Chapter 78
W hen I woke up Friday morning, Layla was quite literally the first person on my mind.
I woke up to a text from her confirming that we were meeting at Central Park at ten a.m. It being eight a.m., I had plenty of time to get ready, but I decided I didn’t want to wait that long. After all, we didn’t have any rules about how much we could or couldn’t see each other.
“Wanna aim for sooner?” I wrote. “Maybe in an hour?”
Almost as soon as I had hit send, I saw the text bubble popping up. It warmed my heart to think that Layla had been reading our conversation when that text arrived, enabling her to reply immediately.
“Oh man, you’re going to make me rush my makeup, huh? Sure, why not :-) Same place?”
I wrote back yes and put my phone down, smiling at the ceiling as I put my hands behind my head. Why didn’t I just accept her as my girlfriend right now? Why didn’t I just rush into it?
Because the last time you said you loved her, all of that shit went down where she tricked you in public. No, she’s not going to do that again. But do you know who needs the discipline and the test of time? It’s not just her.
Even with this sobering thought, I still couldn’t shake my smile. Man, life was perfect!
I hurriedly got dressed, throwing on a v-neck shirt that displayed my upper pecs very well and my arms equally well. I threw on some jeans and a light jacket, just in case the chill got to be too much, and I applied some quick cologne. I smelled the same as I had the first time I had taken her out.
Maybe it was a new beginning, but it was important to have a tribute and a throwback to some things in the past. I didn’t want this to be an entirely new experience—otherwise, Layla wouldn’t be dating Chance Hunt, she’d be dating some other guy.
I hurried down the stairs, deciding to take a walk to Central Park instead of the train.
The walk would only have me waiting twenty minutes, while the train would have me sitting there for over half an hour, getting looped in my head even more until she finally came and showed up.
Besides, the walk gave me a chance to enjoy New York City at a snail’s pace.
While everyone else blitzed through work, struggled to meet deadlines, and otherwise had a hard time finding a moment to just breathe, I relaxed with ease at a casual stroll.
Around me, people hurried and walked at a normal New York pace, but I deliberately slowed myself down, almost as if I was out living in the country once more. It was here that I got to see…
The taxis honking, the people brushing by without saying excuse me, and the homeless asking for change.
OK, maybe it made sense that people in New York City moved with a hurry. It didn’t bother me per se, but it did remind me of how Layla had once said she wanted to move out of the city and somewhere into the country, perhaps in Connecticut, someday. I could see the appeal in it now.
It probably wasn’t a good sign for my ability to stay detached and neutral that I began to think about what life in Connecticut would like look with Layla.
But then again, that wasn’t the point; the goal wasn’t for me to stay neutral and far away from her.
It was to get up close, enjoy the moments I had with her, and then, only when I separated for the day or night, to think about her in more rational terms.
I got to the entrance to the zoo at Central Park, our agreed upon meeting point, and checked my phone. It was just sixteen minutes to nine, or sixteen minutes until I got to see the woman that I had undeniable feelings for—the one that, try as I might, I had to take slow.
I spent the time pacing in place, just trying to kill time.
I checked my email multiple times, seeing if Andrew or Claire had a question I might be able to distract myself with, but none of them had anything to say.
I checked my other messages, but other than Mom thanking me for hosting us the previous night, there wasn’t anything there either too.
And then, when I looked up, I saw her.
It was some sight seeing her for the first time in what must’ve been nearly a fully week.
Despite the relatively short time that had passed, I felt like I was looking at her for the first time.
Her curves still looked as beautiful as ever, but she actually looked like she had lost some weight.
Her skin had gotten a little bit darker from what looked like some tans.
Most of all, though, her smile beamed from one corner of Central Park to the other; it was the kind of smile that, even if you were just a stranger jogging by or walking your dog, would make you smile too.
“Hey, Layla,” I said, even though what I wanted to say was “Goddamn, Layla, you’re sexy as fuck!’
“Hey, Chance,” she said with a hint of seduction as I went over and kissed her on the cheek. She wanted to kiss me on the lips, but I was determined to treat this as much as a first date as possible, even if that was like asking a husband to not smile at his wife after a work vacation.
“You came early,” I said.
“Hopefully, I won’t have to say the same of you later.”
It took me a second to get it, but when I did, Layla laughed at my reaction of playfully rolling my eyes.
“Sorry, I had to,” she said, though it was obvious one of us was eager to rush back into the way things were. “How are you? How’s the new place?”
“It’s a delight!” I said. “I had Mom and Morgan over for dinner last night, and right now, I’m just trying to take things slow. It’s weird, not having to fight back on something.”
“I can imagine,” Layla said.
I barely noticed that we had begun our walk, moving in what would be a very gradual clockwise path around Central Park.
“You know, I remember the first time I met you,” Layla said. “You were fighting like hell to prove yourself to John Burnson. You were fighting like hell to close that deal. You…”
Left unsaid, the words she almost put out, was that I was fighting like hell to win her heart over. If only she realized that I’m fighting the same fight. It’s just that my greatest “enemy” in this battle isn’t her. It’s me.
“Yeah, and the mindset is still in me to some extent,” I said.
“It’s not like I can go from over two decades of having to prove, prove, prove myself and then just wake up a week ago and be like the Buddha and a pacifist. Sometimes I feel like I have to fight to, I don’t know, make MCH bigger than Hunt Industries. But I’m conscious of it.”
“Yeah.”
“And you?” I said, feeling guilty for having the center of conversation on me for so much to start.
“What about me?”
“Oh, Layla,” I said, putting my arm on the small of her back with a chuckle. “I mean how are you? What are you up to?”
Layla blushed when she realized the simplicity of my question.
“I’m just looking for work right now,” she said. “Even if I found my way into a good financial spot, I don’t think I could stop working.”
“Any luck?” I asked.
She shrugged.
“I’ve had some preliminary interviews with a couple of places,” she said. “Two places here. One in Chicago.”
“Chicago?” I said, the concern in my voice evident.
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t worry about that, I don’t want to leave this city and it’s more like a leverage play for me,” she said. “But yeah, other than that… that’s me.”
Layla’s soft, sweet smile and her red cheeks told me that her words weren’t what she was wanting to do. She wanted me to make a bold, romantic gesture that had so won her over before. She wanted me to do something very Chance-like.
But that Chance had a history of not getting what he wanted in relationships.
He might have gotten laid a decent amount and even found love and possible long-term prospects in others, but his nature had prevented him from building something sustaining.
There was too much in his past to truly, deeply believe something long term was possible.
This Chance would eventually live up to his name and take a chance, but for now, that wasn’t going to be the case.
“Oh, please,” I said. “That can’t possibly be all there is to Layla Taylor right now!”
We shared a laugh, a sound that would become the dominant sound over the next several hours.
What started out as a stroll through Central Park turned into getting lunch at Shake Shack, which I paid for.
Layla made a show of paying, but there was never going to be any doubt who was taking the bill on this day.
I suppose an argument could have been made that doing so was giving Layla some sort of hope that didn’t need to be there, but that was ridiculous; I wasn’t going to be unromantic, I just was going to take my time.
And you know what? I had never anticipated that taking my time could pay off so well.
Obviously, this was an unusual circumstance since we’d already slept together multiple times, had said we loved each other, and had a history that went longer than the novel “War and Peace.” But being deliberate made me realize that I wasn’t just wrapping myself up in Layla’s body; I was wrapping myself up in her soul and her mind.
If I could do that, then the greatest chance of all would pay off—the chance that we could last forever.
After Shake Shack, we thought of taking the subway back to Central Park. But instead, I issued Layla something of a challenge.
“How often are we going to get the chance to just walk around this city?” I said. “We’re always in such a rush here. We’re dressed in athletic, loose clothing. I say we take our time and explore.”
Layla looked at me like I had just suggested we swim in the Hudson.
“You really are changed,” she said. “The old Chance would be wanting to seal the deal immediately.”
“The new Chance recognizes such a thing ain’t possible,” I said. “At least, for what I want.”
Layla’s eyes narrowed, and she looked like she was expecting a kiss. Instead, I took her hand and led her out Shake Shack, walking west so we could walk along the water.