Walk Away, The Romance of Nick and Layla (Part 1) (8 page)

 “It’s her job to be nosy.”

“She’s a bit too nosy, Nick. She completely
made up that story about me being pregnant. Do you know how many calls I’ve
gotten from various magazines all wanting an exclusive? I just hang up on
everyone.”

Nick frowned at me. “That’s not very good
PR, Layla.”

“I’m not famous Nick. I don’t care about
PR.”

“What about my PR?”

“That’s what you have lawyers and managers
and agents for. To handle this crap for you while you lean back and relax. I
don’t want to be the one they interview, Nick. That’s your occupation. I’m just
there to look pretty and to smile at the cameras.”

“Is that what you think they think of you?”
The pensive look on his face surprised me. It sounded silly in my head, but I
didn’t think Nick could be pensive.

“Isn’t it? ‘Oh, there’s Nick Hudson and his
long-time girlfriend Layla-what’s-her-name. When are you guys getting married?
Layla who made your dress? Layla can you move to the left so we can see Nick
more?’” I let out an exasperated breath and let my fingers play at Nick’s
bottom lip, smoothing over the pink skin with the pads of my fingers. “I’m not
an accessory. I’m a person. I’m more than the dress I wear.”

“So what do you want to do about it? You
can stop appearing with me if you want?”

“No Nick, I don’t think that’ll make things
any better. Then they’ll put out pictures of you and some random girl just to
start gossip.” I looked down and was surprised to see Nick smiling at me.
“What?” I asked defensively.

“Do you realize that that’s the first time
you made a comment about me and another girl and referred to it simply as
gossip and not, ‘
why the hell are you fucking around on me
!’?” I did?

I looked away and put my head on his chest,
my ear above his heart. “You said you wouldn’t do that anymore. I’m going to
believe you.”

“Can it always be like this?” he asked.

“If afterwards we’re like this, then yes.”

“I don’t mean the sex.”

“Then what?” I asked.

“Normal.”

“Normal?”

“Normal Layla. Normal Nick. Normal married
couple. Having moments.”

“Since when are we normal?”

“Since you broke free of your Annie Lennox
phase.
Walking on broken glass
,” he sang.

“You’re used to people making up stories
about you. I’m not. It was a perfectly normal reaction.”

“You could barely walk for three days.”

“Yes, so who carried me around the house?
You did.”

“See. We’re getting there kid.” Nick held
my hands on his chest and kept his eyes locked on mine. My mind wandered back
to the photo, the blog post, and that pseudo journalist Missy Page. “Layla,
you’re over thinking again.”

Shit. I was. “How can you tell?”

“Your eyes. Sometimes it’s like you forget
who you’re with. It’s me, Nick. Your husband.”

“I guess it’s sometimes difficult for me to
comprehend that you and I have been together for so long that you might have
learned a thing or two about me along the way.” Especially with the separation
and...” And all that other stuff. But I couldn’t say that out loud. Not when my
heart was finally starting to give. Maybe this could work for us after all.

“I think I have an idea,” he stated. I waited
for him to share. “Might solve our Missy Page problems and your accessory
issues at the same time. Maybe we should just tell the truth.”

I laughed. I really laughed. “Sure! We’ll release
a statement announcing that we’ve been secretly married for the last year. And
shit, we’ll not only be telling every fan in the world, we’ll also be
announcing it to our parents. Yes, let’s do that!” I roared on his chest. Good
Lord I think I might pee in my pants.

I felt my skin sting as he pinched me. “I’m
being serious Layla.”

“Me too, Nick,” I laughed. Right. There’d
be no coming back from that fiasco, and it would almost certainly guarantee
whatever shred of privacy we had would be gone for good.

“I thought this is what you wanted? To
finally show people that we’re married.”

“Yes, but we can’t just come out and say
it, Nick.”

“The longer we wait the worse it’ll sound.”

He had a point. Shit. I finally crawled off
of Nick and sat Indian-style next to him on the bed. It was time to break out
of my sleepy haze and dive back into reality. “Nick. I like our anonymity. I
like the fact that people haven’t figured us out. Besides....” Don’t say it
Layla, it’ll only ruin things. Don’t say it. Don’t say it! “If they were to
catch you with another girl they could just say, ‘Poor Layla, guess Nick’s
moved on’. But if we’re announced as husband and wife, then it’s ‘Marital Woes
for Pop Star and Wife.’ It’s worse that way.”

His expression dropped quicker than
anything I’d seen before. “I thought you were going to believe me Layla? Please
don’t tell me we’re back at square one again.”

“We’re not at one. But Nick I want you to
really think about this before you make any decisions. Because it doesn’t
affect me one bit. But you have a career to think about. And a lot of people
depend on you. So maybe you should weigh the consequences before deciding.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care about all
that. Not the fans, not the career. I’ve had a great career. It’s not like I’ll
die wondering what it would have been like to make it big. I know what that’s
like. Now I want to know what it’s like to be a husband. A real husband to you,
Layla.”

My heart flipped. God I was such a bitch to
him. A whole year. And I was missing out on this. “Nick you’re lying to
yourself. I’m not asking you to give up anything for me. So don’t. Stay exactly
who you are. You love your job and you’re good at it.”

Nick took my hand in his. “Let’s get away.
Just you and me. Get away from all the bullshit. And we’ll make the decision
together.”

“You mean like go on vacation?”

“Well yeah, since we technically never had
a honeymoon.”

Technically, no. We didn’t leave the
country and travel somewhere far and exotic for a couple weeks to celebrate
being married. Instead we never left the bed. Who needed far and exotic when we
had close and erotic?

“I think it’ll help calm us down. We’ve
never actually lived together this long before.”

Maybe he was right. All signs indicated he
was making an effort, and after all the bitching I’d done wasn’t it about time
I gave him an ounce of the respect I was asking of him, and a bit of trust? I
nodded my head. “Okay. When do you want to leave?”

My blood was boiling underneath the cover
of my skin. I was swelling with hatred. Hatred for Nick. Hatred for myself.
Hatred for that bitch Missy Page. And hatred for the woman I didn’t know that
had now embedded herself right in the middle of me and my husband. I knew this
would happen. I even told him it would happen. Fucking bastard.

“What are you reading?” Nick asked me as he
set his luggage down in the foyer.

“A blog.” I looked at him gravely. You
bastard.

“What’s Missy Page doing to rattle your
cage this time?” Yeah, joke and laugh it off now.

“Take a look.” I turned the laptop around
and watched his eyes narrow. His eyebrows caved in. His lips tightened into a
thin line.

“Somehow I don’t think she’s lying this
time. So let me guess. The blonde I caught you in bed with? Or is it another
girl whose name you can’t remember?”

“This is impossible.” He looked about as
outraged as I felt.

“Actually Nick, it’s not. I told you this
would happen. I told you that you should be more concerned with knocking up one
of your one-night-stand tramps than knocking up me. And look! Layla’s hit the
mark again.”

Nick looked up at me with that same
expression. “This has got to be bullshit.”

“Read it again Nick!”

“Well she lied about you being pregnant.
She could be lying about this, too.”

“Don’t you dare try and blame this on that
bitch. This is
your
fault. Yours alone, baby. So how does it feel?”

“How the hell does what feel?” He was so
angry. Good.

“According to the Internet you’ve got two
buns in two ovens. Of course we already know that one of them is a fabricated
lie.”

“I’m going to call my lawyer.”

“And what? What are you going to say Nick?”
I dropped the rest of my bags on the ground and looked at them scornfully.
“We’re supposed to be going on vacation today.” I scoffed and shook my head at
him. “I cannot believe we are at this point. I’m just...
astounded
. Yet
at the same time I’m hardly surprised.”

“Layla,” he started to protest.

“Shut up Nick. Now it’s all out in the
open. I guess this marriage was doomed to fail from the start.”

“Don’t say that! We don’t even know if this
is legitimate.”

“Why would she do that? She’s already been
with the great and all-powerful Nick Hudson. I think that would mean more to
some girl than a check made out to her with your autograph on it.”

“I really wish you would save your bitching
until after we find out the truth.”

“No. There is no ‘we’ Nick. You’re the one
with the constantly unzipped pants. You made your bed. Now lie in it. You, your
one-night-stand and your bastard child.”

“Pack the bags in the car. We’re changing
our plans.”

“Excuse me?” Who the hell does he think
he’s talking to?

“We’re going to straighten this thing out
once and for all.”

“No. I am not going anywhere with you.”

“You have to settle this thing with me.
This affects you too!”

“You can go wherever the you want to go,
Nick. As for me? I’m going to my lawyer. Just be sure to let me know where you
are so you can be served.”

“You’re not divorcing me. We don’t even
know if this is true.”

“And what if it is true? Huh? You think the
four of us will play house and live happily ever after? You could have a child
Nick! A child by someone that isn’t your wife.”

“Then we’ll figure it out Layla. Jesus
Christ we finally got our shit together and now you’re throwing it out the
window again!” he yelled. Don’t you dare yell at me. I can scream much louder
than you. And you know it.

“We’ll figure it out? And how are we going
to do that Nick? You’ll spend Sunday through Wednesday with her and your child
and I’ll get Thursday through Saturday? Is that what you think?” The blood in
me was steaming. “
I am not a timeshare! I am your wife!
” I yelled.

“Then start acting like it!” he screamed
back at me. I wanted to slap him. I wanted to just slap the words right out of
his mouth. Anger. Burning anger was sizzling deep within my core.

“What the fuck would you know about being a
good spouse? Because quite honestly Nick, you’re not exactly an expert. Why
don’t you try to be a
husband
to
me
?”

“I’m here! Am I not standing right in front
of you trying to work this out? Are you not trying to push me away for the
millionth time? I’m trying, Layla! You’re the one checking out on me!” His
voice was like thunder. He had never yelled at me like that. And for the first
time in my life I was scared of him.

But I didn’t know what to say. His words
washed over me like dirty water. Dirty water on my dirty soul.

“You have one week.” I said simply. I said
it calmly. Too calmly.

“One week? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“One week to figure this out. If you don’t.
My lawyer will be calling you.”

“Don’t you dare give me an ultimatum. Don’t
you dare, Layla!”

“What?” I asked incredulously.

“Marriage means two people sticking
together no matter what. You and I are in this
together
. We’re going to
figure out this mess
together
.”

“No. I‘m done. Figure this out on your
own.” Nick’s cell phone rang and it only pissed me off more.

He looked at the caller ID and cursed under
his breath. “I have to take this; it’s my manager. Don’t do anything. Just stay
here.” He clicked on the phone and answered, sitting down on the couch in the
foyer.

I listened to his side of the conversation.
Already I could tell that whoever was calling was upset, and it was only making
Nick more angry. I turned away to look at myself in the hallway mirror. All
traces of happiness were completely gone. My eyes were stone cold and had
seeped into a deep green. I glanced at Nick’s reflection and saw that he was
looking at me. And God help me, I stared back. I didn’t want to cry, but I
could feel my eyes burning with warm tears.

Nick clicked off his cell and slowly walked
up behind me. He slipped his long fingers through the belt loops of my jeans
and absently smoothed his thumbs over my waist. I stared at him through the
mirror, but he barely glanced at me.