Stray

by Solveig Yrsa

  As he reached the courtyard, he walked up to Jensen standing in between the red-faced caterer who was yelling at Layla for taking his boxes of bread. “Layla, what on earth are you doing?” Jensen asked.

  “They are going to throw all of this away!”

  Spencer sighed. “We’re canceling the party.” He looked at the caterer, “Go talk to your boss, Miguel should’ve talked to him, you will still get your check.”

  The caterer left in a huff, and Layla gripped the bread box tightly. “Spencer, you can’t let them throw this all away,” she pleaded.

  He gave her a tired laugh. “Layla, what do you want me to do? It’ll go bad before we can eat it all.”

  “Help me take it to the shelter! Those people would love some real food!”

  Spencer looked from Layla, to Jensen, who shrugged. “It’s her birthday.”

  Spencer looked back at Layla again, and nodded his head. “Okay, let’s load up the car.”

  She squealed as she wrapped her small arms around Spencer’s neck and kissed his cheek. “Thank you! I’m going to get changed!”

  He watched as Layla ran inside, and sighed. “I have no idea what I’m doing here. She is like… the exact opposite of anyone I’ve ever dated.”

  Jensen chuckled. “Yeah, but by the giant grin that is plastered on your face, I’d say that isn’t such a bad thing.” Spencer shook his head as he and Jensen started carrying the trays to Spencer’s Land Rover. Jensen set the trays in the back and then groaned when he saw who was approaching the car.

  Spencer raised a brow and looked to see Liam walking their way, and rolled his eyes. “You two need to stop being children. Fix this because I’m tired of having to split time between you two. It’s annoying,” he muttered as he walked back to get another tray, leaving Jensen there alone.

  “Hey Jen,” Liam smiled shyly as he reached the car. “Lay said you guys were going to take food to the homeless shelter, I thought I’d tag along and help.”

  Jensen shrugged. “Yeah sure, I’m sure there will be plenty to do.”

  Liam shifted uncomfortably at the coldness in Jensen’s voice and demeanor. “Hey Jensen…” Liam felt his heart rate increase.

  “Yeah?” Jensen kept pretending to move things around in the back of the car. He couldn’t look at Liam, he was still upset over the day at his school when he’d told Liam he had feelings for him.

  Liam rubbed the back of his neck. “Jensen… do you… do you hate me?”

  Jensen stopped moving the tray and just stared in the back of the car for a minute before summoning enough courage to look at the auburn-haired man. “Of course not, why would you think that?”

  Liam shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I haven’t talked to you in months, I barely see you, you took me off your social media, you don’t text me anymore. I just feel like… like you don’t want to be around me.”

  Jensen sighed. “Liam, to be fair, you haven’t reached out to me either, and I didn’t take you off social media, I took down my accounts. I want to be around you, I made it embarrassingly clear in the parking lot at your school. I just, I haven’t figured out yet how we go from that, back to being just friends.”

  Liam felt his heart crush. Just friends… he didn’t want to go back to being just friends. He looked at Jensen, his eyes were glaring a hole into the back of the car. Liam walked closer to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, causing Jensen to jump. “I’m sorry I hurt you, and whenever you’re ready to talk to me again, know that I am here.” He then turned around and headed to the courtyard to help get more trays, leaving a stunned Jensen behind.

  Spencer closed his back hatch and looked at Layla and Samantha coming down the steps. Layla gave Samantha a hug before getting into the front passenger seat.

  Samantha walked over to Spencer. “I’m going to stay here with Aunt Cat, we’re going to get a small party in the living room set up, text me when you guys are on your way back and I will order some pizza.” Spencer nodded and waved to his mother who was at the top of the steps before climbing into the driver’s seat. He looked at how happy Layla was, and it made him smile. This has to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever done for a girl.

  ***

  Layla smiled as she placed a scoop of potatoes onto a plate full of food before handing it to the older woman. “If you want more, just come back up,” she beamed and gave the woman a small wave. Spencer just watched in awe as he helped her plate the food while Jensen and Liam bussed tables and cleaned dishes. He had never seen her smile so much, she was just so alive, so talkative, laughing and joking and hugging people that, if he was one hundred percent honest, smelled so bad it made him nauseous. But Layla didn’t seem to mind, she enjoyed every hug, she made time to talk to every single person that wanted to, and when a little boy had dropped his plate and was about to scoop it off the floor to eat it, Layla walked over, grabbed his hand and took him behind the tables of food to get him a fresh plate.

  He had never met a single person that was as caring as she was. His parents gave a substantial cheque yearly to a charity organization, but it was always some random one that meant nothing, and it was mainly for the tax write-off. Layla was getting nothing out of this, no money, no fame, nothing. She would leave here dirty and tired and none the richer, but she acted as though she had just won the lottery.

  Spencer was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone speaking loudly, causing Layla to freeze.

  “Well well well… Look what we have here! My baby Lala.”

  Layla’s heart dropped. She stared down at the tray of meat, begging whoever was listening to not let it be him. She peeked up and wanted to cry. “H…hi Marcus.” Her voice was barely audible. She thought back to her last encounter with him, the horrific beating, and then… Jackson. Her body began to tremble as she remembered the night that Spencer had rescued her. Marcus grinned widely, showing off all seven of his brown teeth as he made his way closer to the buffet tables.

  “My god, Lala! If I had known you looked like that, I’d have had you on the streets with my other girlies.”

  Layla flinched, she didn’t want to draw attention, but that is exactly what was happening.

  Spencer walked over to the two and looked down at the dirty old man. “Is there a problem here?” he asked sternly. Something was wrong, Layla had gone even paler than her usual self, she wouldn’t look this man in the eye, and she looked as though she was trying to hide.

  The old man grinned at Spencer. “No, sir! I’m just talking with my baby.”

  Spencer raised a brow. “Your… baby?” He looked at the trembling girl. “Lay, are you okay.”

  Layla nodded quickly. “Yeah, this is Marcus… he umm… led my old nest,” she whispered involuntarily. She couldn’t find her voice, or her confidence. Her knees felt weak, and she felt a cold sweat washing over her.

  Spencer glared at Marcus. “So you’re the son of a bi—” Spencer was cut off when he felt Layla’s trembling hand wrap itself inside his.

  She shook her head and found enough courage to look up at Marcus. “What would you like to eat, Marcus?”

  Spencer noticed the death grip she had on his hand, he hated how terrified she was. Why wouldn’t she just let him kick his ass out? He stroked her hand softly with his thumb while waiting for the old man to order.

  “What do I want to eat.” He looked at all the food and then back at Layla. “Lala, I’ll have some of everything.”

  Layla nodded and started working her way down the table, scooping something from each tray on the plate. Marcus looked at Spencer, and once Layla was at the other end, Marcus spoke. “Is she any good?”

  Spencer looked at him. “What?”

  Marcus pointed at the brunette. “Is Lala any good, you know, in the sack? I thought for years that I should have a go at her, but I made a promise to her mama, and I am a man of my word.”

  Spencer felt fire course through his veins. He glared at the old man. “Listen to me, you piece of shit. Sh
e is the only reason I haven’t slammed your face into this table yet, and pretty soon not even she will be able to stop me. You go get that fucking plate, you thank her for her god damn kindness that you don’t fucking deserve, and then you get the hell out of my sight. And if you ever see her again, you better run the opposite way.” Spencer’s voice was low and threatening.

  Marcus grinned widely. “Little boy, now you listen to me. In three words I will have this entire room turn on you all so fast you won’t have time to piss yourselves. Why do you think Lala is so scared? You may have fucked her, but I broke her long ago. She was my bitch first.”

  Spencer started to climb over the table at him but Layla came over.

  “Marcus, here is your plate, Spencer, come with me,” she said softly and then turned to leave.

  “Buh byes, Lala! I’ll be seeing you again soon!”

  Layla walked into an employee’s only bathroom and waited for Spencer to enter before shutting and locking the door. “What were you doing? Were you about to fight him?” she hissed, looking at him with wide eyes.

  “Of course I was! He was terrifying you and then he said some horrible shit! I’m not going to let him talk to you like that.” Spencer was shocked at how she was acting.

  Layla sighed and looked at him. “I know that you’re trying to protect me, but you can’t against him, okay? You have to just let him run his mouth so that he will move on. Just like I use to take my beatings, if I would’ve fought him or tried to run or scream, they would’ve been worse, and he would’ve had others in the nest come and beat me too. If you cross him in this shelter, every one of those people will turn on us.”

  Spencer looked at her in disbelief. “Why? How is that stupid, dirty old asshole so powerful?”

  Layla shook her head. “Because he isn’t stupid. That old man owns everyone in the homeless community, everyone owes him money or favors and if they don’t pay up… well, you saw what happened to me.” She looked down and shivered as she remembered the beating.

  Spencer sighed and nodded. “Okay, I wasn’t trying to rock the boat, I just… you were so happy, and I hate that he took that from you.”

  She looked up at Spencer and smiled. “Spencer, that man stole my happiness a long time ago, you gave it back to me. I am happy, I got to do something on my birthday that meant something. I could help so many people eat today that otherwise would’ve gone hungry or dug in the trash. And I could do that, because of you. That is something that Marcus can never take from me, no matter what.”

  Spencer was silent for a second before taking a deep breath. “Layla, I have to tell you something.”

  She looked at him and cocked her head to the side. “What is it?”

  He opened his mouth to let it all out. To tell her he was in love with her, that she was the only thing he thought about, that when she was near him, he felt a warmth and happiness that he had never felt before, but when he looked into her big blue eyes, and then looked around at the surroundings, he couldn’t. He may not have been the most romantic man in the world, but even he knew that confessing his feelings to her in the bathroom of a homeless shelter would not be a story they would want to tell. He sighed and gave her a small smile. “I uhh… I got you a present for your birthday, but I don’t think you’re going to like it, if you don’t, please tell me and I’ll get you something else.”

  Layla gave him a puzzled stare, was that all? She had honestly thought for a second… Get it together Layla, he doesn’t have those type of feelings for you. She laughed softly. “Spencer, you canceled the party, and took me and all the food down here, and have spent the last few hours helping me hand it out, and that’s just today, you’ve done so much for me, I don’t want anything from you. But this here, this today, it’s the best gift I could’ve ever received. So thank you.” Layla jumped as there was a knock on the door. She spun and opened it to see Liam standing there.

  “Hey we have everything cleaned up and loaded, Jensen decided he’d rather wait alone by the car than hang around me apparently so, I figured I’d let you know we are ready.”

  Spencer rolled his eyes and sighed. “You two kill me,” he muttered.

  Layla looked puzzled. “Why are you and Jensen not talking? I thought you talked things out at your dad's funeral?”

  Liam shrugged. “Guess not.”

  Spencer glared at his cousin. “Oh no, you don’t get to act like that, you know damn well why Jensen is upset.”

  Liam rolled his eyes at his cousin’s scolding tone. “Look, I apologized then, and I tried to talk to him today and he shot me down. He said… he said he didn’t know how we could go back to just being friends after he… said what he did when he came to my school.”

  Layla crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you have feelings for Jensen?” she asked bluntly.

  Liam blushed and looked away but nodded. “Yes, I do but—"

  “No buts!” she interrupted. “If you have feelings for him, and you know that he has feelings for you, why are you doing this? Go and tell him! You both care about each other! So go make each other happy!”

  Liam sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s not that simple, Lay.”

  She held up her hand to silence him. “Actually, it is that simple, you are making it more complicated than it has to be, and what’s even worse is, you claim to have feelings for Jensen, but you are causing him pain and suffering because he doesn’t know where you two stand, if you will ever be anything other than friends, hell if you even care about him at all. You owe it to him to at least tell him how you feel.”

  Spencer stayed silent behind Layla as she preached to his cousin. Even though she was saying it to Liam about Jensen, Spencer couldn’t help but feel that the same could be said about her and him.

  Liam looked down at the petite, blue-eyed girl, he felt the stinging feeling in his eyes, he clenched his jaw to try and hold back the tears. “I’m…” he coughed to clear his throat and stop a sob. “I’m afraid he will reject me.”

  Layla gave Liam a hug and patted his back. “Well, you have to make a decision between those two things, figure out which one is easier to live with, and move forward. Now, we need to go.” She headed out the bathroom door, leaving the two baffled men behind her.

  “Wait,” Liam said. “You said it’s a decision between two… my fear is only one, what is my other choice?”

  Layla turned around and looked back at them. “Regret.”

  ***

  The car ride home was a quiet one. Once they pulled up, they all decided to go take a shower and then head to the living room. As Spencer stood in his shower with the hot water running over his body, he thought about what Layla had said in the bathroom to Liam.

  ‘Fear and Regret.’ He sighed, it was weird how she said those things to help Liam, but it hit him. There were so many reasons he had come up with to not tell Layla how he felt, but he knew they were all excuses to hide his fear. He didn’t know how to handle this. Every other girl he went after, he had no fear, he knew exactly what he had to do to win them over, and even with Rachel, who he’d pined over for an embarrassingly long amount of time, he didn’t fear her rejecting him. With Layla, that’s all he thought about. Was he good enough for her? What if he wasn’t, what if she could never get over how he treated her before and she wanted nothing to do with him romantically? The thought crushed him. But what if he didn’t tell her, and she met someone else? That thought enraged him. He sighed as he turned the shower off and grabbed a towel. He had no idea what he was going to do.

  Layla was the last person out of the shower, she came down the stairs wearing a pair of red and black plaid pajama bottoms and a black long-sleeve shirt. She saw everyone else dressed in pajamas and sitting in the living room, and looked at the pizzas sitting on the table with gifts underneath. She beamed and clapped her hands together as Spencer came over and handed her an empty plate.

  “Yes, your nasty spicy chicken blasphemy pizza is over there.”

  Lay
la squealed with delight and jumped up to kiss Spencer on the cheek. “Yay! Thank you!” She ran over to grab a slice, leaving Spencer standing there with a dazed look on his face and a hand on his cheek.

  Catherine noticed her son and walked over to him. “Still trying to decide?” she asked quietly.

  Spencer sighed. “Yeah, I know you want me to let it go.”

  Catherine tightened her mouth in thought for a moment. “I did… but now…”

  Spencer looked at her. “But now, what?”

  Catherine shrugged and looked to make sure everyone was preoccupied. “Layla seems genuinely happy with you. While at the spa, she sat and read your book most of the time, and if she wasn’t reading it, my god was she asking us a million and a half questions about the book, or about you. Lord she was talking the poor worker’s ears off about how you are this amazing writer and that you wrote this series. She was so proud of you, she was like your cheerleader and…” Catherine blinked and looked up at the ceiling as she tried to stop the tears. “Spencer, you deserve someone who wants nothing but the best for you, you deserve someone who sees that light in you and brings it out. I truly believe that Layla is that person. Maybe I’m wrong, but all I know is, I don’t want to be the voice in your head casting a shadow of doubt about her.”

  Spencer was stunned by his mother’s words. He gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  After everyone ate, Samantha grinned and started pulling out gifts from under the table. “Okay, Lay, it’s time to open up your gifts!”

  Layla looked at the packages in amazement. “You guys, you truly didn’t have to do this, you’ve done so much.”

  “Oh hush now,” Catherine said while taking a seat on the couch. “You deserve them! Now open them up.”