Sonia took the folded blanket and spread it open, then draped it over Toby’s resting form, but that wasn’t the end of it; she asked Tom to turn up the thermostat, and it wasn’t until after he had done so that she visibly relaxed.
Tom, on the other hand, was relieved and somewhat grateful to see her taking such tender care of Toby. This display was enough to prove that whatever Toby had done and sacrificed for Sonia was worth it, for she had repaid in kind.
Presently, Sonia was clueless as to Tom’s passing thoughts as she sat down next to Toby. Her body was turned to the side as she gazed down at his sleeping profile.
The effects of Toby’s overt wine drinking were evident in his flushed face, but there were gray shadows beneath his eyes that told her he had not slept a wink last night and had passed out from the alcohol alone.
She supposed she was grateful that he only downed red wine last night. If he had been on much harder stuff, then he would have ended up in the hospital at best and dead at worst.
The possibility of the latter made
Sonia shudder.
Just then, her phone rang. She regained her composure and fished the phone out of her purse, only to see that it was a call from Rose. She’s probably desperate to know if Toby is okay, she thought, then answered the call without missing a beat. “Grandma.”
“Sonia,” Rose’s voice was full of worry as she asked, “did you manage to see Toby?”
Nodding, Sonia said grimly, “I did.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful news. How is he doing right now? Did he do anything impulsive?” Rose pressed anxiously, tightening her clutch on her cane.
Sonia looked down at Toby momentarily before explaining, “He got really drunk, but other than that, it doesn’t look like he’ll do anything impulsive just yet.”
“But he didn’t do anything at all aside from drinking?” Rose questioned, sounding incredulous. Toby had gone through quite the rough alcoholic phase back in the day, and if the liquor wasn’t enough to knock him out, he would start cutting himself. To hear that he had not resorted to selfharming this time and only stopped at getting drunk was surprising, and
Rose couldn’t hide her disbelief.
“That’s right,” Sonia said with a nod. “Mr. Brown said that Toby likely passed out cold before he could hurt himself.”
“No, that’s impossible!” Rose stood up abruptly.
Sonia was a little taken aback by the ferocity of the old woman’s denial. “Grandma, what is it?”
All the color drained from Rose’s face as she demanded, “Sonia, tell me what he drank.”
Red wine,” Sonia answered matter-of-factly, without hesitation.
To the side, Tom faltered as he clenched his fists nervously. Oh, crap, Old Mrs. Fuller isn’t like Miss Reed; there's no way she wouldn’t know that it would take more than red wine to knock President Fuller out. But now that he has passed out cold from drinking red wine, Old Mrs. Fuller will definitely grow suspicious of this.
Sure enough, Rose clutched her phone even tighter when she heard Sonia’s reply. “No, that can’t be. Toby is a heavyweight, and it’s impossible that red wine could knock him out. Sonia, is Tom with you right now?”
Sonia gave Tom a cursory glance. “Yes.”
Rose’s expression grew stormy as she bit out, “Hand him the phone. I need to speak with him right now.”
“Alright, just a moment.” Sonia pulled the phone away from her ear and passed it to Tom, saying, “Mr. Brown, Grandma would like to speak with you.”
Knowing there was no escape from what was destined to come, Tom took a deep breath to calm his nerves. With a forced smile, he took the phone and greeted, “Old Mrs. Fuller.” He walked out of the study to continue the rest of the phone conversation.
Meanwhile, Sonia was a little baffled by his leaving, not understanding why he had to take the call outside. However, she did not dwell on this and instead raked her fingers through Toby’s hair to comb it into submission. Then, she got onto her feet and went into the bathroom to fetch a basin of water so that she could give Toby’s face a good wiping.
Out on the balcony, Tom surreptitiously closed the balcony doors behind him. Having gone out of Sonia’s earshot, he loosened up enough to answer Rose’s question forthrightly, saying, “Old Mrs. Fuller, President Fuller has, indeed, passed out from drinking red wine alone.”
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