Stay For Me - Megan Smith Page 0,45
about Brian.”
I don’t respond.
“Fighting with Layla because of Brian?”
This game is getting old. I take a sip of my coffee and turn back around. “You want the truth.” My anger starts boiling over, not at Jaylinn, but over everything I know now. “Here it is. Layla doesn’t live at the damn house you drop her off at. She lives in a fucking shit hole above a bar. She has a little sister and a mom, who bailed on them a few weeks ago, and that piece of shit Brian is beating on her because he thinks he has the right to because he’s paying her bills when she can’t.”
Finally meeting Jaylinn’s eyes I see all the same emotions I felt when I first found out wash over her. She stands and paces back and forth mumbling to herself.
“Okay, okay. Well, we have to go get her.” She stops walking and scratches her head. “Wait, she has a sister you said?”
I nod. “Yeah, she’s probably only about five or six.”
“Shit. Okay, we need to go get her and her sister out of there first.” She shakes her head. “How could she not tell me about her little sister?”
“I don’t know.” I open my drawer and grab some pain reliever. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
Her head snaps in my direction.
“I offered my house. She threw me out, told me she wasn’t a charity case.” I bang the bottle on my desk.
Jaylinn sits again tapping her fingers on her legs. “She never wanted us to find out.”
“Obliviously.” I snap. “How could she throw me out? I was only trying to fucking help her.”
“I know you’re pissed but calm down.”
“Calm down? Really? I’m teetering on losing my fucking mind. That fucking asshole laid a finger on her and you want me to calm down?”
Jaylinn narrows her eyes at me. “I’m sure she’s scared shitless but damn it Eli look at what she’s dealing with. You can’t just expect her to jump up, pack their stuff and leave with you.”
“And why the fuck not?”
Jaylinn takes a deep breath. “Look, put yourself in her shoes for just a minute.” She is back up pacing again. “She’s embarrassed, scared and on her own, Eli. I’m sure Layla is doing the best that she can do given the circumstances. Throw you, someone I know she has feelings for, into the mix to uncover what has been hiding and bam, she’s defensive.” She huffs. “You meant well, Eli, I know this and deep down so does Layla.”
I scrub my face with my hands. “So what do I do?”
Jaylinn gives me a little smile. “You wait until she’s ready for help.”
I reach for the coffee again so that I can take these pills. I feel just slightly better now that I got that off my chest. At least now someone else knows what is going on.
Jaylinn’s phone beeps; she pulls it out of her purse. “Speaking of the devil, she just asked if I could talk.”
I feel like I was kicked in the gut. I wish she would call me and not Jaylinn. I know she’ll help her regardless but still, I want to be the one she needs, someone she depends on. Then a thought occurs to me, she really does need to handle this on her own just like Jaylinn said. She’s too independent, too prideful to ask for help or take it. It’s only a matter of time until she realizes that she doesn’t need to be that way. Layla has her friends that will always be willing to step up when she needs them.
“You won’t say anything about what I told you, right?”
“Of course not.” Jaylinn shoves her phone back in her purse then searches around for her keys. “I’m going to go and give her a call. I’ll fill you in later on what happens.”
I nod satisfied that she’s keeping me in the loop.
Jaylinn gets to the door and turns, “Do me a favor?”
I glance up at her. “What’s that?”
“Stop with the bar bimbos, it’s gross.” She shudders. “Go home, take a shower and an STD test, and call me in the morning.” Jaylinn winks on the way out.
I’m left sitting alone in my office and for the first time in a week I take a long deep breath and let it all out. I just need to sit back and have my arms open for her when she needs them. I just hope it gets to that point sooner rather than later.
Layla
I pick up my