Now that they have met each other, the rest of the book will be mainly in Tobias's point of view.
~~~
TOBIAS
He looked at her face like it was a work of art. He never really had an opinion on piercings but they looked really nice on her. They were not really obvious at first glance but they were quite something once you took a good look.
"Did they hurt when you first had them done?" He asked, feeling her lean into his arm that was holding the side of her face. He had noticed she was getting a bit self-conscious as he had been staring at her for a while and he had to break the weird silence.
"They did."
"And you still got them?" He asked, puzzled. He didn't understand why she would go back and experience more pain.
"Yeah, I like them." She repeated and smiled at him. Her smile was beautiful.
"I could stand tattoos but I still haven't gotten over my fear of needles. Would an ear piercing hurt as much?" He asked almost innocently and Eniola laughed.
"Yeah, I depends on your pain tolerance. If you can handle a tattoo, I don't think anything would be too difficult." She answered and his phone rang just as she finished.
He frowned when he read his caller ID. It was Clara.
"Yes, Clara?"
"S-sir, I wanted to know if you were alright. Bob and the police are worried too. I-I had to stop them from coming into the h-house." She stumbled on her words and Tobias felt a chuckle threaten to escape. Clara was such a mum.
"I'm alright, Clara-"
"Are you sure sir? It's too quiet in there. Did she hurt you sir? Is she holding you hostage?" She suddenly spoke quietly.
The only reply she got was a loud beep. Her boss had hung up.
Eniola watched him with an amused smile.
"You want to go down before she suffers a heartattack?" She asked and he nodded humourously.
Before leaving, he took off the stained shirt, leaving on an inner shirt and his suit pants that he had come with.
"Clara?" He called from the top of the stairs, watching as she quickly rose to her feet as he came down.
"Sir, you are alright-" She immediately caught a glimpse of the bruises around his neck. "What happened up there?!" She exclaimed, rushing towards him but was stopped as he ceased her by the shoulders.
"Spur of the moment." Tobias replied, feeling a bit unnerved by her overreaction.
There were times he had injuries worse than this and she barely batted an eyelid.
"Spur of the moment? Sir-"
"For God's sake, Clara, calm the fuck down." Eniola finally spoke drawing Clara's attention to her.
Clara looked like she wanted to say a word or two, possibly about the inconveniences she had caused for the past few years but bit her tongue and sent her the best version of a polite smile she could offer. "I'm sorry. My apologies." She said through a forced smile as well.
"Hmm."
Tobias cleared his throat to get both their attention. "Clara, this is Eniola. Eniola, Clara. She's my personal assistant." He hurriedly introduced them. He could instantly tell the two women did not like each other. "That is Bob. My driver for the time being."
She nodded with slight disinterest before sighing. "Welcome, I guess. I hope you feel at home."
~~~
"So, how long has Clara here been working for you?" Eniola was the first to speak up in the quiet dining area.
Bob was quietly eating his salad that he wished had more meat in. Clara was looking out for any slip ups the host made. The woman might poison them if she weren't looking and Tobias was subtly staring at Eniola. She had grown so much. Her voice was a bit different from how he remembered it. She carried herself differently too.
"Six years. Immediately after I got my PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing, I took over my father's job and I needed assistance and some sort of living calendar. Clara was- is perfect for the job." Clara felt her heart swell from the compliment. "Save for her overbearing self and constant mother duck mode of course." She trusted him to squash the tiny bit of pride he had caused .
"I'll do the dishes." Clara suddenly announced, gathering the empty dishes on the table and leaving with them.
Eniola decided there was no need as there was a dishwasher right next to the fridge but thought it would be fun not tell her.
"I'll go with her." The driver that hardly spoke said and went after her.
"I guess she'll be a perfect match for Anthony." She chuckled wildly and Tobi quietly laughed along.
"True." He answered polishing off the last of his salad. It was very nice. She had improved her skills as he could not get a single scent of burning food. "Speaking of which. How is he helping you run the company?"
"He's doing great with it." Running it all by himself. Ha!
"Right..."
"Well sir, I and Bob would be on our way back to the hotel to get our belongings." Clara quickly answered after returning from the kitchen and he nodded, sending her on her way.
"Now, we need to talk." Tobias turned serious immediately he heard the door slam shut. Even Eniola was surprised at the sudden change in his mood.
"What about, Tobi?" She smiled lightly at him.
"About your trial. I called my lawyer and he'll be standing for you." Tobias said and she rose to her feet.
"I have a lawyer." She told him, looking at the huge windows at the dining, stretching from the top to the bottom. She had changed them a few times.
"The lawyer you pay $250 a week would do nothing to help you in court, Princess."
"How do you know how much I pay him?" She asked watching him concentrate on an unused fork he twirled between his fingers. "What are you even doing?"
"I'm messing around with a fork." He said in an almost duh tone and remembered almost instantly she preferred his undivided attention. "Sorry." He cheekily looked up to her to see her standing akimbo with pouted lips. "My lawyer is flying in tomorrow. Then, we'll have a lot to discuss."
She stared at him for a while longer before waving it off.
"Okay. Do you wanna watch a movie in my room or something?" She asked and watched his eyebrows go up. She knew he and watching movies did not go in sync. It would not take him five minutes to fall asleep but she still asked.
"Alright, do you have any in mind?"
~~~
"Give me a second! I'm brushing my teeth." Enny yelled from her bathroom.
Immediately she had suggested the movie, Clara and Bob returned with their luggage and Tobi had taken his sweet time getting settled in a guest bedroom. Clara and Bob had their own separate rooms too. Ennie was glad she had the cleaning service come in weekly else the empty rooms would have been really messy.
She finally came out of the bathroom in a pair of linen shorts and a pink long sleeved cotton blouse.
Tobias on the other hand was sitting on the other side of the bed and had a navy green tank top and a pair of sweatpants making him look more army material than he already was. His back slouched over and his biceps contracted as he looked at something on her dresser.
"I remember this." He said quietly sensing she was behind him. She went and sat next to him delicately taking the picture in her hands. It was a picture of them together at her highschool prom. "You forced me to go to this."
"I shared you with the entire female population there." It was true. The girls there all wanted to dance and take pictures with him. No one knew he was at least seven years older than they were.
"But I was glad I went with you. I could remember the way your eyes shone when the boys stared at us in surprise." He nudged her lightly and she blushed and looked at the picture.
"I looked so scrawny and small then." She said taking a glimpse at her long chicken legs partially covered by the short grey dress.
"You were growing. For your age, you looked perfect, Princess." He answered and looked at her for a moment longer, then at the picture. "And for your age now, you look perfect too." He added and she smiled and looked away.
"So at any age I'll be perfect in your eyes then, Tobi?" She said quietly looking back at him just in time to see his lips pull upwards.
"Always." He answered, a tinge of pink on his cheeks, matching his lips.
"Movie then?" She hopped on the bed and rolled over to play a random movie that was in the flash drive. "I had got it from Kent but had never gotten around watching any."
Kent? A love interest, perhaps? He thought uncivilly.
"I think I have seen this before." Tobias noted as he climbed on to the bed and laid on it with a mammoth of space between them.
Eniola had hoped he would lay closer.
"Isn't the one about those fishermen facing that big storm that killed them in the end?" He asked, his voice suddenly become raspy.
He was very tired and was surprised the jet lag hadn't yet hit him.
"Yeah, I guess it is." She watched as a couple of men traded fish in the market. It seemed like a good movie.
"It's a good movie. Rebecca was sobbing... Like a child." Tobias unsuccessfully tried to suppress a yawn. Eniola thought he looked cute as he buried his white head in the pillow and his eyelids felt heavy.
Wait—
"Who?" She asked piecing together what he had said. She looked over for a reply but saw he was already asleep. He slept quietly with still and shallow breaths. The Tobias she remembered was in no way a deep sleeper.
As the movie progressed, she had somehow leaned into him, almost cuddling with him.
As good as the idea sounded, she wasn't one to intrude someone's personal space especially when they were unconscious.
She uncomfortably fell asleep at the far end of the bed just as Clooney drowned with his sailboat.
~~~
Rebecca, who you?🧍🏽♀️