Till Then...

[Lauzi]

*Moved from Adventures of the guests*
This just an idea with the Tom character loosely based on Coop (from 'Desire') and the era is the mid 1930's. I'm gonna try and tell the story through the memories of the two main characters - so if it gets really confusing I'm sorry - I usually get a bit too carried away..
p.s. if you don't like sappiness/cheesiness , start running.Now.
***


The train flew by noiselessly, at least to her it was silent - as was the constant blur of commotion taking place all around her. The world had blocked itself off in her mind; she had decided (almost unconsciously) that without him she wanted no part in this world...in this life.
Man: 'Scuse me miss, can I 'elp ya?
He was too late - she was already gone, retreating back into memories of things gone by...

And there she was again, sat leaning back on him, his warm breath on the back of her ear - constant- inhaling,exhaling,inhaling.His arms devotedly encircling her; as a young boy would hold a precious belonging, terrified someone would snatch it away;his eyes were closed, though the occasional flicker of their lids were enough to reassure her he was still present - still loving her. She reached for his tie (now loosened and at an angle - she herself had done this), noticing a small stain she began scratching at it gently as to remove it.
"Hey,hey - what you doing?"he was apparently now wide awake as he made a mock look of horror at her trying to clean his tie; she laughed lightly.
"Thomas Bradley! Look at the state of this tie! Why hasn't it been cleaned?!" she pointed to the minuscule stain and glared at him sarcastically.
"Why should I clean it? I've got my own personal scrub-lady... right here" he lent forward and kissed her before she could hit him.Eventually surfacing from the kiss she said, casually,
"Really, Tom you need some new ties - desperately - all of yours are covered in stains - I can tell what you've been eating for that whole week!"
"Hmph. Okay, so my ties have a slight weakness for ketchup,jam,..and,um, eggs,coffee,erm,gravy..." she smiled as-though thoroughly satisfied,"okay, well, food in general - but everyone's got to have a weakness...I've got one..."he tightened his hold around her and sighed exuberantly as if to prove his point.
"So have I - men with low tie hygiene..." she pulled him into a kiss by his tie and he began to laugh . The warm,strangely enjoyable feeling of him laughing into her mouth as they kissed; she missed it.

However, another memory seemed to cloud over this scene in her mind and suddenly she was remembering something else, another time, another place, but still with Tom...

[Lauzi]

It was the first time she ever saw him, a tall, broad figure in the distance ,though her eyes were not seeing very much at the time; the mass of journalists in front of her was screaming -
"How do you feel, Mrs Burnaby?Was it a shock? Had you been expecting it?And the night after your wedding,too!"
At the age of twenty, Molly Andrews ( she would not keep the Burnaby name) had become a legend - the widow of Niagara Falls - the night after her wedding, her husband had flung himself into the raging falls.Why? Molly knew.Neither of them had wanted to marry; their parents had brought them together.
"Dirk Burnaby dear, he's taking you out tonight." She's had no say it at all, her parents did not listen to her protests, the fact that she simply did not like Dirk Burnaby did not seem to count for anything. Four months of arranged meetings, in which the two barely spoke to eachother and suddenly Molly was engaged: she could barely remember saying 'Yes', then again, she could barely remember how Dirk had asked her - the words 'duty', 'work' and 'proper' had been included in the speech... but 'love' seemed to be unimportant in the matter. Dirk hadn't wanted to ask her, she knew his parents would have talked him into it; Dirk would do anything for his mother. And now he was gone. It wasn't pain she felt,exactly, not even regret, just numbness; pure,cold numbness. The distant figure had disappeared from vision...she felt a firm force apply itself to her shoulder and gently propel her along, away from the screeching crowds. Turning around Molly found herself at eye-level with a broad chest - Tom smiled down at her.

***Tom***

How could he have let this happen? He had lost her, and after all they had been through... Tom sat silently in the carriage - a flood of people were leaving the train - he happened to notice a small,solidly built man, pushing his way through the crowds; he looked just like -

"Sam Warn here, Tom" Tom made an indistinguishable grunt-like noise to show he was awake enough to understand this.
"Listen, I know it's awfully early for you, old boy, but I need your help; you see there's been a rather tragic incident here at the hotel." (Sam Warn owned almost all the hotels around Niagara Falls - the amount of money this brought Sam made it hard to pity him - he was filthy rich).
"Uh-huh - just a second Sam - a tragic and, I assume, scandalous incident has occurred at one of your hotels, and let me see, what do you do? You call the most experienced, and if I may say so, most skilled journalist you know?"
"Now see here Tom - I'm calling you as a friend - not as a journalist, not as a reporter, not even as an innocent gossip - got that?"
"Yup."
"Good." Sam then began to tell all about the 'Widow Of Niagara Falls' - Tom's memory seemed to have chosen to cut this part out - he did not want to hear the grisly story again.
"As you said yourself Tom , you're a very experienced and highly skilled journalist and I-"
"Cut to it Sam."
"I want you to swap sides. It would be simple - you know all the tricks in the book - and I want this girl kept away from people like yo- I mean, journalists - if this gets out my hotels might be..
"Empty"Tom filled in with the word he knew would be most effective - even on the phone, Tom could feel Sam shuddering at the thought.
"Yes...Anyway...Stop being the reporter and become.. er.."
"Sam,wait a sec - are asking me to look after this girl?"
"Yup."
"Hey, that's my line..."
"Look Tom,I know this is asking a lot-"
"You're telling me! I miss a great scoop and I get loaded with some grieving widow? No thanks."Tom made to put the phone down - he'd heard enough.
"Wait!"Sam was clearly getting desperate now... "That's just it - you do get the great scoop - you can have exclusive access to her - interviews, pictures - her side to the story...everything..as long as you keep the hotels out of it."The phone line was silent for over a minute...
"Well, how about it? Will you-"
"Yup."

[Lauzi]

Does anyone want to join in? I know I've probably scared a few people off lol but anyone interested just ask - I can change it really easily

***Tom (Continued)***

Suddenly returning from this frighteningly vivid memory, Tom opened his eyes, trying to turn his mind to the problem in hand...where was she...? His fingers had gone numb again;he had them pressed up against the freezing cold glass of the train window, his palm flat against the icy surface.Leaning forward, he placed his forehead against the glass too, it seemed to help him think more clearly.
Before he could bury himself into his thoughts, a small,blonde girl came walking up: Tom noticed the way she walked - fearlessly and assuredly; he sighed quietly as she sat down next to him.Having been seated for a few moments she turned to him and said innocently,
"May I sit here?"
"Feel free." he answered sarcastically.
"Thanks so much" she smiled, obviously choosing to ignore the less than subtle hint that she was not wanted,and continued " The name's Amy by the way." Tom didn't bother answering; he knew what was coming.
"It's not easy for a young lady like me to find a seat, you know." Tom looked around - they were completely alone- the rest of the carriage was empty.The girl laughed loosely as she realized why he staring at her worriedly as though she was insane.
"Well, I mean it's 'ard to find a seat next to such a interestin' lookin' young gentleman" she batted her eyelashes at him, and Tom tried not to acknowledge the fact that she had hitched her skirt up to her knees - she was clearly well-rehearsed.
"Say, you look like a man about town, mister, how's about you and I go out tonight - I've got till the mornin' you know..." she smirked suggestively.
"Sorry kid,but no. This is my stop anyway." Grabbing his coat and hat, he was forced to swing himself over the seats in front to evade the girl, who was now trying to cling on to his jacket desperately. Jumping off the train steps with the train still traveling at full speed he could still hear the girl's shouts of
"Hey, mister...!".

Suddenly he realized what he had just done - jumping off a speeding train was one thing, but jumping off and landing in some tiny,deserted station was just idiotic..'Yup,that's me' he thought.
"Ca...Cam...Camder...Camderbink?!" Tom uttered the words out-loud in disbelief as he read from the battered sign ahead- noticing a nearby bench he threw his coat down upon it and sat down. Then Tom Bradley proceeded in doing something he had done all his life - he sang.
"Ohhhh, I am sitting in Camder...bink,
Camder...bink I am sitting in,
Say have you been to Camder....bink?
No sir cos' I ain't aaaaa fink...
Ay ay ay ayyyy..."