Discovered (5 page)

Against her
better judgment, and knowing it was so wrong, she slowed down, eager to hear
what was said next, knowing she was the main topic of the argument.

“That display
of romantic candles would suggest otherwise,” she heard Ben respond
sarcastically.  “It’s funny that I didn’t notice them earlier. Did you suddenly
get an urge to add a little splash of color to the dining room within the last
couple of hours?”

Holding her
breath, she heard Jay sigh loudly.

“Think this
through, Jay. There’s no place in our world for a girl like that,” Ben
whispered.

Layla gasped
inwardly, feeling as though someone had slapped her in the face.

“I got this,”
Jay said insistently.

“Y’think?” Ben
answered. “Judging by the silly look on your face, as you stared at her all
through dinner, I would wager against that.”

Layla quickly
made her way back to the dining room and sat down. She fiddled awkwardly with
her discarded napkin, swallowing hard to dispel the moisture that was
threatening to gather in her eyes. What could Ben have against her? And what
world was he talking about? Was it possible that Jay had a girlfriend—one that
meant something to Ben? Or did Ben think she wasn’t good enough for his friend?

“Hey, are you
alright,” Issy said kindly, looking pensively at Layla. “Are you feeling okay?”

Layla nodded
a little too enthusiastically. And then, before she even realized what was
happening, the tears fell fast and furious.

“Oh my God,
what happened?” Issy questioned. She got up from her seat and rushed to the
other side of the table to place her arms around Layla’s shoulders.

Layla jumped
up and backed away from the girl.  She walked to the doorway, shaking her head,
mortified for crying in front of Jay’s friends.  “I have to leave,” she said
bluntly, realizing that she couldn’t go anywhere without Jay.

 Just then,
Jay walked into the dining room, almost bumping right into her.

He looked
down at her, and his eyes widened with concern. “Layla, what’s wrong?” he
questioned.

She shook her
head but said nothing.

“Do you want
me to take you home?” he asked, his voice thick with anxiety.

She nodded,
avoiding eye contact.

He put his
hand on the small of her back and guided her from the dining room. “I’ll be
back in a little while,” he said over his shoulder to Joey and Issy.

When they
were safely in his car and out of ear-shot, he turned to her. “Layla, will you
please tell me what happened?”

She shook her
head again.

“Did Issy or
Joey say something to upset you?” he pushed.

“No,” she
answered in a weak voice, inwardly cursing herself for the stupid display of
tears.

“I’m so
confused,” he said, looking at her with worry written across his face.

She sighed,
realizing that it was cruel to keep him in the dark. “Just drive and I’ll tell
you,” she mumbled. As the car pulled out of the driveway, Layla took a deep
breath before giving him the explanation. “I was walking down the stairs before,
and I heard you and Ben arguing in the kitchen,” she confessed.

“What did you
hear?” Jay asked, his worried expression changing to one of shock.

“I heard him
say that there was no room in your world for a girl like me.” And then she
realized the implications of her confession. “Not that I think there’s anything
going on between the two of us. That’s not why I got upset. I guess I’m just
not used to someone taking such a strong dislike for me without me giving them
a reason to.”

Jay ran the
fingers of his right hand through his hair. “Understand, Layla, for many, many
years it has been only the four of us. Ben was just being a butt-head. He takes
a while to warm up to new people, but he’ll come around. I promise.”

Layla
wondered what Jay meant by that. Was he considering bringing her around more
often?

“It’s really
none of his business who I become involved with,” he continued, then bit down
on his lip, scowling.

They settled
into an uncomfortable silence for the rest of the short journey. When they pulled
up in front of Layla’s house, something dawned on her. “Are we?” she asked,
turning to face him.

“Are we
what?” he questioned, looking over at her.

“Involved,”
she said quietly, fidgeting with her hands shyly.

He reached
over and took her left hand in both of his. “I’d like it if we were,” he said,
looking deep into her eyes.

A smile
slowly spread across her mouth, and before she knew what was happening, Jay
leaned in and pressed his glorious lips to hers.

When he
pulled away, he smiled at her, causing her heart to skip a beat again. “How are
you feeling?” he asked.

“Better?” she
replied truthfully then let out a tiny giggle.

“Good,” he
said. “Don’t even think about that again. Promise me.”

“Okay,” she
uttered.

“Goodnight,
Layla,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her fingers.

“Goodnight,”
she said a little too dreamily and opened the door.

Layla walked
passed her mother and James on her way to the stairs. “Did you have a good
night?” her mom called out, stopping her in her tracks.

“Yes,” she
replied, trying to wipe the silly smile off her face. “I’ll talk to you in the
morning.”

She made her
way to her room, changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She put her
hand up to her lips and sighed deeply, remembering every detail of the heavenly
kiss.

And then
slowly, as if to dampen her happy mood, the argument that she’d overheard came
back to her full force.
‘There’s no place in our world for a girl like
that.’
She felt irritation stir inside.

As she began
to drift off to sleep, something else surfaced in her mind, something that she
hadn’t been completely aware of until that moment. There had been something
else said, something that she vaguely registered as she hurried back to the
dining room feeling hurt and bewildered, something that she would forget by the
morning.
‘If she finds out the truth about you, we’re all screwed.’

Layla walked
down the stairs feeling groggy from a night of restless sleep. She made her way
into the kitchen to find her mother and James sitting at the breakfast bar
sipping coffee. She walked to the coffee pot and poured herself a mug then
joined them.

“How did you
sleep?” her mother asked.

“Okay, I
guess,” Layla answered.

James had his
face stuck in a tiny, portable TV at the edge of the counter.

“Good
morning, James,” Layla said, rolling her eyes behind his back.

Her mother laughed.

Layla
suddenly remembered the strange conversation that she’d overheard two nights
ago and wondered if her mother had gathered any information about that. But now
that some time had passed, Layla began to wonder if she hadn’t made a bigger
deal out of it than necessary.

“Morning,” he
mumbled, not really paying any attention to her.

“I saw him
two nights before he was reported missing…”
A man said into a microphone held by a cable news reporter.

“They still
haven’t found that guy?” Layla said absentmindedly, looking over James’
shoulder.

“It’s only a
matter of time,” James replied without looking at her.

“Why don’t
they at least show a picture of him?” she asked. “How would anyone even know if
they were standing beside him on line at Walmart? Do they ever show his face?”

“Arthur Vallen
is very elusive,” James answered. “No one has ever seen him outside a small
group of friends and associates, along with the staff of Vallen Enterprises,
but they don’t talk much…some sort of stipulation in their employment contract. 
It appears that the media hasn’t considered the same question you just did.
That, or they’ve been paid a fortune to forget that little detail.”

Something
bothered Layla suddenly, but she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Her
phone ringing dragged her from her pondering. She looked at the screen and saw
it was Jay. She answered the phone quickly and walked into the other room.

“Hey,” she
said, smiling broadly.

“Hi, Layla,”
he answered. “How are you feeling today?”

“Better.
Listen, I’m really sorry about last night. I don’t know why I got so
emotional.”

“No, that’s
fine,” he replied. “I hope you don’t mind, but I had a word with Ben. He feels
terrible that you overheard him.”

“Oh, God,”
Layla moaned. She didn’t want to face that guy again ever.

She heard
quiet arguing on the other end, and then a voice that wasn’t Jays. “Hi, Layla,
this is Ben,” he said.

“Hi, Ben,”
she answered awkwardly.

“I’m really
sorry about last night. Jay told me that you overheard us, and I feel terrible
about the whole thing. I guess I was just being possessive of my best friend.
I’d like to make it up to you if I can.”

“What did you
have in mind?” she said. “Not that it’s necessary. I’m not one to hold a
grudge.”

“I’m sending Jay
over to pick you up. Then I’m going to make brunch for you, and you have my
full permission to throw it in my face if you want. It wouldn’t be the first time
I’ve been pelted with food.”

“Layla, you
don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” Jay said down the line, obviously
having wrestled his phone back, “although I’d like you too. And besides, Issy
wants to see you again.”

“Give me a
half-hour to get dressed,” she requested.

By the time
she was ready, Jay’s text was already on her phone, telling her he was waiting outside.

She ran out
the door after yelling goodbye to her mother, and down the driveway.

She motioned
for Jay to stay in the car, but he shook his head and hopped out. They raced to
the passenger-side door, Jay reaching it a split-second before her. He opened
the door with a smug smirk.

Layla shook
her head with feigned disapproval and climbed in.

“Get used to
it,” Jay said firmly.

“It really
isn’t necessary for Ben to go out of his way for me,” she said as they drove
down the road.

“He wants to
do it,” Jay replied. “I know you probably think differently now, but he’s a
great guy, one of the best people I’ve ever met.”

“I don’t
doubt it,” she said. “We probably just got off on the wrong foot.”

As soon as
she walked into Jay’s house, Issy ran forth and hugged her. “Layla, I’m so sorry
for my stupid man and his big mouth,” she said.

“It’s okay,”
Layla responded just as Ben turned the corner with a long-stemmed rose in his
hand.

“For you,
lovely Layla,” he said, wearing a rueful expression. “And my double apologies,
as I’ve royally screwed-up brunch.”

“Because you
can’t cook to save your life,” Issy said. “I told you that I’d do it for you.”

“Yes, but
that wouldn’t be the same,” Ben argued. “This is supposed to be my apology, not
yours.”

“What did you
do to my kitchen?” Jay asked apprehensively. He walked quickly through the
house, everyone else following behind. “Oh, wow,” he huffed, surveying the
damage. “How did you manage to burn two pans and set the toaster on fire?”

“You’re
surprised?” Issy questioned. “You know it’s a disaster waiting to happen
anytime Ben gets too close to appliances.”

“I was
attempting to make melted cheese on toast. I thought that you could melt cheese
in toasters,” Ben said innocently. “Issy does it all the time.”

“In a toaster
oven
, yes,” Issy explained. “Not in one of these
pop-up
kinds of
toasters.”

“Well, how
was I supposed to know?” Ben answered defensively. “And the pans weren’t my
fault; they were broken. Everything just stuck to the bottom.”

“Did you try
putting some cooking oil on them first?” Jay queried.

“What’s
cooking oil?” Ben asked.

“Never mind,”
Jay mumbled, rolling his eyes. He threw the pans into the sink, turned on the
tap then faced Layla. “Well, it looks like I’m going to be making brunch for
you.”

“It’s really
not necessary,” she answered, pressing her lips together to smother a laugh.

“You have to
eat,” Jay argued.

“Listen, Jay,
why don’t you order a pizza while I clean up the kitchen,” Issy suggested.

“That’s a
great idea,” Layla agreed. “I’ll help you, Issy.”

“No, that’s
not—”

“It’s fine,
Jay,” Layla insisted, cutting him off. “I really don’t mind.”

“Ben, back out
of the kitchen slowly,” Issy warned. “Don’t even think about touching another
thing.”

As Layla and Issy
scrubbed the pans and wiped sludge off the countertops, they picked up their
conversation from the night before, the incident with Ben the previous evening
all but forgotten.

When the pizza
arrived, they sat around the living room floor to eat, resting the pizza box on
the coffee table.

“What do you
guys want to do for the day?” Joey questioned, throwing his paper napkin into
the empty container.

“Anyone up for a
board game?” Ben suggested.

They spent the
remainder of the afternoon and early evening playing Pictionary, boys against
girls. Layla and Issy were unbeatable.

Joey flicked
on the TV momentarily, claiming he wanted to check the weather for the
following day. As usual, the cable news channel soon got around to the missing
billionaire. This time the news anchor was explaining that the prolonged disappearance
of the CEO was causing a major sell-off of stocks.

“Do they ever
stop with this?” Layla said under her breath. “My mother’s boyfriend is
obsessed with this story.”

Joey
chuckled. “Is he? Does he have stocks in that company or something?”

“Nah, he is
in the same business,” she explained. “James owns a small pharmaceutical
company on Long Island. It was his and my dad’s, actually.”

 “Really?”
Ben responded, a suspicious look gracing his features momentarily. “Tell me
Layla, what’s James’ last name?”

Jay looked
down at the coffee table he was sitting crossed-legged in front of, tapping it
with his knuckles.

“Morganson,”
Layla answered. “Why?” she added when she noticed the way Ben was glaring at
Jay, and Jay was purposely avoiding eye contact.

Jay coughed
and put his fist sideways against his mouth.

“Nothing,”
Ben said, smiling warmly. “One more game, winner takes all,” he added
light-heartedly. “Joey, turn off the TV.”

“Takes all
what?” Issy asked.

“Whatever
team wins the next game shall be supreme winners of the day,” Ben announced. He
turned to Joey. “And you, get on your game, my friend.”

“I think it’s
already been established who the supreme winners of the day are,” Issy stated.
“My girl, Layla, and I have won every single game so far.”

“If your brother
had gotten his genius head out of the clouds, we could have taken you easily,”
Ben contradicted.

Issy and Ben
continued to banter back and forth while the others looked on.

Jay raised
his eyebrows and shook his head, his tongue pushed against his cheek. “Alright,
already,” he finally piped in. “One more game.”

Layla and
Issy kicked butt easily. After a few minutes of immature gloating and reminding
the guys that females are the supreme gender, Layla decided that she needed to
go home.

“I’ll be back
soon,” Jay told the other three.

“How long are
you guys staying for?” Layla asked. “Will I get to see you again?”

“Joey and I
are leaving tomorrow, but we’ll be back in a couple of weeks, probably the
Friday before Thanksgiving,” Issy said. “So be prepared to slaughter them
again.”

“Go team!”
Layla blurted out, fist pumping Issy.

“You know it,
my friend,” Issy said, smiling warmly.

“Why are you
leaving so soon, though?” Layla asked. “I thought you were staying longer.”

“Something
came up, and Joey is needed back at work,” Issy explained.

“Don’t I get
a farewell hug?” Joey asked. Layla walked over and threw her arms around him
loosely. “I’ll see you before Thanksgiving, Layla,” he said warmly.

Layla smiled,
delighted by the way the twins were so sure she’d still be around in a couple
of more weeks. All things considered, this was one of the better weekends she’d
ever had.