You Don't Have to Stay Forever.

Diana Patricia walked down the plane trailing behind her two friends, the three of them were chatting happily, already feeling down that their one month holiday at Saint-Tropez was over, time flew whenever the three elder ladies were together, they would go out to drink, dance or walk down the beach. Diana was going through a rough patch since her friend Gloria moved to Italy and although they would ring each other it was not the same, she was even considering moving to Italy for a while; one day her daughter Emma was visiting and suggested that her mother should make new friends, Diana laughed at the suggestion, at her age was a bit embarrassing to go out and socialize. Emma insisted and after introducing her mother to Jane and Elaine’s mothers Diana felt happy again.

“I can’t believe we’re already back!” Rhonda Hamilton complained while helping Diana with her purse, looking around she quickly spotted Emma Hiddleston along with Jane and Elaine “the girls are over there” the woman waved to the young girls who made their way through the crowded Heathrow airport. Each girl embraced her mother lovingly, they might be sneaky and at time hard to handle but still, they missed them.

“You didn’t bring any lover boy back?” teased Emma while her mother blushed and shoved her gently, the other girls were chatting with their mothers as well, making their way to the parking lot as they approached Emma’s car, Diana asked her daughter if her brother was still in town “surprisingly he hasn’t left, not that I have seen much him either” the young woman opened the boot and put her mother’s luggage along with her friend’s. Diana hoped in the passenger’s seat and asked Emma if her brother was too busy to hang out with her “I don’t know he hasn’t called so I guess he has other plans that don’t include me” she said dropping the subject as she sped off out of the parking lot.

“Speaking of, is your sister in town?” now it was Pandora Asher who asked her blonde daughter who nodded “ask her to come for dinner tonight” Jane said that maybe her sister had other plans for dinner earning a suspicious look from her mother who soon began to complain “isn’t it a pity? You raise your children, they move to the other side of town so you can’t visit as often as you’d like and on top of that, you need to book an appointment to see them!” the other three elder women along with Elaine and Emma agreed, Jane didn’t share that thought, because she knew exactly why her sister hadn’t been available.

“You know what? Go over to your brother’s house” instructed Patricia to Emma, who obeyed, it was unlikely that her brother was going to be home, but if her mother wanted to just greet him briefly it was perfectly understandable “I still have his key” she said wiggling the golden key earning a cheer from her mates. Jane’s eyes widened, dropping by Tom’s house was probably not a good idea and she shared her thoughts also adding that if Tom had company they should stay away and give him some space “nonsense! I am his mother, haven’t seen him in a while and besides, if a little slag is the reason he has been so busy I’ll make him focus on what’s important, his family is way more important than wooing some youngster”

Diana was soon to regret saying those words, when they walked up the stairs were giggling, except for Jane who was biting her lip so hard she could taste the blood, as the elder lady slid her key and opened the door everything seemed to be normal, the lights from the living room were on and so was the telly, the six women entered and stayed in the foyer, after closing the door really slowly Emma asked her mother if she thought that Tom was home. Looking around Elaine’s gaze stopped in the Burberry coat by the chair nearby, she recognized it immediately and looked at Jane who was cracking her knuckles, and the two friends held each other’s gaze and Elaine could not believe it as she put the pieces together. Taking a step towards the living room, Diana smelled food and motioned the rest of her company to the kitchen.

“It has too much cheese! Do you want me to be fat?” Anna told Tom who kept sprinkling cheese to the pizza dough covering the mushroom toping completely.

“I once ate pizza in Italy and it was dripping cheese, trust me it will taste good. As for you gaining a few pounds I don’t think it’ll show” glancing briefly at the skinny form of his friend Tom continued “I must confess that your bum is bigger than a month ago” Anna gasped as he laughed with a twinkle in his eye, she shoved him getting a bit of flour in his dark jersey “you started it” he said before leaning closer to grab a handful of flour and sprinkled it in her top earning another gasp from his friend. The young model jumped on his back pouring flour from the package on his styled hair “Stop!” he said tickling her with his long fingers but Anna was holding tightly onto him while laughing, she squeezed his waist with her legs and hiding her face in the crook of his neck, he didn’t stop the tickling until someone cleared their throat and the two friends froze in the spot. Tom was the first to look up and find her mother’s eyes boring into his own, along with the gaze of his sister and her friends along with their mothers.

“Mom you’re back” said Anna whose face was flushed from the tickling along with the embarrassment, Pandora walked up to her daughter and hugged her, trying to avoid the questions on her mind. Patricia walked also up to her son and started to tell all about their trip, the other four women made themselves comfortable at the kitchen isle. Jane Asher motioned her young sister to join her over at the foyer, as the girls sneaked out of the kitchen where Tom dealt with the chatty ladies, while Jane told her sister how she tried to persuade them not to come over “you could’ve sent me a text” Anna said totally embarrassed.

“I sent you about seven texts which you would’ve seen if you weren’t fooling around with Tom” Jane saw the flush into the young girl’s cheeks and let out a sigh “speaking of, I thought you didn’t fancy him” Anna rolled her eyes and scoffed assuring her sister that her feelings towards Tom were nothing but friendly ones “you know I believe you, but I can’t promise his mother will believe him” the two blonde girls knew that Patricia could be a little bit over protecting when it came to her only son, there would never be a woman good enough for her boy. Anna told her sister that maybe it would be better if they left the Hiddleston family to enjoy dinner on their own “I’ll tell mom that dad gave me a ring begging for us to go home” with that said they both walked back in the kitchen where Rhonda Hamilton was telling Tom how her mother had still her sex appeal with the young fellas, his blue eyes met Anna’s worried ones and gave her a sad smile which meant that he knew she was not staying over for dinner “we should get going, dad is absolutely desperate to see his lady”.

Pandora rose from her seat happily before kissing Tom on both cheeks promising that she would take care of his mother while he was away –which was a lot.

“I’ll see you later” he told Anna quietly as their mother’s said their goodbyes loudly, the blonde model nodded hugging him briefly. Patricia shook Anna’s hand instead of kissing her like she did with Elaine and Jane.

“It is lovely to finally meet you” she added with a scowl that made Anna uncomfortable before mumbling a quiet likewise and following her family and friends out of her friend’s house. The silence that reigned after they left was heavy and Tom tried to ease the tension asking Emma if she was staying for dinner, his sister declined since her mother’s eyes were implying she wanted to be left alone with her son. After a quickly hug to the both of them Emma flew out the door leaving Tom cleaning around the kitchen while trying to make small conversation to his mother about her trip “you’re trying to distract me and that, makes me even more mad Thomas” as the elder lady took out a bottle of wine and a glass to pour it she kept her stern tone “are you screwing around with her?” Tom laughed heartedly at how her mother seemed to be bothered by the fact he was having a fling with Anna, he wasn’t of course but even if he did it was none of her mother’s business.

“That is just a silly thought you can’t possibly be serious” as he finished sweeping the wooden floor he sat across his mother and folded his arms over his chest “I’m not having a fling” Patricia scoffed.

“Why aren’t you two together, what’s wrong with her?” first his mother seemed to despise the idea of him seen Anna and now she was shocked he wasn’t her boyfriend “you aren’t getting no younger, it’s about time to settle down and she can’t be that bad” Tom let out a sigh full of frustration, it was all about him settling down, ever since he broke up with Susannah his mother seemed worried he was not going to give her grandchildren.

“Mother this is the last time I will speak to you about this subject. Due to the big amount of work coming in the future it is very hard for me to think about having a girlfriend”

“She’s got a busy schedule as well; you might work something out” Tom shook his head “Thomas why do you do this to me? I don’t want to be eighty when you decide to have children! They deserve a young grandma” no matter how many times he would explain it to his mother she would always play the old grandmother card which actually made him feel pretty guilty.

“I’m not that old mom, children will come whenever they are meant to” the old woman said that he was being stubborn as always and as she gathered her stuff kept reminding him that if he was just going to waste that young girl’s time he better be sure not to hurt her in any way because she was the daughter of her friend and it would be embarrassing to her and only her. As always it was about her, Tom was feeling frustrated because he was actually enjoying himself with Anna before they decided to intrude in his home, he had to find a way to take his mother’s key back without her knowing of course.

Tom sat on the kitchen isle and ate three slices of the pizza, thinking of his friend who seemed a little bit embarrassed by the way his mother was looking at the two of them, he picked up his phone and texted her to apologize and asking how she was doing over at her parent’s home. Anna replied to his text assuring that it was not his fault and that she was dandy at her parent’s but unfortunately they were all going to bed and she was heading home. The clock read eleven o’clock and he couldn’t believe it was that late already, still it was a decent time to hit the pub and he asked Anna if she was up for a pint.

‘You read my mind, see you there’.

The breeze from the street greeted Tom and he pulled his scarf closer to his face. There were no signs of paparazzi around and he thought that they’ve been lucky not to be spotted together, that would give the press a field day, not that he cared anyway. Tom had the idea that being afraid of what the press posted was anything to worry about; he was going to live his life without fearing every step he took. Anna waved him from a table in the corner and a smile formed easily on his lips and he greeted her before sitting down and ordering a drink.

“My mother said that you’re too old for me” she said breaking the silence after Tom’s drink came, her friend rose his brows in amusement while saying he was not that old “you’re quite old” she said in a cheeky tone, he caught the tone and shoved her gently before pouting lightly “what did your mother say?”

“She was ready to plan our wedding” Anna was shocked, it didn’t seem like his mother was very fond of her, clearly she was wrong “don’t worry she won’t make you feel uncomfortable next time you run into her” his friend thanked him truly grateful “when are you leaving town?” he was leaving in a week to shoot his upcoming film and he knew that Anna was heading to Bahamas for a short holiday with her friends.

“Holiday was put on hold” she said sadly while her friend asked her why “one of my mates has a tight schedule and couldn’t move her commitments” Tom nodded understanding and said that maybe she could spend some time with her friends here “well the only one in town might be Jourdan and only for a few days, I’m stuck here alone and you’re leaving next week”.

“Are you going to miss my old self?” Anna laughed at his joke and admitted that despite him being old she had grown to enjoy his company “well even though I hate babysitting, I like spending time with you” they spent the rest of the night joking like always, and Anna had a few pints more so she had to let Tom lead her out of the pub with a hold on her waist.

When they arrived to the place no one recognized them but walking out the two brits were blinded by the flashes, Tom sighed, that was it, they have found out and were now going to hunt them down. Anna groaned and covered her eyes to keep the light from blinding her, she arrived walking and so had Tom so they were trying to hail a cab, with the screaming journalists blocking their path that was a hard task to accomplish. Tom asked politely for them to let them through since they were knackered and wanted to go home.

“TOM ARE YOU GOING TO MARRY HER?”
“ANNA WHAT ABOUT JAKE, AND PRINCE HARRY?”
“ARE YOU PROUD OF BEING A TOSSER?”
“IS SHE MATURE ENOUGH FOR A MAN LIKE YOU TOM?”
“AREN’T YOU SCARED OF WHAT YOUR FANS WILL THINK?”
“WILL YOU SUPPORT HER MODELLING CAREER?”

Were a few of the questions in the air, Tom and Anna made it to the avenue and hailed a cab, he let her through first and gave the address of her building first. The girl was sobering up after the incident and laughed at the situation.

“They’ll be probably waiting for us back at my place” she said looking at her friend “are your fans going to kill me?” Tom chuckled and admitted it was a possibility if they didn’t like her.

“Do you think Prince Harry will be mad and have my head on a stick over at Buckingham Palace?” Anna shoved him gently before laughing heartedly and saying she would do her best to defend his head “they’re here” he mumbled before telling the driver to wait there for him.

“No! Don’t walk me to the door they’ll have a field day” she enjoyed when he wished her a goodnight before leaving but since the press was there on their way that didn’t seem to be the best idea.

“I’ve done it before. Besides I’m not scared of a bunch of men with cameras” at times like this Anna wondered if he was still a friend, in his warm eyes was the reassurance she needed and agreed before going through the smallest mob out of her building, Tom held a tight grip on her waist as he lead the way to the door. Anna hugged him before pecking his cheek and going inside, away from the blinding flash lights; she decided to fix herself some tea before sitting down in the living room to watch the telly, as she watched an old episode from The Graham Norton Show she thought of the nice gestures Tom sometimes had with her, the kind of gestures that made her face flush and caused a silly giggle to escape her lips.

She wasn’t a girly type, and to behave like one sometimes around him made her nervous, she thought that maybe he was too polite and she was misreading those gestures; just because he walked her to the front door of her building didn’t meant he fancied her in a romantic way. But why did she feel like ever since they’ve met those gestures were becoming more and more important, Anna went to bed thinking about what the press would also post about them hanging at the pub and him walking her to the door, she could only hope they didn’t jump to conclusions too fast, but that was impossible when it came to the press.