I thanked him and went around the room telling everyone else good night. Last on the list was Toby and his date and I had seen them walk out onto the balcony. Toby was a very new acquaintance for me, plus having only really spoken about work matters, and I had no idea who his date was. Still, it was only polite. I walked out onto the terrace and spotted the two of them locked in an embrace. I stopped because I didn’t want to walk into anything. They hadn’t noticed me yet. They were talking.
“Next week, what do you say?” the woman was saying, playing with the lapels on Toby’s jacket.
“Next week?” he asked her.
“Yeah, just a short little getaway. A long weekend at the beach.”
He chuckled softly. “Yeah, and which beach were you thinking? The Hamptons?”
“Hmm, I was thinking something more tropical?”
“Like where? Miami?”
She laughed.
“Maybe Tulum? Or somewhere in the Caribbean?”
“That sounds great. If you end up going, I hope you have a good time.”
Her hands dropped from his lapels.
“If I was going, I would want to go with you.”
“That sounds a little bit too much like a romantic getaway and I thought we had an understanding.”
My eyes widened. I had a vague idea that Toby was sort of a fuckboy but it was still a shocker watching him in action.
Most of what I knew about him had come from Missy and well the term pussy hound had been uttered a few times in reference to him. He had a reputation for being seen with a different beautiful model every other week. Looked like this one had gotten the wrong idea about their relationship. I felt sorry for her and then I felt guilty for eavesdropping on what was probably a really embarrassing moment.
“You can’t be serious about that.”
“Trust me, sweetie, I am. I was just about to go tell everybody bye so I could get out of here. Are you coming with?”
“What do you mean am I coming with? You brought me here, didn’t you?”
“Well, a gentleman never assumes. If you get into a car with me, I am going to assume that you want to come home with me. That means a night of mind-blowing no strings attached sex and a cordial goodbye in the morning. Nothing more. Maybe I’ll pay for your cab tomorrow but that’s it. If that’s not what you’re looking for, then I’ll pay for your cab tonight and this is it.”
Her hand cracked across his face. She slapped him. I staggered backward a little bit; not expecting that.
“I am not a fucking whore. You think you can take me out and then proposition me like that? Fuck you.” She started stalking away in my direction and I hurried back into the house. She walked past me, barely registering my existence. So much for telling the two of them goodbye. I went ahead and grabbed my coat and got ready to leave.
That was just the way love worked for some people. Love wasn’t always what my friends got to enjoy with their partners. Sometimes, it was a transaction between people who needed something specific and didn’t want to stay around for the ugly stuff.
I mean, look at Toby and the girl he had just insulted. I was one hundred percent sure; I would bet my firstborn child on the fact that their reasons for even being seen together were surface level at best. He wouldn’t be seen with her if she wasn’t a smoking hot twenty-year-old model, and she wouldn’t be with him if he wasn’t filthy rich.
I could only assume so much about Toby since we were still only acquaintances, but it seemed like he was the type that didn’t do things by the book, in a bad way. Love and relationships in his life looked like transactions that you did at the bank.
As long as everyone got what they were expecting and asked for, was there anything wrong with that?
I waited for the elevator and heard someone walk up and stand next to me. I glanced over. So did he. It was Toby. He nodded and gave me a small smile. Did I tell him that I saw Alyssa knock his lights out or no?
“You have a ride home tonight?” he asked me as we walked out of the elevator.
“What? Oh yeah of course. I was gonna get a cab or take the subway or something. No big deal.”
“Oh no, do not take the subway under any circumstances. If you need cab fare, I can give you some.” Sure, the subway was gross but what did he think took place in there? I didn’t need any cab fare, but it was nice of him to offer. He seemed like a nice man; all things considered. In our limited interaction, he was definitely polite and cordial, I could say that for certain. With women, things looked a little weird but otherwise…
I had two eyes however and both of them worked exceptionally well. What I did not know about his personality, I knew about his looks. Toby was the kind of good looking that was not supposed to be seen in the tech world in which he worked. The company he had co-founded with Easton, Missy’s fiancé, produced drones, and he looked absolutely nothing like the kind of nerd who sat down for hours on end doing that kind of work.