“I know what you mean. It seems like it would take out the human element.”
“Exactly,” I said.
He really did understand. At least I had an ally in my dissent, even though there was nothing either of us could do about it. I still wasn’t sure how he had gotten to the hotel without raising alarms.
Maybe he had some kind of underground tunnel network. Then again, maybe they let him travel because he was on important business. He and those he brought with him were wearing masks and gloves as per the recommendations. They, like everything else about Tobias Ford, were stylishly understated.
With the equipment in place, the techs quietly left. Their work there was done. That left just me and Tobias alone in the luxury room. I sat at the newly upgraded desk and Tobias sat on a plush chair nearby.
The first in line was a doctor from Jersey. He was nice enough, but a bit boring. We tried to make conversation, but it was difficult. Tobias politely ended things after about twenty minutes. I sat back in the chair, half hoping that all of the interactions would be so uneventful. The last thing I needed was an online version of the fiasco from the night before.
The second contender was a lawyer. The very word made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I knew it was unfair, but the brain makes its own associations that are difficult to control.
Happily, he turned out to be great. He was only twenty-seven but had his own practice where he worked on civil liberties cases, primarily for artists. He was sweet and humble and didn’t seem to have much of an ego about him. Little did I know that he and the boring doctor would be the best interactions I would have that day.
Bachelor number twelve actually whipped out his cock and number twenty whispered all the disgusting things he wanted to do to me, most of which I was fairly certain were physically impossible. Tobias ended those right quick.
At the end of it all, I was expected to message the other producers of the show and tell them which guy I liked the best. The only problem was that I couldn’t. If I was honest, particularly with myself, the one I really wanted was Tobias. The one man I couldn’t have.
I had to say something so the show could move forward. Not able to tell the absolute truth but also not wanting to lie, I told the truth as far as it went. I nominated the young civil liberties lawyer as my favorite, which was true enough.
“I have to get back to office,” Tobias said.
“Okay.”
I wanted to argue but repressed the urge. It was way too early to show my cards. Tobias left, ever so slightly making me want to cry, but I held it together.
When he was gone, leaving me very much alone, I searched my brain as to what I might do. The idea came up fast as mercury. A wonderful, awful idea.
I needed to speak to Duncan. I was worried about how he was feeling during this whole lockdown phase, on top of the already different temporary change in custody. Even though he was the one who had agreed to it when Dave had demanded it, perhaps he had had a change of heart and was afraid to express it. Or maybe he was just afraid in general, with all the changes in the world lately.
I had tried to call every night, but Dave never answered. I left message after message. But my idea was to use a service I’d recently heard of that changed your number on caller ID to make it look like someone else’s. I randomly chose the number for the state lottery, hoping to trick Dave into thinking he’d won, since I knew he had been a daily player.
“Hello?” he answered hopefully, right away.
“Dave. Don’t hang up.”
“Hey, bitch,” Dave said, with a change in his tone. “Thought you could trick me by using some other number? Nice try.”
“Dave, I just want to talk to Duncan.”
“Having fun sleeping around, you slut?”
“I-I haven’t. It has just been dates, none of which have gone well at all.”
“It doesn’t matter really. You’ve still been gone. Abandoning your son.”
“In the care of his father,” I pointed out. “You said it would be good for him. He agreed…”
“That’s not what I am going to tell Child Protective Services.”
“We’ll see about that. Let me talk to Duncan, please.”
“Fat chance, bitch.”
He hung up on me. I slammed the phone down so hard I nearly broke it in half. Or least I felt like that might happen. Such was my burning, righteous anger.
There was nothing I could do. Dave knew that. What he didn’t know was about the ace up my sleeve.