Layla

Chapter 8

"I'm sorry, I should have listened to you." That was the first thing Hamish heard when he walked through the door of his apartment. He saw Layla sitting on a chair right in front of the door, clearly waiting for him to come back home.

"What? How long have you been sitting here Layla?" Hamish asked, running his fingers through his dark hair in apprehension.

"I need to talk to you man," Nicholas said from the sitting room, hearing the conversation between his siblings. He wanted to talk to Hamish about the little kindergarten squabble before Layla said anything and confused him further.

"Stay right here, I'll be back" Hamish said, patting Layla's head before following his brother into the kitchen.

Nicholas explained the whole situation in detail as Hamish stared at him, wide-eyed, not uttering a single word.

"What kind of little girl says shit like that? Hamish asked, rubbing his temples.

"My thoughts exactly. Do you think her parents have marriage problems or something? Because that kid has issues."

***

"So I heard about what happened today," Hamish said, sitting next to Layla on the couch.

"I'm sorry," Layla said, looking down, twiddling her thumbs.

"What? What are you sorry for?"

"For taking Tomothy to school. I promise I'll never let him leave the house again."

Hamish couldn't help but crack a smile. "No, its about your friend Melanie. I heard she wasn't being the nicest to you today."

A soft, "oh" was heard from Layla as she now moved closer to Hamish, needing his comfort and warmth. "Does Mumma hate me now? Did I do something?"

Hamish sighed and pulled Layla onto his lap, needing her comfort too. "Of course not. Melanie doesn't know what she's talking about."

"Then why did she leave?" Layla asked, quickly wiping away the single tear that fell down her cheek"

"Because she thought you would have a better life if Nik and I took care of you. There's no way anybody could ever hate you." Hamish hated lying to his baby sister, but he knew she was far too young to know the bitter truth. Thankfully, only half of that statement was a lie. There really was no way anybody could hate Layla.

***

It was yet another mundane morning for the Campbells. Nicholas went back to bed after making Layla's gourmet lunch and Hamish had just dropped her off at school, without Tomothy of course. Hamish heard a polite, "excuse me" just when he reached for his car's front door.

"Are you Hamish? Layla's brother? I'm Stacy, Melanie's mother." Hamish turned around to see a woman reaching her hand out for him to shake. Her straight-cut denims hung loosely around her waist and her bleach blond hair was tied into a messy bun, stray strands of hair framing her oval face.

"Yes, that's me," Hamish said, shaking the woman's hand firmly.

"I heard about what happened yesterday. I just wanted to apologise on behalf of Melanie. I'm trying my best to raise her well, but parenting is never easy, you know."

Hamish nodded knowingly. He knew firsthand how hard it was to raise a child, even if he had only been doing it for a few months.

"Anyway, I thought it would be good for the girls if they had a playdate"

"A what?"

"A play date" Stacy repeated, enunciating her words this time. "it's when kids play in each other's houses."

"Right. Sure, that would be great"

And so there would be a playdate. Hopefully, Layla wouldn't hate her big brother for doing this. 

Hiiii!

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-M