Chapter Text
“This is your car?” he smiled
“Yup.” she smiled back looking at her ancient little car that her friends referred to as ‘the antique' “I know it’s not the car we had booked for you…”
“No no, it’s fine. Just, not what I was expecting”
“I’m sure none of this is what you were expecting. But thank you SO much for understanding. Hop in…you’ll probably need to put the seat back a bit though…” she half smiled
She couldn’t believe it. The massive storm meant that half the country had shut down. Trains cancelled and delayed, hire cars and drivers stuck on the wrong side of the bridge and an event that was 18 months in the making hung together by a tenterhook. The only thing keeping it together was the after dinner speaker and guest of honour who had graciously made his way as far as he could from a prior event by train to be collected by the person who lived closest…who also happened to need to be on site half an hour ago for prep and set up.
Maintaining the calm exterior of an event manager already planning out five contingencies in her head, Sarah leaned over to unlock the door on her little car from the inside. She’d already sent as many emails and WhatsApp messages as she could, tag-teamed in her job-share partner and delegated as much as she could that wasn’t already. All she could do now was focus on driving safely and picking up on everything else on arrival at the venue.
As her guest of honour took his seat, pushing the chair back to allow for his long legs, Sarah glanced at herself in the rear-view mirror. Thankfully she looked vaguely presentable and professional, if not event-ready just yet. Her jeans, comfy flats and loose fit top, finished with a blazer was the perfect “running around getting set up” outfit before the little black dress and headset came out later. The heels were never going to happen on event day. When you’re clocking up 25k steps in one evening and normally running at any point you weren’t guest facing, the last thing you needed was a torture device designed by men.
‘Right.’ She thought to herself. ‘There’s no sense panicking now, and talking about the event is only going to stress you out more. So be natural. It’s just another supporter.’
'Just another supporter' she thought. Yeah right. Because all of the supporters she normally dealt with also happened to be a drop-dead gorgeous British A-list actor that she’s been mad about since the first Thor movie…
Starting the car and pulling out of the car park, she smiled trying to hide her nerves. “We can put some music on?”
He smiled back boyishly. “I always think that’s a great way to get to know someone. What are you listening to at the moment?”
“Umm it’s on ‘Sarah’s favourites’ - a very original playlist name.”
“Oh. And what sort of musical tastes might we find on ‘Sarah’s favourites?”
“It’s fairly…not eclectic exactly. Varied perhaps. Some cheesy pop. Some rock. A bit of Disney thrown in for good measure.”
“Is Bear Necessities on there?” he grinned
“Shamefully not. But I’ll add it for you if you like?” she laughed.
The phone playing the music and giving vital directions began to beep incessantly as message after message came through.
“Ok Google…mute WhatsApp” she commanded the device. She sensed his confusion and went on to explain “That would be the work and event WhatsApp groups going bonkers now they’ve all realised I’m the one picking you up. I daren't even think what they’re asking or speculating so probably best to just ignore it for now”
“Sounds wise.”
“So, what would be on “Tom’s Favourites” playlist?” she asked keen to change the subject.
“Ooh also very eclectic. Some Prodigy, dance, classical, Queen, Bowie” Sarah smiled at two of her favourites being mentioned.
Muse came on and his ears pricked up.
“Ever seen them live?” he asked.
“Loads. One of the few bands I have and will que for to try and be as close to front and centre as possible. When I see music live, I need it to be theatrical, a performance. Matt Bellamy - he’s like Freddie and Bowie…”
“Bowie” Tom corrected her laughing a little
“Sure.” She laughed back, internally cringing. “Well…he doesn’t just perform to the audience, he invites them in, performs with them. For them. It’s magical”
Pulling up to a roundabout a car suddenly changed it’s mind and swerved towards them. She slammed on the breaks, and reflexively reached out to her passenger, realising last minute what she was doing, accidentally stroking his chest as she drew her hand back.
“I’m so sorry!” she cried mortified whilst he simply chuckled softly and smiled, putting her at ease “A reflex of my bad driving”
“I think you’re a very good driver – he’s the idiot. Thank you” he flashed her a smile and she stared at the road, gripping the steering wheel, desperately trying to keep the flush from her cheeks.
“I suppose it’s not often in your job description to play chauffer? Tell me, what does your job entail?”
“Well...me and my team do a bit of everything to raise money. Sending out appeal letters, creating digital campaigns. And events of course – like tonight. I head up the team, but I still like to be hands-on, it’s what I enjoy most.”
“Even having to pick up stranded guests in the rain?”
“Especially things like that! It’s the unexpected nature of events – no matter how well you plan them - and needing to come up with solutions on the fly. Sometimes you’ve just got to roll with it. It’s the same buzz as improv. It’s all a massive game of 'ok..and'”
“You know theatre then?”
She laughed, and looks sideways at Tom with a smile “Kind of. Nothing formal though.”
She paused, and saw that he was listening intently. She went on to tell him how she’d always wanted to act, had auditioned and failed miserably for drama school before falling into fundraising
“I fell in love with fundraising in many ways. There was a lot of parallels with what I loved about acting. The story first and foremost – connecting people emotionally to something. Inspiring someone to think about their place in the world, about other people. About what it means to help someone else from a place of compassion or equality not pity. Inspiring someone to leave the world that little bit better than they found it…”
She trailed off, lost in thought for a moment, before realising how much she’d been wittering on about herself. She glanced sideways at him expecting…boredom? But she instead met the most intense pair of blue eyes looking at her with…something she couldn’t quite place. Then he caught himself, and smiled.
“Thank you. I had no idea about what a profession – a vocation - fundraising is. I’ve had a little insight, but a lot of it to many people seems to be all black-tie dinners and trips to Africa”
“That’s the tiniest parts of it. The bits that the media want you to see. Fundraising, the charity sector is…a whole lot more and a lot more complicated”
She chanced another sideways glance. He was looking forward now, looking pensive.
“How about you? Did you get into drama school first time?”
“I did. Although, I was already studying at Cambridge and had done some professional theatre and TV work too.”
“You studied Classics right? A double degree?”
“Yes” He went on to tell her a bit more about his degrees and early work, the plays he’d loved most and how an understanding of the classics deepened his love of languages…which in turn led to a love of impersonations. She let his words wash over her, noting where his voice picked up in excitement in certain areas, and his hands (good grief his hands) took on a life of their own at other moments.
They got to the venue and she parked as close as she could. But it was London and 'close' still meant walking a couple of streets to the museum. She hauled all of the extra event gear – various bags and packages onto her shoulders before remembering she probably should’ve opened the door for him or something.
“It’s this way – sorry we need to walk a bit.”
“Absolutely fine” he said, doing up his jacket button and smoothing his hair back, glancing at his reflection in the car door window. As they started walking, he gestured to a bag “May I take that for you?” The question, the piercing blue eyes gazing at hers caused her to have to restart her sentence
“I…uh… No…you can’t do that. The team would never let me live it down if we walk in and I’ve made you carry my stuff!”
He scoffed gently “Who do you think I am?! I would never let me live it down letting you carry everything whilst I walk beside you. I have the impression of being a gentleman to keep”
“Only the impression?” she asked, cocking one eyebrow.
“Well…depends who you ask.” (Was that…a flirting tone? She pushed the idea aside) “Please. Let me take that” and without waiting for an answer he deftly took the largest bag from her shoulder, swinging it on to his, carrying it with ease.
She smiled honestly at him – “thank you” and readjusted the rest of the bags, pleased to now be able to power march without huffing like an asthmatic dragon.
“We’ll go in the back way, the event entrance. It’s where I need to take all this stuff anyway. We tried to keep your attendance as low-key (she paused closing her eyes in a moment of ‘the fuck did I just say’ embarrassment but trying to hide it and move swiftly on) - as we could, but you know what press are like. Although the storm may keep some of them away…but anyway if you wanted to make an entrance, I can see if we can get a car or a taxi…” she trailed off looking at him smiling quizzically at her.
“You think I like making an entrance?”
“Well…no…but…”
“The event entrance will be fine. Anyway, can’t let your whole team not see what a gentleman I am surely?” he grinned cheekily.
As they entered the venue, the normal event chaos ensued around them. Sarah swept the room and glanced at her phone for the time, and realised just how behind they were. Where were the volunteers, they should be setting up places already? Heading backstage, only momentarily glancing behind her to check he was keeping up (of course he was keeping up – he took one graceful stride for three of Sarah’s event half run steps).
As they entered the staging room, she was met with a cacophony of voices, and an air of stress and panic. Her colleague, Keira, was having an in-depth discussion with the venue manager who looked stressed to the point of tears. “You can just dump those there, thank you. And uh I’ll take you to the green room” As Sarah spoke a few people turned to say hi, although eyes quickly slid past her to the tall man smiling and waving his trademark open palmed “hi” behind her.
Sarah took one glance at the stressed-out room of volunteers then spun round and said quietly “Please don’t feel any obligation to, but most of the team are volunteers and a lot of them are fans. We’ve told them to not expect to see you as you’d be on a tight schedule. But I think if you’d be happy to and can take 5minutes, they’d love to say hi?”
“Of course! I had no idea most people would be volunteers, I’d assumed most would be staff?”
“Some are, although even the charity staff don’t always get paid for events. For a lot of people, it’s a really fun night and they want to be here. Especially at the chance of spotting you, let alone being able to say hi”
“I’d be honoured to”
She spun round, in full leader mode, to greet the team.
“Hey team, thank you again so much for being here this evening, and especially in this storm. You are AWESOME. I know we’ve still got a fair amount to do, but we do have five mins to spare…as does our guest of honour. So, if anyone would like to say hi whilst I get caught up on where we’re at – you’re very welcome to. Team – Tom. Tom…the team”
Keira and the venue manager looked up from their conversation, and Sarah strode over to them whilst Tom jovially shook hands, took selfies and chatted to everyone.
Keira ran her through what had been done so far, what was still to do and the resources they had to work with. They’d been here a hundred times before, swiftly updating each other, not second guessing, clarifying as needed, offering an alternative view point on only the most important of issues and putting two heads together to find the solutions to the things not yet solved. Right now, those were the things that needed to be focussed on.
“Ok that’s food sorted. Now we need to get social media updated with an ask, and if we can – an email out to those who cancelled to give what they would’ve spent on games and a link to the auction. Where’s Jen, she can do some social media around it too. Biggest issue is volunteer numbers – where is everyone?”
“This is it. They were flagging knowing how much had to be done, but I think five minutes with our after-dinner speaker may’ve given them the energy boost they needed” Keira smiled at Tom who was now taking group photos with everyone.
“We need THAT on social media if he’s happy to. It’s so...human. And so Tom” Sarah smiled softly.
“Enjoy the car ride did we?” Keira jested
“Mate it was the most stressful, intense and yet joyful 45minutes of my career. I’ve never worked so hard to not look like a blithering idiot”
Keira raised her eyebrows ready with a quick response as usual
“Just don’t!” Sarah cried “I promise I’ll debrief you on the whole thing minute by minute later. But right now – we’ve got work to do.” Heading over to the group of volunteers, clapping her hands loudly together to get their attention.
“Ok team! I’m so sorry to break up the party, but we’ve got the rest of this show to get on the road. I know we’re a smaller team than we had planned and that means more work for all of us. Please know, that is not something I would ever ask for from any of you in any but the most emergency of emergencies. I promise you at the end of the night there will be an after party on me and for anyone that can’t stay there will be a pizza and beer party tomorrow too to say thank you. And also, please remember…it is only an event. I know we say this every time but it’s easy in the moment to feel like an event is the most important thing ever. But it’s not. It’s not life and death in this museum tonight. It’s a party. A party that is going to raise a sh…shedload of money that will do amazing work changing lives. But still just an event at the end of the day. If you need a break, need help or anything else, look after yourselves first, or come and find me or Keira or your section leader. Ok? Nothing is more important than you looking after yourselves and each other. But in the meantime…”
Running off a list of instructions in her authorative yet warm voice that she’d perfected over the years, Sarah allocated additional roles, prioritised and directed and sent each of her volunteer squads to work to get ready to go live in 20mins whilst Keira went to speak to the kitchens and the social media manager.
As the volunteers departed, Tom stood there quietly watching. He had that face again, something she couldn’t place. She tilted her head, furrowing her eyebrows slightly “What?”
He shook his head slightly, smiled that beaming smile and clapped his hands. “So – you mentioned a green room?”
“Yes! This way” As they walked, they went through the after-dinner speech – him recalling a trip to the field last year. “The most important thing is…that it’s not scripted. That it’s authentically you. That’s why we wanted you. To bring truth and honesty and your love and passion to the night. But at the same time…try not to make it about you.” She paused wondering if she’d offended him, but he was listening intently, waiting for her to continue. “And the most important part is the ask. There’s an art to an ask. Too often celebrities and guests soften it ‘if you maybe can…could you please perhaps consider’…the real trick to a powerful ask is to do it with conviction, urgency but never guilt or shame. If someone can’t give at that moment, they should still feel proud to be here and what that has achieved. But if someone can give – that is the moment when they give as generously as they can. Don’t give them an out.”
“Ok. I think I understand. How would you ask?” He’s looking at her sincerely, clearly not wanting to get it wrong and wanting her advice.
“There will be a moment in what you’re talking about. You might not even know what it is yet. But it’ll be the moment that catches in your throat, that makes you pause. That makes you feel all of that emotion you tap into as an actor. Recall that. At the end. “And that’s why tonight, I’m asking you to please make a gift. Your gift tonight will be the reason…and recall that moment. It might be “will be reason Sofia goes to bed with a full tummy” It might be “will be the reason another child can go to school tomorrow morning”. Please give as generously as you can tonight – and give more children those opportunities”
His eyes danced across her face. Eyes, eyes – even for a moment they flickered down to her mouth. (Subconsciously she touched the corner of her mouth to check for left over coffee or stray spittle from talking so much) “Thank you. I’ll do my best to make it sound as sincere as you just were”
“Oh you’ll make it sound a million times better. You’ve been there, you’ve seen our work. Just talk from your heart and it’ll come naturally.”
She glanced down at her phone. She’d been in the green room much longer than planned. “FUCK! I’m behind, I’ve got to run!” She grabbed her headset on and scooping most of her curly hair back into a bun. “If you need anything, there’s a couple of volunteers placed nearby on runner duty. Grab one of them and they’ll help out. I tried to pick the least fan-girly volunteers, but I’m not making any promises. They’ll let you know when to sit down for dinner too”
“Haha – ok. I’ll see you then…?” he ended almost hopefully. “It’s half a Tesco meal-deal sandwich for me – you might see me lurking in the back if I’m not running from one emergency to another though!” as she flew out the door wondering if what the Guinness World Record time for a dress change was seeing as she only had 30seconds before the doors opened…