Waited For You

You and Me

Landon's P.O.V.
He knows something. Either he knows about her mother or his headaches and I'm not sure which one Joelle wants to hear.
        " I'm going to go home," Joelle whispers as I'm hugging her on the couch and I look down from the Netflix movie.
       " Joelle I really don't know what your father is hiding," I call out and she shakes her head.
      " This has nothing to do with him Landon. I just, I want to go home," she whispers and I pause before speaking again.
        " I'm here for you Joelle," I say lowly and she doesn't look up to me.
" I just want to go home, please," she calls and I keep my eyes on her.
" You go home, I come with you," I state and she turns to look at me.
" He's lying to me. I've went my whole life acting like everything was okay. I've went my whole life trying to find myself and trying to be happy. My dad was the only one who didn't make any of that hard for me, he didn't lie," She whispers and I nod.
" Everyone lies. At least your dad lied to try and save you from some pain. People I know don't lie to save people from pain," I call and she leans against me.
" I went to school so that I could help us, I got this job so that I could help us and now that he needs something I could help with he lies to me," she breaths out and I pull her closer.
" Did your dad know about your boyfriend Joelle," I ask and she looks at me with sadness and then immediate anger.
" This isn't about me Landon , this is about him and," she starts, but I can't let her be angry at the fact that he lied. I can't let her be mad at the fact that he wants to protect her. I can't let her be mad at the fact that her dad is being a dad in the best way he knows how because I'm starting to figure out that being a dad doesn't seem so easy.
" And what? How he lied? What about when he didn't? When your mother left he stayed by your side. When you left with your ex boyfriend He stayed by your side and now no matter what he's going through you just need to stay by his side," I call and she sits up on the couch.
" Stay by his side, what about Layla Landon," she asks and I don't move.
" what about her? This isn't the same thing. Layla isn't someone who stayed by my side, I was always by hers and it was time to let go. It's time for me to let go because she needs someone else to stand by her, I will always love her. From a distance," I breath and she softens.
" From a distance," she repeats.
****
The next morning we are running around getting ready. Last night we had to pick up her clothes for work. She tried to argue with me on why we should drive separate cars to work, but when I offered to buy breakfast she quickly changed her mind.
     "  I have early meetings so I won't see you for most of the day," I proclaim and she smiles to me.
      " That's fine, we are at work Mr.Marks," she winks and then kisses me before getting out of the car.
       This girl is going to drive me crazy. I watched her walk into the building and remind myself to hide the dress she's wearing.
      " Sir, you have your first meeting in ten minutes, I made your coffee and your jacket is ironed," she explains and I nod as I walk into my office.
      " Thank you Nova, can you pick up some roses and send them to ms. Parkers desk around 3 for me and then you can take an early break," I smile and she nods as she disappears into the building.
" Excuse me sir, I um, I was wondering if I could speak to you," Sam walks in and I look up with a smile. A friend of Joelle's is a friend of mine.
     " Come in, close the door," I call and he does as I say and then waits until I motion him to sit.
" I didn't want to have to come in here sir. I know you're a busy man and if I didn't feel like it was important I wouldn't have stopped by," he starts and I wait for him to continue.
" It's about Joelle. Her ex boyfriend is going around looking for her. He must of saw her in some kind of advertisement and he's not giving up on finding her. I know it's only a matter of time before he finds her and if I'm not around I need to make sure," he continues speaking but I cut him off.
" There will be no concerns with that manner, I'll tell security to keep a close eye on her and when she's not with them, she'll be with me," I start and he looks at me with concern.
" he's not someone who's easily discouraged. Be careful," Sam warns and I nod as he walks out of the room.
" What the h*ll is life spiraling into," I mumble as I sit against the seat.
       I move all of my meetings up so I can be out around the time Joelle is finished. I know she'll eventually need answers because she's a smart girl and will notice me sticking close, but now I just need time to think.
      " You're done early," Joelle smiles up to me with her hair pulled up and i walk over and give her a lingering kiss.
        " Yeah, I've decided to surprise you with dinner," I proclaim and her eyes light up.
       " The burger place," she asks with puppy eyes and I almost tell her okay. Only if I didn't make reservations for a Mexican restaurant an hour ago.
       " I have another idea," I call and her eyes light up once again.
        " I have an idea too," she smiles and I look into her once innocent eyes. She has a look that I only see when I kiss her. A look that may mean I get to see every piece of her soon . A look that's going to be hard to deny when I have to sit her down and tell her what's going on.