The Romance of Nick and Layla (Parts 1-3) (19 page)

"Well I’d hate for you to repeat yourself like a broken record so I’ll just politely say no again."

He grabbed my arm with such strength that I winced out loud. "Start walking."

"What?" I practically yelled at him.

"Now. Start walking." Dear Lord, this is not what I had in mind. So with no other choice, except for the death grip on my arm, I headed for the exit. Once we were outside in the cool air I tried to break free from Nick but he wouldn’t move his hand.

"Let go of me, Nick! I’m not a child and I certainly don’t need to be escorted out like one."

"Oh, really? Then stop acting like a child Layla." He pulled me along until we were at the passenger side door of his car. He unlocked it and held the door open for me.

Obeying, I got in the car and watched as he walked around to get behind the wheel. Once he had his door open and was in the process of sitting down I took the opportunity to open my door and step out, trying to quickly walk towards my own car. But Nick stopped me before too long and held me deep in his arms, staring down at me with cold eyes. "Don’t piss me off, Layla."

"Or what Nick?"

"Get back in the car."

"I’m perfectly capable of driving myself Nick."

"Fine." I thought he was going to let me go but no. The damn bastard picked me up and carried me back to the car and placed me in my seat. The mother fucker CARRIED me. Like a child. He got behind the wheel and started the engine, driving off towards Santa Monica.

"Want to tell me what the hell you thought you were doing?" Silence. "And what the hell are you wearing Layla? Were you purposely trying to tease a guy into bed with you or something?"

Fuck you, Nick. But still, silence on my part.

"Layla I’m talking to you!"

But I’m not talking to you. Bastard. He gave up then and I just stared out the window at the living, breathing city as it passed us by. I was so mad I could feel my chest heaving. I wanted to slap him. Hard.

It seemed to take forever but we finally pulled up in front of my house. I didn’t even wait for him to stop the car completely before my hand was opening the door and I was reaching into my bag for my keys. Nick followed me up to the front door I’d just had replaced that morning and stood behind me as I fished out the keys and unlocked the door. Sensing I might try to slam the door in his face, which I fully intended on doing, he grabbed hold of the door and held it wide open, walking through after me.

I made my way into my bedroom, clicked on the light and threw my purse on the floor.

"Start talking to me Layla," Nick said from the doorway.

But I’d be damned if I gave him the satisfaction of answering any of his questions. I pulled open a drawer and fished out one of Nick’s old tee shirts. In one swift movement I slipped out of the slinky gold dress and slipped on the old shirt.

I stepped into the bathroom next, turned on the faucet and began applying makeup remover to my face. I glanced back into the room and noticed that Nick was sitting down on my bed. It only added fuel to my fire.

Five minutes later I exited the bathroom, clean faced and hair swept back into a pony tail and I went to my usual side of the bed.

"Come on, Sweetie. Talk to me."

I felt Nick’s eyes on me as I picked up the bottle of lotion from the bedside table and began sweeping it over my arms and legs.

"Were you trying to make me jealous?"

I looked up at Nick as I moved to the next leg, lotion in hand. He looked serious but I could see the sadness in his eyes. I looked away, picked up a nearby bottle of water and took a long sip from it.

"Why?"

I set the bottle back down, un-tucked the sheets on the bed and crawled in, settling myself in. Much to my amazement Nick opened the covers and straddled me, sitting neatly on my legs, his weight settled into his own legs. I could barely move and was forced to look at him. I couldn’t keep silent much longer.

"Why do you like hurting me Layla?" For one startled moment I thought I saw a tear in his eye. It was the first time I could see how clearly upset he was, how emotionally strained he was.

"What are you talking about?" My voice was much softer than I wanted it to be. But seeing him with tears in his eyes just did something unexplainable to me.

"Didn’t you know that seeing you with another guy like that would kill me?"

"Is that how you felt?"

"Yes."

"I didn’t want you to feel quite like that."

"Then what were you trying to do?" he asked. I watched as a solo tear fell from his eye and landed with a small splash on my chest.

I felt ashamed then. I was an adult with the mentality and attitude of a spoiled, bratty teenager. "I don’t know," I confessed. Jesus, I’m really messed up.

"Well I think I finally understand you, Layla."

"What do you mean?"

"You could never be in love with me the way you used to. Could you?"

Oh God. I didn’t even want to know the real answer to that question. "Nick."

"No. Don’t say anything." He got up and stood at my side for a moment, just running his hands through his hair and staring into space. Then, "I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ll be gone for the next five weeks. But I’ll be back for the final divorce hearing. If you need anything just call me, okay? I’ll show myself out."

I watched completely dumbfounded as Nick walked out of the room. I heard the front door close, then the sound of a car engine starting up and driving away into the night. And then silence. Except for the slow sob that came from my own mouth. And that’s when it hit me.

I had lost him. For good. I thought it was what I wanted, to be free of him once and for all. But now that he was really gone...

And perhaps worst of all was the way I had handled myself with disgrace and without dignity. I’d been the catalyst for the most awful destructive force in what little relationship we had left. My hand went to my stomach and the weight of the world hit me like a piano from the sky.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ring.

Come on Nick, pick up your phone.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

‘Hey this is Nick. Leave me a message after the...’ Shit.

I hung up the phone and fell back onto the couch. It had been a week since Nick left my house and already I was feeling mighty stupid and desperate. I thought for sure that I wanted him out of my life for good, to eventually stop loving him and move on with my life. But I couldn’t. Oh God. And then it hit me. I needed him.

But now I’d lost him for good.

In a little less than five weeks I would be the ex Mrs. Nick Hudson. And a few months after that I would be giving birth to his child. No. Something about this picture was wrong. I had it all planned in my head but now... Now it didn’t seem so picture perfect. When did it all change?

That night that Nick cried. The same night he asked me why I liked hurting him. It wasn’t that I wanted to hurt him, per se, it’s just that... I did. And I succeeded. I hurt him. How could I have done that? And to make matters worse I’d behaved in the grossest fashion possible. I was a monster.

I picked up the phone and dialed Nick’s cell for the tenth time that day.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

Click.

I knew Nick well enough to know that he never turned off his phone. And that he always checked the caller ID. He knew I was calling him. And he was avoiding me.

I picked up the phone absently and clicked it on. "Hello?"

"Hey baby. It’s me."

I quickly disregarded the pair of shoes in front of me and settled against the wall of the closet. "Hey you."

"What are you doing?"

"Cleaning my closet. Doesn’t that sound like fun?"

"Lots."

"What about you?"

"Taking a break. I’m in New York right now."

"Want to trade places?" I mused as I looked at the pair of trainers in front of me.

"I have a better idea."

"Uh oh. And this would consist of what?"

I smiled as I heard Nick laugh into the phone. "Let me take you away for the weekend."

I bit my bottom lip and tried not to smile; though I really wanted to. "I’m listening..."

"I thought we might head out to Santa Barbara, rent a room somewhere on the beach and just be lazy. What do you think?"

"I think that sounds just lovely. Does this mean you’re coming back to California before the end of the week?"

"That’s what it means. You know it’s our anniversary, right?"

"Is it?" I would like to think I’d have remembered if it was.

"Mmm hmm. Six months ago this weekend you physically assaulted me at a restaurant in Santa Barbara."

My head fell back in laughter at the memory. "I was stretching! Was it my fault you were standing so close behind me?"

"I was checking you out."

"You mean you were checking out my ass?"

"That too."

"Has it been six months already?"

"Yep. Are you surprised I remembered?"

"A little. I barely remembered. But I remember every minute of that day."

"Me too. And I remember every minute since."

Oh God. I could fall in love with this man. "You’re awfully sentimental today."

"What can I say? I just love you like that."

My breath caught in my mouth. He just said he loves me. He’s never said that before. Oh crap. "Really?"

There was a long silence on his side of the phone. I heard him take a deep breath and my heart stopped beating. "Yeah."

"Are you sure? Because you can take it back if you didn’t mean it like that."

"No. I meant it like that. I love you Layla Garrett. I wanted to tell you this weekend but now... It just felt like a good moment to tell you. You don’t have to say it back."

"No, no... It’s okay. I uh... I think I love you too."

"You think?"

"Scratch that. I do. I love you too."

"You do?"

"Well yeah. The past six months have been nothing but amazing. You’re amazing."

"You’re pretty great yourself."

This time I didn’t even try to conceal my smile. "This moment would be even better if you were here right now."

"Why is that?"

Oh Lord, now I was blushing. "So I could see your face. So I could kiss you."

"You know what? You’re right."

"So hurry back from New York, okay?"

"Done. I’ll talk to you later, Sweetie."

"You better. Bye Nick."

"Bye Layla."

I clicked off the phone and sighed against the closet wall. Wow, so this is what cloud nine felt like. It’s just....

The doorbell rang. Of course, leave it to a visitor to spoil my moment. I crawled out of the closet and made my way to the front door. I swung it open, trying like hell to not count down the hours until Nick’s return. But I needn’t. There he was, standing on the other side of my front door.

"Nick?!" There he was, looking as fine as all hell, grinning and just.... wow.

"So where’s my kiss?"

"Wait a second. Did I just hallucinate or did you just call me from New York?"

"I fibbed."

"You’re here." I couldn’t get over it. Here he was standing at my door.

"Well I can kiss you in the doorway or you can invite me inside." He had that famous smirk on his face and I could have died. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him inside, slamming the door behind him.

"God you’re sneaky."

"It’s part of my charm. So like I said, where’s my kiss?"

I arched an eyebrow and smiled. "So you want a kiss huh?"

"Well actually... If I remember correctly, you’re the one that said that you wanted to kiss me."

"Well then I guess there’s only one thing left to do." Still clinging onto his shirt, I gently pulled him towards me and tilted my head back as his lips met mine. I felt my heart soar as his hands found their way to my cheeks. He finished off the kiss with a couple sweet pecks before resting his forehead against mine.

"I love you."

Eyes still closed, I leaned in and kissed him again. "I love you, too."

"Let’s just get away now."

"Are you sure? Don’t you have obligations or something?"

"Nope. My only obligation for the rest of the week and weekend is to make sure you have the best time possible."

I let out a sigh as I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head in his shoulder. "God you’re too good for me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I think I could fall even deeper in love with you if you let me."

Nick held me at arm’s length and looked into my eyes. "Promise?"

I caught myself pacing around the living room. I had to do something. I couldn’t let it all end. No chance in hell could I let it end. I still loved him and needed him.

I had to fix everything that was broken.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‘Hey this is Nick. Leave me a message after the...’

Another week gone by - two weeks total - and Nick still wasn’t taking my calls. It was driving me nuts. I clicked off the phone for the hundredth time and let out a sigh.

Why was he doing this to me? Would I be calling him if I didn’t want to talk to him? I mean honestly! There was no possible way that he couldn’t know...

"Hello?" I asked desperately into the phone after only the first ring.

"Hi Layla, it’s Mark."

Okay, maybe it was a good sign that Nick’s bodyguard was calling me. "Hey Mark. What’s up?"

"I noticed you’ve been calling Nick’s phone a lot. What’s up, Sweetie?"

"How do you know I’ve been calling a lot?" Nick’s phone rings non-stop. How would he know it was me?

"That’s not important."

"How do you know, Mark?" I repeated more firmly this time. I sat up straight on the bed and fidgeted with anything and everything my fingers could grab hold of.

"He’s having me screen his calls. I was given specific instructions not to answer if you called."

Jesus Christ. "What the hell is going on with him, Mark?"

"I can’t talk long. I just want to know one thing."

"What’s that?"

"Why are you calling him?"