When You & I Collide
The storm after the calm
Evie woke up with a smile the next morning. She had barely slept yet she’d felt more rested than she had in weeks. There was no hangover this morning; she had worked that off through the night. She smiled again, nestling in to the thick arm that was draped around her bare waist. Flushing red, Evie was thankful Tom couldn’t see the bashfulness that consumed her this morning. Last night, her inhibitions were clouded by pure fervour lust. Legs were tangled in sheets and beads of sweat had poured from Tom’s hair and chest, causing excitement to course through Evie’s body. Never in her life had she spent a night with any man like she had last night. Her legs ached with spent passion and she knew had marks of intense excitement pressed in to her skin. It was like their bodies were made, moulded for each other, a perfect fit. As she lay there, contemplating last night, Tom groaned, and rolled in to her, pressing himself in to her behind and nuzzling her neck, smiling. ‘Morning’ he said, low and husky, causing her hairs to stand on end. Evie tried to respond but found her throat was dry and hoarse as she tried to croak out a reply. ‘Lost your voice?’ Tom smiled again in to her neck, a sarcastic tone to his voice and Evie grinned, turning crimson as she was reminded of her screams of pleasure the night before. ‘Just parched’ Evie laughed. ‘Oh yeah?’ Tom chimed and in a flash he was on top of her, hovering just over her body, but so close she could feel the heat from his skin. She look at his Dark messy hair, and his eyes, dark with lust, his bottom lip pulled up in to a smirk again. It wasn’t long before the sheets were a tangled mess of limbs and groans once again as they repeated last night’s show, multiple times…
It wasn’t until lunchtime that both Evie and Tom surfaced from their room, immediately attracting the attention of their friends who were all perched around the freestanding breakfast bar. Evie inwardly cursed Sophia for bagging the upstairs bedroom, and she began the walk of shame to join her friends, her head down. Tom took the bar stool opposite and Evie could feel his eyes burning through her thin cotton jumper causing her body temperature to rise again. She spared a quick glance and could see him smirking; he was toying with her she thought, trying to hide her smile. ‘Morning!’ Casey chipped, bringing a frying pan of bacon to their plates, diverting the tension momentarily. ‘That smells so good Casey’ Evie thanked her friend, digging in straight away. Her thoughts were cut short when Sophia interrupted, passing her phone across the table. ‘This thing has been going off all morning Evie – I would have passed it to you earlier but-‘Leo coughed, stifling a laugh and Casey eyed Kelly furiously. Evie scanned her phone absently as she chewed on her bacon and noted 3 missed calls and a voicemail. She walked over to the fridge to pour herself a glass of fresh orange whilst dialling her voicemail; ‘Hello, this is a message for Evie Hanlon. This is Sgt Cooper down at oxford police station. We just wanted to give you an update in regards to the incident between yourself and Mr Store. We have tried to locate Sam for questioning but he is not currently at his paid for digs in London and so we believe he may have travelled back to his hometown in the New forest. At this time we are unable to make a full arrest based on the evidence we currently have, so we are only able to put in a call to our colleagues in Hampshire to locate Sam and advise him to come in for questioning. Whilst I appreciate this isn’t what you want to hear I can assure you we are currently working with the CPS to approve an arrest warrant so we can have the best possible outcome. If you have any questions at all, please give me a call back. You have my number.’ With that the dial tone ended. Evie stood there frozen, unable to speak, not noticing the concerned faces of her friends and Tom, whose eyes softened immediately as he rallied round the table to come to Evie. His hands on her shoulders shook her out of her internal terror temporarily. She brought her eyes up to his, shimmering with glassy tears and whispered ‘He’s here’ Tom cocked his head to the side confused? ‘What do you mean he’s here?’ Before he could decipher what she had said, the sound of one of the bar stools scratching across the marble floor caused them all to whip their heads round in time to see James had grabbed his car keys and headed for the front door.
‘No James!’ Sophia shouted jogging after him. James didn’t slow his stride once, heading for his car, and Tom almost didn’t catch up in time as he sprinted, jumping in the passenger side. The car wheel spinned in to reverse and sped off, ripping up the gravel on its way out the large drive, leaving the girls and Leo staring at the empty road ahead of them. ‘Shit’ Sophia shouted, pulling out her phone to ring Evie’s other brothers to warn them. Evie didn’t even try to stop them, she was too consumed with the fear of their close proximity with the monster that had repeatedly ruined her time and time again. Her emotions were so out of whack she wasn’t sure what to feel or think and visions of Sam’s fist connecting with her nose appeared. She tried to compose herself and stumbled backwards in to the front door, gripping the frame for support. ‘Evie hun calm down’ Casey said softly, bring Evie back in to the house whilst Sophia dealt with the boys. Leo and Casey had some sort of silent conversation between them and Leo started to grab Evie and Toms things to put in his car out on the drive. ‘I’ll take you back to your mums Evie hun, please don’t worry nothing is going to happen to you…’ Casey hesitated ‘ S…Sam isn’t going to get anywhere near you ever again’…
Tom and Sophia were silent in the car as the speed increased on the motorway. They were about 45 minutes from the new forest and James' grip on the steering wheel was so tight his knuckles were turning white. ‘I’m going to fucking kill him’ He spat suddenly, not taking his eyes off the road. Tom was relatively calm and was more concerned about making sure James wasn’t arrested for assault. But the closer they got, the more Tom feared the rage burning beneath the surface would boil over. He started to feel frustrated that he wasn’t there to protect Evie that night and that this guy was able to walk around Scott free, clearly unhinged and able to make Evie feel fear just with his presence. They eventually pulled up in a cul de sac and James wasted no time getting out the car, leaving his keys in the ignition and banging the front door with a force reckoning. ‘Sam! Open the door now!’ James repeated, continuing the regime of door banging. After around 10 minutes, he resigned to the fact he was not home and walked back to the car, kicking the hub cap clean off, and exhaling loudly. ‘Don’t worry mate. He’ll get his soon’ Tom said getting back in to the car, calmer than the hot headed male outside…
They all eventually reconvened at Evie’s parents, but at soon as Tom got there, there was an uncomfortable silence in the air. He scanned the room for Evie but she wasn’t there ‘She’s in the shower’ her mum answered his silent question apologetically. Tom looked down at the breakfast bar and finally seen the reason for the atmosphere. There on the front of the local paper was a picture of Tom, trying to balance Evie, her face mostly covered by her hair, but the Vodka bottle clearly evident in her hand. The title of the story read: ‘Tom’s Boozy Bird Barely Balances’ He cursed and chucked the paper in the bin, walking out quickly to the log cabin. He phoned Casey for damage control who was on it straight away. She may have had 9 months off, but there was a reason she was paid a large salary. By the end of the day, she had their legal team contact the paper to add a retractment story due to the criminal investigation outstanding but the damage had already been done. The constabulary had advised that the CPS will have a hard time prosecuting due to the evidence of intoxication and lack of witnesses and that Evie should think hard before pursuing a charge plea. It was dark now and Tom had spent most of the day in the guest house. The house had a sombre feel to it and he hadn’t seen Evie since the morning. He didn’t want to push it so had kept his distance, and decided to spend the evening answering his emails and alerts. He was tired and groggy, from the alcohol last night and the events of today, fatigue had started to kick in. Just then, the door to the guest house opened slightly and Evie’s mum peeked her head though, knocking softly (which wasn’t necessary as she was already basically through the front door). ‘Hiya love’ she said, sympathy in her tone. She was carrying a plate of what looked like cottage pie, the smell wafting through the room, causing Toms stomach to grown involuntarily, and two beers. He took it gracefully, and before he dug in he asked: how’s she holding up?’ Evie mum smiled softly ‘as expected. She’s been through something traumatic Tom’ she barely made out the last part, tears filling her eyes with the same regret Tom felt. ‘ I’m so sorry I wasn’t there Mrs Hanlon’ Tom replied, guilt filling him for not doing the one thing the mother of the woman you love expects you to do. Tom straightened up at that thought. It was the first time he had contemplated the word love with evie. In fact it was the first time he had contemplated the world love ever in his life.
It wasn’t until lunchtime that both Evie and Tom surfaced from their room, immediately attracting the attention of their friends who were all perched around the freestanding breakfast bar. Evie inwardly cursed Sophia for bagging the upstairs bedroom, and she began the walk of shame to join her friends, her head down. Tom took the bar stool opposite and Evie could feel his eyes burning through her thin cotton jumper causing her body temperature to rise again. She spared a quick glance and could see him smirking; he was toying with her she thought, trying to hide her smile. ‘Morning!’ Casey chipped, bringing a frying pan of bacon to their plates, diverting the tension momentarily. ‘That smells so good Casey’ Evie thanked her friend, digging in straight away. Her thoughts were cut short when Sophia interrupted, passing her phone across the table. ‘This thing has been going off all morning Evie – I would have passed it to you earlier but-‘Leo coughed, stifling a laugh and Casey eyed Kelly furiously. Evie scanned her phone absently as she chewed on her bacon and noted 3 missed calls and a voicemail. She walked over to the fridge to pour herself a glass of fresh orange whilst dialling her voicemail; ‘Hello, this is a message for Evie Hanlon. This is Sgt Cooper down at oxford police station. We just wanted to give you an update in regards to the incident between yourself and Mr Store. We have tried to locate Sam for questioning but he is not currently at his paid for digs in London and so we believe he may have travelled back to his hometown in the New forest. At this time we are unable to make a full arrest based on the evidence we currently have, so we are only able to put in a call to our colleagues in Hampshire to locate Sam and advise him to come in for questioning. Whilst I appreciate this isn’t what you want to hear I can assure you we are currently working with the CPS to approve an arrest warrant so we can have the best possible outcome. If you have any questions at all, please give me a call back. You have my number.’ With that the dial tone ended. Evie stood there frozen, unable to speak, not noticing the concerned faces of her friends and Tom, whose eyes softened immediately as he rallied round the table to come to Evie. His hands on her shoulders shook her out of her internal terror temporarily. She brought her eyes up to his, shimmering with glassy tears and whispered ‘He’s here’ Tom cocked his head to the side confused? ‘What do you mean he’s here?’ Before he could decipher what she had said, the sound of one of the bar stools scratching across the marble floor caused them all to whip their heads round in time to see James had grabbed his car keys and headed for the front door.
‘No James!’ Sophia shouted jogging after him. James didn’t slow his stride once, heading for his car, and Tom almost didn’t catch up in time as he sprinted, jumping in the passenger side. The car wheel spinned in to reverse and sped off, ripping up the gravel on its way out the large drive, leaving the girls and Leo staring at the empty road ahead of them. ‘Shit’ Sophia shouted, pulling out her phone to ring Evie’s other brothers to warn them. Evie didn’t even try to stop them, she was too consumed with the fear of their close proximity with the monster that had repeatedly ruined her time and time again. Her emotions were so out of whack she wasn’t sure what to feel or think and visions of Sam’s fist connecting with her nose appeared. She tried to compose herself and stumbled backwards in to the front door, gripping the frame for support. ‘Evie hun calm down’ Casey said softly, bring Evie back in to the house whilst Sophia dealt with the boys. Leo and Casey had some sort of silent conversation between them and Leo started to grab Evie and Toms things to put in his car out on the drive. ‘I’ll take you back to your mums Evie hun, please don’t worry nothing is going to happen to you…’ Casey hesitated ‘ S…Sam isn’t going to get anywhere near you ever again’…
Tom and Sophia were silent in the car as the speed increased on the motorway. They were about 45 minutes from the new forest and James' grip on the steering wheel was so tight his knuckles were turning white. ‘I’m going to fucking kill him’ He spat suddenly, not taking his eyes off the road. Tom was relatively calm and was more concerned about making sure James wasn’t arrested for assault. But the closer they got, the more Tom feared the rage burning beneath the surface would boil over. He started to feel frustrated that he wasn’t there to protect Evie that night and that this guy was able to walk around Scott free, clearly unhinged and able to make Evie feel fear just with his presence. They eventually pulled up in a cul de sac and James wasted no time getting out the car, leaving his keys in the ignition and banging the front door with a force reckoning. ‘Sam! Open the door now!’ James repeated, continuing the regime of door banging. After around 10 minutes, he resigned to the fact he was not home and walked back to the car, kicking the hub cap clean off, and exhaling loudly. ‘Don’t worry mate. He’ll get his soon’ Tom said getting back in to the car, calmer than the hot headed male outside…
They all eventually reconvened at Evie’s parents, but at soon as Tom got there, there was an uncomfortable silence in the air. He scanned the room for Evie but she wasn’t there ‘She’s in the shower’ her mum answered his silent question apologetically. Tom looked down at the breakfast bar and finally seen the reason for the atmosphere. There on the front of the local paper was a picture of Tom, trying to balance Evie, her face mostly covered by her hair, but the Vodka bottle clearly evident in her hand. The title of the story read: ‘Tom’s Boozy Bird Barely Balances’ He cursed and chucked the paper in the bin, walking out quickly to the log cabin. He phoned Casey for damage control who was on it straight away. She may have had 9 months off, but there was a reason she was paid a large salary. By the end of the day, she had their legal team contact the paper to add a retractment story due to the criminal investigation outstanding but the damage had already been done. The constabulary had advised that the CPS will have a hard time prosecuting due to the evidence of intoxication and lack of witnesses and that Evie should think hard before pursuing a charge plea. It was dark now and Tom had spent most of the day in the guest house. The house had a sombre feel to it and he hadn’t seen Evie since the morning. He didn’t want to push it so had kept his distance, and decided to spend the evening answering his emails and alerts. He was tired and groggy, from the alcohol last night and the events of today, fatigue had started to kick in. Just then, the door to the guest house opened slightly and Evie’s mum peeked her head though, knocking softly (which wasn’t necessary as she was already basically through the front door). ‘Hiya love’ she said, sympathy in her tone. She was carrying a plate of what looked like cottage pie, the smell wafting through the room, causing Toms stomach to grown involuntarily, and two beers. He took it gracefully, and before he dug in he asked: how’s she holding up?’ Evie mum smiled softly ‘as expected. She’s been through something traumatic Tom’ she barely made out the last part, tears filling her eyes with the same regret Tom felt. ‘ I’m so sorry I wasn’t there Mrs Hanlon’ Tom replied, guilt filling him for not doing the one thing the mother of the woman you love expects you to do. Tom straightened up at that thought. It was the first time he had contemplated the word love with evie. In fact it was the first time he had contemplated the world love ever in his life.