I wake up to Tobias shaving.
I sit up and say, "I didn't expect that you'd come back here to live."
He jumps, cutting himself on the chin. "Ow. I don't. I have an apartment, but I was here after we dumped the ashes and forgot about it in the excitement of last night."
"Ah." I stand up. "Anything else?"
"I'm a politician." He says, giving up on shaving and putting the razor down.
"And that means..."
"I don't really know how to explain it."
"Oh. Hey, Tobias?" I add as he starts to leave the room.
"Yeah?" He turns.
"You might want to finish shaving."
He runs his hand over the unshaven half of his face. "Yeah."
Once he finishes shaving, he goes downstairs and makes breakfast as I get dressed and walk downstairs to him setting two plates with scrambled eggs and bacon on them on the table. I sit in front of one and pick up a fork. "Where'd you learn to cook?"
He swallows a fork-full of eggs. "When I was a kid, my dad was an awful cook, so I got up before him every day and made breakfast."
"Mm." I make a sound of assent as I stuff eggs into my mouth. They are delicious.
After we finish breakfast, he pulls on a jacket and holds one out to me. I take it and slip it on. "Where are we going?"
"My office. You want a job?"
"I should probably get one. What's available?"
He smirks at me. "Wanna be my secretary?"
***
I only agreed to the job so I could spend more time with Tobias, but for the past week he's been avoiding me. He smiles and kisses my cheek when he passes by, but other than meetings and going home, he stays locked up in his office or out of the office. At home, we rarely speak. I stop him when he passes by me this time. "Tobias, is something wrong?"
He frowns. "Uh, no, why Tris? Are you okay?"
"Well, my boyfriend seems to be avoiding me ever since he got me this job, so that's kind of knocked me off track."
"Avoiding you? Tris, we share an apartment!"
"How does that affect anything? Do you have another girlfriend or something?" I bite my lip, regretting my words instantly.
"Tris, even if I wanted to cheat on you, nobody would date me because no one wants to be on your bad side! I don't have another girlfriend!" His face morphs into an angry look.
"Okay, okay! Sorry, I just... I don't feel well. My head hurts, and my stomach hurts, and I just... I think I need to go home." I grimace as a twinge of pain shoots through my head.
Tobias' face immediately changes into concern. "You okay?"
"I'm fine, I just need to go home and sleep."
He nods and races into his office, then races back out, dangling his car keys. "Come on." He picks me up before I know what is happening.
He sets me down gently and closes the door as I buckle myself in. He runs around the car and clambers into the driver's seat and turns the key as he buckles himself in.
He drives to the apartment and shuts off the car, then fights his way out of the buckle and the car and runs around the side of the car as I unbuckle. He opens my door and scoops me up. Despite myself, I stifle a giggle as he races up the stairs to our apartment door. He somehow unlocks the front door with one hand and we go in. He sets me on our bed and makes me a bowl of soup. I smile. "Thanks, Tobias."
