Willow
Disclaimer: This story it TOTAL FICTION. Came to me during a late night of listening to music, and admiring some screen caps of Tom Welling naked. Written for the author's own amusement, so enjoy.
Author's note: I have several other stories I could have continued writing, but this one just... popped in my head and almost wrote itself. I hope you like.
"Nnnnyarrrgh!" I screamed, as my computer crashed for the umpteenth time. "That's it..." I muttered. "Time to take a damn break."
I tossed my glasses against the desk, and leaned back in my chair to nurse the oncoming headache. In theory, my ideas would work. I KNEW they would. In practice, was becoming a serious problem. At least, with the equipment I was currently left using.
"Muuraawr?" A furry body rubbed against my leg. I glanced down, and picked up the cat as I pondered my situation.
"Well Prue... I guess this is how DaVinci felt, when he dreamed of flying. Maybe they're right... maybe I'm just a little too ahead of my time, technologically. What do you think, girl?"
The cat glanced at the offending computer, then yowled critically at the piles of paper off to the side of the desk. I chuckled, and stroked my friend's neck. "Yeah, the lack of money pouring in, isn't helping matters either. I know, dear. Perhaps I need to seek out a patron, someone to believe in my dreams enough to bankroll them for me. It couldn't hurt. Unfortunately, I wouldn't even know where to begin to LOOK for such a person."
The cat purred, and batted my chin with her head as if to say, "Buck up... you'll think of something. It's what you're good at." She then jumped down, and made her way towards the door. I didn't exactly own Prue... she belonged to someone else, but she constantly came by often enough to visit. Wherever she went, wherever she called home... she was one smart kitty.
I retrieved my glasses, and let the cat back out after thanking her for her visit. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was still early enough in the afternoon to take in a matinee. A movie sounded like an excellent diversion, and I was always interested to see the latest special effects work being done.
I should describe myself, for you. My name's Willow. Willow Davin. I'm a mid-twenties junior college dropout who is in debt to just about everybody. Nice to meetcha. If you're a creditor, I'd tell ya to go to hell... because I'm so poor I can't even afford to buy you a ticket there. And if you're a lawyer or a cop, I'd tell you HOW you could get there very quickly. Gladly.
If you're a cute single guy, why then that would make ALL the difference! I'd tell ya that I'm five foot nine, and looked somewhat like Harry Potter as an adult. I'd also tell you that before I had dropped out, I was studying to become a video editing engineer. In other words, that I wanted to make movies.
I had this dream, to become the modern Ed Wood... except that I would make movies that were A quality scripts, but B-quality on the budget. See, Ed Wood was this really funny screwball in Hollywood, who became friends with the likes of the legendary Bela Lugosi. Matter of fact, Wood directed the last movie ol' Drac ever made. What made Ed so famous, was that he directed the WORST schlock horror movies ever made, on like, a zero budget. And as it happened, his movies turned out to be the best BECAUSE they were so awful and produced so cheaply.
Once, an actor named Johnny Depp played Ed in a movie about him. I think the strangest time of my life, had to be when my own mother had a crush on Mr. Depp... and I had one TOO.
My dream however, was to use technology in order to make movies cheaply. By using computers and digital film. It was a thesis I had started working on in college, but never finished because my meagar school funds ran out. And although I had tried working on a crude but effective prototype plan, my original system was stolen one night and the hastily-constructed replacement system... left several things to be desired. A winning lottery ticket, came primarily to mind.
After paying for the cab that brought me to the theatre, I thought about what I was going to see. I usually check the listings before I leave the house, but this time was a spur of the moment idea. I planned to surprise myself, when I got up there.
"Four-ten, sir." the guy at the counter said. I smiled, and blushed a little as I eyed him briefly. "Theatre 1." he announced as he handed my ticket over. I slowly breathed out a sigh of mild longsuffering romantic frustration, and checked my watch. Still had a few minutes to go before the flick I picked started, so I decided to do my business now before I wound up having to miss anything good later.
I saw that one stall was out of order, while the other two were unoccupied. As I sat there, I tapped out a beat with my thumb against the toilet paper dispenser. The song that was on the radio on the way over was unfortunately stuck in my head, and I had a few minutes to kill. So I began singing softly to myself. "I can't stand to fly. I'm not that naive. I'm just out to find, the better part of me..."
The door opened, and a guy came in the other stall wearing my favorite brand of boots. I smiled, and continued singing softly as I finished my business. When I reached for the toilet paper however, I noticed a little problem. Make that a BIG problem. The roll was down to the last four sheets. Ut-oh.
I swore softly to myself. Then I sighed and leaned my head against the stall wall with a soft thunk, my pants still stuck around my ankles.
"Is everything alright over there?" Nice Boots said, a friendly smile in his voice.
"Uhhhh.... um, no, not exactly. Just ran out of toilet paper, here."
Nice Boots chuckled sympathetically. I heard some rustling, then a hand shot out from underneath the stall. "Here, use some of mine."
I blinked for a minute. Then a playful smirk crossed the left side of my mouth. "Thanks."
I finished my business, and went to the sinks. The door to the other stall opened a few moments after, and I could see the other guy's back in the mirror as he flushed. "Superman, right?" he asked. I looked down at the sink, confused as to what he meant.
"The song. The one you were singing. It's by Five for Fighting. Good band."
I nodded, wiping my hands on a paper towel. "Yeah, I heard it on the radio a few minutes ago. It's cool."
"Hey, so did I! We must've been tuned into the same station." He remarked, coming up next to me. I turned around to look at him. And my mouth formed a perfect O.
He was absolutely adorable. And naggingly familiar, too. I blinked, and took in the sight reaching for the towels right next to me.
He was dark haired. Adorable eyes, of a color that looked both blue and green at the same time. Cute cheekbones. And soft lips, which were currently forming a smile in my direction.
"By the way... thanks." I said, mentally regrouping from my initial stunned surprise. "For rescuing me back there. That could have been.. embarrassing."
He gave a disarming smile. "It's cool. Just glad I could help."
I raised my eyebrows and glanced at him over my glasses. "I'M the one, who's glad you WANTED to help. The other nine times out of ten, and people wouldn't even bother to ask if something was wrong. I appreciate it." I extended my hand. "I'm Wil."
"Tom," he said. We shook hands. "So, which one are you going to see?"
"The one over in theatre 1." I said, glancing at my ticket.
"Me too. I almost bought popcorn, but they charge a fortune for it."
I rolled my eyes. "TELL me about it. It's how theatres make their money, man. Hmm... y'know what? C'mon. I'm gonna pay you back, for being a good samaritan."
At his questioning look, I smiled. "I'll chip in on popcorn. My treat." I explained.
He cocked his head for a minute, then broke out in another adorable smile. "Okay,"
I jerked my thumb at the door. "Movie's bound to start any minute. Think you can find us a couple good seats while I brave the line?" He nodded, and we parted company temporarily.
As I waited in the line, I thought back on the exchange. It nagged me, that he looked familiar somehow. Not like I had just like, seen him in passing, either. He looked FAMILIAR, as if I should know who Mr. Nice Boots Tom IS. I shrugged it off, as it came to my turn to order.
"Snap out of it, Davin. You've met cute guys before." I chastised myself mentally as I ordered the popcorn. I groaned at the overly-inflated eight dollar price tag, but considering that I potentially could have been stuck in that stall still if Tom hadn't offered to share when he did... it was a small price to pay. Better that my wallet would hurt, than if God forbid I had to use the paper towels..... I winced at that line of thought, and headed for theatre one.
The theatre was dark, and a PG-13 screen was up. I found Tom easily enough, and sat down next to him. "What'd I miss?"
"Previews are still going." he whispered back. I nodded.
"Did you ask for butter?" Tom asked.
"It's movie theatre popcorn. Is there any other way to have it?" I joked, sotto voce. I could see by the dim light of the screen, that he broke out into another cute smile. I flicked my eyebrows in amusement, and turned my head back towards the screen.
The movie was pretty good, and there were a couple of times his hand would bump against mine as we both reached for the popcorn. I made a note to wait for the DVD to come out later, to see what little tricks they used, to make the movie.
As we left the theatre, I happened to glance at an upcoming movie poster I had missed seeing coming in. I did a double-take, looking at Nice Boots Tom in front of me, and the face staring back at me to my left. I just spent over two hours, sitting next to Tom Welling!
I took the news well... I sidled back up to Tom, and said: "What'd you make of the movie?"
He glanced over, and smiled again. My mind groaned. He had a great smile. Focus, Davin. "It was really good.. and so was that popcorn! It's better than I usually get, when I see a movie... how'd they get the butter like that?"
I chuckled. "Little trick my mom showed me once. You're supposed to get them to layer the butter each time they scoop popcorn into the bucket. This way, the popcorn soaks up the butter evenly, and since they use smaller squirts per layer it doesn't all pool down in the bottom and get all greasy."
He glanced back at me appraisingly. "Not bad... I'll have to remember that."
I nodded. "Wanna show you something..." I led him back down the hall, and jerked a thumb at the poster. "That looks like an interesting movie to see," I observed, watching his reaction.
He looked at the poster, then to me, then back to the poster again. He opened his mouth, to speak: "I didn't know they had already put up the posters."
I nodded, then patted his shoulder. "It's cool. I understand, why you didn't tell me your last name when we met. It just never came up." I frowned slightly, then glanced back at him as we made our way out of the movie theatre altogether. "What on earth are you doing out in these parts anyway, if you don't mind my asking?"
Tom blushed slightly. "It's my aunt. Family reunion this year for Thanksgiving, and she lives right here in town."
I blinked, and realized the dreaded 72 Hours was so close. "Oh, my. That's this week?"
Tom just looked at me as if I had just sprouted a tail. "Don't you go to your family's, for Thanksgiving?"
I shrugged, and shook my head as we headed towards the phones. "No, my family doesn't live close by, and most of the time they don't really talk with each other for various reasons. When I remember it, I either buy a turkey frozen dinner, or sometimes go to the local baptist church for their community Thanksgiving dinner."
He paused, as I fished out the cab company's phone number. He tapped my shoulder, as I was about to place the call. "Don't bother with a cab, it's rush hour. I'll drive you where you need to go. C'mon, my aunt's car is over here."
I shook my head in amusement, and followed him to the car.
As we drove towards my apartment, a cell phone rang. Tom picked it up. "Hello?.... oh, hey. No, I left the phone in the car. Can't bring phones into movie theatres... what? No, the movie was fine, it was good to get out of the house for a bit. How's the weather? WHAT? No way. Oh... I see. No, it's okay, I'll tell them you can't make it. Love you too. BUNDLE UP. Bye."
I raised an eyebrow. "Problem?"
He shrugged, making a turn. "My wife. She just called from Canada. Snowstorm broke, airport shut down and her flight's been cancelled. She's not gonna make it for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow."
"I'm sorry," I said out loud. Inside, I said: "His WIFE? Whoa."
I gave him directions the rest of the way to my place. He stopped the car across the street, and we parked.
"Thanks for the ride, Tom."
"You're welcome, Wil. Listen... about Thanksgiving dinner. I know it's short notice, but since your family's not around, why don't you come join mine tomorrow?"
"I dunno... wouldn't that be an inconvenience to 'em?" I asked, hesitantly.
"Not really... since Jamie can't make it, that means there's an extra plate there. C'mon, you'll fall in love with my grandmother's turkey recipe." He said, a glint in his eye I recognized well. This man, was a turkey fiend. I could relate to that.
I chuckled. "This is becoming a habit."
He glanced at me, a questioning look on his face. I chuckled again.
"You. Rescuing me again. Keep it up Smallville, and I WILL think you're Superman or something." I teased.
He broke out into another adorable smile. "Is that a yes?"
I rolled my eyes playfully. "Ohh... uhm... err... yeah! Sure, why not? Anything for good turkey, right?"
He broke out into a laugh. "A man who knows his priorities. How about I pick you up here around ten?"
"You're on. See you tomorrow, Mr. Welling."
"That reminds me... you know my name, but you never gave me yours'!" He laughed.
"It's Davin. Willow Davin."
TBC...? Let me know whatcha think.
-DLC.