The Interview_New York & Los Angeles

by Sandi Lynn

  A man whom my father hired to keep an eye on things, came and grabbed her by the arm and tried to escort her out, but she wasn’t going without a fight. I stood up, walked over, and smacked the hand around her arm.

  “Let go of her! She’s pregnant, for God sakes.”

  “Laurel Marie Holloway, come sit down now!” my mother demanded.

  “No. I’m not going to sit down, Mother. This woman came here because your perfect little son wouldn’t return her calls. Out of desperation, she came here to protect what was hers the only way she knew how.”

  “Laurel, that’s enough!” my father shouted as he stood up.

  “Sit down and shut up, Dad! I’m sorry, everyone, but the party has come to an end. There’s nothing more to see here. So please gather your things and leave. My family thanks you for coming.”

  The guests started to scurry out of the tent as my mother and father stood there in shock. I walked back over to the table as the moment of truth had come.

  “For years, I’ve stood by as an outsider while the two of you painted your real children out to be these perfect specimens you created. For years, I took criticism from you while you gave them nothing but praise. You think your son couldn’t be a cheater? Think again, Mother. He gets it from his parents. The two people who were supposed to be role models.”

  “Laurel, how dare you!” my mother shouted with disgust.

  “Shut up, Mother! I’m sick to death of all the lies and secrets with this family. Why the hell do you think I moved three thousand miles away and never come home? Dad, Mom knows you’re sleeping around with any woman who looks your way. She’s known for years. And guess what? She’s sleeping with the pool boy and her tennis coach. Poor Bella over here broke up with Thaddeus because she was so unhappy but afraid to tell you. And Alfie over here,” I pointed, “he’s no saint. He takes after you, Dad, and hell, who can blame him? It’s what he was taught.”

  “It’s no wonder why no one wants you,” my mother lashed out. “You are nothing but a liar and a horrible human being.”

  I held out my arms. “That’s where you’re wrong, Mom. I’m the most normal one in this place because I don’t have your fucking blood running through my veins. I’m the real deal and you can’t handle it. My whole life I was treated as if I didn’t belong in this family. Nothing I did was ever good enough, and when something went wrong, I was always to blame, even when it wasn’t my fault. YOU reminded me time and time again that I wasn’t your real child! As soon as Alfie and Bella were born, I was pushed to the side, and whatever I wanted to do didn’t matter.”

  “Laurel, please stop,” Bella cried.

  “You want to know why I don’t have a boyfriend, because it’s my choice. MINE! How the hell am I supposed to trust anyone? And for the record, I didn’t break up with David because we grew apart. I broke up with him because when I went back to college after Bella’s birthday party, I walked in on him and my best friend.”

  “You never told me that,” my mother spoke.

  “No. And you want to know why? Because in your eyes, it somehow would have been my fault that he cheated on me.”

  “Laurel, I had no idea you felt this way,” my father spoke.

  “How could you? Seriously, how could any of you? You were too busy with your other children and your affairs to even notice anything I was going through.”

  “You have disgraced this family and I think it’s best that you leave this house,” my mother spoke.

  “Dad?” I stared at him.

  “Your mother is right.”

  “Nothing would give me more pleasure.” I narrowed my eye and shook my head. I turned to Alfie. “Still don’t believe in karma? I warned you, little brother,” I spoke as I stormed off.

  “Laurel, no!” Bella cried.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “Laurel, wait!” Wyatt yelled as he ran after me.

  “Leave me alone, Wyatt. I can’t deal with you right now.”

  I ran up to my room, grabbed my suitcase, and started throwing my stuff in it.

  “What the hell did I do that’s making you have this attitude towards me?”

  “You know what?” I stopped and faced him. “The reason I didn’t tell you I was in New York was because you couldn’t even be bothered to call or text me after I left. And you lied about having a meeting that morning.” Tears filled my eyes. “I called Tamara to have her give you a message and she told me you never had a meeting scheduled.”

  “I can explain why I lied.”

  “I don’t want to hear your excuses. I waited for you to call me or even just send a text to say hi. But you didn’t, and you know what? I’m the fool for letting my guard down when I knew better.”

  “You don’t understand, Laurel!” he shouted.

  “Oh, I clearly understand, Wyatt,” I spoke as I shut my suitcase and headed down the stairs.

  Once I reached the front door, I placed my hand on the doorknob, stopped, and looked at him.

  “What I understand is that my absence didn’t affect you, so clearly my presence never mattered.” I opened the door, walked out, and had my father’s driver take me to the airport.

  ****

  “How may I help you?” the attendant behind the ticket counter asked.

  “I need to get on your next flight to Seattle.”

  “Okay. Let me check to see when our next flight leaves. Unfortunately, the next flight out isn’t until six a.m. tomorrow morning.”

  “Shit. Okay. How about a flight to Los Angeles?”

  She began clicking the keys on her keyboard and then lightly shook her head.

  “Same. I’m sorry.”

  “Damn it. Okay, how about a flight to New York City and then from there a flight to Los Angeles?”

  “We have a flight that leaves for New York in about thirty minutes, and from there you can catch the next flight to Los Angeles, but you’re only going to have about ten minutes to catch that plane before it takes off.”

  “I’ll take it.”

  “Are you sure? If your incoming plane is late, you won’t make the next flight.”

  “It’s the chance I’m going to have to take. I need to get out of Boston tonight.”

  As soon as she handed me my tickets, I flew through security, thanking God for the short line, and I ran to my gate. I made it, took my seat, and then let out a deep breath. Pulling out my phone, I called Craig.

  “Hey, Laurel. What’s up?” he answered as I could hear a lot of background noise coming from his kitchen.

  “Are you working late tonight?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be leaving here around midnight. Why?”

  “I’m flying into Los Angeles and my plane gets in around twelve forty a.m.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “No. Actually, I’m not. I’m a hot mess right now and I don’t want to go home.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m in Boston right now, just about to take off to New York, and then I’m flying into L.A. from there. I’ll explain everything.”

  “I’ll pick you up from the airport and you can stay at my place.”

  “I don’t want to interrupt your plans with Maddy.”

  “Maddy is out of town this weekend visiting her parents. She won’t be back until late tomorrow night.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Craig.”

  “You’re welcome, sweetheart. I’ll see you later. Have a safe flight.”

  “Excuse me, miss? You need to turn off your phone now. We’re about to take off.”

  I gave the flight attendant a nod and turned off my phone. Wow, wasn’t my life a shit storm at the moment? I needed to clear my head and clear it fast. What I said to my family was the truth and it had to come out sooner or later. That poor girl being pregnant with Alfie’s baby and my mother dismissing it as if she was some lying piece of trash was the last straw. Actions have consequences. Now Alfie would have to live with the consequences of his disrespect for women and I would now have to live with m
ine. Not only with speaking the truth to my family, but also for being stupid and falling for Wyatt Coleman.

  My flight landed, and I grabbed my carryon and pushed my way off the plane, running to the next gate for my flight to Los Angeles.

  “Wait!” I screamed as they were about to close the plane door.

  “You made it just in time,” the flight attendant spoke.

  I stepped onto the plane, completely out of breath as I stumbled into my first-class seat. I was exhausted, so after a couple glasses of wine, I drifted off to sleep for a while. The plane had finally landed, and I was back in Los Angeles. As soon as I turned on my phone, text messages filled my screen from Wyatt, Bella, and Craig.

  Wyatt: I’m assuming you went back to Seattle. Call me when you get home, I don’t care what time it is.

  Bella: Hey, sis. I’m so sorry for what happened. Please call me. Everything is so bad here. Celia threw her ring at Alfie and told him she never wanted to see him again. Mom is crying. Dad is pissed as hell. I never knew you felt the way you did, and it breaks my heart. Please call me so we can talk.

  Wyatt: Laurel, please call me. I need to talk to you.

  Wyatt: God, I fucking hate the way you left. You shouldn’t be alone after everything that happened.

  Wyatt: I’m worried about you, and I’m doing something I’ve never done before. I’m begging here, Laurel. Call me. Please.

  Craig: I’m standing outside the doors of baggage claim. I can’t wait to see you.

  I sighed as my heart continued to ache. The only thing I cared about at the moment was seeing Craig. I arrived at baggage claim, and as I approached the glass sliding doors, Craig was standing there with his hand held up. I stopped for a moment as a smile crossed my lips. The doors opened, and I ran into his arms as he held me tight.

  “Hey there,” he whispered as he kissed the side of my head.

  “Hey there.”

  He grabbed my carryon bag and hooked his arm around my neck, pulling me into him as we walked to his car.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened back in Boston?” he asked as we climbed into his car.

  “It wasn’t only Boston. It started when I left here and went to New York. I fell in love, Craig.” I glanced over at him.

  “Laurel Holloway fell in love? How?” He smirked.

  The whole way back to his houseboat, I told him all about Wyatt.

  “You know, I haven’t known him that long, but I felt this really strong connection to him and all these emotions just rose up to the surface and there was nothing I could do.”

  “I know the feeling.” He placed his hand on my knee. “That’s how I feel about Maddy. I felt it the moment my eyes first laid sight on her. If you weren’t there to bring us together and me to my senses, I’d still be admiring her from afar. But you, you dove right in with Wyatt. That’s how strong your connection was.”

  “I know. I’m such an idiot.” I shook my head.

  “No, you’re not. We can’t help who we fall in love with, Laurel.”

  “I’ve managed all these years.”

  “And to be honest, I don’t think it’s because you wouldn’t let yourself. You just never connected with the right man until him.”

  “I connected with you.” I smiled as I lightly hit his arm.

  “We connected sexually and emotionally as friends. It sounds like you connected with him on a much deeper level and quickly, may I add.”

  “Yeah. I know. It sucks. But I have to forget about him. He doesn’t feel the same way.”

  “And you know that for sure?” He glanced over at me.

  “If he did, he wouldn’t have lied to me about his meeting and he would have called me or kept in touch. It never would have worked anyway. We’re too many miles apart and we’re both busy with our careers.”

  “You never know. Two people who are meant to be together have a way of making things work.”

  We reached his houseboat and he took my bag inside and placed it in the spare bedroom.

  “Now tell me what happened with your family.”

  I took in a deep breath as I sat down on the bed and told him everything that happened. He was shocked, to say the least.

  “You did what you had to do, Laurel. Don’t be ashamed of it. It’s been years of pent-up anger and resentment. It was bound to come out sooner or later.”

  “I think I destroyed my family.”

  He reached over and took hold of my hand.

  “Your family destroyed themselves. You just got caught in the crossfire. Don’t forget that.” He leaned over and kissed the side of my head. “Get some sleep and we’ll talk about this more in the morning. You’ve had a long day.”

  “Thanks, Craig. I’m glad I came here tonight.” I smiled.

  “Me too. It’s really good to see you again.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Craig and I spent the next day together, talking, laughing and hanging out. He took me by the restaurant on the way to the airport, so I could say hello to everyone. I had my phone turned off all day because I didn’t want to deal with any incoming phone calls or text messages. I felt bad for not calling George, but he was with Veronica in Lake Tahoe and I wasn’t about to ruin his trip with my problems. I’d explain everything to him tomorrow.

  “Have a safe flight home,” Craig spoke as he hugged me tight.

  “Thanks. I have a lot of thinking to do. I just feel like I need to get away and find myself.”

  “Then do it.” He smiled. “I think everyone needs to do that from time to time.”

  I reached up and kissed his cheek.

  “I love you, friend.”

  “I love you too, friend. Text me when you land so I know you made it back.”

  “I will. Tell Maddy I said hi, and I’m sorry I missed her.”

  “Will do.” He grinned.

  When I got to my gate, there was still some time before I boarded, so I took a seat in a chair and turned on my phone. A new voicemail alert flashed on my screen. I opened it and brought my phone up to my ear.

  “Laurel, it’s Wyatt. I know you’re mad at me and I don’t like the way we left things. I can’t force you to call me back, so I’m just going to say it here, over voicemail. I’m sorry for everything, and I didn’t mean to hurt you. You’re the last person I’d ever want to hurt. I just wanted you to know that. Please call me.”

  Tears rolled down my cheeks hearing his voice and my heartbreak intensified. I didn’t want to hear his excuse as to why he lied about his meeting or why he didn’t call me when I got back. I thought I needed closure, but I didn’t. I only needed to get away from everything and everyone. I had some serious soul searching to do and I had made the decision that I was going to do it.

  The next morning, I rolled out of bed and decided to call Bella before I headed to the office.

  “Hey, I was hoping to hear from you,” she answered.

  “Hi. How are you?”

  “I’m okay. The question is, how are you?”

  “I’m hanging in there. I’m sure that’s one Holloway party everyone will be talking about for a long time.”

  Bella let out a light laugh. “I’m sure they will be. Laurel, I don’t blame you for the things you said. You had every right to say what you did. I was sick of all the secrets too. It’s time our family came clean and dealt with their issues.”

  “Do you think Mom and Dad will get divorced now?” I asked.

  “Nah. Too much of a hassle. Mom will drag it out for years. Who knows, maybe what you said to them was an eye opener and they’ll work things out.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up, little sister. I’ll try to come visit you in New York from time to time, but I won’t be going back to Boston anymore. I’m sure Mom and Dad have disowned me.”

  “No, they didn’t, Laurel. They would never do that. As soon as they calm down and come to their senses, they’ll be calling you.”

  “I’m not holding my breath. Anyway, I have to get to work. We’ll talk
soon.”

  “Promise, Laurel?”

  “Yeah. I promise.”

  I was tired because I was up pretty much the whole night planning my trip. I wasn’t sure how well this was going to go over with Eric, but he’d have to understand or else I’d quit. This was too important to me and something I needed to do.

  I arrived at the office and talked to George first about everything. I told him what happened with Wyatt and my family and my plans for my upcoming trip.

  “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.” He hugged me.

  “You’re not responsible for always being there for me.”

  “I know, but I love you so much and it kills me to see you hurting.”

  “I’ll be okay, George.”

  “I’m going to miss you like crazy.”

  “I’m going to miss you too.”

  “Good luck telling Eric.” A smirk crossed his face.

  “Come with me,” I begged.

  “Sorry, my love, but this one you have to do alone.” He kissed my forehead and walked out of my office.

  “Coward!” I shouted.

  I took in a deep breath and headed into Eric’s office.

  “Hey, Eric. Can I talk to you for a minute or two or three?”

  “Sure, Laurel. How was your trip?”

  “That’s kind of what I need to talk to you about.” I bit down on my bottom lip.

  “Uh-oh. What happened?”

  I told him a shortened version and then took in a deep breath.

  “I need to take a personal leave of absence.”

  “Laurel, I’m sorry about what happened, but how long are you talking about?” he asked with concern.

  “I’m going on a month-long retreat to a monastery in Thailand.”

  “A month? No way. I can’t give you that much time off. A week maybe, but not a month.”

  “It’s a personal leave of absence, Eric. I need this.”

  “Why? Can’t you just go to a spa for a couple of days? Come on, Laurel.”

  Tears filled my eyes. “I need this,” I spoke in a low voice. “And if you can’t let me go, then I have no choice but to quit.”

  “Whoa, stop that shit!” He put his hands up. “Fine. Go. Go to Thailand, get your shit together, and get back here. A monastery, huh?”