Bound Together (23 page)
Authors: Marie Coulson
“
What’s his name Layla?”
She clearly wasn’t letting this go.
“
Jared. Jared Garrett.
Mother I swear if you even think about Googling him I will never
speak to you again.”
“
Jared
Garrett. The property developer? Jared Garrett the sole heir to the
Garrett estate and fortune? Jared Garrett the
millionaire!?”
Too
late
.
I held the phone away
from my ear to avoid the screeching on the other end, as my mother
gushed and squealed about how I was going to marry a millionaire.
“Mother calm down. We’re just dating right now. I don’t know where
it’s going to go. I think we’re a long way from marriage talks. But
since we’re on the subject of Jared, I have to go. I promised him
I’d call to let him know I was here, safe in
Pasadena.
”
I could almost hear her
smiling. “Ah see, someone else who worries about your safety and
wellbeing. I like him already.”
“
Goodbye mother. I’ll
text you tomorrow night. Tonight I’m home with daddy. I love you,
even if you are a little unhinged.”
“
Layla!”
“
Goodbye mother.” My tone
was curt and she knew my patience was running thin.
“
Goodbye darling. I love
you. Stay safe.”
Holding the cell in my
hand, I dialed Jared’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Layla. You’re safe? You’re home?”
The sound of his voice
brought a wave of warmth through my body. “Yes I’m here. Safe and
sound. You can stop worrying now.”
“
I will
worry
and
panic until you are back here with me, in my arms where I can
keep you safe myself. Amy settled in alright?”
Shit. Fuck
. For the first time in my
adult life I was going to have to lie. And to Jared. “Yeah she’s
fine. A little tired from traveling so she’s taking a nap, but
later we’re going out for dinner with Mel and my dad.”
Liar, liar panties on fire
. He chuckled. “I’m sure that will make for an interesting
evening. I’d sure love to be a fly on the wall. Well, have fun my
lady and try not to miss me too much. Lord knows I’m missing you
like crazy right now. Especially that delectable little ass of
yours.”
I gasped in jest,
“Jared!”
The husky tones of his
laughter made me miss him deeply. I wanted to be wrapped up in his
arms, cocooned in Jared. The line went silent for a moment as we
both caught our breath. Maybe he was thinking the same thing I
was.
“
So, what are you
wearing?”
I grinned. “A smile.
Goodbye Jared”
“
Tease. I’ll get you for
that. Have a lovely evening. Goodbye my lady.”
Hanging up, I hugged
myself. He was utterly perfect. Sweet, caring, his trust and faith
in me was unfailing…and I had just fed him a lie. I had made him a
promise and if he ever found out how badly I had broken that
promise he would be furious. How could I lie to him after I had
lectured and chastised him about the need for honesty in a
relationship? But surely my little white lie didn’t compare even
slightly to his. After all a lie of omission is still a lie. I was
going to have to live with this one on my conscience and the
thought made me feel queasy.
Hearing a key rattle in
the door I glanced over the back of the couch to see dad putting
his keys onto the table next to mine. “Hey baby girl. Sorry I
wasn’t here when you got in, I had to go to work. You been here
long?” Leaping over the back of the couch I ran to hug him. He
staggered back at little as the force of my body hit him like a
wall but he smiled widely. “I’m pleased to see you too. So what’s
been happening with you?”
Collapsing back on to the
couch I sighed loudly. “Got a call from mom earlier, being her
nervous self, as usual. I promised I’ll text her every night before
bed so that she knows I’m safe.”
“
Thank
god. Maybe now she’ll stop calling and hassling
me
. I mean I understand
she worries but…” The chiming of the phone in the hallway stopped
him from finishing his sentence. Eying the caller I.D, he groaned.
“Of course. Speak of the devil and she’s sure to be calling your
phone.” Begrudgingly he answered. “Hello Diane. Yes she told me you
called. No I don’t think she was quite aware of how worried you
were but now that that’s all straightened out, you can stop calling
me every hour on the hour for an update.” Mom was obviously giving
him a hard time but dad had always been particularly skilled at
cutting her off during a rant. “Diane I really don’t think it’s any
of my business who my daughter does or doesn’t date. Why do you
torture yourself? Yes of course I knew she was seeing someone. She
tells me everything.” Peering over the back of the sofa he raised
his eyebrows at me and gave me a look that told me we would be
discussing this as soon as he could get rid of my mother. I sank
down into the large soft cushions wishing the floor would open and
I’d be sucked into oblivion. “Alright Diane, I’ll talk to her. Ok.
You too. Bye.” Hanging up he made his way over to his usual chair,
opposite the couch. It was an old brown leather recliner, which he
had positioned strategically so that not only did he have the best
view of the TV, he could see the front door and the stairs without
having to move an inch. It had been designed so that he would be
able to see me leaving and coming home whenever I was out with
friends.
“
So you have a boyfriend.
Naturally your mother has Googled him and told me everything about
his social, financial and political status, but I want to hear it
from you. What is he like? Where did you meet? How long have you
been dating and why didn’t you tell me about it?”
Taking a deep breath I
straightened up and faced him. “He’s really sweet, caring, generous
and a little overprotective, but in a good way. We met at the
coffee shop. I accidently got coffee all over his shirt and kinda,
almost, broke his nose. We’ve only been dating for a few weeks but
I feel like I have known him all my life. We really connect. He
treats me like a princess daddy and you have nothing to worry
about. He’s very responsible and as a successful business man he is
focused and driven with a lot of ambition too. I didn’t tell you
because there was nothing to tell. I wouldn’t even call him my
boyfriend. He’s just a guy I’m seeing. Now enough about Jared, I’m
going to get Mel and then we can all go out for dinner.” Jumping to
my feet I pecked him on the cheek and hurried out of the door. Ok,
so I’d played down the whole relationship thing but I was doing it
to protect dad. Besides, I really wasn’t sure where things were
going yet. I hoped that would be the end of our discussion about
Jared but I had a feeling Mel would be bringing it up again at
dinner. That girl had no filter between her brain and her mouth.
Telling dad how wonderful he was had made my deceit feel that much
worse. This guilt was going to eat me alive and I still had dinner
and a whole night’s sleep to get through. Unable to stand the
nauseous tension in my stomach I decided to tell him the
truth.
Tomorrow
,
I thought,
when I was back on campus, safe
and sound and thus proving what a perfectly capable driver I
was
. I just prayed he wouldn’t be too
mad.
Pizzeria was as delicious as usual. Thankfully, Mel’s presence had
distracted Roberto’s attention from me. He’d always been a little
sweet on her and I was sure she had a soft spot for him too. But
typically, Mel’s self-esteem issues had always stopped her from
asking him out. She was infuriating. She was one of life’s natural
beauties and yet she convinced herself that she was some kind of
ogre. I was still exhausted from spending Friday night with Jared
and hadn’t felt much like talking through dinner. Guilt was still
turning my stomach and had dissolved my usually ravenous appetite.
Dad hadn’t noticed but Mel had raised an eyebrow at me several
times. When we excused ourselves to go to the bathroom I filled her
in on what had happened between Jared and I: the table, the fight,
the bedroom, breakfast and his warning about my driving. Although
she agreed that he was being a little overprotective, she had also
warned me about spinning a web of lies. I wished so hard that she
was wrong but I had a terrible sinking feeling that this was all
going to come back to haunt me. Lies rarely just disappear, they
linger like a stalker, hiding, waiting for the moment they can
spring out of the dark and tackle you to the floor.
Sunday morning started
off with dad’s famous blueberry pancakes and bacon. It was also an
awesome hangover cure. After dinner, Mel and I had made our way
through her father’s bourbon. We’d mixed it with some cola but it
packed one hell of a punch. The next morning, I felt like my head
was no longer attached to my shoulders but that it was actually
rolling across the floor and I was just kicking it along as I
walked. Dad must have noticed the bloodshot eyes, the nauseous
heaving and the painkillers I had swallowed, but tactfully, he
never mentioned it. He simply plated me up with breakfast and told
me it would make the day feel a little better. He really was
amazing.
We’d made plans to spend
the day watching movies and eating junk food but after breakfast
he’d got a call from work asking him to go down and help with a
particularly difficult job they had. Wrapping me in a tight hug he
apologized. I would be heading back to the dorm by the time he was
finished so we said our goodbyes and exchanged kisses. Now that
plans had changed, I decided to invite Mel over to veg out in front
of the TV with me. After all it was our favorite past
time.
Pulling on my sneakers, I
limped over to the door and pulled it open, ready to march over and
drag her back for a day of hermitting. I stood frozen in shock and
amazement. A very familiar sleek and shiny black
Jaguar XK was parked at the end of the driveway.
I slammed the front door shut and leaned against it, trying to
control my now frantic breathing. My pulse skipped as the doorbell
chimed and a knock rattled on the door behind me.
Shit. Shit
. How the hell
was I going to talk my way out of this? “Layla, would you please
open the door. I can hear your heavy breathing through the thick
wood and as much as that gives me ideas and thrills me I need to
speak with you.” The way he growled my name caused my blood to heat
and I felt my insides clench, down there. Gingerly, I turned around
and opened the door, inhaling a quick breath. He looked better than
I remembered. His thick brown and gold hair shimmered in the sun
and his crisp white t-shirt clung to his chest. His dark denim
jeans and sneakers reminded me that he was still only a twenty-two
year old. The way he appeared before me now, he didn’t seem so
scary but the look on his face was something else. He was mad,
furious even. His eyes were dark and his mouth pressed into a hard
line. His eyebrows pinched above the bridge of his nose as he
scowled at me.
“
Jared.
What are you doing here? How did you even know where to find me?” I
tried to appear that
I
was the one who was irritated but it clearly
didn’t work as his expression never softened.
“
Layla, where’s Amy?” A
tingle of fear crept up my spine as my mind frantically searched
for a plausible answer.
“
She’s
still in bed. We hit it pretty hard last night and she’s totally
wiped.” His hands came up in front of him and he winced. “Don’t lie
to me Layla. I know she’s not here. I know you drove all the way
here alone and I know that you lied to me about it! How could you
lie? Why would you lie? But most of all, why would you directly
disregard a simple request I made and a promise that
you
made?! You broke
your promise and lied to me. And you have the nerve to lecture me
on the need for honesty between us! Nice play!” His face was
turning red and the vein in his thick, muscular neck was protruding
as he yelled at me. Part of me was so ashamed by my actions that I
wanted to hang my head in shame. However, the other part of me was
livid. How dare he come to my home and unleash this tirade. I was a
fully grown woman and I had driven there, safely and competently
and here he was screaming at me for lying. Of course I’d lied. I
knew he’d go off the deep end if he knew Amy hadn’t travelled with
me. “I lied to you because I knew you’d go all bat shit crazy at me
if I told the truth. I’m perfectly capable of driving from one
place to another! Do you honestly think my father would let me
drive that car if he didn’t have complete faith in my abilities? Of
course not! You’re treating me like a child and I do not appreciate
you coming to my home, screaming at me and making me feel like I’m
the one who’s in the wrong. You didn’t trust me and that’s the long
and short of it Jared. You have no faith in me and you clearly
don’t respect me. We could have discussed this when I got back, but
no, here you come riding in on your big black shiny horse to do
what? Drag me back? Seize my keys? What exactly was your plan?”
Walking into the hallway he grabbed me by the arms and pulled me
inside. Twisting out of his vice like grip I slammed the door and
glared at him.
What’s his name Layla?”
She clearly wasn’t letting this go.
“
Jared. Jared Garrett.
Mother I swear if you even think about Googling him I will never
speak to you again.”
“
Jared
Garrett. The property developer? Jared Garrett the sole heir to the
Garrett estate and fortune? Jared Garrett the
millionaire!?”
Too
late
.
I held the phone away
from my ear to avoid the screeching on the other end, as my mother
gushed and squealed about how I was going to marry a millionaire.
“Mother calm down. We’re just dating right now. I don’t know where
it’s going to go. I think we’re a long way from marriage talks. But
since we’re on the subject of Jared, I have to go. I promised him
I’d call to let him know I was here, safe in
Pasadena.
”
I could almost hear her
smiling. “Ah see, someone else who worries about your safety and
wellbeing. I like him already.”
“
Goodbye mother. I’ll
text you tomorrow night. Tonight I’m home with daddy. I love you,
even if you are a little unhinged.”
“
Layla!”
“
Goodbye mother.” My tone
was curt and she knew my patience was running thin.
“
Goodbye darling. I love
you. Stay safe.”
Holding the cell in my
hand, I dialed Jared’s number. He picked up on the first ring.
“Layla. You’re safe? You’re home?”
The sound of his voice
brought a wave of warmth through my body. “Yes I’m here. Safe and
sound. You can stop worrying now.”
“
I will
worry
and
panic until you are back here with me, in my arms where I can
keep you safe myself. Amy settled in alright?”
Shit. Fuck
. For the first time in my
adult life I was going to have to lie. And to Jared. “Yeah she’s
fine. A little tired from traveling so she’s taking a nap, but
later we’re going out for dinner with Mel and my dad.”
Liar, liar panties on fire
. He chuckled. “I’m sure that will make for an interesting
evening. I’d sure love to be a fly on the wall. Well, have fun my
lady and try not to miss me too much. Lord knows I’m missing you
like crazy right now. Especially that delectable little ass of
yours.”
I gasped in jest,
“Jared!”
The husky tones of his
laughter made me miss him deeply. I wanted to be wrapped up in his
arms, cocooned in Jared. The line went silent for a moment as we
both caught our breath. Maybe he was thinking the same thing I
was.
“
So, what are you
wearing?”
I grinned. “A smile.
Goodbye Jared”
“
Tease. I’ll get you for
that. Have a lovely evening. Goodbye my lady.”
Hanging up, I hugged
myself. He was utterly perfect. Sweet, caring, his trust and faith
in me was unfailing…and I had just fed him a lie. I had made him a
promise and if he ever found out how badly I had broken that
promise he would be furious. How could I lie to him after I had
lectured and chastised him about the need for honesty in a
relationship? But surely my little white lie didn’t compare even
slightly to his. After all a lie of omission is still a lie. I was
going to have to live with this one on my conscience and the
thought made me feel queasy.
Hearing a key rattle in
the door I glanced over the back of the couch to see dad putting
his keys onto the table next to mine. “Hey baby girl. Sorry I
wasn’t here when you got in, I had to go to work. You been here
long?” Leaping over the back of the couch I ran to hug him. He
staggered back at little as the force of my body hit him like a
wall but he smiled widely. “I’m pleased to see you too. So what’s
been happening with you?”
Collapsing back on to the
couch I sighed loudly. “Got a call from mom earlier, being her
nervous self, as usual. I promised I’ll text her every night before
bed so that she knows I’m safe.”
“
Thank
god. Maybe now she’ll stop calling and hassling
me
. I mean I understand
she worries but…” The chiming of the phone in the hallway stopped
him from finishing his sentence. Eying the caller I.D, he groaned.
“Of course. Speak of the devil and she’s sure to be calling your
phone.” Begrudgingly he answered. “Hello Diane. Yes she told me you
called. No I don’t think she was quite aware of how worried you
were but now that that’s all straightened out, you can stop calling
me every hour on the hour for an update.” Mom was obviously giving
him a hard time but dad had always been particularly skilled at
cutting her off during a rant. “Diane I really don’t think it’s any
of my business who my daughter does or doesn’t date. Why do you
torture yourself? Yes of course I knew she was seeing someone. She
tells me everything.” Peering over the back of the sofa he raised
his eyebrows at me and gave me a look that told me we would be
discussing this as soon as he could get rid of my mother. I sank
down into the large soft cushions wishing the floor would open and
I’d be sucked into oblivion. “Alright Diane, I’ll talk to her. Ok.
You too. Bye.” Hanging up he made his way over to his usual chair,
opposite the couch. It was an old brown leather recliner, which he
had positioned strategically so that not only did he have the best
view of the TV, he could see the front door and the stairs without
having to move an inch. It had been designed so that he would be
able to see me leaving and coming home whenever I was out with
friends.
“
So you have a boyfriend.
Naturally your mother has Googled him and told me everything about
his social, financial and political status, but I want to hear it
from you. What is he like? Where did you meet? How long have you
been dating and why didn’t you tell me about it?”
Taking a deep breath I
straightened up and faced him. “He’s really sweet, caring, generous
and a little overprotective, but in a good way. We met at the
coffee shop. I accidently got coffee all over his shirt and kinda,
almost, broke his nose. We’ve only been dating for a few weeks but
I feel like I have known him all my life. We really connect. He
treats me like a princess daddy and you have nothing to worry
about. He’s very responsible and as a successful business man he is
focused and driven with a lot of ambition too. I didn’t tell you
because there was nothing to tell. I wouldn’t even call him my
boyfriend. He’s just a guy I’m seeing. Now enough about Jared, I’m
going to get Mel and then we can all go out for dinner.” Jumping to
my feet I pecked him on the cheek and hurried out of the door. Ok,
so I’d played down the whole relationship thing but I was doing it
to protect dad. Besides, I really wasn’t sure where things were
going yet. I hoped that would be the end of our discussion about
Jared but I had a feeling Mel would be bringing it up again at
dinner. That girl had no filter between her brain and her mouth.
Telling dad how wonderful he was had made my deceit feel that much
worse. This guilt was going to eat me alive and I still had dinner
and a whole night’s sleep to get through. Unable to stand the
nauseous tension in my stomach I decided to tell him the
truth.
Tomorrow
,
I thought,
when I was back on campus, safe
and sound and thus proving what a perfectly capable driver I
was
. I just prayed he wouldn’t be too
mad.
Chapter
21
Oh What A Wicked
Web
Pizzeria was as delicious as usual. Thankfully, Mel’s presence had
distracted Roberto’s attention from me. He’d always been a little
sweet on her and I was sure she had a soft spot for him too. But
typically, Mel’s self-esteem issues had always stopped her from
asking him out. She was infuriating. She was one of life’s natural
beauties and yet she convinced herself that she was some kind of
ogre. I was still exhausted from spending Friday night with Jared
and hadn’t felt much like talking through dinner. Guilt was still
turning my stomach and had dissolved my usually ravenous appetite.
Dad hadn’t noticed but Mel had raised an eyebrow at me several
times. When we excused ourselves to go to the bathroom I filled her
in on what had happened between Jared and I: the table, the fight,
the bedroom, breakfast and his warning about my driving. Although
she agreed that he was being a little overprotective, she had also
warned me about spinning a web of lies. I wished so hard that she
was wrong but I had a terrible sinking feeling that this was all
going to come back to haunt me. Lies rarely just disappear, they
linger like a stalker, hiding, waiting for the moment they can
spring out of the dark and tackle you to the floor.
Sunday morning started
off with dad’s famous blueberry pancakes and bacon. It was also an
awesome hangover cure. After dinner, Mel and I had made our way
through her father’s bourbon. We’d mixed it with some cola but it
packed one hell of a punch. The next morning, I felt like my head
was no longer attached to my shoulders but that it was actually
rolling across the floor and I was just kicking it along as I
walked. Dad must have noticed the bloodshot eyes, the nauseous
heaving and the painkillers I had swallowed, but tactfully, he
never mentioned it. He simply plated me up with breakfast and told
me it would make the day feel a little better. He really was
amazing.
We’d made plans to spend
the day watching movies and eating junk food but after breakfast
he’d got a call from work asking him to go down and help with a
particularly difficult job they had. Wrapping me in a tight hug he
apologized. I would be heading back to the dorm by the time he was
finished so we said our goodbyes and exchanged kisses. Now that
plans had changed, I decided to invite Mel over to veg out in front
of the TV with me. After all it was our favorite past
time.
Pulling on my sneakers, I
limped over to the door and pulled it open, ready to march over and
drag her back for a day of hermitting. I stood frozen in shock and
amazement. A very familiar sleek and shiny black
Jaguar XK was parked at the end of the driveway.
I slammed the front door shut and leaned against it, trying to
control my now frantic breathing. My pulse skipped as the doorbell
chimed and a knock rattled on the door behind me.
Shit. Shit
. How the hell
was I going to talk my way out of this? “Layla, would you please
open the door. I can hear your heavy breathing through the thick
wood and as much as that gives me ideas and thrills me I need to
speak with you.” The way he growled my name caused my blood to heat
and I felt my insides clench, down there. Gingerly, I turned around
and opened the door, inhaling a quick breath. He looked better than
I remembered. His thick brown and gold hair shimmered in the sun
and his crisp white t-shirt clung to his chest. His dark denim
jeans and sneakers reminded me that he was still only a twenty-two
year old. The way he appeared before me now, he didn’t seem so
scary but the look on his face was something else. He was mad,
furious even. His eyes were dark and his mouth pressed into a hard
line. His eyebrows pinched above the bridge of his nose as he
scowled at me.
“
Jared.
What are you doing here? How did you even know where to find me?” I
tried to appear that
I
was the one who was irritated but it clearly
didn’t work as his expression never softened.
“
Layla, where’s Amy?” A
tingle of fear crept up my spine as my mind frantically searched
for a plausible answer.
“
She’s
still in bed. We hit it pretty hard last night and she’s totally
wiped.” His hands came up in front of him and he winced. “Don’t lie
to me Layla. I know she’s not here. I know you drove all the way
here alone and I know that you lied to me about it! How could you
lie? Why would you lie? But most of all, why would you directly
disregard a simple request I made and a promise that
you
made?! You broke
your promise and lied to me. And you have the nerve to lecture me
on the need for honesty between us! Nice play!” His face was
turning red and the vein in his thick, muscular neck was protruding
as he yelled at me. Part of me was so ashamed by my actions that I
wanted to hang my head in shame. However, the other part of me was
livid. How dare he come to my home and unleash this tirade. I was a
fully grown woman and I had driven there, safely and competently
and here he was screaming at me for lying. Of course I’d lied. I
knew he’d go off the deep end if he knew Amy hadn’t travelled with
me. “I lied to you because I knew you’d go all bat shit crazy at me
if I told the truth. I’m perfectly capable of driving from one
place to another! Do you honestly think my father would let me
drive that car if he didn’t have complete faith in my abilities? Of
course not! You’re treating me like a child and I do not appreciate
you coming to my home, screaming at me and making me feel like I’m
the one who’s in the wrong. You didn’t trust me and that’s the long
and short of it Jared. You have no faith in me and you clearly
don’t respect me. We could have discussed this when I got back, but
no, here you come riding in on your big black shiny horse to do
what? Drag me back? Seize my keys? What exactly was your plan?”
Walking into the hallway he grabbed me by the arms and pulled me
inside. Twisting out of his vice like grip I slammed the door and
glared at him.
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