A quick glance told Jay that every chair was carved, though only the two at the ends had arms. The rest were straight backed and uncomfortable looking. A massive chandelier hung over the table, the lights and crystals twinkling down. There was a huge china cabinet off to the left, complete with a dishes set in there that were white and rimmed with gold at the edge. Probably real gold too. Despite the abundance of lighting, several taper candles were placed all along the length of the table that was little more than a quarter of it. The feast set out was impressive. The gravy was actually in one of those gravy boats that he’d seen on movies and the entire dishes set matched.
Another glance towards his setting told him he was in over his head. There was more than one fork by the gold rimmed plate.
His first instinct was to turn and run. The whole thing was so cliche, so ritzy, so… everything he’d feared it would be. Then Laya gently walked up beside him and placed her hand subtly on the base of his spine. Her fingers burned through the fabric of his black dress shirt. The thing was itchy and uncomfortable and despite being thin, he was starting to sweat. He wondered if Laya could feel the moisture beneath her palm.
“Dad, this is Jay. Jay, this is my dad, William, although everyone calls him Bill.”
Bill didn’t stand or offer a hand. He just nodded in Jay’s direction. “Good to meet you, son.” He indicated the chair beside him.
Jay hedged, wanting to be as far away from the guy as he possibly could. Thankfully Laya swooped around him and took the seat next to her dad. She indicated the one beside her and he sat. He wished, as she sunk into her own chair, that he’d had the foresight to pull it out for her, but then again, chivalry was never one of his better traits.
He didn’t take the son in that statement personally. It sounded like something people who had way more money actually said. He knew there wasn’t a hope in hell that Bill wanted him to actually ever be a relation.
Helena took the seat across from them. Bill picked up a large knife and set to work cutting the roast. Jay had to wonder, with the vigor he went at it, if he wished it was himself the guy was quartering.
After their plates had been filled, which involved actually passing around dishes, not a diving in free for all like it was at his mom’s when she cooked, Bill sat back. He eyed Jay, who hadn’t taken a bite of his food. Laya sat beside him, oblivious. For someone who was as thin and lithe as she was, she sure ate like she wasn’t. He remembered being impressed before, at the rate she could haul down food.
“Laya’s told me so much about you.” Helena broke the silence.
Jay paused, fork and knife on the beef he figured he’d better make an effort to eat. “Oh?” He glanced nervously towards Laya.
“She didn’t tell us what you do for a living though,” Bill cut in. His friendly tone didn’t quite disguise the lethal undercurrent of his words. He hadn’t touched his roast either.
Jay remembered Laya talking about her dad having some big cases, which probably meant the guy was a lawyer. It made sense, given the way he was eyeing Jay up. He felt like he was on trial for something he hadn’t even done. Unless the something he was supposed to have done was Laya and in that case, he was guilty as charged.
“I’m a mechanic.” He resisted the urge to tack on, sir, at the end of it.
Bill nodded slowly, like he was digesting the information, though it couldn’t have come as a surprise to him. He might not have guessed that Jay was a mechanic, but he sure as hell could recognize the fact that the guy darkening his dinner table wasn’t from the same upper crust that he himself resided in.
“And you went to school for that?”
“Yes.” Beside him, Laya stiffened, but said nothing. Jay wanted to defend himself. He wanted to say that he was good at what he did. Very good. Probably the best mechanic in the shop, but he knew it would mean nothing at all to Bill. It would probably only make things worse.
Bill folded his hands in front of his plate. He leveled a direct stare at Jay that told him the guy was going to be absolutely blunt. Jay braced himself.
“And what, exactly, are your intentions?”
“Dad!” Laya protested. Jay glanced at Helena, who looked like she also wanted to cut Bill off. Her hand tightened around the fork that rested on her plate. She remained silent though, waiting.
“I… well, I- want to treat her right. She’s a good woman and I respect her and care for her very much.” It had only been a month. Jay couldn’t very well come out and say that he loved her. That he’d fight for her. That for the first time he was shocked to find he could actually imagine himself spending a lot of time with one person. A lot of time meaning a number of years. Meaning far longer than that. Meaning maybe he didn’t want to actually imagine a time when Laya wasn’t in his life.
“I’m going to be honest with you and tell you that it’s alarming to me that the first person my daughter has ever shown interest in is someone I don’t feel can support her or give her the life she deserves to have. She still has a future ahead of her. She’s not ready to settle down yet. She has college to go to and a career to focus on. She doesn’t have time for-”
“Dad!” Laya cut in again. This time Bill looked at her. His face remained unapologetically stoic. “I think I can decide what I’m going to do with my life and my time. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“You’ll always be my kid.”
Jay couldn’t actually fault Laya’s dad for the concern and love he heard in his voice. It wasn’t that Bill didn’t like him. He just loved his daughter more.
He had no experience with a dad. He’d been raised by his mom. He’d never actually wanted a dad really, since Leanne was everything he and Heather could have asked for. He didn’t want to know a guy who would just abandon his kids and never contact them again. If he did have a dad though, he probably would have wanted one like Bill. Someone who would stand up for him. Someone who would be concerned about his well-being and his future.
“That’s rude,” Laya protested. “Maybe I don’t want a house like this. I don’t want to be put on the shelf and be married to someone who goes to work while I stay at home.” She flashed a look at her mom, one that spoke volumes, one that said she didn’t think of her mother in that way. “All the guys you’ve wanted me to go out with were ones that wanted a trophy, not a real person. Jay sees me for who I am. That’s all I want.”
“I make more than enough money to support myself,” Jay cut in. He felt he had to speak up in his defense, though it probably would have been wiser to keep his mouth shut.
“I don’t doubt that, but no matter what Laya says, she’s been raised a certain way. It would take a lot, it would be asking her to sacrifice a lot, to give up those things.”
“What things?” Laya cut in again. “What things, dad? My car? This house? My clothes? I’d give them up in a second.”
“Laya, sweetheart, I love you, but you don’t even have a direction you’ve chosen to go yet. How can you say you’d give them up when you don’t even know what you want to do with your life? I’m just trying to be logical here. Sometimes what you think you want, isn’t always what you actually want. I’ve seen enough broken homes and divorces in my time to know that people change their minds and it can get ugly.” Bill finally looked at Jay again. “I’m not trying to disrespect you, son. I’m just saying that sometimes two different people who come from two different lifestyles, even if it seems like it’s going to work, it doesn’t. I know from experience it seldom does. I’m not trying to be rude or an elitist here, I’m just trying to be a voice of reason. I see you sitting there, both of you, looking at each other blindly, but I know that it fades in time and when you open your eyes, the world can be a hard place. I don’t want to see my little girl get hurt. I don’t want to see her hurt anyone else either.”
And there it was. The speech that Jay had expected ever since he first heard about the dinner invitation. It was just delivered in a far different manner than he actually expected. Was it possible for
someone to be kind and horrible all at once? Was that what tough love meant? He had no idea, he just knew he couldn’t sit there for the rest of the meal and pretend like he was welcome when he now knew for a fact that Laya’s father, probably her mother too, deep down, was dead set against them. The entire world might as well have been against them, because for Laya, her family was her everything.
“I’m sorry. I think it would be better if I just left.” Jay shoved his chair back and stood. He stalked through the dining room and headed down the hall, exactly the way he’d just come. At least when he got there he’d still held out some hope that tings wouldn’t turn into a steaming pile of shit. Now that his hopes had been dashed, there wasn’t a reason to hang around.
“Jay!” Laya caught up with him at the door. He’d just found his shoes and crammed his feet roughly into them. “Stop!” She grabbed his arm so hard she was actually able to tug him around to face her. “Where are you going?”
“I think that’s pretty obvious.”
“Don’t go. Dad is just being dad. He doesn’t really mean it. He’ll accept whatever decision I make.”
“Somehow I think that’s true, but I know he would always wish that it wasn’t me. He’d always be worried about you. I never believed in marriage or relationships really. Maybe that’s because of how I was raised or maybe I’m just an eternal realist and I know better. Either way, he’s probably right.”
“Please, Jay, don’t go. Talk to me, if no one else. Please don’t take what my dad said to heart. He’s not right. I know he’s not.”
“I think we should take a break.”
“No!” Laya shook her head. Ringlets danced around her face. “No! I don’t want to take a break. I know what you mean by that. I’ll talk to them. Please, I’ve asked you before not to just give up so easily. If I mean anything at all to you, tell me that it’s okay for me to come over later.”
“It’s not okay.” God, it killed him to say those words. He’d felt that horrible, gut wrenching pain that day in the kitchen when they’d had the fight over her parents and he’d told her to leave. He felt it now, a hundred times worse. He was glad he hadn’t eaten anything all day. That way, there was pretty much no chance of him vomiting even though bile crawled up and burned the back of his throat.
Laya’s face turned stormy. “You’re a coward then. If my dad is right, it would only be because you’d let him be. You’re the one who would want to give up, not me.”
“It’s the same result either way. Doesn’t everyone end up hating each other in the end?”
“My parents don’t. They’ve been together forever.”
“It’s the money. It’s easy to love each other in the good times.”
“How very glib of you to sum it all up that way. They have their struggles. Money can’t fix everything. Don’t make it sound so easy.”
“Well I don’t have money and I can’t promise I’d be worth anything in the hard times. Your dad is right. You should be with someone who can treat you better. God knows that I’m useless in that department. I’m not a good guy. I’m not the kind of guy you can ride off into the sunset with.”
“I don’t want sunsets or unending money. I’m just asking you to trust me enough to believe that I know my own mind and- and my own heart.”
“You might now, but we’re not talking about now. We’re talking about the future.” He leaned forward, and though his chest felt like someone had taken a knife, no not a knife, the entire knife block, to it, he gave Laya a gentle kiss. He stuffed down the burst of adrenaline that shot through his blood, the way his heart started pumping, the slamming pulse, the short breaths. He ignored the softness of her lips and how much he longed to kiss her again. God, he wanted to take her in his arms and never stop. He’d protect her through anything, no matter what he said. He was doing this for her, to protect her from himself, because he knew he was broken in every single way she needed him to be strong.
Laya’s eyes flooded with tears. “That felt like goodbye. Don’t kiss me goodbye. You fucking coward. Don’t kiss me goodbye!” She stepped back, fire in her eyes. Her lips parted and she sucked in a breath, as off kilter as he felt.
“Goodbye, Doll,” he whispered before he turned around and let himself out the front door.
She followed him. Of course she followed him, because she was unmerciful and needed to extend his torture. “I’m coming over later, Jay! Don’t you lock your door!”
He nearly laughed. It wouldn’t have been a happy sound, so he stuffed that back down as well. He turned slowly. “I am going to lock my door and the only way that I’ll unlock it is you come with your bags packed ready to leave this all behind. I’ll take you and marry you then and give you what you want, and we’ll make it, just to prove your dad wrong.” He couldn’t believe the nonsense that poured out of his mouth, but strangely enough, he meant every single word. It had only been a month, but who cared? What was time? Time was just an illusion. And that was the worst part of it all. That was what he had to protect her from, the fantasy of the present that could never be a reality in the future.
Then, because he couldn’t bear to see how much he’d hurt Laya, he turned back around and walked away. She didn’t call him back, but he knew she wouldn’t. He’d said everything there was to say and everything that he shouldn’t have and whatever was between them, everything that probably never should have been, was done.
Chapter 18
Moving Out
Laya
“How could you?” Laya marched into the dining room, ready to do battle. Her parents had pushed their plates away and what should have been a good meal, a meal her mom had worked all day to prepare, was congealing in cold puddles of gravy. Her plate looked so unappetizing, she couldn’t imagine ever eating beef again. She’d always think back on this dinner and the hurt on Jay’s face as he was basically told that he wasn’t enough for her.
“Honey, I tried to explain what I meant.” Her father pushed his chair back gently. He stared at Laya, begging her silently to understand.
“Your father meant well,” Helena added, trying to back up her husband.
“I know you’ve never been about being better than anyone else. I know that the money you have, you’ve worked so hard for.” Her eyes flicked to her mom’s face. “And you volunteer so much. You truly care and that’s such a hard thing for anyone to say.” She turned back to her dad and crossed her arms over her chest. “I know you think I deserve the best. I know I’m your only child and you want to see me have the best in life that I can possibly get. I know you want to keep me safe and I appreciate how much you’ve provided for me and the thought and love you poured into raising me. I had the best childhood anyone could ask for. You’re both the best parents, at least, I think so.”
“Laya…” Her mom started, but trailed off.
Laya took a deep breath and her mom and dad braced for what was coming next. They both had to have known they’d hear it eventually. She was twenty-four years old. They knew she wasn’t going to stay at home forever.
“I’m moving out,” she whispered. She swallowed hard and forced her voice not to falter on her next words. “I have to take my own chances. It’s time. I’ll find my own way. I don’t need my allowance or my car. I’ll just take some clothes. Part of being my parents is that you kept me safe, but a huge part of parenting is that you’ll let me go and let me make my own mistakes.”
“Laya!” Helena said sharply. She sat back down and Laya was sorry for the devastation on her mother’s face. Huge tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. Her dad looked equally as shocked, though like a true lawyer, he hid it well.
“I’m sorry. This doesn’t really have anything to do with tonight. This is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I’m not trying to punish you for looking out for me. I am hurt that Jay was really hurt by tonight. I do hope that I’ll be able to convince him that you both meant well, as I know you did. At least well for me. He might actually u
nderstand, since he’s a good man and he’d do anything for his sister and mother. Anyway, I’m going to go pack. I’ll text you my address as soon as I find one.”
She turned and made it half way down the hall before her mom caught up with her. Helena tugged on her hand and she turned. She fell into her mother’s open arms. She couldn’t count how many times she’d been pulled into a tight hug like this. She closed her eyes and inhaled the familiar scent.
“I love you, mom,” she whispered as she pulled away. She realized that she was crying. Her cheeks were soaking and she wasn’t even aware of it until she felt them start dripping off the edge of her jawline.
Helena’s lips trembled as she struggled to keep her composure. “Please don’t go like this. At least let me help you pack.”
“It’s alright. Really. I’ll find another place and I’ll text you soon.”
“But you don’t even know where you’re going.”
She leveled a direct stare at her mom. “Yes I do. And you know it too. I’m going to Jay’s. He’ll give me a room until I find somewhere.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then I’ll try Mark and Bella. Or, I have other friends. Someone will put me up.”
“Your father is never going to live this down.”
“Then I’ll go to someone who doesn’t know him. Jay’s mom maybe. Or his sister. Or, worst case scenario, I’ll get a hotel room. I have lots of money in my account from what you and dad have given me and from modeling. I’m still doing work and it pays well. I’ll get an apartment and I’ll call you to come over and see it in no time. Dad can come too. I’m not angry with either of you. Just… just what I said. A little hurt because of how upset Jay was.”
“Your dad wasn’t trying to-”
“I know,” Laya said softly. “I know, mom. This has just been a long time in coming. I want to do things with my life and I just feel like I need to get out there on my own and do like I said- live my own life.”
Forbidden Soulmates_A Steamy Hot Revenge Romance Page 10