Worth Saving(49)

The bearded guy turns around and glares at me.

“Who the f*ck am I?” he snaps. “Who the f*ck are you? Just some nobody who doesn’t realize he’s getting played. Get the f*ck outta here before you piss me off.”

I take a step forward, but Layla squeezes my hand with both of hers to hold me back.

“Austin, no! Please, let’s just go,” she pleads.

“Why? Who the f*ck is this guy? You know this dude?”

“I’ll tell you if you just leave with me right now. Please!”

Then, my brain finally puts it all together, and I remember where I’ve seen this *. I saw him the night I met Layla at Stacy’s Bar. He’s the guy who whispered in her ear that night when she had to leave. She told me he was her boss.

“Wait, I remember him,” I say as Layla starts to pull me away again. “That’s the guy from Stacy’s Bar. Didn’t you tell me he’s your boss?”

All the blood in Layla’s face drains out, and she’s suddenly as pale as a ghost.

“Umm. Yes, he’s my boss, Austin. Okay, and he’s a ridiculous *, and I really don’t want to get in trouble with him when I get back to work. I mean, I don’t want to be fired. He’ll fire me. So, please let’s just go. Please, Austin.”

The look on her face takes me aback. She looks terrified, and she has tears in her eyes. Jason taps me on the shoulder and nods for me to just let it go, because he can see the panic on Layla’s face too. So, I swallow my pride and start walking towards the parking lot. Layla still has ahold of my hand and her pace is frantic, even taking the stairs two at a time.

When we reach the cars, she gives me a quick kiss, and then says goodbye. Just as she’s climbing into her car, I hear the bearded guy speak up again.

“Bye, Layla. See you back at work in a few weeks.”

Layla doesn’t respond. Instead, she looks up at me.

“I’m so sorry, Austin. I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you later, okay?”

She doesn’t even give me time to answer. She jumps in the car, slams the door, and speeds away. The three of us stand there with puzzled looks on our faces, wondering what the hell just happened.





Layla

Forty miles per hour has never felt faster. Cars look like nothing but streaks of colors on both sides of me and the road seems like it’s narrowing by the second.

Fucking Damien. Why did Damien and David have to show up? What kind of horribly shitty luck must I have for David and Damien to show up to the same park as us, on the same day, at the same time? After such a great day, it had a terrible ending.

I can only imagine what must be going through Austin’s mind right now. I didn’t mean to leave him standing there with that puzzled look on his face, but I just had to get out of there before Damien said something I couldn’t explain. It was too much, and it was so unexpected that I panicked. I just hope that they’re not talking to each other now that I’m gone.

When I pull up to my apartment building, my heart is still racing. As I park, I make up my mind that I’m going to call Austin as soon as I get inside and settle myself down, but as I step out of my car, I’m shocked to see his Camaro come pulling into the parking space next to me. My heart rate goes into rapid fire as he steps out of the car and walks over to me with a strong look of determination on his face. There’s nowhere for me to go now.

“What the hell was that, Layla?” he says, his brow furrowed. When I don’t answer, he asks again, but this time with more frustration and using his hands as emphasis.

“I’m sorry, Austin,” I reply, mainly because I don’t know what else to say. I can tell my answer doesn’t make him happy.

“Sorry for what?” he inquires with a shrug. “I don’t know where that came from.”

I feel heat building up from the ground all the way up my body and ending in my face. I barely have control over my emotions at this point, I’m unsure of how to react to anything. I don’t know what to say, because I don’t know what I should say. I’m all over the place.

“God dammit, Austin,” I snap. “Why did you have to follow me? I don’t want to do this right now, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. It doesn’t matter that I followed you. What matters is that there’s obviously something going on between you and that guy at the court. You need to tell me what’s up, Layla. It’s really that simple.”

Austin puts his head down for a second, apparently deep in thought. When he lifts his head, his eyes have a different look to them. He looks fed up.

“Look, we’ve spent a lot of time together, and I love that. I feel like you’ve told me so much about yourself, even the hard stuff about your childhood and your father, and the abuse. You’ve told me so much, and I understand if you don’t want to tell absolutely everything about yourself. But you have to understand that when you react the way you did today, it’s gonna bother me. It’s gonna worry me because I care about you, Layla.”

I feel the life drain out of my body and spill onto the street. I never wanted it to come to this. I guess I figured I’d tell Austin everything somewhere down the line, and it’d be okay.

Or, maybe I never thought it through. Maybe I never expected to tell him what I do for a living because I plan to change it. I don’t know what the hell I thought. The only thing I know is that I’m not ready to lose him yet. I can’t really put a definitive finger on how I feel about him, but I feel something for Austin that I’ve never allowed myself to feel for anybody else, and I don’t think I want to risk losing it. He deserves the truth. I’m just not sure I can give it to him yet.