Page 20 of Low love Low fidelity

“Girl,” Mya scoffed. “I’ll drive. Ain’t no biggie!”

Tobias’ auburn irises were locked on me as my jaw collapsed. I was hyper-stimulated between his unbelievable, virile countenance and Mya’s unrelenting attempt to get into my head. Too much was going on at the sight of his thick frame in slim fit joggers and a black, dri-fit shirt with black ankle socks. The man oozed generous masculinity from each pore. That and delicious cologne, which I now confused for his natural body odor; I was so unused to this physical proximity to him.

“Oh, youwoulddrive if I’m the out-of-town guest,” I was sure to inform Mya. “But it wouldn’t work. I have a few stops to make before hitting the road. Anyway, girl, I need to go. Breakfast just made it to my door.”

“Eh!” Mya squawked. “Red Carpet Inn’s got room service?”

Rolling my eyes, I hissed, “Bye, Mya. I’ll see you atCrystal K’s.” Without leaving room for another word, I disconnected the call.

“You trying to fatten me up with all this cooking?” My eyes roved over the tray.

French toast, bacon, sausages, eggs, grits, coffee, and condiments all packed neatly.

Tobias stood, holding a napkin, fork, and knife. “I told you if you trusted me this week, I’d make sure you didn’t regret it.” Speechless and caught off guard by his transparency, all I could do was stare at him. “You damn sure got that fat-fat all by yourself.”

That caused me to blink. “I told you I’d get my weight up three years ago.”

“And you damn sure did,” the growl in his voice couldn’t be missed.

I blinked hard, attention going back to my laptop. “Lonnie was a good, albeit an unsolicited, suggestion.”

Three years ago was the first time we’d seen each other in the flesh since I’d moved down to North Carolina. I was depressed, underweight, and in crisis. Crisis had been my normal arrhythmia since my college days. Even now, I’d developed a way to coast in it. We irresponsibly exchanged numbers, and when we finally spoke over the phone, the man’s veracity was brutal and needed. Tobias told me if I didn’t gain a hold of myself, I’d have the body of a prepubescent child within a year or two. Even further, he insisted I get a personal trainer instead of going at the pursuit of fitness alone. Incongruently, I obeyed. Two months later, Lonnie began training me in the hospital’s fitness center four days a week and provided a meal plan. Within eighteen months, he’d eased on tracking my food, but we’d still been training.

Ignoring me, Tobias tossed his chin toward my computer. “We didn’t agree to this. Working on ya days off.”

I exhaled, closing my laptop, and placing it to the side. “Yeah. The old, pasty, demanding board members who hate me.” I rolled my eyes. “I got an email at exactly eight this morning, requesting the most recent quarterly reports. The hospital knows I’m off. The board…”

“Don’t give a fuck.” He pulled a tray from the lower level and arranged it over my lap, covered in the white, fluffy comforter.

“Not a single one,” I agreed, watching him bring the plate of food over. Next came my coffee, cream, sugar, and syrup. Gently, and with thoughtful care, Tobias prepared a hearty meal before me. “This is nice—a lot, but nice.”

“But your ass is going to eat it up, though.”

Pretending to cry, I nodded. “I am!”

He chuckled, pouring my coffee. “Greedy ass,” he muttered. “And the sad thing about it is, I’m about to go for a run—a run I was supposed to have company for, but I have to share you with your girls this week, I see.”

“Not my fault you have hidden agendas. I did not agree to running with you this week.” I pointed to the adjacent wall. “Those kicks are dope, though. I’ve got a workout fit that goes well with them—two, actually!”

Tobias cocked his head to the side. His natural, hooded eyes narrowed, but twinkled the way they always did for me, making me squirm over the mattress. I forced myself to laugh instead of revealing how mesmerizing he was.

“Tobias, can I ask you a serious question—a personal one?”

He folded his arms, breastplate bulging unfairly as he leaned away from the bed. “Ain’t nothing too personal between us. You know that.”

“Why are you single?”

His eyes burst wild. “Damn.” He scoffed, “I wasn’t expecting that.” I rubbed my lips together nervously. “Well…”

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to go deep.” I shrank. “You don’t have to—”

“Nah. Nah.” He sat at the foot of the bed, turning his strapping, upper-torso to face me. I didn’t need the respectful distance, but appreciated his attempt at integrity. “Ummm…” Tobias shrugged. “I ain’t single, exactly.” My eyes widened, and I swallowed hard involuntarily. “It’s like this.” His tongue rapidly swiped his lips. “I remember back in the day when I was running hard, trying to catch my first hit. I used this popular studio in the City the record companies had contracts with. Pretty much the same taxis worked the area, picking people up from the building, knowing many of them coming out of the studio had dough. Even though I didn’t for a while, I would get this particular cabbie often. His name—well, we called him Herk because we couldn’t pronounce his name displayed on the dashboard with all his credentials. Dude was like…Middle Eastern, maybe?”

He used his hands as he continued with his story. Tobias had the most captivating stories. It was one of several distinguished talents he had when I met him as a kid over ten years ago.

“Well, anyway, we’d talk from time to time when I’d catch him. Kicking it about…life.” He shrugged. “The cat was cool. Herk kicked it with everybody. We all knew him. So, fast-forward to when I got my first break with “Children of Fate;” I was hyped as hell. It was so big, my management team planned a party. So, boom. One day, I was catching a cab toBar Pittiover in South Village for this meeting with a record exec, and Herk pulled up. He’d heard about the “Children of Fate’s” lick and congratulated me right away. I invited him to the party, and he said he couldn’t come.”

“Why?” I asked, already enrapt.

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