The Romance of Nick and Layla (Parts 1-3) (21 page)

I settled into my seat next to Johnny as the latest popular comedian came onto the stage and began a long monologue of jokes and such. He was funny enough but my mind was elsewhere. So far I hadn’t seen Nick at all. In a way I wasn’t too surprised; the auditorium was packed with celebrities, seat fillers, producers and all kinds of other people. It was easy to blend in. Yet I was also curious as to why fate hadn’t intervened on Johnny and Mark’s plan so far.

When we broke for a commercial break I weaved my way back to the bar.

"Can I just get water please?" I asked the bartender. People were pushing and poking all around me, not caring who they hit or stepped on. I was handed a chilled Pellegrino and smiled politely. I turned to walk back to my seat but stopped dead when my eyes fell on an all-too-familiar set of blue eyes. I felt the stares of other people as Nick and I stood there, facing each other, just staring. It was like Moses parting the Red Sea as people moved out of the way, securing a spot on the sidelines for the drama they knew was about to start.

Without looking at anyone else I walked up to Nick and tried to casually stand beside him, hoping the onlookers would get distracted by something else.

"Hey," I whispered, despite the loud hum of the auditorium. God he looked good. Tired as all hell but unbelievably handsome.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, a bit of malice in the question.

Ouch. "Johnny asked me to be his date at the last minute. I didn’t have anything else to do. And... I wanted to see you."

I watched as a delicate hand fell on Nick’s shoulder. "Nick, they’re asking you to go backstage now."

I stared in shock as a beautiful girl curved around Nick’s side. She took one look at me and quickly looked away. It was the actress. Ashley something. The girl he was with in New York. The girl I saw with Nick in the papers.

"I’ll be right there. Thanks," he answered her.

"Sure. Um, okay I’m gonna go back to our seats. Good luck with your performance." She leaned up to kiss his cheek, took one last glance at me and walked away.

Everything I had been feeling for the past couple weeks slowly began to diminish. "Should have figured," I mumbled while shaking my head.

"What’s that supposed to mean?" he asked through tight lips and a narrow gaze.

"It just seems so convenient that I came here to apologize and ask you to come back home with me and here you are with someone else. I guess I just never learned that lesson very well." I couldn’t help sounding defensive, though I knew it wasn’t why I was there. But I was angry with him and couldn’t help demeaning myself to the worst possible version of myself.

Nick’s eyes narrowed even more and his posture grew rigid. "So now it’s my fault?"

"Well should I even bother trying to apologize if you’re already with someone else?"

"Let me ask you a question, Layla. Are you here as Johnny’s date or as his sister-in-law?"

"Of course as his sister-in-law. Jesus, Nick, I wouldn’t do that!"

"Well then did you ever think that I’m here in the same capacity with Ashley?"

As he said this I could smell the alcohol radiating from his body. Nick was flat-out drunk. My own anger subsided and all I cared about was him and the fact that he was technically drunk on the job. "Nick, why are you drunk?"

"I’m 24 years old Layla, I can drink however much I want."

"I’m concerned about you, Nick. That’s why I’m here. Can we meet up after the show and talk?"

"Why? You already said everything you needed to say and more. You’ve made your point clear, Layla. You don’t love me and want nothing to do with me."

"That’s not true," I gasped.

"Well you seemed pretty convincing the last time we spoke. I have to go do my job. Goodbye, Layla."

I was pretty used to watching him walk away at this point in our relationship. But it still hurt. I made my way back to my seat and sat down dejectedly.

"What happened back there?" Johnny asked, concern sewn into every syllable of his words.

"Nick. Why didn’t you tell me he was seeing that girl?"

"What girl?"

"That actress. Ashley or whatever."

"Nick’s not seeing anyone. Nobody except you Layla."

"Well he doesn’t even want that anymore. I blew it, Johnny. I deserve all this bad shit happening to me and more. It’s my fault he hates me."

"He doesn’t hate you Layla. He loves you more than anything. But you know how he is. He won’t open up to anyone."

"Not even his wife?"

Johnny sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Just wait, Layla."

"Wait for what?"

"You’re about to see how much Nick loves you."

Chapter Thirty-One

My attention was turned from Johnny to the stage as a singer, whose name I can never remember, walked across the stage with a microphone in her hand.

"Our next performer has a resume long enough to make any entertainer jealous. He’s one of the biggest pop stars in the world, performed in nearly every country, been nominated for every award possible and has sold more records than some of us can dream of. To perform his latest single, ladies and gentlemen, Nick Hudson.

Applause filled the air as the lights descended into a soft black glow. Notes from a piano quickly enveloped the auditorium as a curtain rose, revealing Nick standing behind a microphone stand, eyes closed.

I took a deep breath as he opened his mouth to sing the first note. And I was blown away.

‘She was the one

I knew from the start

That I could give her

All of my heart

With a smile so sweet

And a face so divine

Around her life

Mine would define

She opened my heart

In so many ways

Loves so much better

Than what people say

I gave her my all

And loved her so much

Crazy that my heart stopped

Just from her touch

But what can you do

When you've given your all

And then suddenly

From that high place you fall

So hard to get up

Too much to move on

And nothing can heal

Not even this song

What can you do

When she's broken your heart

Though you were the wrong one

Right from the start

Nothing to say

Is ever enough

Who knew that love

Was really this rough

So many times

I wanted to say

Baby let's just throw

All this away

All of the lies

And all of the games

I want your love

More than my name

Was I never

Good enough

Didn't we play this

A little too tough

We had all our good times

We shared every dream

I guess life really isn't

All that it seems

How many times

Do I need to say

I'm sorry and

Need you more than yesterday

You say that you love me

More than you should

But maybe that made

Everything so good

What can you do

When she's broken your heart

Though you were the wrong one

Right from the start

Nothing to say

Is ever enough

Who knew that love

Was really this rough

I swear I've got nothing

Left to say

And now the world knows

I love you this way

I don't care 'bout the past

Let's leave it behind us

Can we build back

All of our trust

You can never love too much

Though that's what you say

And as my final word

Baby I love you that way

What can you do

When she's broken your heart

Though you were the wrong one

Right from the start

Nothing to say

Is ever enough

Who knew that love

Was really this rough

What can you do

When she's broken your heart

Though you were the wrong one

Right from the start

Nothing to say

Is ever enough

Who knew that love

Was really this rough

As the last note from the piano resonated throughout the building there was a collective moment of silence, followed by a huge roar of applause. All around me people got up to their feet, clapping and cheering. Nick’s eyes opened for the first time since he began singing and looked directly into mine. He mumbled a soft ‘thank you’ into the microphone before walking off the stage.

Without really knowing what the hell I was doing I stood up from my seat and crawled over people, rushing to make it to the aisle. I ran across the auditorium and burst through the curtains concealing the backstage area. All around me people were looking at me, faces of amazement, of shock, of blame... But I was only looking for one face among the crowd. And then I saw him. I could have recognized my husband anywhere, even when he was halfway out of a closing door.

He was gone.

"Excuse me, Miss, you can’t be back here. I’m going to have to escort you back outside," growled a burly man with a huge hand pulling me out of the backstage.

I forcefully pulled out of his grasp and looked up at him. "Don’t touch me!" I growled back and set off running to the door Nick had just exited from.

But once outside I was too late. A single limo was driving away from me towards the street and a moment later was lost in a sea of cabs.

That was it. My chance was gone.

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

I glanced up at Johnny from my suitcase and smiled. "I think it’s for the best. I’ve given three years of my life to him. I barely recognize myself anymore. Even when I came back... I thought I had changed but I haven’t changed at all."

"You don’t have to go yet. You could stay here with me and we can do stupid tourist crap for a couple days."

Leave it to my brother-in-law to be the only man that could make me smile at a time like this. "Thanks. But it’s time for me to go home."

"Back to Santa Monica?"

"Yes. At first. I’m selling the house. It’s time to start fresh. Start new. Nick and I may still love each other but it’s over. And at this point I don’t think the biggest apology could remedy the wound in our marriage."

Johnny took my hand and motioned for me to take a seat next to him. I did. But I couldn’t look at him.

"You know Layla... I haven’t gotten to know you as well as I would have liked; but what I do know of you is that you’re a much better person than you give yourself credit for. Sometimes two people, no matter how in love they are, just aren’t meant to be together. And sometimes they are. And the thing that makes life so great and so complicated all at the same time is that we never know what’s meant to be and what’s not. All we can do is have faith in ourselves, and trust ourselves; trust that we’re doing what’s best for us. If this is what you feel you need to do to be right with Layla, then it’s what you’re supposed to do."

I stared into his eyes and for a moment it was like looking at Nick. I knew I was looking into the eyes of a child, but what lay behind those eyes was certainly not. It was a grown soul with too much knowledge. How many people are burdened with this gift? The gift of knowing more about life than most people will ever realize. "You know what, Johnny? One day you are going to make some woman very, very lucky and happy. And I hope I’m still in your life to be able to witness it."

"Me too, Layla. Thank you. Call me when you get settled, all right?"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Even if you won’t be my sister-in-law anymore you’ll still be my friend."

And for the first time that night I knew that everything would be okay from here on out. "I’d like that."

"And whenever you need a babysitter don’t hesitate to ask me. All right?"

"You’ll be the first person I call."

"Layla?"

"Yeah, Johnny?"

"Don’t just call me when you need a babysitter, okay? I want to see my little niece or nephew as much as possible."

He looked so handsome standing here in front of me and I was so proud of him. No matter what I thought of his family, based on my extensive experience with them, they certainly did a damn fine job of raising him. Of both the Hudson sons. "Of course. Whenever you want."

"I’ll call the driver."

"I can take a cab."

"Nope, I insist you take the limo. Please?"

"All right. I’ll call someone up to help me with my bags. Will you come with me to the airport?"

"Sure. I’m just going to go change my clothes."

"Okay."

Five minutes later, after my bags were packed and I was ready to leave, there was a knock at the door. I opened it expecting hotel staff, but found my husband instead.