Chapter 26
Layla
“Why didn’t you come to me for the money?” Jeannie snaps. She’s never snapped at me before, and I almost take a step back.
“You’ve done so much for me already,” I say in my defense.
“What? What the hell have I done for you, Layla?”
“You hired me at the hotel when I had no experience. You made me a bridesmaid at your wedding and paid for all those expenses. You took me with you when you went to corporate. You—”
She holds her hand up, and I stop talking. “I interviewed you, and I hired you. You got yourself hired. You’re my friend, so of course I put you in my wedding. As for those expenses, Aiden’s family paid for every single thing pertaining to our wedding. They even paid for our honeymoon. As for corporate, you’re doing a great job. You would have ended up there anyway. I would have helped you with Gaga. You didn’t have to sell yourself to Wakowski.” She throws her hands up in defeat, and I hang my head. Not in shame, but because I’ve upset my best friend.
“Calm down,” I say. She’s six months pregnant, and the last thing she needs is to get upset for any reason. “It’s a decision I made. It will be fine.”
“It will be fine,” she mocks. “You’re a mother now, Layla. That’s serious. Jasmine already depends on you. She’s already had so much loss in her life. You’re not a babysitter. You’re a mother. Do you understand that? A mother. Are you ready for that? And what about love? You deserve that and so much more.” Her tone and eyes soften with the last question. She opens her arms and I go in. We’re about the same height, and she’s like the older sister I’ve always wanted. She hugs me tight, and I close my eyes and feel her embrace. “That’s all you’ve talked about.”
I feel a lump in my throat. Everything she says is true, but I’m willing to do it for my grandma. She’s always been a part of my life. She helped raise me and has kept me out of trouble. If the situation was reversed, she would do the same for me with no second thoughts.
“It’s okay,” I say, trying to reassure my friend. “We’ll be fine, and I’m not going to turn my back on Jasmine. I know it’s a big responsibility, but I’ve only stayed out of trouble because of the women who raised me. I can do this for her. She’s a doll. And Wakowski is not so bad. Maybe I judged him a little too harshly.”
I pull away and look into Jeannie’s eyes. She doesn’t look more convinced than when we first started this conversation, but she looks away and nods. I’m pretty sure it’s a nod of defeat, but I’ll take it.
“You had sex with Wakowski?” she whispers. I blush but nod. “I thought you hated him.”
“I was wrong about him,” I admit. “And the sex is great,” I whisper. She widens her eyes in shock. “It’s huge. About as big as the biggest ones I’ve seen in porn videos.”
“Layla!” she says, but she laughs.
“And he was gentle the first time. The next morning, he made me breakfast and kissed me at the kitchen island.” I blush at the thought. “And the man can cook,” I add.
“Okay,” she says. “I won’t tell you how crazy this is, and how I wish you had called me first.” I arch an eyebrow at her. “I’m sure your mother’s already told you, but I’m here for you. You’re my little sister, do you hear me?” I feel tears in the back of my eyes. My vision becomes blurry, and all I can do is nod. “Come to me with anything, but don’t ever talk to me about the size of Seth’s dong again, you hear?”
We both burst into laughter at her last order. While we hug, Jasmine runs into the office and wraps herself around my leg. Aiden and Seth follow.
“How about we celebrate with some dinner?” Aiden says. “You feel up to going out?” He puts a hand on Jeannie’s protruding belly. “Let’s order in,” he says before she can answer. “It was a long flight. Relax, and I’ll take care of it. I’ll order from that Cuban place you love.” He kisses her temple, and I swoon at the scene.
Seth comes to me, intertwines our fingers, and kisses the back of my hand. The movement takes me by surprise, but I find that I like it. He kisses the back of my hand again.
Aiden catches us, and he slowly shakes his head.
“I’m going to throw you guys a reception,” Jeannie announces. “We can have it here. All you two have to do is give me a list of who you want me to invite.”
I look into Seth’s face and something changes. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was emotional. He lets go of my hand and pulls Jeannie into a hug. When he lifts her off her feet, she lets out a little shriek.
I never thought I’d be inside the Walsh private plane. I’ve heard all about it from Jeannie. She’s even sent me pictures, but being in it doesn’t compare. The only downside is that the trip from Teterboro, a hub for private planes, and into Buffalo, where Seth is from, takes less than an hour.
“I don’t know how I can ever go back to commercial flights,” I whisper to Seth. I hiccup, and he shakes his head at me. I’ve had about four glasses of champagne in the short flight. It’s the good champagne. Not the cheap stuff my family buys for special occasions and New Year’s Eve.
We’re ushered off the plane and into a waiting car while someone puts our bags in the trunk. Jasmine happily kicks her legs as she looks out the window while babbling nonstop.
Seth, who is usually in a happy mood is stoic. We sit with Jasmine between us, but something is different. It’s like a switch went off when we stepped out of the plane. Just a few minutes ago, he was playful and light, now he’s looking out the window as if it’s the most fascinating thing on earth.
I reach past Jasmine’s car seat and put my hand on his knee. He puts his hand on mine, looks my way, and smiles. It’s the same smile Jasmine has, and I see some of his mischievousness in that moment.
We don’t speak, but he keeps his hand on mine. It’s a hot and humid day as it’s the first week of August. Despite his hand being warm, it’s nice and comforting.
It takes us about thirty minutes to get to an upscale neighborhood. The houses are big, and after the driver turns down a few streets, we end up in a cul-de-sac. He stops at a big brick house and pulls into the long driveway that is big enough for six cars.
The car barely comes to a stop when I see someone peeking through the blinds. As far as I know, only Seth’s father lives here, so it has to be him.
The garage door opens, but the driver does not pull in. Seth gets out and helps me and Jasmine out while the driver puts our bags in the garage. I don’t see a car in there. It’s empty as we walk through it, up a few steps, and through a door. It opens into a laundry room, and that leads to a long hallway.
The house looks new and is nicely decorated, but it’s dark. Seth turns on the lights while we walk into the living room. The man is still standing by the window, and his eyes light up when he sees Seth and Jasmine.
“Baba,” Jasmine says, and he runs across the room to take her from Seth. He kisses her cheeks and she giggles. He puts her down and looks at his son. I can see some resemblance. They have the same coloring and nose. The eyes are the same, but this guy is barely six feet. He’s thin but has a bit of a belly underneath his black polo shirt. He also looks a little haggard, but he has kind eyes.
“Hey, Son,” he says, his voice low. “I’m happy to see you.” Seth doesn’t say anything back, but his father opens his arms, and Seth goes in for a hug. Mr. Wakowski closes his eyes and tightens the hug, but it only lasts a moment. Seth pulls away and busies himself by pretending to look around the house.
I stand there and wait for an introduction, but this dynamic is foreign to me. No one in my family is quiet, and it will be a cold day in hell when my mother pretends to be shy around me or anyone I bring home. Had this been the other way around, she would have asked my guest about twenty questions by now.
“Dad,” Seth begins, “This is Layla. Layla, this is my dad, Peter Wakowski.”
When Mr. Wakowski smiles, he reminds me of Seth and Jasmine. They all have the same smile, but where Jasmine and Seth have mischief in their eyes, his are filled with sadness. He walks slowly to me and takes my hand in his. His hand is warm and when he squeezes mine, I get a good feeling.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Whorekow—”
I feel a blush spread across my cheeks. Seth snorts and starts to chuckle. Mr. Wakowski’s grin deepens.
“Did you just call me a whore?” he asks, and I blush more.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Wakowski,” I say again, but I grin back this time.
“She calls me Whorekowski,” Seth says to his father.
“Oh,” he says. He squeezes my hand, but he pulls me in for a hug. He tightens his arms around me before he pulls back and kisses my cheek. “Well, he’s done with that,” he says, defending his son. “He’s a good boy, and the best son anyone could ask for. I gave him a good talking to after we found out about Jasmine.” Just as he says it, he scoops Jasmine up and tickles her belly. “Even though I love this little girl more than anything, but, Seth, you’re married now. Keep it zipped. And Layla, just call me Pete.”
Seth rolls his eyes. He opens his mouth, but he must think better of whatever he was going to say because he shuts it.
“I’m so glad you three are here.” He takes Jasmine and brings her to a corner of the living room where he has a mountain of toys. “I went a little crazy shopping for Jasmine.” He stands after handing her a stuffed animal. He looks around the place and says, “I thought we could have hibachi tonight. I have the grill, and I had all the food delivered.”
Seth doesn’t say a word, but his nostrils flare and he purses his lips shut. I wonder what he finds so distasteful about hibachi. I’m already drooling at the thought.
“That sounds great, Mr. Wakowski,” I say, trying to diffuse some of the odd tension.
“Pete,” he corrects me. “You and I are going to be friends,” he says. He comes over and takes my hand again. “And don’t worry about me. I’m going to be a good father-in-law. Not one of those pain in the ass ones.” He smiles, and I smile back. “She’s very pretty, Seth. Good job.” He gives his son a thumbs up.
All Seth does is roll his eyes.
“What? You don’t think I’m pretty?” I joke.
“Yeah, I do. Since the first day I saw you even though you didn’t like me.” My heart skips a beat at that. The first time I met him, I was lusting over his teammate. In fact, I barely looked at Wakowski. The room goes silent, as I try to think of something witty to say to break the tension. “Let me show you our room. I’ll bring our stuff up later.”
Seth snatches my hand before I can offer an answer. He practically pulls me to the back staircase in the rear of the kitchen. I barely have time to look around the house. When we get upstairs, I pull my wrist from his hand to stop him from dragging me down the hall. He stops and stares at me. When I stop walking, he gestures for me to follow.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him. He sighs and looks away, and I realize I’ve never seen him like this before. His moods have never been angry. “Why are you upset? You’ve been in a mood since we got off the plane, and I don’t get it. Why?” When he remains quiet, I inch closer and whisper, “Did he abuse you or something? If he did, we’re getting the hell out of here. And I’m going to tell my mother and June Bug you let Jasmine around an—”
I think my question shocks him. His head snaps up, and he looks into my eyes. “What?”
“I mean it. Did he? I’ll beat his ass if he did?”
“Can you come into the bedroom please?” His words come out terse, but I follow when he stomps down the hall. We go through an open door into a bedroom. It’s a spacious room with a king-sized bed and a recliner on the side. There’s a big screen TV on the wall, and a crib in the corner.
“We can’t leave Jasmine with him if—”
“He’s not going to hurt her. He never laid a hand on me. He’s not like that. All he’s going to do is give her too much ice cream and let her watch cartoons all day and laugh at everything she does.”
I sigh and sit on the bed. He does the same, but I can sense there’s more.
“Then why are you so mad?”
“Have you ever seen my dad before? Has he ever been to one of my games? Do you remember seeing him at Jasmine’s christening?” I think back and can’t think of a single time I’ve met his father. “Well, that’s because he never leaves the house.”
I tilt my head to the side and ask, “What? Is he on house arrest or something?”
He smiles for the first time since we got here. “God, no. I wish. At least that would make sense, but he’s never been in trouble with the law. You have to leave the house for that to happen in most cases. He has all these issues. When I was a kid, he came home one day, sat his butt on the couch and never got up. Do you want to know why I had to learn to cook when I was ten? Because I had no one else to do it. My mom, or the woman I was made to believe was my mom, had moved out, but I’d see her sometimes. After a few years, that stopped. She met someone else, divorced my dad, left town, and left me behind. She had another son, and I only saw him like twice. She made sure to tell me he wasn’t my brother.”
“Oh, Seth,” is all I can think to say. “I had no idea.”
“I don’t want pity,” he says.
I raise both hands. “Okay. You won’t get any then,” I snap, which makes him smile again.
“I spent my childhood taking care of him. I’d have to get on my bike and go to the store for groceries. At least we qualified for food stamps once he got on disability. Instead of being a kid and being carefree, I was turned into his caregiver. The worst part is, I’m stuck with his ass because he has no one else. I wish I didn’t give a damn and I could live my life without him. Lord knows I’ve tried. He’s like a fucking curse I can’t get rid of.” He drops himself on the bed and covers his face with his big hands. I sit next to him, putting my hand on his thigh and rub it.
“You’ve been given a shitty hand,” I say. “I won’t pretend to understand how you feel because that’s not my experience, and I don’t want to minimize what you’ve been through.”
“I never had a chance to be a kid. Now, I’m a dad, and that’s fine. I love Jasmine, and she’s my responsibility. She didn’t ask to be here, and she deserves everything.” He sits up abruptly. I move my hand from his lap, but he lifts it and puts it back there. “But I was supposed to be his responsibility, not the other way around.”
“You’re right. That’s the way it should be. You deserved a childhood.” He rests a hand on mine.
“And he just expects me to come to him every time so he can play the part of a doting father and grandfather. I still have to take care of him when I’m here. I do all the cooking because he claims I’m better at it than he is. I make sure he’s taking his medication and seeing the therapist.”
“How does he see a therapist if he won’t leave the house?”
“One comes to him. It costs me a fucking arm and a leg.” I know the last part is his anger talking. The man makes thirty million dollars a year, and that doesn’t include endorsements. “Do you know he refused treatment at first? He had a full-on fucking meltdown and ugly cried. I threatened to cut him out of my life if he didn’t. I wasn’t budging on that.”
I look around the room and ask, “This house looks new. How did he move in?”
“I have no idea,” he admits. “He was freaking out about it, and I lost my patience. I told him he could stay at the trailer, or he could have the doctor club him over the head for all I cared.”
“Seth,” I admonish.
“Not my finest moment, but I was dealing with a lot at that time. That’s when the three women came forward saying I was the father of their kids. The owner was on my ass. I lost a huge endorsement deal, and we lost the championship that year in the seventh game. It was a shit show.”
“I get it.” I really don’t, but I think that’s what he needs to hear right now. We sit in the room in silence, and I inch closer. I channel my own childhood and remember how my mom would just be with me in silence whenever I was upset. She would listen and even if she disagreed, she never minimized my feelings. I decide I’m going to do the same with Seth moving forward.
There’s a knock on the door, and Seth groans.
“Sethie,” Pete says from the other side of the room, “come have a snack. I’ve missed you, Son. It’s so lonely around here. The housekeeper is great, but she’s not family. One time she brought her little grandson because there was no one to watch him. I told her she could bring him anytime. He’s four and we spent the day watching cartoons.”
“You can come in,” Seth says, and the door opens. He’s holding Jasmine, who holds her hands out to Seth when she sees him. Pete puts her down, and she runs to us and climbs the bed. She sits on Seth’s lap and rests her head on his chest.
I smile at the sweet scene and run my hand over her little head. She gives me a smile that’s just like her father’s.
“Nom nom,” she says.
“Maybe you can make us some sandwiches,” Pete suggests.
“You know what, Pete? I can make some bomb-ass sandwiches. Come show me around your kitchen, and I’ll make us some lunch.”
He offers me his hand and pulls me to my feet. I follow him out the door and down the stairs. I finally get to look around downstairs, and it’s a beautiful, clean house. I open the fridge and pull out cold cuts and cheese. I notice a rotisserie chicken and pull it out too.
“How do you feel about chicken salad sandwiches? I make good ones.”
“Sounds good to me. I’m not much of a cook,” he says. He looks toward the stairs and back at me. “Seth’s a good boy,” he whispers. “And you seem like a nice girl.” He smiles, and I see some of Seth in him. I smile back.
“Well, I’ll keep all my dark secrets to myself and let you believe the best of me, Pete.” He laughs and sits at the kitchen island.
“Tell me how you met Seth. He never tells me anything. It’s like pulling teeth sometimes with that boy.” He surprises me when he reaches across the island and rests a hand on mine. “I really do want us to be friends.”
This man never leaves the house, so I’m going to assume Seth and Jasmine are his only friends. And Seth is only in this out of obligation mostly. I’m certain of it.
“Well, as your friend, I promise never to lie to you. I did not like your son at all when I first met him. In fact, I disliked him way before I ever laid eyes on him.”
His eyes widen, but then he gives me a lopsided grin.
“It was because of all them girls, wasn’t it?”
“Bingo. I judged him so hard. Let me tell you about the day we actually met—”