The Side Effects of Marriage

Chapter 18

The phone rang bright and early that Saturday morning. Layla rolled over to Hayden's side of the bed to answer it, finding the queen-sized bed empty. Had he even come home that night? She couldn't remember.

"Tatiana, you're where?" Layla groaned, throwing a hand over her eyes as the sunlight peeped through the white curtains. Hayden hadn't fully closed them last night, since he hadn't been there, and it was typically his job. She would let him break as many promises as he wanted. So now, with the addition of her best friend's too-many-decibels loud voice in her ear, she would never get back to sleep.

"I said, I'm right outside your house." Tatiana's voice was far too chipper for Layla's tastes. "So come outside, because I brought beignets. And those cheese blintzes that you love. Hurry. Up."

She checked the clock on the wall,. It was ten o'clock. She'd slept for twelve hours? "I'm coming, I'm coming."

Moments later, wearing her robe, slippers, and bedhead, she opened the door. Tatiana Russell wore an unseasonable outfit of a fur shawl--in July--over a tight black dress, with bright red pumps, and carried a white cardboard box labelled Patisserie. She flung her arms around Layla, the bakery box hitting her back. When her best friend released her, Layla took a step back, brushing hair out of her eyes, and tried to summon the appropriate amount of cheer for the occasion. "You're here!"

Tatiana pushed past her and stepped into the house, kicking off her Jimmy Choos, as if she owned the place. "And you have horrible morning breath."

"Yes, well, I overslept." To punctuate her statement, she gave a jaw-unhinging yawn. "Give me five minutes and I'll be somewhat presentable."

"No more than five," Tatiana said. "When we were roommates, I know you could get ready in a minute and a half."

"I'm old and pregnant now," she shot back, stomping up the stairs. Layla threw on sweatpants and one of Hayden's old t-shirts with FBI emblazoned across the chest, brushed her hair, and swished some mouthwash around her mouth. She returned downstairs in a somewhat more presentable state, just as Loretta was hanging up Tatiana's fur shawl.

"Good morning, Auntie Loretta," Tatiana was saying. From what Layla could remember of her wedding--which had been a day fueled mostly by alcohol, bad decisions, and her friends' urgings--Tatiana and Loretta had gotten along like nobody's business. Possibly due in part to the fact that Tatiana could probably sell ice in the Arctic. "Did you sleep well? I'm so sorry for dropping by uninvited, but, you know, I just happened to be in town with my husband, so I thought I would come visit."

"You just happened to be in the D.C. area?" Layla said with a frown. She'd thought Tatiana might have come for some networking opportunity, ilke a derby or golfing or some society lunch.

"Yes, like I said, I just happened to be in town, so I thought I would stop by," Tatiana repeated in the most unconvincing tone Layla had ever heard. "Anyways, I brought pastries. I hope you haven't eaten yet, because there's a lot in here, The bakery owner knows my mom so she always gives me more than I ask for."

"How does she know your mom? You're from Cleveland," said Layla with a frown,

"We have some... connections." Tatiana gave an artful shrug. "Anyways, there's beignets, croissants, blintzes, kolaches..."

Loretta, who Layla had heretofore pegged as an anti-sugar health nut, actually took a pain au chocolat from the box. "Thank you, Tati. That was very thoughtful of you."

"You let her call you Tati?" Layla hissed.

"Your MIL isn't that bad," Tatiana said.

Layla gaped at her. "I assure you, she is."