by Isis Brown
***
Layla helped everyone pile into the cab on their way to the Crystal Ballroom where they would be ringing in the New Year.
She looked back to where Sasha was sitting in the back row of the large van, chatting it up with Sara and Elliott. Layla was relieved that Sasha appeared to be having a good time, as she settled in the front row with her parents.
Iman leaned in and spoke to Layla in Arabic. “She is lovely, Layla. Isn’t she Omar?” she asked.
“She is,” Omar said, patting Layla’s knee.
“She has become one of my best friends. I care about her a lot, but don’t get any ideas, okay?”
“She’s not an artist, is she?” Omar asked, a scowl on his face.
Layla and Iman laughed. “No baba. She is a lawyer.”
“So what’s the problem?” Omar asked.
“The heart wants what it wants,” Iman said, setting a hand on his knee, which he knew was her signal to drop it.
Everyone arrived at the ballroom with two hours until the New Year. Layla’s parents opted to begin the night seated to observe the party and promised to join them on the dance floor as it neared midnight. The night went by in a blur of formally dressed people celebrating, dancing, and drinking together. The DJ played a great mix of music from the 1980s, 90s, and current top 40, so there was something for everyone in the crowd.
As the countdown to midnight neared, everyone gathered around each other. Sara had her phone out, recording, Layla’s parents joined them on the dance floor holding hands. Elliott and Marco were wrapped up in one another, gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. Layla’s eyes found Sasha’s. She didn’t move, opting to let Sasha decide whether or not she wanted a public display. Sasha moved slowly towards Layla, standing beside her and holding her hand. They all joined in the countdown, and after screaming Happy New Year, Sasha turned towards Layla and cupping her face, gave her a tender kiss. Balloons floated down all around them, dropped from the ceiling. Releasing her, Sasha turned towards the rest of their group. All of their eyes landed on Elliott and Marco, as Elliott was down on one knee, an open ring box in his hands. Sara stood to the side of them, recording the proposal. Once Marco elatedly said yes and they embraced, everyone cheered, exchanging hugs and kisses. Layla took a second to let the night sink in, and she couldn’t help but realize she was genuinely happy in that moment.
The celebration continued with lots of happy tears and toasts. At one point Omar had pulled Elliott aside, and Layla would bet money that he was giving him a stern talking to about how he needed to treat Marco.
As they all started to arrange their rides home, Elliott and Marco got a rideshare back to Marco’s place after saying bye to everyone, saving Layla’s hug for last as he squeezed her tight and whispered that he couldn’t believe it and couldn’t wait to catch up tomorrow.
Sasha’s car pulled up, so she turned to say goodbye to everyone, giving them all hugs. “Thank you for a lovely evening; it was so great meeting you all.” Turning to Iman she added, “And thank you for the dancing lessons.”
“You’re welcome, you’re a natural,” Iman said, popping a quick kiss on Sasha’s cheek.
Sasha turned to face Layla. “So I’m guessing you’ve got to go home tonight?” She asked, tugging at the hem of Layla’s shirt.
“Mhm. I’ve got to make sure they get back to my place.”
“No, you don’t, I’ve got it,” Sara said, winking.
“You sure?” Layla asked, checking in with her parents.
“We are sure,” Iman said. “But I expect you home for breakfast by 10.”
Layla hugged them and kissed them on their cheeks.
“I owe you, sis, thanks,” Layla whispered in Sara’s ear as she handed her the keys to her condo.
“Yes, you do,” Sara responded, squeezing Layla’s hand.
Layla waved again as she climbed into the back of the car.
Sasha lifted her arm so that Layla could snuggle up against her in the backseat.
“That was fun,” Sasha said, placing a kiss against Layla’s temple.
“You say that, but now that my parents have given us their blessing to go back to your place and have sex, the next time you see them, you’ll have to offer them two goats and ten pounds of gold.”
Sasha burst out laughing. “You’re being so racist towards yourself. Is that even allowed?”
Layla laughed before placing a kiss on Sasha’s neck. “Hey, I don’t make the rules.”
“Well, guess we aren’t having sex then. I don’t know where I’m going to get two goats by ten am.”
“Nooooooo,” Layla laughed, peppering Sasha’s neck with kisses before resting her head on her shoulder. “Well, I guess they don’t have to know.”
“That’s what I thought.” They settled into a comfortable silence for a while. “Your family is so sweet and fun to be around. I miss that,” Sasha said, looking out the window.
Layla shifted in the back seat of the car so she could look at Sasha. “You’ve never mentioned your family, in the couple of years I’ve known you. Why is that?”
Sasha looked at Layla. “We don’t really talk anymore.”
“Why not?” Layla asked.
“Let’s just say, not everyone’s family is as accepting as yours regarding your sexuality.”
Layla nodded, understanding immediately. This was a story so many of her friends had told as part of their coming out journey. Her heart simultaneously broke for Sasha and was grateful for her own family.
When they got back to Sasha’s place, they touched each other tenderly, their usual playfulness gone. Layla could sense the pain in Sasha’s heart, and felt a need to care for her more deeply since the revelation about her family. Layla pulled back and really looked at her.
“What if tonight we just talk?”
Sasha stilled her hands that were unbuttoning Layla’s pants. “Now? About what?”
“About you. Your family.”
Sasha closed her eyes and took a shaky breath in. When she opened them, they were teary. Layla cupped Sasha’s face.
“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do Sash.”
“No, it is time. I probably should.”
And for the next few hours, Sasha told Layla everything.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Isabel sipped coffee in her hotel room in Paris, leaning back against the headboard. It was close to 11 am Paris time, and she was going through her text messages from friends and family back home who were in touch because of the New Year. The group text she was on with Penny, Toni and Elliott had over 30 unread text messages. Opening them, she squealed delightedly at the news and photos that Elliott shared with them regarding his engagement to Marco. The woman in bed with Isabel stirred, and Isabel reached out, lightly running her fingertips along the woman’s back. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.” The woman, a model that Isabel met at the New Year’s party last night settled and fell back asleep.
Isabel took her coffee and phone out to the patio, making sure her robe was tied tight before settling in a chair. She pulled up the video that Elliott had sent of the proposal and watched it again, absolutely thrilled for her friend. She sent a quick message to him to schedule a facetime date for later that day once they were up due to the time difference. She pulled up her Snapchat and looked at the stories Elliott had posted. Her breath caught as she saw videos of Elliott and Marco at Layla’s place. She recognized Layla’s parents and sister from photos that Layla showed her back when they were together. She also recognized Sasha, looking gorgeous in a purple dress and seeming to fit right in with everyone. She watched them learn to belly dance, and later sing and dance the night away somewhere else that she didn’t recognize.
Tears sprung to her eyes, but she wiped them away quickly. She couldn’t help but remember that she was supposed to meet Layla’s family this time of year. Isabel took a shaky breath in, feeling like it should have been her learning to belly dance with Layla’s family, wit
nessing Elliott and Marco’s engagement, kissing Layla as the clock struck midnight.
“Hey, everything okay?” The woman was standing naked leaning up against the frame of the open sliding glass door.
“Totally fine, happy tears. One of my best friends got engaged last night.”
“That’s sweet.” She leaned over and took Isabel by the hand, leading her back inside the hotel suite. Once they reached the bed, she reached for the robe, untying it slowly. “I like sweet.”
“Oh yeah?” Isabel said, letting the robe fall from her shoulders.
“Yeah,” She said, pushing Isabel down on the bed.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Spring
“So,” Layla said, crossing her legs on the couch beneath her, “How goes the wedding planning?”
Marco lit up at the topic. “Summer wedding in Vancouver. He has more friends and family up there, and I figure the people that care about me will make the trip up.”
“Sounds amazing. We always did well for ourselves in Vancouver,” Layla said, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Speaking of, you know Isabel and the rest of the wonder Canadians will be there. That’s cool, right?”
Layla smiled and squeezed his arm. “Of course it is. All of us will be so thrilled for you guys, and nothing will get in the way of that.” She did her best to hide the anxiety at the idea of being in a room with Isabel again.
“Oh good. Sasha is invited too, just FYI because I love her. So don’t mess it up until then. Also, that brings me to my next topic. As you know, my family isn’t around. You and your family have basically been my people since I came out in High School. So, I was wondering. Will you be my best man? Best woman? Best person? You know what I mean.”
Layla’s heart swelled at the question.
“I would be so honored, Marco. Of course,” Layla said through teary eyes.
“Okay, settle down. No need to be so gay about it,” Marco said, his eyes tearing up too.
“Shut up and hug me. I can’t believe you’re getting married.”
“I know, right?”
“You made the right choice though, I mean who else is going to get you to the altar on time?” Layla said, laughing as she wiped away her tears.
“Oh no I didn’t even think about that. You’re going to have me there two days early.”
“You knew what the deal was when you hired me. No take-backsies.”
Hugging her again, Marco laughed. “Don’t I know it.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Okay dish,” Toni demanded.
Isabel shrugged, “About what, exactly?” Lips curving into a sly smile.
“About working with Isaac Dent God damn it! My future husband! Father of my children! Etcetera.”
Isabel laughed. “God, I really missed you gals,” She said, as she crossed her legs on the couch, taking a sip of wine.
“We missed you too, but I’m with Toni. Dish,” Penny insisted.
“It was good. He is a great person. In fact, I told him a bit about you, Toni.”
Toni coughed a little as some wine went down the wrong pipe. “You didn’t.”
“I did. He is single after all, so I’m thinking you join me again for the press circuit once we start doing that in a few months.” Isabel cringed. “It’ll be fun this time, and I promise not to get hammered and make really bad personal choices.”
Penny reached over and patted Isabel’s shoulder reassuringly. “Water under the bridge sweetheart.”
Isabel grunted.
“Okay, back to meeee,” Toni joked. “I know you can’t give away plot points or anything, but I’m guessing you and Isaac kissed in this movie, right? Soooo. Good kisser? Bad kisser? No, wait, I don’t want to know. Shit. I do want to know. Argh!”
“Oh wow, you broke Toni,” Penny said with a laugh.
“Me?” Isabel held her hands up in protest, “I didn’t even say anything!”
“Your silence said it all,” Toni said, dramatically narrowing her eyes at Isabel.
Isabel’s phone rang and she grabbed it off the coffee table and saw it was her Mom. She hit ignore and set it back down, deciding to call her as soon as she was done catching up with her best friends. She had been traveling so much for work that she wanted to be present during their time together.
“So, what’s new with you gals?” She asked before her phone started immediately ringing again.
Penny frowned. “You should get that. It must be important if they’re calling back to back.”
“It’s just my Mom,” Isabel said, absentmindedly setting down her wine glass before picking up the phone and answering it. “Hey, Mom, what’s up?”
“Isabel, honey, where are you?” Diane asked, her voice thick.
“I’m at Penny’s. Mom, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“It’s Poppa, he—” Diane couldn’t finish the sentence, as a sob escaped instead.
“What? No, Mom. Wait.” Isabel couldn’t get her mind to catch up to what she was hearing. “What’s wrong with Poppa, what happened?”
Toni and Penny surrounded Isabel, only hearing half of the conversation, but they clearly could tell something awful was happening.
“He collapsed, I don’t know what happened. We are heading to UBC, can you meet us there?”
“Yeah, I’m coming.”
Isabel hung up the phone and looked at Penny and Toni. “It’s Poppa. They’re taking him to UBC.”
Penny stood up and grabbed her keys. “Let’s go.”
***
Arriving at the hospital, Penny dropped Isabel and Toni off at the entrance before she went to park the car.
Running into the emergency room, Isabel scanned for her parents but couldn’t find them. Toni had gone up to the check in to ask where to go, and they were led to a waiting area. Isabel turned the corner, and her heart sank. Sitting in the chairs were her parents Diane, Greg and Neeno, all of them looking defeated.
“No,” She said out loud, causing everyone to look up at her.
Standing up, Isabel’s father came to her and wrapped her in a hug while her mother stayed seated, holding Neeno’s hand.
“He’s gone,” was all her father said.
Isabel didn’t remember falling to the ground, being introduced to the Chaplain or led into the room. She only remembered crying as she held onto Penny’s hand, trying to say goodbye but not able to find the words.
***
Penny drove Isabel to her parent’s house. Isabel was silent the whole way, tears streaming down her face. Penny kept a tight hold of her hand.
“I can’t believe it,” Isabel said.
“I’m so sorry. What can I do?” Penny asked.
“Nothing, you’ve already done everything.” Isabel looked over at Penny. “I just, I am not ready, you know? I haven’t seen him in weeks and was going to go over there to see him after catching up with you. I didn’t even know he was unwell, I mean I know he didn’t always take his medicine, but this?”
Isabel was overcome with racking sobs as Penny put the car in park and wrapped her in a long hug. Once she started to calm down and catch her breath, she sat back against the seat.
“Do you need me to call anyone for work or anything?” Penny asked.
“No.” She ran her hands through her hair, then wiped her face. “This is so fucked up. Poppa is gone, and the one person I wish I could call is the one person who hates me.”
Penny thought a moment. “Layla?”
Isabel nodded, then shook her head. “I should get inside. Thanks, Pen.”
Penny reached out and squeezed her hand.
Nodding, Isabel let herself out of the car and slowly walked to her parent’s house who hadn’t made it back yet. She didn’t know how she would manage to be in there, with remnants of Poppa everywhere. She went into her parent’s medicine cabinet and found an over the counter sleep aid. She took a pill and didn’t even bother to find something to change into before laying down in her childhood bedroom a
nd crying herself to a medically induced sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Okay, but how do I get Councilmember Solomon on board? He won’t budge because of fucking preemption,” Layla complained, stabbing her chopsticks into the takeout box and grabbing the last piece of orange chicken.
Sasha took a moment to think about this as she picked up another egg roll. “What about his pet project in his district?”
“What do you mean?” Layla asked, trying to remember what that was.
“He had that community center they were touting, remember? He was all over the news like two months ago. I heard from a friend at the foundation that they won’t be able to do the matching funds after all.”
“Shit, I missed that. I wonder if we can round up enough city money to make up the difference.”
“And if you can, I bet his problems with preemption might just go away.”
A smile crept up Layla’s face. “God damn you are good.”
Sasha jokingly flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “So good of you to notice.”
Layla set her food down and pulled Sasha in for a kiss.
“Mmm, orange chicken. Such an aphrodisiac,” Sasha teased.
“Is this not working for you?” Layla responded, smacking her lips as she stood up and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She was halfway there before her phone started ringing. Looking over her shoulder, she asked, “Who is it?”
Sasha picked up the phone to see who was calling. “It’s Penny.”
Layla poked her head out of the bathroom after setting her toothbrush down and walked over quickly to answer it. Her stomach sank. She hadn’t spoken with Penny in months, so if there was a reason she was calling it couldn’t be good news.
“Hello?” Layla asked hesitantly, hoping it was just a pocket dial.
“Layla? It’s Penny.”
“Yeah, hi Penny. Is everything okay?”
“No.” She sighed. “It’s Isabel. Well, it’s her Poppa. He passed away suddenly tonight, and as you can imagine, Isabel and the rest of the family are a mess. I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but she told me you were the person she most wanted to call, but she didn’t feel like she could. I don’t know; maybe I shouldn’t be. But I hate seeing her like that, and I just figured if I were you, I’d want to know.”