A Love Noire

We're More Alike...

Tobias reached across her lap to open the door. As gentlemanly as he was, there was something rough and crude in his behavior. He was thinking about how he wished he could be like his buddies at the warehouse who were uncouth with women; especially women like Nadia who wore their desire. The way she let her hair fall over her shoulders during her lunch break. Maybe because she thought no one was watching her as she tugged at the ponytail holder to release her long, thick jet black mane. Not that Tobias paid her too much attention but when she let her hair fall, he noticed how exotic she looked. With a slight change of hairstyle, her native Moroccan features became more pronounced and alluring. It was easy to forget that Nadia was anything but American but she was not born here he remembered her telling him during an unexpected conversation in the break room.  Besides that passing fact, Nadia reminded him very much of every girl he went to high school with not too many years ago. She was more concerned with perfect makeup than being to work on time. When she made an error in her notes, she never admitted to it but rather brushed it off and nearly waited for the other person to apologize. Arrogant. If Tobias had to describe her in one word, it would be arrogant. Her arrogance is the reason she's even sitting in his beaten up 99 Jeep Wrangler. She left her keys right on her passenger seat, finishing up the last layer of the soft coral-colored lipstick, he bet. Or maybe putting on a dash of the fragrance she had worn since she'd been working as a receptionist. What was that smell anyway? It was like a warm mix of sandalwood and vanilla. Tobias was unaware that he even noticed her scent before but somehow he knew the smell of her as if second nature.

"Here you are," he quickly remarked as he reached across and pushed open the passenger door.

"The Locke Brothers. We've got the key. Phil.Los.Sophy!" Tobias  made two air guns as he dryly mocked the company's jingle that hadn't changed since he was a kid. Nadia's face lit up for just as second, he swore he saw a light but just as quickly, it faded away.

"Watch much television do you?" Nadia slyly remarked. Tobias was back on defense now, embarrassed that he attempted to let his guard down.

"Just easing the mood. Anyhow, here's your stop. Good luck." She parted one leg and placed it on the ground outside and started to turn. Tobias was becoming annoyed now at her grand and drawn out exit, mostly because he was still reeling from the embarrassment. He was annoyed that he could have watched her indefinitely. He was under her spell, whatever she did, he would gaze in fascination. Every move she made was a production.  Nadia slowly turned back toward Tobias with one leg still stretched out of the Jeep.

"Do you go out, like, at all...ever?" She interrogated him more than questioned. Her words lingered and the two caught eyes before Tobias decided to answer. He thought he regained power by waiting to answer but quickly regressed into self-consciousness when he grappled for an answer.

"I mean, yeah of course. A bar..."

Nadia put on a she-devil grin as she interrupted him, "I'll pick you up tonight, around 10. We'll go out. As a thank you. I know a place. Yeah?" And Tobias was hypnotized by her forwardness but managed to make out a reply.

"Ok. Call me." Victory, he thought. Finally, he said something that wasn't a complete goof.

His apartment was reminiscent of his boyhood bedroom. Scarce as it was, Tobias felt comfortable in his digs. He had a modest sized flat screen television but he rarely powered it on except for marathons of Doctor Who when he wasn't working. His sofa was a funky shade of orange right out of a 70's basement. There wasn't much to be said of his apartment tucked away in a small residential building just west of downtown Dodge. In fact, everything about Tobias' life was just ordinary and predictable. He knew every corner of his apartment the same way he knew every corner of the town he grew up in. His sense of familiarity was beginning to smother him now, everything was growing still in his life. He wondered about the unknown now and found himself thinking about adventure in a way he never had. His imagination was starting to become untamed; in some ways, he still felt like a kid. Just then, Tobias grew tired suddenly.