Layla

By that evening, I was giddy with anticipation at the thought of seeing Nicolas again. It had been quite some time since I had been in a steady relationship, let alone on a date. However, I’m sure my kitten, Felix, wasn’t too happy to see me preparing to leave the house! Rachael told me all she knew about Nicolas, which helped me prepare for our date. Normally, I wouldn’t accept a date from a man that I had just met, but Nicolas’ grey eyes mesmerized me. Not to mention that I felt so at ease in his presence. Most men I meet are trying to give me everything they’ve got in the first meeting in the event that we’ll never meet again. Little do they know, it’s that impatience and excessive amount of personal information that turns me off. In the short amount of time that I was with Nicolas this morning, I was soooo comfortable! In fact, I was so eager to spend more time with him that I damn near hugged him when he asked me out!

I checked myself out in my full-length bedroom mirror. After going through five outfits, I settled on a denim dress with spaghetti straps. “Not too much but just enough to leave him something to remember me by,” I said as I winked at my reflection.

Before he reminded me, I checked to make sure Felix had enough food to last until I returned. “I hope you enjoy your night alone, Felix. Mama’s got a date!”

Meoooowww…

Just before I stepped out of my apartment, I picked up the videos that I’d rented and put on my denim Baby Phat jacket. As I closed and locked my door, I was pleasantly surprised. Although the weather report called for a dip in the temperature, it was still relatively warm for a November evening.

With the directions to Nicolas’ house in my hands, I practically skipped to my Sebring. Before I put the key into the ignition, I picked up my cell phone and dialed Nicolas’ number.

“Hello?”

My cheeks felt warm at the sound of his voice. “Nicolas? Hi, it’s Layla.”

“Hey, Pretty Lady,” said Nicolas.

I smiled at Nicolas’ pet name for me. “I was just calling to let you know that I’m on my way over. As requested, I picked up a couple of comedies. I hope you like Martin Lawrence. I got Black Knight and RunTelDat. If you don’t like those, I can get something else.”

“Those are fine,” said Nicolas. “The lasagna is in the oven and the VCR is ready and waiting.”

“I’ll be there soon,” I assured him.

I flipped my phone closed and tossed it onto my passenger side seat. Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up in front of Nicolas’ two-story home. I knew I had the right house because Nicolas was sitting on the front steps. As I pulled in behind his Ford Explorer, he stood and walked over to me.

“Hi, Beautiful,” said Nicolas as he opened my door.

“Hello,” I said with a blush. Before I stepped out of my car, I reached over to the passenger side seat and retrieved my cell phone and the bag of videos. As I reached further to get a tape that fell to the floor, the hem of my dress rose up to the middle of my thigh.

“Mm-mm-MMM…” commented Nicolas. Realizing that I was practically showing Nicolas all of my goods, I quickly got the tapes and stepped out of the car. Clearing my throat, I said, “Your tapes, sir.”

Embarrassed, Nicolas took the tapes and offered his hand. “Dinner is waiting… and so am I.” Nicolas gave me a soft peck on my cheek as we walked to the house.

“Be gentle. This is my first time,” said Nicolas as he fixed our plates with steaming hot lasagna, garlic bread and Caesar salad.

Remarkably, the meal was delicious. Nicolas used Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, thick tomato sauce, ground beef and Italian sausage in his lasagna. If I didn’t know better, I could swear that Nicolas got the entire meal from Olive Garden. “You say this is your first time? What? Cooking lasagna or cooking anything?”

“Cooking lasagna. I don’t know what possessed me to offer it, but when your face lit up at the suggestion, I couldn’t take it back. I called my dad for the recipe. He walked me through and ta da! Dinner is served.”

During dinner, Nicolas and I filled each other in on our lives. Nicolas came from a small family. He was the only child of Ronald and Andréa Hayes. His own little family consisted of his daughter and himself. “Malia died after giving birth to Kya,” Nicolas explained. “Since Malia and I weren’t married when Kya was born, I had to go through the court system to get full custody. Malia’s family wanted to keep the baby and move out to California, but as much as I loved Malia and my baby girl, there was no way I was gonna let that happen. Kya and I have been on our own ever since. What about you? Do you have any family here in St. Louis?”

“It’s just me and Daddy here,” I replied. “My twin sister, Kayla, lives in New York. She went there after she got a dance scholarship to Juilliard.”

Tentatively, Nicolas asked, “And your mom?”

“She ran off to join the circus,” I said with a straight face. Nicolas looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or say he was sorry. I finally let him off the hook. “She and my dad divorced when Kayla and I were ten years old. She left us with him and went back to her career as a dancer. That’s probably where Kayla gets her skills from.”

“I’m sorry to hear that about your mom,” said Nicolas as he took our plates to the sink.

“Please, don’t be sorry. My dad raised us just fine and he did it all by himself just like you’re doing with Kya,” I explained as I brought our glasses to the sink. “Actually, I credit my independent spirit to him.”

“So, you’re one of those independent women, huh?” Nicolas smiled as he filled the sink with sudsy water to wash the dishes. “I suppose you want a man that’ll cook and clean and rub your feet at the end of a long hard day, too?”

“That would be nice but unrealistic,” I said as I picked up a towel to dry the dishes. “I want a man that will do his share. I’m so used to doing everything for myself that I wouldn’t know what to do if I had help, but I’ll be damned if I turn it down.”

“Well, I’m used to pampering my lady,” Nicolas said as he turned off the water. Taking the towel from my hands and tossing it onto the kitchen counter, Nicolas led me to the living room. “Besides, you are a guest and guests rest while the host does the work. I’ll be done in a sec and we can sit back and watch Martin. Feel free to look around the joint if you like.”

“You sure about that?” I asked. “I may find out that you’re a neat freak to the public and a sloppy mess in the bedroom.”

Why did I mention the bedroom?

“With a three-year-old, I have to keep the place as neat as possible,” Nicolas said as he went back into the kitchen. “But even that’s not always possible. So if you see a pile of toys or clothes in the closet, don’t be alarmed.”

Since I had permission, I looked around Nicolas’ house, confining my tour to the first floor. The walls in the hallway were covered with family pictures. Several pictures showed Nicolas with Malia or Nicolas with Kya. Kya was the spitting image of her mother.

At the end of the hallway was the living room to the right and the stairs leading to the second floor on the left. I made a right turn into the living room, which was certainly a man’s paradise. The focal point was the 42” flat screen plasma TV mounted on the wall with surround sound speakers on each side. There was also a subwoofer, a four-head VCR and a five-disc DVD player. The furniture consisted of a Country Blue sectional couch and a matching large recliner rocker. A room sized area rug pulled the room’s look together.

It was obvious that Kya had some effect on her daddy’s decorating ideas. Various crayon drawings were on the walls near the entryway and sectional couch. Nicolas went so far as to frame each drawing with construction paper frames. “I really like Kya’s pictures, Nicolas,” I shouted toward the kitchen.

“Which ones? The ones she took with me or the ones she put on the walls?” he inquired.

I giggled at the question. “All of them.”

Nicolas walked up behind me as I admired a crayon drawing of what looked like a man and a girl holding hands and looking up. “Kya says that’s me and her looking up at Mommy in heaven,” Nicolas said as a single tear fell from his eye.

At first, I wanted to hold back, but something told me to wipe the tear away. “You miss her, don’t you?”

“I do, but I thank God that she left Kya with me,” said Nicolas as he took my hand. “Come on. I could use a laugh right about now. Let’s see some Martin.”

We agreed to watch RunTelDat first. During dinner, we discovered that we both enjoyed Martin Lawrence’s television show as well as his first concert film, You So Crazy. I had already seen RunTelDat in the theatre but I enjoyed the movie so much that I didn’t mind seeing it again. “I didn’t know if you had a VCR or a DVD player so I took a chance and got tapes,” I said as I sat down in the center of the couch. Nicolas walked over to the entertainment center and put the tape into the VCR.

“Well, as you can see, I have both. Next time, you can get DVD movies,” Nicolas hinted.

“Next time?” I teased.

“Well, assuming you liked the dinner and the company, of course,” commented Nicolas as he joined me on the couch. Without thinking, I picked up the remote control and fast-forwarded through the previews. Nicolas cleared his throat. “Excuse you.”

Realizing what I was doing, I apologized. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to get to the movie.”

“No rush, Layla. We have all night,” Nicolas said as he put his hand over mine.

I stopped the tape from fast forwarding just as the movie’s opening credits came onto the screen.

Halfway through the movie, I kicked off my shoes and snuggled closer to Nicolas. I couldn’t believe how comfortable I was with him. He didn’t seem to mind either because he squeezed me closer to him. The only time Nicolas and I spent apart was when we both were doubled over in hysterics at Martin’s comedy act.

I was yawning by the time the movie was finished. No wonder! It was nearly 11 o’clock! “Oh, my God! Nicolas, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go.”

Nicolas glanced at the clock. “Aww, man! I didn’t realize how late it was. I was supposed to pick Kya up from Chico’s over an hour ago.”

Just then, the phone rang. Nicolas excused himself from the couch to answer the phone. “Hello? … Hey, Chico, man. We just finished watching … Oh, really? You sure? … Ah’ight, man. Thanks. I’ll call you tomorrow. … Later.” Turning to me, Nicolas turned off the cordless phone and set it down on the edge of the couch. “Chico said that Kya is already asleep and they’re gonna keep her overnight.”

“Well, I’ll get out of here so you can get some rest,” I offered as I stood up from the couch.

“Do you really have to go?” Nicolas asked as he walked over to me and took my hands into his. “I was really enjoying our evening.”

“I had a great time, too, Nicolas,” I said with a smile. “But my boss knows where I am and I don’t think I can get away with calling in sick on my second day.”

“I guess you’re right,” Nicolas replied with downcast eyes. “So, when can I see you again?”

“Give me a call sometime this week and we’ll see,” I replied.

Don’t want to seem too available, I thought to myself.

“Or I can call you tomorrow for lunch,” Nicolas suggested with a dimpled grin. So much for being unavailable! How could I resist that smile?

“Lunch sounds great,” I agreed as I walked toward the door.

Nicolas took my jacket out of the hallway closet and held it open for me.

“Thank you,” I said as I slipped my arms inside.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Oh! I almost forgot something!” Nicolas sprinted to the kitchen. Seconds later, he returned with a single red rose. “I meant to give this to you when you got here, but when I saw you again, I completely forgot about it.”

“That was sweet!” Instinctively, I sniffed the blooming bud. It smelled as beautiful as it looked. “Nicolas, you shouldn’t have.”

“Yes, I should,” said Nicolas as he opened his front door. “I told you I’m used to pampering my lady. I just hope you can handle all the attention, Ms. Michaels.” “I think I’ll manage, Mr. Hayes,” I said as I walked out to my car.

Just as predicted, the temperature had dropped. I pulled my jacket closer to my body but it was no use. Sensing my chill, Nicolas slipped his arm around my waist as we walked to my car. Before I reached the car, I pulled my keys out of my purse. Once I had the door key in my hand, Nicolas gently took the keys from my hand and opened my door for me. Once I was safely inside, he closed the door behind me. I started the car and rolled down my window. When I put my purse down on the passenger seat, I realized that I didn’t have the videotapes. “Nicolas, I forgot the tapes.”

“Look at you. You’re already leaving stuff at my place,” Nicolas teased. “I suppose you want me to go back in and get them.”

“You can bring the tapes with you when we meet for lunch,” I suggested. “Or you could come over tomorrow night for dinner instead and bring them then.”

“Layla…” he began.

Realizing that I had pushed too far, I countered, “Look, that’s ok. Forget I asked.”

I started to put the car in reverse when Nicolas squeezed my wrist. “Layla, it’s not that I don’t want to go out with you again. It’s just that…”

I looked Nicolas directly into his sexy grey eyes. I figured that if he was gonna lie, he’d have to look at me to do it. “What is it, Nicolas?”

“It’s Kya. You and I just met and I don’t want her to get too attached in case things don’t work out between us.”

“Oh…” I felt like shit. I thought he was going to tell me that he didn’t want to see me anymore. “Nicolas, I didn’t even think about that. I’m sorry.”

“Layla, I want to see you again,” Nicolas began. “Let me see if I can get a sitter and we can still have that dinner at your place tomorrow. OK?”

I perked up at Nicolas’ suggestion. “OK. Call me and let me know what’s up.”

“I will do that, Pretty Lady,” said Nicolas. “Good night.”

“Good night, Nicolas.” As he walked away, my eyes were drawn downward toward his butt. The way his ass looked in his South Pole jeans brought a smile to my lips. “Nicolas!”

He turned to see what I wanted. “Yes?”

I wagged my finger to let him know that I wanted him to come back. “I’ve got something for you.”

Nicolas knelt down beside my car. “And that would be?”

Without a word, I leaned toward Nicolas to kiss him. The spark I felt at that moment was like pure electricity running through our lips. “I’ll call you when I get home to let you know that I made it safely.”

“You do that,” said Nicolas as he licked his lips. “I’ll be waiting. Don’t make me come out with a search party because you forgot to call.”

“I won’t forget,” I said as I backed out of his driveway.

Moments later, I pulled up in front of my duplex. Felix was sitting in the window awaiting my return. Before I stepped inside the door, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Nicolas’ number.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Nicolas, it’s me. I’m home,” I said breathlessly as I opened my door. I flipped off the front porch light and turned on the lamp on my entry hall table. Felix jumped down from his window perch and purred around my ankles as I closed the door.

“That was quick!” Nicolas noted.

“Well, someone must have really wanted me to get home because the lights were green all the way home,” I smiled.

OK, so I ran a couple of red lights and one stop sign… I couldn’t wait to hear Nicolas’ seductive voice in my ears.

“Well, I’m glad you made it home safely,” said Nicolas after a sigh of relief. “Do you think you could stay up a minute and talk?”

“I wish I could but I really should get to bed,” I said regretfully. “Call me tomorrow to let me know whether it’ll be lunch or dinner.”

“Lunch or dinner? How about lunch and dinner? Or can you handle seeing so much of me in one day?” I could picture the smile on Nicolas’ face.

“Nicolas, stop teasing me!” I said with a giggle. “OK, fine. We can skip lunch and wait ‘til tomorrow night to see each other again.”

“Assuming I can find a sitter for Kya,” Nicolas reminded me.

“Even if you can’t find a sitter, she’s more than welcome to join us. But I understand your reasons,” I said. “Well, I’m going to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow. Good night, Nicolas.”

“Good night, Pretty Lady,” said Nicolas. Just as I pressed END on my cell phone, there was a knock at my front door. I checked the time on my cell phone. 11:49 P.M.

Who could be at my door at this time of night?

I looked out of the peephole and couldn’t believe my eyes! Flinging the door open, I exclaimed, “Sis?!?”