Stay For Me

by Megan Smith

“Nope,” she crosses her legs. “Do you think I should just go over there? She’s not even taking my calls now.”

  I shake my head. “No, if she really is that sick you don’t want to catch it. I’ll give her a call in a little bit if I don’t hear from her before then.”

  Jaylinn starts biting on the side of her thumb.

  “What’s the matter?” I can sense something is wrong.

  She huffs. “I don’t know. Something just doesn’t seem right. She never just blows off school like this without calling me or anything.”

  “Have you seen Brian?”

  She shakes her head.

  “Maybe he’s got the stomach bug too then?” I offer.

  Jaylinn gives me a pointed look.

  “Alright, maybe not.”

  “When you took her home Saturday night everything was okay between you two, right?”

  “Yeah, things were fine. We had a great time.” We even shared another kiss although it was nothing like the first time. It was a friendly kiss on the cheek.

  “And…”

  I scrub my face with my hands. “She has a boyfriend, Jay.”

  “But you like her.” She states.

  “I like her.” I sigh loudly. “Has she ever talked to you? Like about her parents, does she have any siblings? Do you know anything personal about her?”

  “No. I tried once talking to her about her mom and she changed the subject. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her talk about her family, come to think of it.” Jaylinn curses. “I’m a shitty friend.”

  “You’re not a shitty friend.” I lean forward resting my elbows on my knees. “She gave me a little piece Saturday night. Not about her family or anything but something she’s never told anyone.”

  Jaylinn raises her eyebrows.

  I roll my eyes. “It was just something she wanted as a little girl.”

  Jaylinn still has her eyebrows raised.

  “What?”

  “You really like her.”

  I don’t respond.

  “You really, really, like her.”

  I’m still quiet. Honestly, yeah, I do. I like her a lot but she’s also got a shit ton of problems and I don’t know if I’m ready to take them on.

  “Hmm.”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t start your psychoanalysis shit.”

  She fakes being hurt. “I would never.”

  “I have work to do.” I pick my pen back up and start looking at the numbers from last night. Jaylinn sits there for a while playing with her phone before finally growing bored that I won’t talk about Layla with her anymore. She walks around my desk and hugs my head. “Call me after you talk to her.”

  “I will.”

  The second she leaves I clean up my desk, grab my keys and take a ride over to Layla’s house. If Jaylinn is a little worried, I’m really worried. She knows her better than I do and I would think if she was in any kind of trouble she’d call her first but that hasn’t happened so now it’s time I make a trip over there.

  I pull up in front of Layla’s tan two-story house. There is a car in the driveway and the front door is open along with the windows, the April breeze flowing through the house. Layla’s mom is probably trying to air out the house considering the stomach bug is so bad.

  I take the steps two at a time and knock on the front door. Mrs. Del Luca smiles as she greets me.

  “Hi, Mrs. Del Luca, I just wanted to swing by and check on Layla. Make sure she’s okay.”

  She places a hand over her heart. “Oh dear, I’m not Mrs. Del Luca. My name is Kathy Stein.” What the hell? “I’m a friend of the family.” Oh, okay, well that makes a little more sense, I guess.

  “Sorry about that.” I scratch the top of my head. “How is Layla doing? That stomach thing must be pretty rough.”

  Her brows pinch together. “Stomach thing?”

  This is one weird ass conversation. “Yeah, she called me about a week ago and said she had come down with the stomach bug.”

  “Oh,” she pulls her house coat a little tighter. “I was wondering why I hadn’t seen her or Fallon.”

  “Um…wait, she’s not here?”

  Mrs. Stein shakes her head. “No, Layla picked up Fallon on Sunday and that was the last I’ve seen of them.”

  My stomach bottoms out, if she isn’t here where is she? “Any idea where she could be?”

  She grins. “Probably home, dear.”

  I pinch the bridge of my nose. I know I haven’t been sleeping but this isn’t making a bit of sense. “So this isn’t Layla’s house?”

  Mrs. Stein leers. “No, she lives above Jax’s bar just down the road.”

  Jax’s bar, it’s where she said she worked when I asked about her previous bartending experience. Why would she lie about where she lived? What is she hiding and why? None of this is adding up. “Well, I’m sorry to bother you.”

  “It’s no problem. Please tell the girls I’m thinking of them.”

  I walk back down the steps waving. I sit in my car for a second trying to figure shit out. So this whole time I’ve been dropping and picking her up here and she doesn’t even live here? And who the hell is Fallon? I feel like I just walked in during the middle of a movie or something.

  I debate calling Jaylinn and seeing if she has any idea about this but instead just decide to head over to Jax’s and find out for myself.

  When I pull up to the grimy building I park my car in a side lot and set my car alarm. In just a matter of a few blocks the neighborhood really changed. People hanging on street corners, a dingy looking store across the street with a police car parked in the lot, and this bar looks like it’s about to fall apart with the next gust of wind. There are shoes hanging from the telephone wires that cross the street and the smell of the air is putrid. Rotting food and vomit assaulting my nose as I try to see where I need to go to find Layla.

  There is a brown door with a little mailbox next to it around the back of Jax’s so I walk over and knock.

  “I told you to fucking quit, not call in sick.” I hear someone yell.

  There is a little girl crying in the background, too. I walk around to the other side to make sure there isn’t another door that could possibly be Layla’s but there isn’t. I go back around and knock again but still no answer just more yelling that seems closer.

  “Just leave.”

  I stop mid-knock.

  That is definitely Layla’s voice. “You don’t understand I need this job. I can’t just quit, Brian. I can’t live here for the rest of my life and I also have to get Fallon out of here. I have to make a living for the both of us.”

  I put my ear a little closer so I can hear a little better.

  “When are you ever going to realize you’re a piece of trash just like your mother? You’ll never get out of this hell hole.” I hear footsteps coming down the stairs so I back away from the door just as it swings open.

  “Well, look who the fuck decided to show up.” Brian looks behind him. “I thought you said nothing was going on with him, Layla?”

  Layla flies down the stairs and it is then that I notice the faint bruise on her face and a little cut on her lower lip.

  “There isn’t.” She says softly without looking me in the eye.

  Brian shakes his head. “Sure doesn’t look that way. Just remember what I said,” he gets this menacing expression on his face. “You might be laughing now but you’ll be crying later.”

  Brian pushes past me on his way out. Layla still won’t look at me; her head is turned so I can’t see the other side of her face. I want to grip Brian up by his fucking neck and beat the ever loving shit out of him for what he’s done to Layla but I don’t. If I do I know that I’ll lose Layla for sure and that’s not happening. Not over my dead body. She’s keeping him around for a reason and I just need to find out why exactly.

  Finally she sighs and holds the door open for me. “You coming in?”

  “Is it a bad time?”


  “It’s always a bad time around here.” I have a suspicion that there is a double meaning behind that.

  I follow Layla up the stairs. When I step in the apartment I’m a little taken aback. This is nothing how I pictured Layla to live. The walls all need to be painted, they are dirty as hell, it looks like they used to be painted white but not now, they look like a tan color. The apartment reeks of cigarettes and stale beer, too. None of the living room furniture matches, sheets are acting as curtains over a window in the front, the carpet is well worn and holes litter around the couch. Out in the kitchen there is a tiny table with two chairs that are different styles, a sink that looks like it’s from the sixties, and stove that looks like it belongs in a playhouse.

  When I look back to Layla there is a little girl gripping onto her leg. She looks just like her, could this be her daughter or maybe sister?

  Layla reaches down to pick the little girl up and takes a seat in one of the kitchen chairs. “How did you find out where I live?”

  “Um,” I clear my throat. “I went to your house, uh — Mrs. Stein’s house and she informed me that you didn’t live there.”

  The little girl whispers in Layla’s ear and then she points at me.

  Layla huffs clearly annoyed that I’m here. “Fallon, this is Eli…Eli, this is Fallon.”

  Ah, so this is Fallon. “Sister?” I guess hoping like hell I’m right and this isn’t a kid that she has with Brian.

  “Yes, sister.”

  I offer Fallon a little smile. She seems to be around Sophia’s age maybe. “Hi, Fallon.”

  She returns my smile then buries her face in Layla’s neck. When Layla shifts in her chair so that she can get a better look at me I notice bruising on her neck.

  Nodding my chin in her direction I ask, “What happened?”

  Layla whispers in Fallon’s ear. The little girl walks down a hallway. “Why are you here?” Layla asks after the click of a door shutting.

  She’s avoiding my question and that’s fine for now but she will answer me before I leave. “You haven’t been to work in a week, Layla. We’re worried but now I can see why you’ve been calling in.”

  Layla reaches up and rubs at her neck. “I figured it was best not to come in. Plus, I’ve got some things around here that I need to handle anyway.”

  I’m barely holding my shit together right now. I’m fucking livid, I want to go after Brian, I want to scream at Layla and shake the shit out of her, and want to kick myself for not coming here sooner.

  “What happened?”

  Over the next few minutes she tells me everything that’s been going on. I’m surprised at first; I thought she’d try and say it was nothing. She was angry telling me and then that changed to hurt and then, last but not least, defeat. She’s broken down, kicked down really.

  “This is my life, Eli. I can only take one day at a time.” Her eyes water and she takes a shuddering breath. “It’s all I can do.”

  I can’t say anything. What can you say to that? Nothing, you can’t fucking say anything because it won’t fix anything. This beautiful broken girl in front of me is one of the bravest people I know to be dealing with this abuse and responsibility. While all this is happening in her life, all she does is smile. Who the hell can cover this type of a life up with a smile? Layla Del Luca can.

  I reach over and pull her into my lap, she comes willingly. “I’m sorry.” I whisper just before kissing the side of her head.

  I understand now why she takes the extra shifts from the girls and is willing to work doubles if she’s able too. I understand now why she is so insistent on ordering the cheapest shit off the menus when we have dinner. I know now why she doesn’t have a car. And I understand why she keeps all of this to herself, why she doesn’t confide in Jaylinn, in anyone. She’s got too much pride in herself. She doesn’t look at the bad in it; she just deals with what she was given with a smile on her face.

  “Do you know where your mom is now?”

  Layla shakes her head.

  How could their mother let them live like this? How can she just leave her daughters behind to fend for themselves? She has them living above a bar for fuck’s sake. That is no place to raise girls.

  I need to do something to help her. I can’t allow her to live like this and I sure as fuck am not sitting back and watching Brian put his hands on her anymore. He may think he has the upper hand because he’s been paying her bills but no more. That ship has sailed.

  “Layla,” she sits up and rubs her eyes with the backs of her hands. “Come home with me, you and Fallon. I have plenty of room.” I take a deep breath. “I was actually thinking about getting a roommate anyway. That place is too big for me.” I lie.

  Layla’s face turns bright red and I can see her working her jaw.

  “Don’t worry about the money right now. We can figure it out later once we get you and Fallon situated.”

  Layla stands, takes a deep breath and blows it out slowly. “I’m not a fucking charity case, Eli!” She yells. “Aw, poor Layla got dealt a shit hand in life and now she needs someone to fix her right up.”

  “It’s—” she cuts me off.

  “I can handle this on my own.” She laughs bitterly. “I’ve been doing it my whole fucking life. Go find another girl to play house with you, Eli. Whatever you thought was happening between us was nothing. It never was and never will be.” She walks over to the door and holds it open. “Get out.”

  I sit stunned by her outburst.

  “Now, Eli!” She screams.

  I jump up from my chair and walk to the door. I stop before her but she won’t even look at me. “You’re not a charity case and never would be to me.”

  I step past her and I hear her breath hitch but it doesn’t stop me. I walk out of her apartment; I can’t believe she’d actually think I’d treat her like that. I know she is hurting but I thought we were a little past the friends stage in our relationship. That’s what I get for guessing.

  By the time I get to the bottom of the stairs I’m fuming all over again. I jump in my car and head right back to Fierce for a drink. I need something to clear my fucking head of everything that just happened over the last two hours.

  I’ve been sitting at the bar upstairs since I got back hours ago. I’m long past being drunk, everything is numb. The rejection of Layla is a distant thought.

  “Hey, handsome.”

  In the corner of my eye I see a blonde sit down in the empty chair next to mine. Her lips are stained a cherry red and her skin is milky white. I turn my head and take the rest of her in. She’s pretty enough, skinny, long legs, a tattoo covering half of her right arm and nice tits. I felt her eyes on me from across the bar all night and I was wondering how long it was going to take her to come over here. I don’t chase girls, never have and I’m not about to start now. Well, except one and she doesn’t fucking want me or my help. This girl is no different than the others though. She stalked me like I was her prey but she couldn’t be more wrong. I’ll have her bent over my desk before the end of the night.

  I lift my chin acknowledging her. I’m not in the mood for small talk tonight. I’m frustrated, pissed off and in no mood for this flirting game that this girl has plans for.

  “Ah, one of those days, huh?” She probes.

  I look away before shaking my head and grabbing my beer.

  “My name is Amy,” she says while placing a hand on my thigh and giving it a little squeeze. Don’t these girls realize that they’re worth more than picking up some guy at a bar? “You’re Eli, right? You own this place?”

  I have to give her credit. She’s been doing her homework on me. “Part owner.” I correct her.

  She inches her hand closer up towards my dick. It jumps knowing it’s going to be getting some action shortly. I turn my head away towards the direction that Layla should be in. She’s the one I want but can’t have. I know she’s with that Brian guy but for the fucking life of me I can’t figure out why. He treats her like shit, he
fucking hits her. I slam my beer down on the bar and Jackie who is working behind the bar tonight glances over at me before she starts up the blender. She eyes Amy and just shakes her head before walking over to get me another beer.

  “What are you doing?” She asks while Amy is looking behind her.

  “Forgetting shit.”

  She just shakes her head and walks away. Jackie picks up another glass and shoots me another glare before returning back to the drink she is making.

  I reach for Amy’s hand and pull her up with me. We make our way through the dimly lit stairway, then down the hallway passing a few employees coming out of the break room on our way to my office. They don’t take notice of me and I prefer it that way.

  I turn the door knob and usher Amy inside. I twist the lock and forgo turning the lights on. I know my way around my office without them. I’ve been spending a lot of nights here lately sleeping on the couch. Sometimes I’m too tired to drive all the way home, sometimes I like being here hoping Layla will come back after her shift is over.

  Amy stands just next to the door which is fine by me. This is going to be quick and then she can go. I press my body against hers and she falls back against the wall. Her hands go to my shirt and start to unbutton it. I grab her wrist and pin her arms above her head and lean in close.

  “This is a one-time thing. You understand that, right?”

  She squirms under me and I press my erection against her stomach. “Yes.” She moans.

  “Good.” I let go of her hands, slide her skirt up over her hips while she works the buttons on my shirt. I reach into my back pocket for my wallet. I pull out a condom and toss my wallet on the floor behind me. I unbutton my jeans and zipper not bothering to push them down and make quick work on rolling the condom on.

  Amy’s hands wander up and down my chest. I reach down between her legs moving her panties to the side and find that she’s already wet and ready. This is going to be even faster than I thought. I turn her around to face the door. “Brace yourself.”

  She does as she is told and I line myself at her opening and in one quick thrust I enter her. She cries out. I reach around and place my fingers into her greedy mouth trying to get her to shut up. She bites gently on them as I pound into her relentlessly, my other hand that’s holding onto her hip slides between her legs. I rub her clit and she bites down hard on my fingers. Her legs start to tremble and she meets me thrust to thrust. She’s close and so am I.