Addicted to You

Tom sat and sipped on his cardboard cup of coffee as the group went around in a circle introducing themselves like they did every day, but he was out of it today and wasn't paying much attention. He was tired from a whole week of full days of shooting and wasn't quite in the mood for NA today.
NA, by the way, stands for Narcotics Annonymous. It was a meeting for recovering addicts to get together and talk about anything they wanted. Their time as an addict, their time as a recovering addict, their relapses, etc. Tom was a recovering cocaine addict. He'd been clean for seven years and needed these meetings and anything else that would keep him busy to stay that way for another seven years. But he was taking it one day at a time, which was all you could do.

"Hello. My name's Louie, and I'm an addict." A delicate voice came from down the row to his left. He didn't remember a Louie. Especially one with a voice like that. He furrowed his eyebrows and looked up to see this Louie.
He took in a sharp breath when he saw the owner of the delicate voice and odd name. "Louie" was an enchanting female. She had long auburn hair, big, brown eyes and a most dazzling smile. He couldn't quite believe his eyes.
Who the bloody hell is that?

This meeting just got a whole lot more appealing to Tom. He watched as Louie took a seat once again and smiled at all the people who were greeting her warmly and welcoming her to the group. He must have been zoning out on her for quite some time, because before he knew it,it was his turn to stand up and introduce himself. He shook himself out of his reverie and cleared his throat before standing up. He knew that the Louie's eyes were on him now, and it made him feel quite shy. He rubbed the back of his neck and gave a quite, "hello" before announcing himself.
"My name is Tom and I'm an addict."

"Hi, Tom," the group said in unison, and though everyone was speaking at the same time, he could hear Louie's enchanting voice ring out loud and clear in his ears. He sat back down and stole a quick glance her way. To his surprise she was looking right back.
Their eyes locked for a moment and she gave a small smile his way. Shit! She'd spotted him!
He quickly looked back away, embarrassed to be caught, and nervously cleared his throat again.

The meeting went on, and people shared their stories. Tom remained dispondent and uninterested until he heard her voice again. She was standing and beginning to tell her story.
He watched, entranced, as she spoke.

"Well, what can I say? I was a heroin addict. It started when I was 17 and went on until I finally decided to get clean about two years ago, when I was 22."
Bloody hell, she's only 24! She's so young! Tom thought to himself, though by the looks of her, it didn't surprise him as much as he wanted it to. What surprised him most was how much he wanted to know this young woman.

"It didn't take long for it to take over my life since it was everywhere and always so available to me. I stopped working and focused only on getting my fix every day, as I'm sure many if you can relate." The group nodded their heads and gave little "yeps" and "you know its". Tom could only listen.
She went on to tell of a bad over dose that finally made her decide enough was enough.

"I decided I wanted to live. I couldn't spend the rest of my life like this. That wasn't a life at all. I was just lucky that I decided to get clean before most of my life was already wasted." She gave a small, sad smile, seemingly at some unspoken memory, before saying a thank you and sitting back down.

Tom spent the rest of the meeting having trouble picturing this sweet, soft spoken girl in these different scenarios. On the streets... Doing heroin... Overdosing... It just didn't seem possible. Though he knew better. It was more than possible.

Finally, the meeting was over. Tom took one last gulp of his coffee and disposed of it in the waste basket before turning around to spot this girl again. He knew he shouldn't, but he wanted to talk to her. He wanted to know her. But, when he turned around, he couldn't find her.
His eyes quickly scanned the room before finally settling on her. She was saying goodbye to one of the members and starting to walk out of the door. He quickly willed his legs to move and followed her out, but in his haste, he forgot to pay much attention to what he was doing, and when he bounded out of the door, he did more than find her...
He ran directly into her.