VILE

Chapter 6: The Present

As Tomike got into her car she sighed. Did she really have to do this? She'd rather spend her Sunday the same way she spent the day before, working and drinking herself to stupor.

She started the car and the engine roared. The radio came on, a talk show. Not her thing. She couldn't handle their "rapping." They spoke so fast in their american accent it gave her a headache trying to grasp everything they were saying. She was just fine having to deal with her co-workers, neighbors and whoever necessary, but in her own car, while she was all alone, no. She started changing stations, then suddenly she stopped.

"And to wrap up the show, here's The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars for this lazy Sunday afternoon. Enjoy!"

"Today I don't feel like doing anything..." Tomike grinned as she sang along. "This song is literally my mood right now" she said to herself as she drove out of the parking lot.
Funny how the simple things like music could bring a smile to her face.

Todd had invited her to a get-together at a bar in Brighton. He said she had to come because she needed to get a life, meet people and socialize.

Todd and his fatherly ways. When had trying to parent a grown ass woman ever worked.

But in a way it had. Here she was, driving almost thirty minutes from her apartment Downtown to Brighton, just because he said so. Well, to be completely honest he threatened. She either came for the get-together or he stopped her free supply of freshly made croissants. Todd's restaurant made the best pastries, and Tomike was addicted. She had no choice but to succumb.

Todd was an amazing chef, and surely knew his way around the kitchen. Coming from where she did, it was something Tomike didn't see everyday, a man who could cook and was good at it. It was one of the things that attracted her to him. A guy who could cook and a girl who loved food, a match made in heaven. Well not exactly a match, at least that's what she told herself. Todd is just a friend.

She met Todd in Florida while she was there for her masters degree program. She didn't make friends easily because she always kept to herself. But Todd was different. He was super nice, talkative, outgoing and she couldn't deny that his confidence impressed her. One of his parents chain of restaurants was right beside the cyber cafe she worked in then. He came around a lot because at that time he was working on a project at the University where she studied.

After bumping into him a couple of times, which was inevitable considering they moved around the same campus and had their work places beside each other, they became acquaintances.

They became much closer after Tomike helped Todd out with a computer breakdown he had. Apparently his laptop was hit hard by some virus and he almost lost all the data from the project he had been working on. He was eternally grateful to her, and the rest they say is history.

It had been three years since they met each other, and almost a year since they decided to move to Boston together- as friends of course.
How time flies.

He wanted to help expand the family business by opening a restaurant in Boston and convinced her that working in Crystal Ware, where she worked now, was best for her.

So since she was done with her masters, and didn't want to go back to Nigeria, she applied for a job there and got it. Well, apart from her top-notch resume, Todd's connections helped. Although she'd just rather tell herself she was good enough to get the job even without his impute.

She was getting close to Brighton, she had gone off the Massachusetts Turnpike and was now on Washington street.

Brighton was well known to house the finest of Boston's young professionals. This was a place for the young elites. At almost every corner there was a bar, a cafe, a pub or a restaurant, all of which had Christmas decorations. It was still the start of December, a little too early for decorations in Tomike's taste, but who was asking her opinion anyway. The place had a lively bounce to it, especially on a Sunday afternoon like this one. Afterall, it was the weekend and not everyone wanted to stay indoors like Tomike.

As she pulled up across the street from the address Todd had given her, she gave a quick glance at herself in the rare view mirror. Her make up was still intact. She adjusted her wig and then stepped out of the car.

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Who else loves Bruno Mars? Let me see your hands up in the comments. Do you think Tomike and Todd are just friends? I'd really love to hear what you think.
Xoxoxo. 💕💕