Toby found out that Ellen may be gay, but she liked a good-looking man and so did her audience. She picked on him a lot about not being found for so long. She questioned how he had stayed under the radar.
"I'm a shy man and had jobs where I worked alone," he told her how he lost his job and found a new one. He loved the people he worked with while dropping the theater store name. He told them that Missy had found him and mentioned what a sweetheart she was. She asked about Travis, but he changed the subject by talking about his fall and how swollen his lip had gotten. Missy then showed a picture of Travis coming out of the airport and raved about how big he was for just one-year-old. "At the rate he's growing, I figure that by the time he is six, he will be my height." Toby didn't mind her showing the picture. All you could tell from it was that he was big and had a lot of dark hair.
That interview went well, and Ellen had seen the movie the day before and loved it. She went on and on about how good it was. They showed the trailer and a few seconds of Toby without a shirt and his happy trail leading the way into his towel as he walked from the shower. That embarrassed Toby and she loved that and teased him about being so shy as he turned away from the audience turning redder.
The next talk show was the next day. They gave him no time to process what he said as he came on stage with Jimmy Kimmel. Toby enjoyed his interview, Jimmy was a funny man and was quite interested in the story of how he was 'discovered'. Toby elaborated a little describing how they hunted him down. How he was scared off thinking that they were porn movie makers and how he ran from the house. They got a good laugh out of that. Just basically shooting the breeze with him like he had with Jay.
He had a very short interview with the ET people. They just need a thirty-second spot. He did that just outside the building. He gave them about five minutes to choose from to show who he was. Late Night with James Corden was another thing, Toby's size intimidated him, or at least he pretended it did and they bantered back and forth about how easy it was for him to carry Missy around for the sex scenes. He was very interested in how that felt. No one told him not to talk about that, so he told him that she was a 'lovely woman' who was worth spending time with, clothed or not. They laughed about what a great deal it was to be an actor.
*
Missy did the same thing on the East Coast and when it was Toby's turn to fly east, she flew back to LA to start her tour of the talk shows before the Premier. Toby watched every one of the shows she was on to see what she said. She turned this into a tango between them because, as she proclaimed, he was so sexy. "We are having the Premiere at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas. It holds eighty thousand but has set the capacity to forty, so everyone has a good view of the screen. Everyone is invited just go to Ticketmaster and buy a general admission ticket for ten dollars. I think everyone will have a great time. It is a lower-budget film, but it is only because we came in extremely under budget." Missy told Jimmy Fallon. "I have been in low-budget films and mega-million ones. This one was slated to be around a hundred and twenty million, but the filming went so quickly. Toby never acted before, but did a phenomenal job, it only took one or two takes, and mainly the second take was for camera angles, and he nailed it every time with minimal splicing. This is a low-budget film with high-budget results."
"Yeah, I watched it this morning with my crew. You gave that poor man a run for his money," Jimmy teased.
"Yeah a sexy man like that comes along, do I look like a fool," Missy quipped back.
"So, is there anything going on there?" Jimmy asked, grinning at her.
"No, just friends, not that I didn't try. No, I did another movie, and he is busy too so no sparks on his side. I'm sure he will explain. I believe you have him coming here in a few days."
*
The first show Toby was scheduled for was The View. The women were all excited to meet him as the second fifteen-minute segment started. Toby walked out in his tight tee shirt showing his muscles, his jeans fitting perfectly. The audience went into an uproar as he walked on set giving them his sexy smile running his hand over his stomach.
"So Sexy Mr. McBride you were just found on the street?' Whoopie asked.
"Nah, on the driveway," he jokingly replied, as the audience laughed at his wit.
"I was found on the stand-up stage that is how I got into movies," Whoopie told him.
"Well I loved it, it is a woman's movie with enough action to keep men interested," Raven said
"Yes, I loved it too. So, tell us about you Toby, we see you have a son," Joy asked.
"Yes, I do, he is almost thirteen months old and a handful." The picture of them at the airport flashed on the screen. It seemed to be the only one anyone had that didn't show his face. Toby was thankful for the discretion the media was showing.
"Yes, he is the love of my life," Toby told them looking up at the picture with Amy standing right behind them. "Yeah he is a big boy, my poor nanny has her hands full when I'm not around. The movie bigwigs hired her for me. When I'm too busy she has him, but I have had him since he was five days old. He was a tiny preemie just five pounds his mother was a big girl five-nine or so a hundred and eighty pounds a real beauty. In case you have not heard, I tend to be drawn to thick women. To me she was perfect," he told the ladies, putting out his hands as if he were holding something big. "Anyway she was not interested in seeing me anymore and I found out she had him by accident. So, my Christmas present was my son. I picked him up from the hospital, took him home, and have had him since."
"Why on earth would she not want you?" Joy asked as the audience cheered at the question.
"Rich family on her way to being someone and I was just a pretty face. Yes, she messed me up for a while, I didn't go out for a whole eight months, and then I saw her, and she had gotten big. I asked her what happened. I do like thick women, but she had gotten a little carried away. That is when she told me my child was at the hospital and she was letting the state have him." The audience gasped and moaned as he looked up at them. They could see the pain in his eyes.
"So, I took him, he was mine. I swore I would never have a one-night stand again." He looked down at his hands and said, "So for the last twenty-one months I haven't held on to a thick woman," Toby said, lifting his hands as if to say I surrender.
"I was not interested in doing it at all. They had to chase me down and talk me into it. On set, I was surrounded by skinny women all eating salads. I like women that enjoy their food, not just eat it," Toby told them again as a few in the audience stood raising their hands. Like I'm here for you. Toby smiled and waved to them. One did look pretty good to him, and she knew she caught his eye. That double take and slight smile told her.
"Sorry for bringing this down, the movie was fun to make and Missy weighs nothing, so it was easy to carry her around," he said as he flexed his muscles and women screamed.
"I hear that Missy had the hots for you," Michele asked, and they watched him turn red.
"That is what she says but you know I figured out a while ago that I have an aversion to feeling ribs. My mother was an alcoholic and as a teen, I would have to pick her up off the floor often and put her to bed. I remember the feel of her ribs on my fingers and that is a complete turn-off to me. I associated them with sickness and death, so that started my aversion to skinny girls."
Whoopie looked sadly at him and asked, "How is she doing?"
Toby shook his head, "She passed right after I turned eighteen. My dad disappeared when I was sixteen. That is why I'm so determined to do better for my son. He will know he is loved."
Looking at the women he smiled. "Wow, that was more than I expected to share. Where is Barbra?" he teased looking around.
Making a quick subject change he said, "We had a great time making this movie. Missy is a good friend and now that I know what I am doing I would love to do another movie," Toby said, sounding like he was done with this interview.
"It sounds like you deserve to have a break," Joy said and led them to a commercial.
*
He was finished with the show by ten, so the limo took him back to the hotel. A very attentive desk clerk approached him as he walked in.
"Mr.McBride, your nanny wanted us to tell you she has your son at the pool," she told him as he pulled off his coat. It was snowing heavily on the streets of New York. Now he knows why he lives in Texas. He found them in a super warm room with a good size pool. Travis was giggling playing in the water of a beach-style pool with several other kids. Amy sat back watching as he played.
"Hey sweetie," Toby called out before he realized what he was doing. Travis saved him and came running out of the pool to him. "Are you having fun sweetie," he asked him, crouching to hug him. Calling out "My Daddy," he clung to Toby for two seconds and then pushed away to go back to the water. Amy kicked her feet looking so good in her bathing suit. Taking his eyes off her he looked out and saw the pool was crowded with people and several small children were playing close to Travis. Crouching next to Amy he asked, "Did you watch?"
"Just you, it answered some questions I had about you, but it was good. Made you human which is good," Amy told him.
"I'm going to take a nap before they come and get me for Fallon at three." He stood and waved to Travis telling him, "Have fun."
*
Toby plopped on his bed, he hadn't slept well last night, those women had him worried. Older women make him open up just like Louise had and sure enough, he emptied his heart. Well as much as he could. Rob should be glad he pushed for thicker women and trashed Candace without giving away her life's story. Hopefully, Jimmy Fallon didn't watch the view. The heater hummed and lulled him to sleep.
An hour later he heard Amy come in with a fussy Travis.
"Calm down Travis we just need to get dressed and we will go eat," Amy whined, he is becoming difficult to handle mainly because he is so heavy for her. He knew if he squirmed enough, she would have to let him down. Climbing close to forty pounds was a third of her weight. Toby would worry if he was fat, but he is muscular, and the pediatrician says he is healthy, he will just be a linebacker.
Sitting up he called out, "I'll go with you, I'm hungry too." A quick brush of his hand over his hair still looked good from the stylist at The View. They had been there two days and had only eaten room service or the restaurant in the hotel. Neither one was very adventurous, especially in this big city. He was fine looking out to this world through the window of a limo. He was not interested in walking the streets plus it was freaking cold out there.
They ate again in the hotel restaurant. The battle was on with Travis he was tired but hungry making him a terror. They were able to get enough food in him and he passed out in his daddy's lap. They put him in his bed and Toby drags Amy off to his room for a quickie. He had only minutes to spare as he took a shower. Amy yelled from the bed, "They are waiting."
Stepping out of the bathroom with nothing blocking her view of his body she smiled.
"Hey, thanks sweetie, I needed that," he said, taking his clothes out of the suitcase.
"Sure, anytime," she said, reaching out to touch him as he passed by. That ass of his was too fine to not touch as it passed by.
*
Stepping out to the sidewalk the limo driver ran around to open his door embarrassing Toby. He could have opened the door if he knew it was for him.
"Toby McBride, right?" the driver asked, extending his hand for him to enter.
"Yeah, we are going to Fallon?"
"Yes, sir he is not far from here," he said and closed the door on him. Toby sat back and looked around this limo and wondered who was in here last because they were pigs. He wondered if the state fair was in town; it looked like hay. After being in so many limos he had standards. Pulling up to the side door the driver jumped out banged on the door twice and came around to help Toby out. The door popped open as he approached, and a strong gust of wind hit, sending dust, trash, and snowflakes flying down the alley. Some followed him in as he slipped into the door. He was greeted by a pretty girl, who escorted him to the makeup room, where they pampered him for an hour. That he could get used to.
The warmup of the band started. You could hear the audience coming in and the atmosphere changed in the building. The make-up girls were upbeat and kept the butterflies away.
That Yah, Yah, Yah, song was playing, and you could hear Jimmy going out on stage. Rob called him earlier and told him Jimmy had watched the movie so Toby knew he could talk about aspects of the movie and get an informed response, and it was good he had seen it.
Most of the others he spoke with had only seen the trailer and he could tell. That made it difficult to talk about the movie. That is why he talked about women so much. Given his cue, he stood at the curtain and waited for his name to be called. He wore his favorite jeans and a tight tee shirt that Deb bought him. The place was cool but not so cold that he needed a coat. Jimmy was giving them his introduction talking about the movie he was in, and that it was his first movie and how it was his first time to act. He walked out and looked around as the people clapped, he saw Jimmy and hadn't realized he was so tall. Then he noticed he was standing on a stage. Smiling, he went to shake his hand and stepped up on the stage. Waving to the audience the higher-pitched female voices pierce the air. He waved and smiled his sexy smile to the screamers and sat next to Jimmy.
"Wow, what a reception," Jimmy said, and the audience went back to screaming. Putting his hands out as if to say whoa he called out, "Hey I only have so much time to talk about my movie," Toby told the crowd, still smiling as the place grew quiet.
"Yeah, let's talk about this movie. I watched it earlier and man it was good. When I heard it was your first, I was skeptical, but you did well."
"Thank you, I tried." He said and looked back out to the crowd. "It was all new to me, they plucked me from my job at The University Home Theater Store, and there you go Louise a plug," he said and grinned for Louise. "I was at the director's home to install a big screen so they could watch the Rushes. I learned that word Rushes," he said and grinned again.
"Yeah, Missy said you were kind of kicking and screaming when you came into this."
"Almost, but I promised to do my best,"
"Well, that you did, it was good," Jimmy told him and then asked. "You kind of broke Missy's heart,"
He laughed and said, "Yes I did, but a person can't help what he likes. I prefer a woman like Ashley Graham or Robyn Lawley. Now those are women who have some nice meat on their bones. But I tell you the director for this movie hired a nanny for my son and she may change my mind. I can see why men get in trouble with the nannies. She is always around, and she is so good with my kid. But damn she is skinny, cute but skinny," Toby said, sounding very Texas country.
"Let's watch this clip," Jimmy said, wanting to calm him down and get back on track.
The clip played and it was longer than the others he had seen. They had a two-second clip of Toby's bare chest, and the women howled at the sight. Toby turned looking at them and smiled turning red. As Jimmy began to tease him about the reaction from women he said, "Can you believe they wanted me to shave that hair off? I refused. I think it is sexier that way," Toby said as the audience exploded. He stood lifting his shirt and ran his hand over his stomach. "See that is sexy. Right?" Toby asked. "I told them hell no, that is the body of a man."
They had to wait for the women to settle before he could continue.
"The scenes of you and Missy were steamy, was that difficult?" Jimmy asked him to sit down so the audience could calm down.
"Not to give away movie secrets but sex scenes are difficult. I would rather do a war scene again. I did enjoy carrying Missy around. She weighs nothing so that was easy." Toby looked out to the crowd and got a mischievous smile. "Now I will say having her boob in my mouth was nice. She is a sexy thing." The audience's volume went up again.
"Yeah, she seemed to have enjoyed that too," Jimmy told him. Toby looked embarrassed because he knew that Missy had carried on about his body when she was there just a few days ago.
"Yeah, I'm sure she did. She did seem to enjoy the day. Don't get me wrong, she has a nice little body."
"Yeah, I saw that too," Jimmy quipped back. "You need to see this movie. I enjoyed it so much I plan to take it home and watch it again tonight."
"Thanks," Toby said, "Yeah y'all come and see the movie we are having the premiere at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas. We can hold forty thousand people for a good view of the screen. We hope people come. Yeah, you can't get into that place for ten dollars any other time. We plan to party after the show," Toby told the world. "Otherwise, if you can't make it, it opens the next day all over the country. But I'm looking forward to the premiere. I have never been to one. It should be fun. I enjoyed making the movie, I'm sure you'll enjoy watching it. It is good for women and men, it has a bit of action, drama, romance, and the always sexy Missy Collins."
"And the sexy you, they parade you around quite a bit." Jimmy threw in.
"That they do, but it has a reason, I'm not strutting around for no reason. So, we are having the premiere in Dallas to promote the movie industry in Dallas. I was told it was so much easier to film there and cheaper, that is a good thing." He said and smiled at the audience. "Missy likes it in Dallas, the paparazzi aren't bad. I haven't had a problem since no one knows me, but we did go shopping at Christmas and she was only asked to sign a few autographs, and you can go just about everywhere without being bothered. I was raised in the area. So, I know Texas living. The first time I went anywhere outside of DFW was to the Austin area and that was the furthest I had ever been from home until now. Then they fly me out to LA, and I come off the plane after five hours of dealing with my son and my first long airline flight and I'm surrounded by paparazzi. We had fun though. We stayed with Missy. She has a beautiful home. She may regret that my son is a mess. He is one and cutting teeth and that boy climbs everything. He runs his nanny to death. I'm amazed she stays with us."
"I saw the photo of your son and I heard he was a one-year-old and thought oh that actor isn't that big, but you are big, and he still covers your body," Jimmy pointed out as the picture appeared on screen.
"Yeah he is big, about forty pounds, and he walks, climbs, and talks in short sentences already. I give that to the Nanny. I teased her when he started walking at nine months that she would have him talking in sentences in no time and she has. She claims he is smart; I figure it comes from his mother's side and he got his looks from me," Toby said as the women cheered.
"How old?" Jimmy asked, he was enjoying his stories and wanted to keep him talking.
"He will be thirteen months on the day the movie opens. Toby said, bringing the focus right back to the movie.
"Good lord he is going to be a white Shaquille O'Neil if he keeps growing like he is," he said with exaggerated arm movements to display how big he will be as they showed the picture of him and his son at the airport again.
"I know what you mean, but it's not fat. He is thick with muscles which is why I feel sorry for his nanny. Try to get something he has picked up from him, it's not easy to take candy from this baby. I do a lot of the day-to-day taking care of my son. I was his soul caretaker until this movie came along. He was born six weeks early, a tiny little five-pound thing when I got him. I was afraid I would break him. Can you tell I'm a proud father?" They bantered back and forth until the commercial break and Toby made a run for it. He had been told he could, he was not interested in the next guest.
*
He did good, a little crazy, but good he thought. He wanted to go home, but he had another show tomorrow morning.
After another night of room service meals, it was too difficult to take Travis out in public at his age. After the fiasco at lunch, they didn't need a repeat. That was all they needed was Travis throwing a fit with pictures of Toby trying to control him.
"Other stars keep their small children out of the public eye at this age," Amy told him as they discussed ordering dinner. He was feeling bad for hiding his son. She knew he was proud of him and hated sitting him in a corner, but he is difficult to handle when he sees something, he wants it now. Again, proof of his intelligence. Keeping him in a room was better for him, she was not sure if he had ADHD, or if he was just so smart that he was seeking entertainment, it was too early to tell. Plus, he still had black eyes from his fall.
Toby stood in the lobby. The limo was due at any moment. This was the early show he wasn't even sure what it was. He knows he looks good Amy made sure after waking him at four. Apparently, it was a morning show that was all he could tell you if asked. The car was to pick him up at five, so he was ready and then their flight to go back to Dallas was at two that afternoon. He couldn't wait to go home and have the opening then get paid so he could buy Louise out. He decided this morning after being woken at the 'ass crack of dawn' he could do without the hassle. Working for Louise was easy, no matter how hard he worked it was easier working at the store. He just wanted to go back to his old life more than anything. At least he could buy a house and the store without having to spend hundreds of dollars on Lottery tickets he thought and chuckled at his wit as the limo pulled up. Checking the lobby for anyone else who could be waiting, only the desk staff were there. Everyone else was snug in their beds like sane people.
*
Toby wondered how long he would have to wait to start this live show. They have gone over all the questions about how he would answer them keeping it PG for the morning club. He wore a pair of black slacks and a button-down gray shirt per Amy's request. He met Kelly on set. Nice friendly tiny woman he knew she would be from watching the videos Missy forced on him. Again, the women in the audience freaked out as he came out to the stage. Smiling, they embarrassed him as he walked across the stage. Kelly was not much help egging them on; she too acted a fool. He knew it was all an act, but it still embarrassed him. Raising his hand to wave and then to calm them.
Wondering what is wrong with women. He is still confused as to why women would line up just to see him shirtless. Lucky for them they get to see more than that. The conversation went well after everyone settled down. They talked about the movie a little then about how they found him. He made fun of himself for running off when they asked if he could act. They showed a G-rated cut of the movie clip and then talked about how well he did for never acting before. His segment was over before he knew it, much to his relief. They had a pretty singer coming on who arrived moments before she was to go on stage. He figures being a newbie they had to make sure he knew how to act and what to say. He does have to admit he did say a few things that were personal and possibly upsetting to some on the other shows. But as Amy says it makes him human. He hadn't been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Perhaps a Dairy Queen long red plastic spoon better describes his upbringing.