Secret Desires

33: What Layla Wants

        I stared at David as he pushed food around on his plate. He'd taken only a few bites before his attention had fallen on my mother. She didn't look his way as she smiled and laughed along with everyone else as Claudia told us the story of how she met her husband. I tried to listen to her story, but I couldn't help but stare at David stare at my mother. From the way his lips were pursed, and the slight arch of his eyebrow, I knew that something was troubling him. I don't know what it had to do with my mother, but I felt like I was being kept in the dark about it.

       They've been acting weird since last night. She'd gone into the bedroom to take that phone call and wouldn't say who called. She said it was no one and that it was nothing. But from the look on David's face last night, it was definitely someone and it was definitely something.

       Then this morning when we were checking out, she and David spoke quietly to each other at the front desk. She waved her hands around like she was waving off something he said. I tried to ignore it, pretending that I didn't notice or simply didn't care. I tried telling myself that maybe it was for the best that I be left in the dark. But this would eat at me like it's been eating at me all day.

       It ate at me when we left the hotel. It ate at me on the drive home. And when David came over to talk to us both about the plan for tomorrow, explaining how he would stay by my side the entirety of the trip, all I could think about was how I felt like both of them were hiding something bad from me.

       That feeling was stronger than ever as I continued to stare at David, his eyes wholly on my mother. I pushed around the food on my plate too. I wasn't hungry, my nerves were too great. I was anxious as is being here with my mother. When David said Claudia invited us both to dinner tonight, I had expected my mother to turn down the offer as she had done before. This time, she was more than happy to come and meet David's family, especially his mother.

       The invite had turned into my mother suggesting that I just stay the night and go with David to the airport tomorrow morning. It would bring her some peace of mind knowing I was in his care. David didn't agree to it until I voiced my opinion on the matter. I saw it as an opportunity to ask him why they've both been acting weird. I wanted to know what they were hiding from me and I knew my mother wouldn't tell me anything. Now it was only a matter of when my mother would leave.

       "And when did he propose?" Claudia playfully rolled her eyes at my mother's question.

       "He waited a whole three months before proposing." My mother's eyes bulged. Mine did too.

       "Three months?" Claudia laughed as she nodded to my mother. Three months was hardly enough time to get to know anyone let alone propose to them. The idea sounded insane to me.

       "We were young and in love. I knew without a doubt that this man," Claudia looked to her husband beside her and smiled adoringly at him. He did the same, resting his hand on hers. "This man was the one for me." Dallas gagged at how they stared at each other, the look between them almost too intimate. I stifled a laugh as Layla recoiled in her seat, her lip turning up at the sight of her parents.

       "Gross," Dani hissed. Claudia laughed, squeezing her husband's hand before turning back to my mother.

       "That... and I just found out I was pregnant with my first." That made a little more sense to me. The mention of the infamous older sibling made the room go quiet. No one laughed. Smiles were tight. The sound of silverware scraping against plates was the only sound. My mother noted the tension and seemed unsure of how to react. It was Dani who broke the silence, letting out a long sigh. I could see the bitter words starting to form on her lips, but before she could say them-