"Did you even see that stop sign?!"

"Yes, I simply chose to ignore it."

"Are you sure you don't need to get your eyes checked?" Her English accent was more obvious as if to match her frustration.

"What's your deal with always screaming in my house, Clara?" Clara's face turned pale as she heard the voice.

Eniola was right behind her.

"M-miss Eniola-" She stuttered, turning to apologize.

"Ah, Eniola Gillian!" The dark-headed man exclaimed pushing past Clara. "It is so nice to finally meet you." He grinned, putting an obnoxious set of white teeth on display.

"You must be Alvaro! Tobias has told me a lot about you. It's awesome to finally meet you!" She grinned back and watched in delight as he took her hand in his and kissed on the back of her palm.

Tobias rolled his eyes.

She and Tobias had spent half of the day discussing and watching television.

Well, Eniola was watching television. Tobias had used his spare time to read his employees' reports. Eniola could sense he was a bit anxious leaving the company functioning without him.

"Call me Varo and the pleasure is all mine, chica." He winked, gently letting go of her hand.

Of course, Eniola would fall for his charms. His tanned skin and deep brown eyes were hard to repel against.

"Gato!" The proud Cuban exclaimed after recognizing the other man clad in a white shirt and khakis silently watching him with a faint smile on his lips. "For fuck's sake, call a bit more!" Alvaro rushed to Tobias and hugged him.

"It has been a while, Varo Loco." Tobias patted him on the back before awkwardly letting go.

He had never been the affectionate type.

"Too fucking long, Gato." Varo smiled scratching his buddy's short hair.

"You're still going to call me that?" Tobias asked laughing heartedly as he remembered when the nickname started.

His mother had always compared his stealth and quietness to that of an old cat of hers. She called him the nickname once and Varo made it his second name.

His smile faltered a bit at the thought of his mother.

"Yeah, I never stopped," Varo answered oblivious of Tobias's train of thoughts.

"Varo, would you like to have lunch? I made something." Eniola quickly stepped in, noticing the slight change in Tobi's mood.

"Would I?! Darling, I haven't had good food since I left Vararedo two days ago." He complained and caught Clara rolling her eyes as Eniola laughed and led him to the dining.

"The fuck? Why?"

"Nobody cooks better than mi abuelita. I couldn't stomach any other food and just had to settle for snacks and Coke."

"Well, I hope you like my food. I spent a lot of time on it!" She smiled at the man who had already begun to take his seat.

~~~

"And the woman thought we could fuck as payment. Can you believe that?!" Varo exclaimed as he narrated one of his experiences with broke clients.

Tobias had his cheer of listening to his lamentations and most times, it made him wonder why Varo still practiced that branch of law. At that moment, he just wished Alvaro could use less colorful words as he pushed the last morsel of his food around. Clara wished he would just shut up and Bob... Bob just wondered why his food always had less meat.

The only person that seemed to be enjoying the story was Eniola. Tobias watched almost enviously as she barked out a laugh every time Varo said something funny or unbelievable.

"...I mean I do like sex. Like who doesn't? But money is more important and business is business, isn't it? If you can't afford a fucking divorce lawyer but still feel the need to cheat in a marriage why not just stay married? Her husband is like thirty years older than she is anyway so he'll probably die soon." He said seriously as he took a sip of the wine Eniola had offered earlier. Tobias knew how promiscuous his friend was. Eniola did not need to know that.

"Something similar happened-" Eniola began after polishing off her last glass of wine.

"Okay. It's getting late now-" It was only 7 PM. "And I'm very sure Alvaro needs to rest, he has had a long flight." He had slept through the entire flight.

"You're no fun, Tobi." Eniola pouted but the look broke as she hiccupped.

Tobias had suspected she was a bit tipsy but was now certain.

"I must thank you for letting me stay here, Eniola. This is a very beautiful house." Varo smiled getting up from his seat.

He had had more glasses than Enny but he didn't show even the slightest sign of drunkenness.

"Yeah, it's Tobi's! He has great taste." She smiled going up to hug him again.

After their funny hug, Clara left with Alvaro to show him his room while Bob retired to bed.

~~~

"You know, Tobi? I've never been indoors for this long." Eniola suddenly said as she mindlessly played with the foams in the bathtub.

Tobias was on the other side of the curtain listening to the sloshing of the soapy water and popping of bubbles. She had insisted he waited for her right outside the bathtub. It was not like he had anything better to do.

"Really? Is that a bad thing?" He asked her. He could tell her slightly tipsy mind was doing some thinking.

"I guess it isn't. I just miss doing things outdoors, you know?" She answered gingerly stepping out of the tub. "Towel?"

"What kind of things?" Tobias asked, already knowing what she meant as he handed her a towel from the small opening.

"The parties, the trips, you know the usual?" Called it. He thought.

"Maybe you could go back to it when this is all over?" He asked watching her come into his view with the towel tightly wrapped around her full chest.

He watched her for a moment longer.

"Yeah... maybe." He didn't miss the hesitation in her voice as she made her way to her vanity.

"Are you feeling better, Princess?" He asked watching her rub some sort of serum in her hair.

"Much better. Thank you for the bath." She looked at him through the mirror and he nodded. She thought he looked tired as his eyes didn't gleam as they used to. "But you don't look great at the moment." She turned pulling him down to her level and taking his face in her palms.

"The flight sickness. It usually hits after a day or two. And the weather is just a bit different from where I'm used to. It's not a big deal." He answered lightly but it didn't lift the concerned look on her face.

"You need to rest then?"

"I will, right after you go to bed." He told her and she nodded walking out of the bathroom and him trailing behind her.

"I'll just look for something to wear then I'll sleep." She said and disappeared into her walk-in closet while Tobias got comfortable at the edge of the bed.

His lips tilted upwards as he realized how things were slowly returning to how they were before. He just hoped it would be the same when he had to leave again.

"Alvaro is a very fun person," Eniola announced, walking out of the closet and not stopping until she fell into the bed with a yawn.

She was now in a sweater and cotton pants. It was going to be a really cold night.

"He is." Tobias agreed, pushing himself off the chair and going to sit at the side of the bed.

Even with his friend's womanizer tendencies, it still didn't take away the fact that he was entertaining to be with.

"I'm glad he's working for me rather than some Clara 2.0. Is he the lawyer friend you used to tell me about when we were younger?" Eniola joked pulling the blanket to her nose and earning a hearty laugh from Tobias.

"Clara is not that bad when you get to know her." He said truthfully. "And yes, that was Alvaro."

He had known the man all his life.

His assistant had zero flaws, except her overly worried self and exaggerations, she was a wonderful person... Not that he would ever tell her though. When he got no reply, he pulled down the blanket a bit to see she was already sleeping, her breath containing small scents of the wine.

"Goodnight, mi amor." He leaned to kiss her forehead.

~~~

Just as he was about to step into his room, he heard a loud bang -almost like an explosion- followed by a very familiar English accent.

"Would you lower the volume?? You're going to wake up everybody and Miss Eniola would kill me!"

"Sheesh, lo siento!"