Chapter 12 – Fate
The lawyer and the client entered The Grille looking more like a couple than a pair sharing a professional interest. Arms linked and hearty laughs, Toby escorted Spencer to the nearest available table. Displaying his typical gentlemanlike mannerism, he pulled her chair out for her before retreating to the seat across from her.
After the two ordered, Spencer cut right to the chase; there was no time for small talk. "I am certain that Detective Wilden is somewhere twitching in frustration over another defeat by me, perhaps conjuring up more bogus evidence to link you to Alison's murder. I know this is going to be difficult, but you have to try hard to remember as much as you can from that night. Hopefully, this meal will give you some fuel to get those wheels turning in that little brain of yours."
Toby nodded, offering a sincere smile that indicated he would give it a shot.
Goosebumps formed on Spencer's arms. That gorgeous smile had such an effect on her. She was one second away from fanning herself. It was obvious that she was hot and bothered. She was still fangirling over their almost kiss just moments prior. Oh, how she wanted those lips of his brushing across hers, his hungry tongue darting tenderly into the crevices of her oral cavity.
Spencer wanted to strangle Hanna. If Hanna hadn't reminded Spencer of the obvious—that Spencer hadn't been kissed since a Republican was in the white house—she probably wouldn't be fantasizing incessantly like some hormonal teen. Oh, please! Who are you kidding? Just admit it, Spencer, you're totally into him. Spencer's subconscious interceded. She shook her head frantically to rattle her inner voice from taking over.
"Take a look at the folder I gave you. That's your file. Read the facts summary page dated September 2 of last year," she ordered.
Obeying the gracious beauty, his sapphire gems zoomed in on the context and proceeded to read aloud.
Authorities were dispatched around 7 a.m. to the home owned by Kenneth and JessicaDiLaurentis. When officials arrived, they were greeted with the aftermath of a wild party. In questioning the attendees, police were unable to determine who made the 911 call. Many of the young men and women were still heavily under the influence and couldn't provide a declaratory statement worth documenting. Others refused to speak to the police. The cops were about to conclude that the emergency call was a hoax when the son of the homeowners complained that he couldn't find his sister.
The officers on the scene questioned Jason Nicholas DiLaurentis, asking when he last saw his younger sibling. He informed cops that Alison Elizabeth DiLaurentis came home from a friend's and went straight to her room.
When the cops entered the young lady's room on the second floor, they found an unconscious male sprawled out in the middle of her floor. Her brother confirmed that the male was an invited guest and a member of his fraternity. After waking Tobias Allen Cavanaugh up, the police questioned his reasoning for being in the young lady's sleeping quarters. Unable to thoroughly remember due to his intoxicated state, he specified that the last thing he remembered was sitting on the sofa in the living room while drinking the previous night. He claimed he couldn't remember how or why he ended up in the young lady's bedroom.
He provided one additional statement—he claimed to have heard a girl's scream. When asked of the screamer's identity and/or why the person was screaming, he professed he couldn't remember. He also failed to explain the fresh bruise to his left temple.
Toby looked up from the context to meet Spencer's eyes for her reaction. Her eyes were deadpanned on him.
"I asked you to read that to try to jog your memory. Other than what you told the cops, do you remember anything else?" she inquired as she took possession of his folder.
"I didn't tell the cops about this note, because I thought the fellows were just joking around," Toby admitted as he retrieved the folded up slip of paper from his pocket.
Spencer read the message written in green ink. "I know what you did," she recited aloud. "Who gave you this?"
Toby just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It was tucked inside my fist the next morning. I didn't pay it any attention really. I mean, I didn't know she was really missing until after several days and no one saw her. And then this year for Labor Day, when they found her… her body, I-I assumed that note…"
Spencer quickly interjected, "Implied you killed her?"
Toby looked away as tears filled his oceanic irises.
Spencer took a deep breath before asking him the burning question that was eating her up inside. "Toby… did you and Ali… did you two have a thing going on?"
"No. Never."
Spencer deliberated, "Are you sure? Because my parents lived next door to the DiLaurentis's, and while I never knew her, my sister labeled her as quite a flirt. She said she caught Alison whispering stuff to her husband on more than one occasion."
Toby looked up, his eyes meeting hers. "I'm telling you—she and I were never involved. I barely knew her. She was just Jason's little sister who moved back home after graduating from some college in Georgia. She held up in her room all night when we had parties there."
Spencer sighed as she flipped frantically through the pages of his file. She believed what Toby told her, but nothing was making sense. Being highly intelligent and extremely rational about everything, Spencer was determined to make the pieces fit the puzzle accordingly.
"Ok, so… the next morning, you woke up in Alison's room…" Spencer summarized his readings.
Toby nodded, confirming her statement.
"Ok. When you woke up, did you have mud on your shoes or clothes?" she investigated.
Toby thought back to that morning. "No," he confessed.
"Dirt under your fingernails?"
Toby shook his head from side to side. "Not a spec."
"How long did it take for you to start moving around after the cops woke you up?"
Toby positioned his chin in his palm that was propped up on the table. He was so embarrassed to tell Spencer, but he knew he had to. "My hangover was so bad that I had to have the pledges help me down the stairs. My head was throbbing like a hammer was beating against my skull. It was awful. I usually get drunk, but never so intoxicated that I forget what happened. It was the worse hangover I ever had."
Toby was too ashamed to see Spencer's reaction to his careless behavior. He knew she was of elegancy and decorum and probably frowned upon his kind—those that used college as an excuse to act like animals before it was time to venture off into the real world. He assumed she was changing her mind about her feelings for him and was probably rejoicing in her mind that their kiss didn't take place.
Toby was surprised when he felt her smooth fingers cupping his chin. Directing his face, she forced him to look at her. She was smiling amiably.
"Don't be ashamed. I'm no saint. Remember two weeks ago?"
Toby roared with light laughter as he remembered drunk Spencer two weeks ago. "So, I'm corrupting you?" Toby coyly asked.
Spencer blushed, but remained speechless.
Toby raised an eyebrow. "Are you ok with that?"
"Let's just say that my friends would be proud," she chuckled as she remembered Aria's, Emily's, and especially Hanna's reactions when they met for dinner the day following her carefree rendezvous with Toby. Spencer was always pegged as a goody-two-shoe. Even though the girls all went to different universities after Rosewood High, they all knew that while they were out socializing and having fun, Spencer was having slumber parties with her textbooks in the library.
Spencer was about to explain to Toby her reasoning for asking him those questions when the devil who wears Prada came strolling over.
"Spen-cer!"
Spencer wished she possessed the ability to turn invisible when the familiar voice rang through her eardrums. Of all her friends, it just had to be Hanna. Hanna—the one who wasn't shy and would no doubt tease her about the guy in front of her.
Smiling brightly, the blond invited herself to share Spencer's seat. Clasping her hands together, she teased, "Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Spencer loved Hanna. She was the life of any party with her controversial and witty remarks. But right now, Spencer wished she could mute the blond. It was only a matter of seconds before Hanna said something to embarrass Spencer in front of Toby.
Piping up with an excuse to get rid of Hanna, Spencer quickly blurted. "Hanna, this is a client from the firm. This is a business meeting." Spencer exaggerated business meeting in high hopes that Hanna would behave.
Hanna popped her glossy lips in disbelief. "I just saw how you touched his face!" Hanna exclaimed.
Spencer's cheeks turned pink. She was busted. Hanna turned to face a quiet Toby.
"Are you the one who got my friend drunk at the bar a few weeks ago?"
Toby's bottom lip dropped. "I… uh… didn't mean to… I… she…" Running out of a logical explanation, Toby decided to just apologize. "I'm sorry…"
"So, it WAS you. Oh, no apologies. I'm excited she finally loosened up. I wish you would have recorded her. We see Spencer drunk about as often as an eclipse," Hanna gloated.
Toby chuckled and looked at Spencer. The brunette was right; her friend was proud.
"I like you already," Hanna smiled. She placed her hand to the side of her face to prevent Spencer from seeing her lips. She whispered, "Next time, go for it." She used her free hand to add air quotes around the word it, hoping Toby would decode her request.
Spencer heard anyway. Grabbing a butter-glazed roll from the bread basket in the center of the table, Spencer tossed it at Hanna. "Put something in your mouth besides your foot!" the lawyer ordered.
Seeing how flustered Spencer was by her blunt friend, Toby decided to excuse himself to give the girls a moment alone. Besides, he needed his privacy. He had a large amount of laughter he needed to release. That Hanna was hilarious.
As soon as Toby was out of earshot, Spencer gave Hanna the look of death. The brunette roared, "He's just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Whhhy?" Hanna winced like a spoiled little child. "Don't you have enough on Facebook? Besides, don't you want someone real? Someone you can… I don't know, scratch and sniff?"
"Maybe you should eat that roll over the garage," Spencer suggested.
"Hey! You can't talk to my pregnant wife like that," a baritone voice nagged.
The shagged haired fellow with more facial hair than his last visit to town grabbed a nearby seat and added himself to the table that was meant for two. Smiling mischievously, he pestered, "Missed me?"
Spencer palmed her forehead. "Double the sarcasm! Oh God, why me?"
"Nice to see you too," Caleb teased.
"Babe, Spencer is on a date!" Hanna exclaimed.
"Alright! About time!" he retorted, and the married couple high-fived each other.
"I know right! I thought this day would never come!" the blond gleefully agreed.
"You guys know that I'm right here, right?" Spencer stated.
Ignoring her, Hanna continued, "I told her the other day I thought it was going to take a chainsaw to maneuver through the thick layers of cobwebs to get to her vajayjay…"
Spencer gasped when Toby reappeared and kicked Hanna under the table, a gesture begging her to shut-the-hell-up.
Spencer introduced everyone. When Caleb shook Toby's hand, he asked the unsuspecting fellow, "So, you know how to work a chainsaw?"
It was probably fate that the waiter forgot to provide them with silverware, because Spencer wanted to die right then and there. Although the look on Toby's face indicated he had no knowledge of the trio's previous conversation, Spencer was still embarrassed. Where was sweet Emily and calm Aria when you needed them?
"You know, you guys are like those things that stick on the side of boats," Spencer fired at her giggly friends.
"I thought you fancy Rosewood girls knew how to say please and thank you," Caleb sneered.
Hanna leaned in so only her friend could hear her words, "Trust me, you're going to thank me later."
Spencer was so caught up in humiliation that she didn't notice the small item Hanna slipped into her purse housed in Spencer's lap. Hanna patted her friend on her shoulder as she struggled to get up, her enlarged belly making the simple process a little more challenging.
"Come on, Sketchy. I think we've embarrassed Spence enough," Hanna announced.
Toby fought back his boyish chuckles.
Caleb looked at Spencer. "I won't say anything else. I'll be very quiet. I promise!"
"You're not slick, mister," Hanna proclaimed. "We agreed tonight was movie night. Let's go."
Caleb pouted and kicked his feet, acting out a temper tantrum like a kid.
"Why don't you wanna go?" Spencer questioned.
"She wanna be the first in line to see her boy Justin Bieber's new movie," he pouted.
"First of all, it's not just a movie; it's his real story!" Hanna defended.
"About what? His hair?" Caleb probed.
"You know what? Just don't talk about the Biebs, Ok? You don't know the Biebs. You don't understand the Biebs. Or his hair," Hanna ordered.
Meanwhile Spencer and Toby were cracking up at the married couple.
"You're not getting out of this movie, babe. I bought the tickets in advance," Hanna smiled at her cleverness.
Caleb rolled his eyes as he stood up, admitting his defeat. "Fine. But if you're going to make me go, at least buy me a large popcorn."
"But you don't like popcorn," Hanna stated.
"I'm going to use the bucket to put over my head…" he grimaced.
Hanna grabbed her husband's hand. Spencer was relieved the two were finally leaving. But before her exhale was complete, Hanna snapped her fingers as if she forgot something. She pointed her manicured index finger at Toby.
"So, we'll see you at the Christmas party, right?" she inquired.
"Han-na!" Spencer intervened. "I'm sure he has plans to spend his holidays with his family."
"Actually," Toby spoke up for the first time since the ambush. "My parents live in Virginia. I'm forbidden to leave the city, so…"
"So, we will see you for Christmas. Awesome!" Hanna exclaimed. "Ok, ok, we're leaving. Call me later, Spencer."
Finally, Blondie and Sketchy left the lawyer and her client alone. Spencer was staring down at her lap, fidgeting with her cloth napkin. She was unsure of his reaction to her crazy friends. Spencer felt her face being alleviated. Toby's hand was raising her face up, forcing her to look at him. His smile was contagious.
"I like your friends," he avowed.
"They like you, too," she declared. And so do I! she thought to herself. "Sooo…" Spencer nervously stated, "what are your plans for Thanksgiving?"
"Finish unpacking my stuff, so when my stepsister comes back from visiting our parents, she won't be bumping into everything," he announced.
Spencer remembered that he had sold his loft to pay the hefty fees her firm charged and had moved in with his blind stepsister.
"Orrr," Spencer sang sweetly, "You could… have dinner… with me… and my family?"
Toby smiled, "Should I bring a popcorn bucket?"
The brunette laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed so much. How did she survive before meeting this beautiful blue-eyed man?
Although Spencer initially cringed when Hanna ambushed their 'date,' she was happy for the intrusion. Now, Spencer wouldn't be spending her holidays alone. The irony of fate.
Sometimes, you have to just believe in fate.