Chapter Text
Tobin Powell Heath lived a respectable life. She had a steady job, an office job; albeit it was a bit boring, it paid the bills. She was close to her family and saw them at least once a month for family dinner. She paid her taxes, and she was never late on payments for her rent and phone bill. All of her left over money after the necessities like food and gas went into her savings account. She had two close friends from college, Amy and Lauren, whom she got to see rarely but she loved dearly. On weekends she’d roam the city markets people watching and eyeing teens racing by on their long boards, secretly wishing she could be as carefree as they looked while riding it. In reality though Tobin knew she would never have the guts to purchase one.
Too many things could go wrong. She can barely walk in a straight line let alone ride in one. And on these streets with bricks missing every couple of feet, you’d have to have a death wish! There are more practical things to spend money on.
After scouring the makeshift booths she’d settle on the fresh fruits and veggies she wanted for the week and pick out what she wanted to cook for dinner. She’d make her way home, loot in hand and cook a chef’s worthy meal for one. After washing her dishes and wiping down the counters and table, she’d sit on the couch and pick up where she left off on her favorite show or a new book she found at the local bookstore just down the street. Not after long, Tobin would find herself starting to drift off and pick herself up off the couch to get ready for bed. 9 o’clock on the dot. To say she was predictable was an understatement. Climbing into bed she’d pull out her old and worn Bible from the drawer in her bedside table. She’d get lost in a few passages until she felt herself fighting sleep once again. She’d reflect over the day she had and pray, thanking God for her family and good friends, her ability to provide for herself and keeping all of them safe and healthy another day. Tobin would then lie in bed and wonder how her life had turned out as it had. See, Tobin’s life, while very respectable, was a solitary one. It was nights like these, after remembering the kids riding the long boards or the couple holding hands and laughing while looking at strawberries that she would turn over and over, contemplating.
Strawberries. she thinks. Strawberries aren’t a particularly funny fruit. Pineapple maybe because I mean look at it and the name itself is questionable, but strawberries? What could they have thought was so funny?...Maybe he said something that made her laugh and they just happened to be looking at the strawberries.
She imagined herself making someone laugh with a particularly well timed joke. She could come up with something funny about strawberries. She caught herself often imagining herself living someone else’s life. Being in a relationship. Walking the market hand in hand. Going to the movies, to the park, cooking nice meals for them. Wondering what it’d be like to be close to someone other than her family and Amy and Lauren. While she loved all of them, she had an ache that was sometimes so powerful she could hardly breathe. An ache of something, or someone missing. She’d fight off the urge to curl in on herself and heave and she’d pray . She’d pray to have the guts to live her own life. To go out with friends from work to have a drink after a long day. To finally splurge on season tickets to see her favorite soccer team, not just watching from afar on her tv set. To have the courage to actually touch a soccer ball in general again after years of avoiding one. To actually try to meet someone to fill the void that she so desperately needs filled. All of these thoughts racing through Tobin’s mind seem never ending until she finally drifts into a restless sleep.
In the morning, however Tobin would think back on her thoughts of the night before and just chalk it up to the glass of wine she had with dinner. Not much of a drinker, she feels the effects of it far easier than she should and chastises herself for pouring a little more than her usual amount.
Tobin is practical. She knows her life wont change overnight. She knows she is doomed to her life of solitude and has come to terms with it. She finds small joys in flipping the perfect omlette, or finally finishing a particularly hard cross word puzzle that’s been stumping her all week. She smiles dutifully at her coworkers and politely declines their invitations to this weeks bar ritual, claiming prior plans. And she does have plans. She goes to work, goes home, relaxes for a few hours and goes to sleep. Day in day out. Repeat.
It’s a particularly dreary saturday night when Tobin had just settled in for the evening sports center in the background nose in a book. The rain had been pouring since the wee hours of the morning so Tobin was unable to keep up her usual saturday plans. Instead she opted to lounge all day watching movies, and catching up on her shows, then she watched the Thorns ( her favorite women’s soccer team) dominate the Western New York Flash. It wasn’t until a bit later that she grew bored. She was supposed to be reading but her thoughts kept keeping her distracted. Not able to concentrate, she slunk off the couch to find something to do in the kitchen. She decided to bake some brownies, not the box kind but from scratch. They were her famous brownies, even if only her and her family enjoyed them.
She eyed the bottle of wine she had picked up earlier in the week for her usual saturday night glass and thought Why not?
She poured herself a glass and got to work. 30 minutes later, her brownies were in the oven and her glass empty.
Just one more glass would be ok, it’s not like I have to work in the morning.
She set the timer and sat back down on the couch, flipping through the channels. She landed on a rerun of Friends and sat back enjoying her second glass. It was the one where Ross and Rachel had their first kiss. A good episode. A couple of swigs in and she felt herself grow tired. Her eyes began to droop and within minutes she was heading towards unconsciousness. Her last thought was something about how she wished she had someone to share her brownies with and she hoped the timer would wake her up when the brownies were done.....
...
Morning
Tobin woke up to the smell and sound of bacon frying. She smiled in contentment because who doesn’t love the smell of bacon in the morning? It’s one of the most comforting smells in the entire world and hang on...WHO IS COOKING BACON. WHO IN THE WORLD IS IN MY KITCHEN. I’m not in my kitchen...am I? Did I sleep walk? She opened her eyes to confirm. NOPE. Definitely not in my kitchen. WHO THE HELL IS IN MY KITCHEN!
Panic rose in Tobin and she shot out of bed as quietly as she could. Heart racing she padded down the hall with silent feet so as not to tip off the intruder. What kind of evil genius cooks bacon at their hostages house, that’s some messed up shit! Tobin thought. Using the worlds most revered breakfast food for their own gain...blasphemy!
She stopped at the end of the hall and peered over the corner through the living room and into the kitchen. What she saw made her blood run cold. Standing in her kitchen appeared to be a girl, no a woman, about her age. She was dressed in nothing but a snapback, Tobin’s favorite snapback though she hardly ever wore it, and a blue flannel shirt that hung half way down her legs, barely concealing any of the smooth skin that seemed to glow in the morning light streaming through her kitchen windows. Tobin couldn’t tell if she was wearing underwear but she knew for sure she wasn’t wearing pants. Just as she was admonishing herself for getting distracted WHEN THERE WAS A PANTSLESS STRANGER IN HER KITCHEN the girl started dancing, swaying her hips back and forth whipping the spatula through the air for emphasis. Tobin could now hear the music playing through her speakers not too loud so as not to wake her. Or so she assumed. This girl has to be some sort of secret assassin this is ridiculous! That or she thinks she’s in someone else’s apartment. Because just then the girl did some crazy fist pump slash butt jiggle that looked absolutely ridiculous that even Tobin couldn’t help but chuckle at. Yea no way she’s an assassin. she thought as the girl started using the spatula as a mic. Just as mystery girl was really getting into singing uptown funk, she spun and caught Tobin looking at her wide eyed.
Shit.
Fear ran through her once again. Temporarily forgotten by the sheer dorkiness of the scene in front of her, it was back hitting Tobin full force. She locked eyes with mystery girl, who looked faintly familiar, and froze. The girl, however, broke out into a wide grin.
“Hey baby, you’re up! I was just making us breakfast. Man you were quiet this morning, I didn’t even hear you get out of bed!” And with that she turned back to her bacon, flipping it making sure it was completely cooked before piling it on a plate. Tobin was still standing stock still unsure of what to do.
Baby?...what the...is this girl out of her mind...
Tobin began to fear for her life again. No way this girl was right in her mind.
“Tobs? Babe can you get the butter for me I have to start stirring the batter for the pancakes otherwise they wont turn out fluffy like you like...”
She knows my name...not just my name but my nickname that only select people call me. What is going on??
The girl looked over at Tobin while she was still having a silent panic attack.
“Babe?”
Tobin gave her a fleeting look before something caught her eye. It was a picture frame hanging on the wall of her living room. There were a couple of frames actually, scattered all over the walls. Most were pictures of her, Tobin, with mystery girl. One was of them at a park smiling on a bench. Another was taken at what seemed to be an aquarium, beautifully colored fish surrounding them. There were tons of beach pictures of both of them smiling, sun-kissed and tired from a day in the sun. One had the girl kissing Tobin’s cheek. Others had some with Tobin’s family in them. There was also one with her, amy and lauren. Another set had some people that Tobin didn’t know, but she assumed they were the girl’s family, they all looked alike. The one that had originally caught Tobin’s eye however was the most striking of them all. It was larger than the rest, the focal point. They were on a soccer field clearly laying in the net. Tobin had one hand holding a ball by her head and she was looking at the girl with complete and utter adoration in her eyes. The girl was laughing her eyes twinkling and nose scrunched up just slightly, looking at the camera through squinting eyes. Tobin was taken aback with how happy she looked. Never in her life had she taken a picture like that, felt like how she looks in the photograph.
HOW was all of this happening? Tobin started to pale and the girl noticed. She had already started making her way over to her, asking if she was ok, when Tobin took off back down the hallway mumbling an “ I don’t feel well” over her shoulder before slamming the door to her bathroom shut. Tobin slumped over her toilet and heaved.
What the fuck?