The Romance of Nick and Layla (Parts 1-3)

by Cierlak, Crystal

  "It’s 12:16, it’s a new day."

  "What do you want to talk about?"

  Nick sat down in a chair in front of my desk and leaned back. "I was thinking about something earlier. What are we going to do about the living situation?"

  "What living situation?"

  "Yours and mine. We both agree that Tyler should be raised by both his parents, right?"

  "Yes..."

  "Well, don’t you think it should be under the same roof?"

  "Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought."

  "Well I have. We want Tyler to be raised as normal as possible, don’t you think that should mean that both his parents are living together? I mean, it’d be kinda confusing for Tyler if mommy and daddy lived in separate houses." I didn't have the time or patience to explain to Nick the evolution of the nuclear family and its near extinction in our modern times.

  "Tyler’s not even two. His feet confuse him."

  "Funny."

  "I thought we were going to let things progress on their own?"

  "We are."

  "So isn’t moving in together kinda rushing things a bit?"

  "Um, hello we were married?! It’s not like we’ve never lived together before."

  "That was different."

  "How was it different?"

  "We were married, like you said. We’re not even dating now."

  "Oh we’re not?"

  "No."

  "Then what are we, Layla?"

  "I don’t know. We’re just... seeing where things take us."

  "So, according to you, we’re not even together?"

  "We’re parents of the same child. That’s as together as we are at this point."

  "That’s a bit harsh."

  "No, it’s the truth. What do you want me to say, Nick?"

  "I don’t know. You’ve pretty much said everything. You love me but you don’t want to date me. You want to see where things take us but we’re not together. We have a child but we can’t live together."

  "Not everything is in black and white my dear. What do you expect us to do? Play house? We’re adults."

  "Then let’s act like adults. Honestly sweetie you’re so up and down. Do you even know what you want?"

  "I want to not be pressured into doing anything rash."

  "We’re just trying to be a family! We can’t do that if we’re living separately."

  "Lots of people do it."

  "Well we’re not those people."

  "What’s your point, Nick?"

  "Are we even speaking the same language?"

  "Apparently not." I closed the laptop, got up and headed out onto the patio. Of course Nick followed me. I picked up a pack of cigarettes and lit one, inhaling it deeply.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Smoking. I am of age to do so."

  "I’m not even going to bother to explain how unhealthy that is."

  "Then don’t." It wasn't as if I didn't already know. He should know me well enough to know that I smoke when stressed out.

  "Why are you picking a fight with me?"

  "I’m not! You’re the one that wanted to talk!"

  "And you’re the one turning it into an argument."

  "Well you’re irritating me with all of these questions! Why can’t you just let things happen on their own? Why do you have to push things?"

  "Because sometimes we need a jumpstart."

  "Using a car as a metaphor for our relationship is not going to win you any points in this conversation."

  "Are you pms-ing or something?"

  My palm slapped my forehead. "I don’t believe you just asked me that."

  "Well you’re being a brat."

  "Well according to you I am a brat!"

  "Yeah, you are a brat!"

  "All right, I’m a brat! Let’s drop the issue already."

  "I think we should have sex."

  I choked on the smoke escaping my lungs and felt like I was going to cough them out onto the patio. I stubbed out the cigarette and threw it over the balcony. "Where the hell did that come from?"

  "We don’t argue when we have sex."

  "So that’s your solution? Nick and Layla are fighting so they should jump in the sack and have an orgasm? That’s the fix?"

  "Got a better idea?"

  "I don’t even know what this conversation is about anymore!"

  "It’s about you being a hypocrite!"

  "How the hell am I a hypocrite?"

  "You say what you want but what you really want is the opposite."

  "Why? Just because I don’t want to put some dumb label on our relationship?"

  "You can’t even kiss me anymore! I don’t know how you can say you love me and are willing to work things about with me but you don’t even want to kiss me."

  "Maybe you’re a bad kisser."

  "Is that true?"

  "This has to be the dumbest conversation we have ever had."

  "Let’s get to the real issue here Layla. You don’t want me, you want the idea of me."

  "You know what? It’s late and my Nick translator isn’t on right now. So if you really want to continue talking to me you’re going to have to be less vague."

  "Why can’t you kiss me Layla?"

  "Maybe I don’t want to!"

  "You never had a problem with it before."

  "That was before, this is now."

  To my dismay, Nick crouched down in front of me. "Kiss me."

  "What?"

  "Kiss me!"

  "No!"

  "Why not?"

  "Because I don’t want to kiss you."

  "Why don’t you want to kiss me?"

  "Because!"

  "That’s not an answer, Layla!"

  "Well it’s going to have to suffice!"

  "Kiss me!"

  "Would you stop it with this bullshit already? I don’t want to kiss you! So get over it already."

  "But you love me?"

  I tried pushing Nick away but he wouldn’t budge. "You already know that I do."

  "But you can’t kiss me?"

  "Jesus Lord Almighty! I just don’t want to, all right?"

  "I love you and I want to kiss you. What’s your excuse?"

  "Why would I want to kiss someone that thinks I’m a brat and a hypocrite?"

  "Because you love the person that thinks you’re a brat and a hypocrite."

  "I may love you but that doesn’t mean I have to like you all the time."

  "You cleaned up my vomit for crying out loud! And now you’re saying you don’t like me?"

  "That’s a very stupid connection to make and you know it."

  "I’m just going off of your words and your actions."

  "Well I’m a hypocrite, remember?"

  "Yeah, so when are you going to not be a hypocrite?"

  "This is, by far, the most ludicrous discussion we have ever had!"

  "Well you haven’t answered my questions!"

  "What do you want me to say? You want me to ask you to move in? Okay, and then what, we’ll sleep in the same bed but with our backs to each other? Do you want a spare bedroom? What do you want Nick?"

  "I want you!"

  "You already had me!" Whoops.

  "What?"

  "Is this some sort of ego thing? You’re mad because I don’t want to give you what you want?"

  "At least I know what I want!"

  "So do I!"

  "Which is what?"

  "I want you to stop asking me these stupid questions."

  "Maybe I would stop asking them if you’d start answering them!"

  "Is this what you want Nick? Is this how you want our relationship to be?"

  "No!"

  "Then what do you want from me?"

  "I want you to be with me!"

  "I am with you!"

  "But we’re not together?"

  "Oh, so we’re going in circles now."

  "Stop evading my questions!"

  "Maybe I don’t want to say what you want me to say?"


  "Is that because you’d be lying or because it’s what you really want?"

  "What I want is for you to stop pressuring me!"

  "How am I pressuring you? Because I want to be with you?"

  "Yes! And you’re trying to bully me into jumping into another relationship with you."

  "But you want to be with me!" he shouted.

  "So?" I shouted back at him. "That doesn’t mean we have to move in together and force a relationship to happen!"

  "Well if I didn’t push you a little then you’d never move forward!"

  "Why would I want to move forward when you’re pushing me?"

  "Because you need a push!"

  "No I don’t!"

  "Yes you do!"

  "No I don’t!"

  "Yes. You. Do. Otherwise we’d never end up together!"

  "We’ve already been together, Nick! It didn’t work, remember?"

  "And you said we could try to make it work."

  "I am trying!"

  "Not you’re not!"

  "Yes I am!"

  Nick folded his arms on my knees. "Make a move."

  "What?"

  "Make your move, Layla. I’ve made mine, now it’s your turn."

  "It’s not that easy."

  "Do you want to be with me or not?"

  "We’re both here, aren’t we?"

  "Physically. But I don’t know where you are mentally."

  "That’s because you’ve made my brain turn to mush!"

  "Why are we fighting?"

  "Because you started it."

  "Then allow me to finish it. Kiss me."

  "Not this again."

  "If you don’t kiss me then I’m going to kiss you."

  "I told you, Nick, I don’t want to kiss you."

  "Yes you do."

  "I give up." I tried to stand up but Nick kept me pinned to my chair. "Move!"

  "I’ll move when you kiss me."

  "Well you can kiss my ass first!"

  "Fine," he sighed. Finally! He leaned back on his heels and I was able to stand up. I started to step away when I felt Nick grab my thighs. "What are you doing?"

  He kissed my ass. Literally. He put his mouth to my ass and kissed it.

  "I don’t believe you just did that."

  "You told me to."

  "Well now that you’ve got that out of your system I’m going to bed."

  "Great, let’s go."

  "God, whatever." I entered the inside again and headed straight for my bedroom. Nick was right behind me. All of a sudden I felt myself being lifted up into the air and then set down on the bed with Nick on top of me.

  "You said if I kissed your ass first..."

  "I was being sarcastic."

  "Well I took you up on it so now you can follow through."

  "Get off of me."

  "No."

  I couldn’t move. He had me completely stuck. "I’d really hate to knee you in the crotch."

  "So would I. Come on, Layla. You’ve kissed me a million times before. What’s different now?"

  "What’s different is that you’re forcing me to do it."

  "You know what I remember most about our marriage?"

  "Is this a rhetorical question?"

  "The harder we fought, the better we made up."

  "I’m not having sex with you."

  "Oh but you want to."

  "Which is why I’m not going to kiss you."

  "Because then you’d have sex with me?"

  "Your chances of me sleeping with you ever again are slim-to-none after this escapade tonight." I tried using my hands to push him off of me but he instead pinned them over my head.

  "Layla, I want you to prove to me that you want to work things out with me. Because though you say you do, you haven’t given me any indication that you actually want to follow through on it. All I’m asking for is a simple sign that you mean what you say. I’m not asking you to marry me. I just want you to kiss me."

  "When I’m ready."

  "I could be eighty five years old by the time you decide you’re ready."

  "You’re the one that said you’d wait."

  "No, I said I’d wait for you to make your decision. You’ve made it. You agreed we’ll work things out and see where it takes us. I’m assuming that, given the right circumstances, you’d take it as far as possible, even into marriage. All I’m asking for you to do is confirm what you’ve promised me."

  "Or else?"

  "Or else nothing. We agreed. We have a pact."

  "And you agreed that we could take things slowly."

  "No, I agreed to letting things happen naturally. That doesn’t necessarily mean slowly."

  "And so you want me to kiss you to prove that I’m good on my word? My promise alone isn’t good enough?"

  "Maybe not. Maybe I need you to show me that you’re serious."

  "You have me pinned down on my own bed. If I weren’t serious you would have gotten a crotch-full of my knee and an eviction notice already."

  "Just answer one question for me."

  "Is this your final question or will there be more? Because I’d like to get to bed before the sun rises."

  "Final question. How can you say you love me but refuse to show me you love me?"

  "Because showing you that I love you doesn’t mean I have to be forced into kissing you."

  "All right. I’ll let you go. But until you kiss me, I’m not going to leave you alone."

  "You never leave me alone."

  He got up off of me and I was finally free to move about. I got up from the bed and gave Nick an evil look. "Is there anything else you’d like to add to this conversation before I mentally block you out?"

  "Just one thing. I love you. Even when you refuse to kiss me I still love you."

  "You don’t have to tell me everyday that you love me. I know already."

  "Do you? Because sometimes I wonder."

  I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. It wasn't often that Nick made me speechless, but in that moment he had me totally and completely speechless.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  I was feeling the most wonderful things. My skin was tingling with delight and there was an incredible pleasure coursing through my body. I could almost hear myself moaning but it didn’t sound like me. There was something warm over me. A blanket?

  Am I dreaming? Oh but it felt so good. There was something warm and wet on my chest. Making circles. Lovely, amazing and tantalizing circles across my flesh.

  And there was that moaning sound again. Was that me? It sounded distant, yet so close. My head fell back and my eyes opened. I didn’t know I had stucco ceilings. Wait a minute....

  I looked up and found the source of my dream. A shaved but still blonde head was face down on my chest. "NICK!" I yelled.

  "Ow! My ears!"

  "What the hell are you doing?" I sat up and instinctively covered my body with the sheet.

  "I’m waking you up."

  "Why?"

  "You used to like it when I woke you up like that. And from the sounds you were making I’m pretty sure you still do."

  "You are unbelievable!"

  "This would be a lot easier if you’d just stop being in denial. Look at you, your face is flushed and your skin is warm."

  "You were trying to take advantage of me!"

  "Is that what you call it now?"

  "Yes!"

  "Well I call it trying to make love to you."

  "Call it what you want but don’t do it again!"

  "What’s your problem, Layla? Now you can’t even let me touch you?"

  "It’s different when you touch me without my permission! They have a word for that."

  "Seduction?"

  "Sexual harassment!"

  "That’s two words."

  Jesus. "I’m too tired to fight with you now."

  "Good." I was growing sleepier and therefore made no attempt to stop the sheet from being tugged from my body. I felt the same warm, wet sens
ation on my skin and realized Nick was kissing my neck. My eyes fluttered closed and my head fell an inch to the side. I felt my hands touching something. Skin. Warm, naked skin. "Layla?" My eyes opened only enough to see Nick’s face. He was leaning in to me and I could feel the warmness growing closer to my lips. My head collapsed a little more into the pillow and I was out like a light.

  I smelled roses. My eyes opened again and upon turning my head towards the nightstand to see what the time was, I was instead met with a vase overflowing with pink roses. There must have been at least three dozen of them. I sat up and took a closer look at them. No card. I looked up at the dresser and there was another five dozen pink roses aligned in a row of three vases.

  There were roses in the bathroom. Lining the hallways. And upon entering my living room I could have sworn I had just stepped into a flower shop. They were everywhere.

  "Look munchkin, it’s your mamma." Nick was sitting on the couch watching a football game with Tyler in his lap.

  "Where did all these roses come from?"

  "Tyler picked them out."

  I looked towards the kitchen and there were dozens upon dozens of more roses. "Nick..."

  "Honestly he picked them out! I took him to the florist and he pointed at the pink rose. So we ordered a few."

  "A few?"

  "Well, maybe a few dozen."

  It was hard to pick a feeling and just go with it. There were so many. A feeling for every dozen roses. "Is this your way of trying to get me to kiss you?"

  "No."

  "Good."

  "That would be the spa day I’ve arranged for you and dinner tonight at your favorite restaurant. And then if I don’t get at least a peck on the cheek I’m just going to have to buy you a new car."

  "Are you trying to buy me or something?"

  "Shit Layla, there’s no way I could afford you."

  "Don’t cuss in front of the baby."

  "What? He likes it! Say ‘shit’ Tyler!" he laughed.

  I walked up and clamped a hand over Nick’s mouth. "Don’t cuss in front of the baby. If I have to tell you again I’m going to spank you."

  "Promise?" he mumbled from behind my hand. I removed it and swatted the back of his head lightly.

  "What has gotten into you?"

  "Nothing. You might want to get changed Layla. The limo will be here in twenty minutes."

  "The limo?"

  "To take you to the spa? It’s like I’m talking but as soon as the words come out they fall to the ground."

  "Am I still asleep?"

  "I don‘t think so. You‘re much nicer when you’re asleep."