Blue Velvet

“You know, breaking and entering is punishable by law.”

The brunette turned saw the face of an old friend, ‘It isn’t a B&E when you have the key.”

Tom nodded, clearly forgetting all those years ago making a copy of the key to his secluded flat. “Forgot you had that.” He mumbled. “When’d you venture back to this side of the pond? You should’ve given me a call or something.”

“You changed your cell number, movie star.” Emma winked before going into a small fit of coughs, “You bring me to this place?” She asked referring to the four white walls that surrounded her. Her eyes dropped to a pamphlet on the side of her bed, Discovery Rehabilitation Center.

The actor rolled his eyes at the title and crossed his arms. It was the same seductive voice she had used on him the night they met so many years ago in the dark, dingy night club. “When did you get back?” Tom repeated his question from before. He watched as his estranged friend studied her surroundings. Her body began trembling as the drugs were being flushed through her system.

Emma shut her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. She ran her hands over her face a few times before dropping them to her sides and smiling at her old lover, “I’ve been back for a while now, Tommy- close to two years now.”


“Why hadn’t you stopped by sooner? All this time, I sat wondering what happened to you. I figured when you got back, you had a bloke waiting for you and tossed a ring on that finger of yours.” Tom pulled his hands out of his pocket and rested them on top of his head, folded together. He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the edge of her bed.

“If memory serves correctly, you got married when I left- Sarah was her name, was it not? You stopped writing a month after I left. I may have been on the other side of an ocean, but I waited for you.” Her breathing became heavy and shallow. “Marriage wasn’t enough for you though was it, Tom? No... I was told you’ve already got yourself a new lady friend, yeah?” Emma stared into Tom’s eyes and studied his movements, “Don’t for a second try to guilt me, Tom.”

Tom reached forward and grabbed her hand which was covered in wires, “I’m sorry I didn’t-”

“Save the bullshit for someone who cares.” The brunette retracted her hand and stared out the window on the opposite wall. There was a small courtyard just outside her room; Small children were running around, laughing with their parents.

The actor cracked his knuckles and tried to curb his bubbling anger, “If I didn’t care,” He muttered through gritted teeth, “I would’ve just dumped your drugged up body on the street waiting for someone to find you.”

Tom Hardy was on the most euphoric high he could ever imaged as he strolled home from the metro station. There was a soft thumping in his head that just wouldn’t leave. The sound of his son’s heart beat thumping like a bass drum had the actor nearly jumping out of skin; he was just too giddy to contain himself. However, the high fizzled to nothing as Tom entered through the threshold of his flat. A woman’s body was slumped against the wall, seemingly unconscious.

Long locks of brown hair created a curtain around the woman’s face, but Tom didn’t need to see the face to know who was in his flat. Even from a distance, all it took was the slightest glimpse of a single tattoo on the inside of her arm. In three long strides, Tom knelt down to the floor and tucked a few strands of hair behind the girl’s ear. Feeling a faint pulse in her tiny wrist, Tom called for an ambulance and slid to the floor.

Leaning against the wall, Tom pulled the limp body in between his legs and her close. A few stray tears betray him and slowly trickled down his cheeks as he felt the pulse slowly diminishing. He cried out to any God who would listen only to have his prayers thrown back in his face. As he shifted Emma’s body, a small pipe fell from her limp hand. Picking up the apparatus, Tom let out an angry cry tossed the pipe into his kitchen, watching the piece shatter into a million pieces against the cabinet.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?” He sobbed, “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.”

The actor pressed a kiss to her damp forehead as he heard the ambulance approaching his building. Hoisting her surprisingly light frame into his arms, Tom carried the unconscious girl out to the ambulance where the medical squad has a stretcher waiting. Tom watched as they strapped Emma into the stretched and pulled her into the vehicle. The back doors shut, Tom being left outside, and the ambulance sped off. The medical team refused to let a man who wasn’t immediate family into the back of their vehicle.

The actor went back inside and stared at the ground in the exact spot he had just found his friend. There she lay like a rag doll tossed to the floor. Tom couldn’t help but let his mind wonder to to the time he woke up in a pool of his own blood and vomit right in the middle of Old Compton Street. He needed someone to be there for him.

“You would’ve died if I hadn’t brought you in.” Tom tried to reason with the girl, “Be a little grateful and say thank you.”

Emma scoffed, “Ironic, isn’t it? The guy who introduced me to drugs is the one locking me in rehab. I don’t even have a fucking problem. It’s recreational, Tom! Isn’t that what you always told me? How many times have you been in here, Tommy boy?”

“Haven’t your sources been keeping you up to date?” Tom stood up and walked over the door in a quick stride, “I’m four years sober now.” He wrapped his hand around the door knob and opened the door, “I’ll be back later.”

The door slammed shut and for the first time, in a long time, Emma cried.