This is my first story, so any and all feedback is appreciated. There is a long introduction to the background of these characters before the action begins, so feel free to skip ahead!
"I've just left climbing now. I'm jumping into the car and should be with you in 2 hours or so, as long as the traffic is good" Emily said down the phone.
"Perfect. I've put some wine in the fridge to greet you when you've finished your journey," Tom's voice echoed back. "Drive safe and see you soon!"
"See you soon!" She replied and hung up the phone, slinging her gym bag into the boot of her car.
Settling herself into the driver's seat, Emily glanced up at her reflection in the mirror. Her long burnt copper hair was pulled into a high ponytail and her round face had a fading red tint from the exhaustion of scrambling up walls. Oak brown eyes reflected back at her appraisingly as she pulled out the ponytail, shaking free the tension and letting her hair cascade down past her shoulders. "You've got this" she whispered to herself, setting up the navigation on her phone, plugging it in and bracing herself for the drive ahead.
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An hour later and halfway through the journey Emily finally let her thoughts turn to Tom. It had been over a month since she had finished her job at his company and moved north. She'd been offered a short term 11 month contract in his department, helping deal with the logistics of a new project the company had just picked up. Coming straight out of university after 5 years of studying, she'd leapt at the opportunity, especially since it meant moving closer to her boyfriend down in the south of the country. Relocating to a brand new area hadn't been easy, especially with Emily's stubborn insistence that to prove her independence she needed to live alone. Draining her new pay cheque on a 1 bed flat, she'd quickly come to see that making friends out of the university bubble was much harder than she thought and gradually loneliness began to creep in. Combine that with the discovery that being closer to your partner doesn't solve all your relationship problems, made Emily realise just how unprepared she was for adult life.
It had been a crisp and cold Wednesday morning when Emily had seen Tom as more than just a co-worker. On the back of another night fighting for her boyfriend to actually care about someone other than himself, she was tired and gloomy walking into work. Making her way to the break room to get herself a coffee and mentally prepare herself for the day, she was surprised to see Tom had beaten her to it. He was reclining on the countertop by the machine, his 6ft height dwarfing her 5ft 6in despite his leaning, ginger hair spiked in that "fresh out of bed but definitely took 20 minutes" look and his auburn almond shaped eyes looked happy and alert as he glanced at Emily making her way in.
"You look like you could use a large one this morning" he said cheerfully. Emily quickly realised she'd been staring as he came towards her, large mug in hand with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Oh god yes, I don't know how I'm going to survive today", she quickly moaned grabbing the mug from his hands, averting her eyes as she deeply inhaled the smell of the fresh coffee.
"You didn't go out drinking with the marketing team did you?" Tom asked "I've already seen a few of them sheepishly roll in and they are not looking good!"
Emily felt her cheeks reddening as she debated whether to admit to her failings in creating herself a social life, or as a girlfriend.
"I didn't know they'd gone out for drinks..." she began sheepishly before deciding to just come clean, "I actually was up late arguing with my boyfriend." she took a quick sip of her coffee in order to avoid having to look anywhere near Tom's handsome gaze as she admitted this.
"Oh shit, I'm sorry," Tom replied. He reached out a comforting hand and placed it on her shoulder. "You've just moved down from the north right? Long distance can be hard, especially when you're settling into it, you both just need to give yourselves time and you'll figure it out!"
Emily couldn't focus on his words, she was distracted by the heat coming from her shoulder She could feel a warmth flowing from Tom's body into hers. Her heart skipped and she felt a jolt in her stomach. Tearing her eyes away from his hand, she looked up to see him expectantly waiting for her reply.
"oh um, yeah well we actually did long distance whilst I was studying. This job was an opportunity to move closer to him and move our relationship forward,"
Why am I telling him this? She thought, shocked by the honesty that had slipped out. Fuck Emily, just because he's cute doesn't mean you blab everything to him! For a brief moment, Emily thought she saw a stab of sympathy flit across Tom's handsome face.
"It's probably just like you said, but the other way around! We've been apart for so long, we just need some time to adapt to seeing each other more!" She continued, hoping that Tom believed the optimism she was selling, even if she didn't. Hours arguing with Mark about his commitment to his political career over her had left a bitter taste in her heart and Emily wasn't as confident in her relationship as she had been before the move.
The movement of Tom's hand from her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see his face lit up with positivity.
"Absolutely! It's a huge change for both of you but time is an excellent cure for most problems," Tom said looking Emily deep in the eyes, as if through sheer eye contact he could fix all her problems.
"mmmm" Emily made a non-committal noise as she went back to sipping her coffee.
"Well if you do ever want someone to grab a drink with and vent, hit me up!" Tom said as he walked out of the break room, "have a great day Emily!".
He left her stood there, steaming coffee in hand, with suddenly a lot more to think about than her work.
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Jumping out of her thoughts, Emily put her attention back onto the road. From that day on her and Tom had built their friendship little by little. Chatting over coffee in the break room, dropping by each other's desks to gossip about the latest going ons in the office and even heading to the pub for drinks occasionally.
Emily's relationship hadn't lasted too much longer after that conversation, eventually deciding that she didn't like coming second to her boyfriends career. Despite being single, nothing ever went further with Tom. His cheery smile and demeanour never changed and although she swore she'd seen him checking her out from time to time across the office, it never accrued to anything. She tried dating others but couldn't help but lose herself in fantasies of Tom's lips and hands on hers instead of her dates.
By the time her contract was coming to the end, Emily had resigned herself to the friend zone and focused on closing down her life in the south, in preparation for her move back up north again. Even on her last day, a small piece of her wondered whether Tom would make a big declaration of his feelings and beg her to stay....but no, a big hug goodbye and one last pint together was all he gave her to send her off. It wasn't until a week later, when all had been said and done and she was back up in her parents house, that Tom reached out to her. The company had asked for one final presentation of their project to some investors coming in and Tom needed Emily to help with the presentation.
"One last time, for old time sake's Emily! You can come down to mine the night before, crash over, we deliver the presentation and boom! Job's a good'un!" He'd messaged her. Emily marvelled how his cheery tone shone through even in text form. She couldn't help but be tempted, one last chance to seduce Tom before moving on. She'd sent a seemingly reluctant reply (not wanting to see too eager at the thought of spending the night with him) and organised herself for the trip back down. And now here she was, on the way to his house, planning how she was going to have him once and for all.