Damaged Goods

Chapter 12

"Expecting a call?" Chrissy, TJ's secretary asked, as he looked at his phone for the 100th time that morning. She was taking notes for an email she needed to send out, but TJ kept stopping every few minutes to check his phone.

"Us, sorry" he commented, "just expecting to hear from someone. Ok, where was I?" he asked Chrissy. He didn't want to mention that it was his wife that he was waiting to hear from. Everyone at the office knew that he had gotten married, but he hadn't provided additional details, and he didn't want to start now.

Chrissy repeated the last few things he had said, and he picked up where he left of giving her the necessary details to finish her task. When she left his office, he checked his phone again. All he had were texts from Travis.

Travis: What's going on? You didn't come back to the bar.

TJ: I'll fill you in later, it was Lyla.

Travis: Sweet! Did you invite her to the gala?

TJ: No. Talk later.

Travis: Sounds ominous.

Travis: Everything ok?

Travis: You've got to come by the bar tonight and fill me in.

Travis: Dude, you still alive?

TJ knew he'd have to respond, otherwise Travis would never leave him alone, but he really didn't know what to say.

TJ: I don't know when I'll come by. Not sure what the next few days will look like. I'll fill you in soon.

Travis: Word

****

TJ got home as quickly as he could. He had no idea what to expect. Would Lyla be there, would she be the sad and scared woman from last night, or the bright confident woman he left in his condo this morning?

When he opened the door, he was met with a delicious smell he couldn't really even identify, but it made his stomach growl.

"Hello?" He asked as he walked toward the kitchen.

"Hi" Lyla said as she popped her head around the corner. "I hope you don't mind, I made dinner. If you're not hungry that's ok, I can the leftovers tomorrow."

"Starving, actually!" TJ said as he stepped into the kitchen.

Lyla pulled two plates out of the cabinet and began to serve a pesto pasta dish, some chicken and roasted vegetables. She handed him a plate and served herself some, and set it on the table. TJ sat down as she then handed him some silverware.

"This looks amazing!" he said, as he began salivating at the smell.

"Thanks," she replied "I rarely bother making a whole meal, but cooking and baking is calming for me" she continued, with a soft smile on her lips.

TJ noticed that the bruise on her face was much less visible, and realized that she must have covered it with some makeup. You almost wouldn't notice it, if you didn't already know it was there.

The two sat in silence through the majority of the meal. TJ had a million questions, but didn't even know where to start or what question to ask first. Lyla wanted to avoid talking about her past, but knew it was probably an inevitable topic. These opposing mindsets prevented even minimal small talk from occurring while they ate.

TJ decided to break the silence, "Is everything ok, Lyla?" not knowing what else to ask.

Lyla put her hands in her lap, and looking down she responded, "I just needed to get away from home for a little bit." She looked up at him, knowing it was an insufficient, non-answer.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, trying to get her to say something more.

"I'd rather not, if that's ok?" she asked, with a pleading look in her eyes. "At least not yet?"

"Sure" he responded, trying to be understanding.

"So, what do you usually do on the weekends?" She asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

TJ smiled to himself at her feeble attempt to lighten the mood. She had never expressed any interest in his life before, or asked him any type of personal preference type of questions.

"Travis works at the bar down the street, so I go down there a lot on Friday nights to hang out for bit, and watch whatever games are on."

"Did you want to go tonight?" she asked.

TJ looked at her surprised. For some reason, he didn't expect her to want to go out, and wasn't sure if she was suggesting they go together, or telling him she wanted to be alone, when he went out.

"You... want to go with me?" he asked.

"I'd love to, she smiled. Let me just clean up the kitchen and I can be ready whenever you want to go."

"Ok" TJ said, getting up from the table and taking his plate to the sink. "I'll go change and we can head over. We'll walk, if that's ok with you. It's just down the street."

"Sounds perfect" she said as she started to put away items in the kitchen.

To say he was surprised would be an understatement. TJ didn't recognize this woman at all. She was nothing like the woman he had met and spoken with over the last few months. That version of Lyla was cold, detached and impersonal. This Lyla was warm, casual and pleasant. She made him dinner, she was right now cleaning his kitchen and they were getting ready to go out to the bar together.

Lyla had no idea what she was doing. All of her previous interactions with TJ had been intentional and calculated. She had prepared herself for each of those interactions, purposefully maintaining the personal distance. She hadn't wanted to get attached, and she hadn't wanted to attract attention from him. But last night had changed things. When she was truly scared, and had nobody else to turn to, TJ was there and TJ had helped her, no questions asked and no expectations required. She felt a sense of gratitude, but there was something more to it. He made her feel safe. Something she hadn't felt in a very long time. It was a feeling she wanted to keep. The situation she now found herself in was something should couldn't have planned or prepared for, so she was having a hard time putting on the cold and calculated demeanor that she had adopted on their previous interactions.