a simple eight word text.

From: Sunshine
I'll light you on fire.
See you tomorrow.

Tom's stomach twisted at the thought of her coming. He had just invited a stranger that he found in a men's bathroom to his house.

Laura frowned at the man sitting in front of her. He glared and ate his food, commenting on the low quality of it every so often. All she wanted was to get away from him. But how could she? After all, he was her husband.