When Timid Turned Into Tension.

Taking one last drag from her cigarette Amelia threw it on the ground and stubbed out the butt with her toe. Just in time she thought when she saw Tom rounding the corner. Exhaling the smoke from her lungs she felt grateful that it was cold tonight and the remnants of the smoke would easily blend in with the puffs of visible air that came from exhaling quickly in such frigid temperatures.

“Finally!” She said to him, exasperated. Tom knew Amelia would on very rare occasions take her stress out on a cigarette (and her lungs), but he also knew that it was those moments when Amelia needed more than just a cigarette to calm down. He felt guilty, badgering her for a few weeks to attend this party with him.

She went for him of course, thinking that if he wanted her there so badly then maybe it would ease up some of the tension between them, Amelia blushed at the memory of waking up hung over to see Tom asleep on the floor, her face became even more red remembering that their run in in the hall was a perfect reminder of her desires for him while he was unsuccessfully trying to hide his morning wood.

If anything coming out tonight had done the opposite, for now she was annoyed with him for showing up an hour and a half after they agreed to meet at the entrance to the pub. It was cold enough that Amelia only waited for about 10 minutes before going in after arriving outside. The next hour and twenty minutes were the longest of her life, seeing friends from years before who wouldn’t stop asking about her and Tom. Some giving her knowing looks when she would tell them that they hadn’t seen each other much since his career started taking off.

“Where is dearest Tom?” one particularly annoying man asked, who as Amelia recalled, was just as annoying (and pervy) as when they were younger. Taking a step away from him and removing his hand from her waist Amelia had the genius of faking a phone call in order to go outside and get some air from the crowd which was when she lit up the cigarette.

“I’m really really sorry!” Tom said a few feet away still, before Amelia could begin to berate him for putting her in such an uncomfortable situation. When he reached her they greeted one another with the usual hug and kiss on the cheek. As Tom was straightening back up he caught a whiff of the lingering smoke on Amelia. “Hey, look at me.” He said, Amelia refusing to make eye contact with him. “Amelia! I know you get stressed out sometimes, but come on.. At least choose a healthier way to deal with an already unhealthy emotion.”

Amelia’s eyes finally snapped to his face, allowing him to feel the full force of her gaze and her irritation. “Right Tom, you’re right. I mean I could always make plans to spend an evening out with my best friend.” She said, not even trying to hide the accusation in her voice.

“I said I’m sorry Amelia!” Tom apologize again, knowing that it still wasn't an excuse for her destructive habit but letting the matter drop.

“You didn’t even call me! For goodness sake Tom, you could have done somethingto spare me the embarrassment of showing up to a party alone, especially to a party that I was invited to as a plus one.”

“I know.” Tom said to the ground, sighing he looked back up at Amelia, his eyes lighting up. Amelia returned his gaze, questioning him with a look. “But, I know how to make it up to you!”

“Oh really?” she said, crossing her arms.

“Just give me five minutes.” Tom said, putting a hand at the small of her back and leading her back inside. Amelia struggled to hide her eye-roll when everyone called out Tom’s name as he entered. Amelia excused herself to use the bathroom. As she was washing her hands she looked up into the mirror at her reflection, touching up her hair and make-up. Regrettably she felt she couldn’t stay in the bathroom as long as she wanted and still be socially acceptable so she walked out, bumping into her old neighbor on the way.

“Don’t you lose that Tom! Don’t forget you owe me!” Heather called. Looking between the two of them Amelia felt rage as she saw Tom sliding a slip of paper into his pocket and saluting the blonde who then responded by blowing a kiss. “Oh, sorry Amelia, didn’t see you there,” said Heather who was clearly still all eyes for Tom.

“Yeah, whatever.” Amelia muttered as she stepped around the girl and looked at Tom. Finally noticing her Tom blushed lightly, Amelia raised an eyebrow at him, trying to hide her jealousy and she smiled lightly. “Has it been five minutes yet??” She asked Tom hopefully, who laughed and put an arm around her shoulder.

“Yes, it has. Now let’s gather your things and we can get out of here!” He said, smiling.

“But you only just arrived!” Amelia said, surprised.

“Ah, well, if I wasn’t such an arse I would have been here nearly two hours ago and we’d be leaving by now anyways, so let’s just pretend everything had gone according to the schedule and continue onto the part of the evening where you and I spend some quality time together?” Looking down at Amelia, he was pleased to see she looked much happier.

Of course it still took a few minutes for everyone to get over Tom and his quick appearance. But Amelia took that in stride, knowing she was almost free. Unfortunately Heather was back and for some strange reason Heather had taken to starting up a conversation with Amelia, which was entirely one-sided. There was a brief mention of a coffee date and Amelia couldn’t see a way of getting out Heather’s badgering at exchanging numbers. Amelia knew what Heather was getting at, she had always been after Tom and it appeared she was recycling the old method of getting close to Amelia in order to get to him.

When he was finally able to break away from the crowd and join Amelia, he saw her talking to Heather with a rather exasperated look on her face. Both immediately turned their attention to Tom and before Amelia knew it this evening for two had turned into three after Heather had somehow weaseled herself into their plans. As Heather walked away to grab her coat and bag Amelia turned to Tom to tell him she would wait for him outside and turned and walked out before waiting for an answer.

She waited a few feet away from the entrance, standing in a darkened doorway of a nearby newsagent which had closed for the night, cursing herself for not bringing an umbrella as well as even showing up to begin with. It had been a few weeks since seeing Tom, and remembering the feeling she got when he looked at her when she was wearing the red dress from the last time she went out Amelia had decided to splurge and buy a new outfit for the evening.

A few minutes later Amelia heard Tom and Heather exit the pub. Gathering her coat about her Amelia made to leave her covering when she overheard Heather.

“Oh, so Amelia decided to go home after all?” Asked Heather.

“Go home? Why would Amelia go home?” Tom responded.

“Oh, well she was telling me just a minute ago how tired she was and that she was starting to feel unwell.” Heather said, laying on a fake tone of pity. Amelia nearly let out a laugh, silently commending Heather for her dedication and execution to getting to be alone with Tom

“She didn’t seem unwell…”

“She told me she didn’t want to worry you, do you want me to call her and see check on her?” Asked Heather quickly, from what Amelia could hear Heather was already dialing her number. Cursing herself Amelia quickly fished her phone from her bag and put the device on silent, wanting to hear how the rest of the conversation would play out. After a few minutes of silence and receiving no incoming call on her phone Amelia nearly exposed herself just to see the look of shock on Heather’s face at being caught in a lie. <i>Keep it cool Amelia, Tom knows better.</i>

“Her phone is off, she must be on the underground.” Said Heather just as hurriedly, trying to get Tom moving along.

“I think if Amelia is really that ill then maybe I should go and check on her.” Tom said, Amelia’s heart swelling. See? He knows you wouldn’t blow him off for a simple headache she told herself.

“Oh Tom, come off it. She’s going to be fine, she just needs to go for a lie in a bit early and wake up as good as new tomorrow. Now let’s go, I’m getting soaked.” Amelia heard footsteps getting closer. Squeezing herself into the doorway as much as possible she saw them walked by arm in arm. Once they passed her Heather turned back around to wink and wave at Amelia, somehow knowing that she had been there the entire time.

Amelia didn’t even care about getting wet anymore, she stepped out of the doorway and faced the direction of her friend and his new companion for the night. Once they were out of sight she turned and began on her way home, confused at the emotions in her, not knowing if she should feel angry or disappointed. It didn’t seem like very long, but before she knew it she was standing at the stoop leading into her apartment complex, not even remembering the journey there but knowing she had walked with how wet she was.

After getting into her flat she turned on the kettle and changed into her warmest pajamas. Once the tea was steeping she grabbed her phone from her bag to let it charge, seeing that there were two notifications on it.

Thanks girl, I owe you big time-Heather Xx

Scoffing to herself she quickly deleted the message and moved onto the next one.

Please let me know you got back safe and if you’re feeling okay, I’ll stop by in the morning.-Tom

She felt the confusion like it was a slap in the face. Should she be mad? He DID want to check on her, but then the only thing he did was text her. Yes, he was late to meeting with her but he made a valid effort to make sure they could spend some time together. Then again he didn’t make THAT much of an effort if it only took a wink and a smile from another girl to convince him to just leave her. Slapping her forehead with her hand she knew she wasn’t confused at the fact that she was hurt. She felt the disappointment all the way from her fingertips to her toes as she responded to his text.

I’m back now, thanks. I’ll be fine. No need to come.-Amelia

Not caring that the tea was still scalding, she removed the bag and downed the glass, which ended up not doing much to help her freezing body warm up at all. She plugged in her phone and walked into the living room and put in a DVD, while it was loading Amelia cocooned herself into a pile of blankets and laid down, not caring that her makeup was running or that she was still wearing the new dress she had bought for the evening, probably ruining it. Not quite sleeping and yet not really awake she eventually couldn’t tell if the buzzing noise was in her head or in the movie. When she slept that night it was uneasy, knowing in her subconscious that Heather somehow cursed her to come down with an illness.