She's a Lady

Andy didn't have anything clever to say, and barely anything coherent. Instead, it was Tamara who eventually spoke.

"Are you okay? You don't look well"

"I think I'll be alright. I'm just feeling a little groggy" Andy assure her as he reached for the wall to steady himself.

"Come with me. I have paracetamol in my room, and I can sit with you until you feel more steady on your feet"

"Thanks, that might actually be good"

The beautiful aristocrat linked arms with Andy and walked him slowly towards the lift.

"I'm Tamara, but you seemed to know that already"

"Andrew" he replied, slipping into his full name with her once more "I guess I've seen you on TV and stuff"

"Indeed. It seems you aren't the only one" she sighed.

---

Tamara's room might have been the plainest Andy had visited so far and, bizarrely, it didn't even have an en suite. Money can't have been an issue, but those rooms were scarce and had probably all been snapped up before she claimed hers. It must have been a huge shock to the system for someone with Tamara's background to be living in a poky little box of a room and showering communally, Andy figured. He was amazed she was prepared to do it.

"So how are you finding Freshers' Week?" Andy asked by way of conversation as he sat himself gratefully on the bed.

"Honestly, it's been tough. Not like I was expecting at all" Tamara answered bluntly "Nobody talks to me"

Andy had felt a similar sense of being left alone the first time he had been through Freshers' Week, but was astonished Tamara found herself in the same boat. As someone who was hot and possessed a degree of fame, he would have expected there to be the same kind of clamour around her as there was for Elaine.

"That's crazy" Andy told her "Why?"

"I wish I knew. Perhaps people don't think they are supposed to talk to me, because of my background or the way I speak or whatever" she shrugged "I'm at a loss otherwise. I don't smell do I?"

She jokingly leaned down close to where Andy was sat so he could sniff at her. She smelled of what he imagined was extremely expensive perfume.

"Definitely no issues there" he shrugged "I guess people are intimidated, even though you seem lovely"

Andy had always made the assumption that people like Tamara got the best deal out of the antiquated class system that still very much existed in the UK, but now he wasn't so sure. The group she was a part of was by far the smallest, and the only one that tended not to intermingle with the others. He remembered being amazed at even seeing her walking around the Halls of Residence, and would never have felt he could have approached her if she hadn't broken the ice first,

"It might not be the most tempting offer you'll ever get, but I'd love to hang out with you" Andy offered "Maybe we can head into town together sometime?"

"Sure, I'm game. When works for you?"

There weren't many options left for Andy that run. Tomorrow he was taking Sara out, on Friday it would be Gemma. So...

"How about now?"

---

An hour or so later, and with his head having finally cleared, Andy was sat in a local bar having a drink with someone whose name was somewhere in the succession line to the throne. In a week that had been packed with surreal experiences, this was right up there.

"I've got to be honest, when I heard you were coming here I really didn't think you'd be staying in Halls" Andy admitted "Even I find it a bit rough. Are you sure you'll be able to cope for a whole year?"

"Are you kidding? I spent more than a decade at boarding school, I'm probably more at home in that kind of environment than most people" she insisted "Besides, I felt like I wanted the full university experience, whatever that is"

It was strange for Andy to realise he had a prejudice, one he'd been entirely unaware of until now. He had made huge, negative assumptions about Tamara based on nothing but her class. Furthermore, of all of the women he had developed an interest in, he had her ranked as the most far fetched to realistically date, even ahead of the celebrity Instagram model and his professor. He had assumed Tamara would be too stuck up to even give him the time of day, and that they would have no common ground for conversation anyway. Even now, he couldn't help but think of the lyrics of that favourite song of his mothers, Common People, and fear Tamara was only viewing him as a novelty.

She seemed incredibly genuine though, as they traded stories about themselves. Hers were way more interesting, naturally - she knew all of the Royal Family and had most of them as contacts on her phone, which blew Andy's mind - but she insisted on asking as many questions as she answered and took a genuine interest in what he had to say. She was actually delightful company, and he felt hugely guilty that, under any normal circumstances, he would have left her feeling as isolated as everyone else seemed to have done.

"Thank you Andrew. That was the most fun I've had since I arrived here" Tamara told him as they ascended the stairs together once they had returned to Halls, and she reached her floor.

"I had a great time too. We should hang out together again"

"I'd love that, let's do it. You can knock for me any time you feel like it!"

He got another kiss on the cheek, a more affectionate one on this occasion, and she was gone.

Andy flopped down on his bed and exhaled loudly once he was back in his dorm. It had been a highly eventful day, and he was expecting more of the same tomorrow.