Cradle Broken Glass

Chapter Twelve

Layla pushed open the double doors to the restaurant, and held them open for Phil who was walking behind her. She had managed to get him to agree to go with her. The only reason he probably agreed, however, was after finding out that the new drummer Dave would be bringing a date called Samantha. After Layla found this out, she steamed with jealousy, knowing that it was most likely the same Samantha from the party ages ago, and the one that Phil had been fucking. However, she bit her tongue, knowing that he would refuse to go if she made a fuss about it. They made their way to the back of the restaurant where they saw a massive table filled with people. Eddie, Mike, Stone, Jeff, Jeff's girlfriend Mandy, Dave and Samantha were all seated. Stone sat at the head of the table, something he probably fought the others over for. Everyone stood up as they arrived, greeting them. Layla noticed how Phil greeted Samantha with familiarity and a sly grin, putting her in a bad mood. As she walked around the table, she finally got to Eddie. She hadn't seen him since that night, and she felt awkward around him, knowing that she had made a fool out of herself. He gave her a small smile, feeling awkward himself and said a quiet, "hi" before sitting down with everyone else. The way the seating arrangement went, meant that she was opposite Samantha, while Phil was opposite Eddie, at the end of the table. The waitress came over and asked everyone what they wanted. When Phil came to order, he flirted subtlety, sending smug grins Layla's way, without the others noticing. The waitress ignored him, however, she started acting flirtatiously towards Eddie when he started ordering, making comments about how good he looked in his shirt, and how much she loved his hair. Layla didn't know whether she was more jealous of the situation with Samantha, or with the waitress coming on to Eddie. He only looked down and ignored her, being polite, but turning her down. After she left Dave turned towards Eddie.

"She was literally begging for you Ed. You should have gone for it." He said laughing and slurring his words, clearly already drunk. Eddie frowned at him and then made eye contact with Layla, giving her a shy smile.

"She's not my type." He said, still looking directly at her. Her cheeks heated up, a blush radiating on her face. He looked down and started fiddling with his fork on the table, red tinting his cheeks too. She knew this was going to be a long night.

*****

"So you just decided to drop everything in San Diego and move to Seattle?" As the night progressed, Phil had become more and more envious of the attention Eddie was getting, and decided to soothe his bruised ego by questioning him.

"Pretty much."

"Don't you think that's a bit selfish." Layla was embarrassed by Phil making a fool out of himself, especially compared to someone as intelligent as Eddie.

"Not really. I didn't have anyone back in San Diego." He replied coolly, not letting Layla's asshole of a boyfriend affect him.

"No one? No parents? No girlfriend?" She couldn't help but notice how Phil emphasised the last question, like he was desperate to find out.

"No."

"What happened to your parents then." Phil asked in an accusatory tone. Eddie was clearly getting frustrated, and Layla wanted the ground to swallow her whole. Stone was listening to the conversation intently, while the others were drinking and laughing at the other end of the table.

"My dad died, and I just don't talk to my mother and step-father." Eddie revealed. Layla could tell he was also a bit tipsy, since he didn't seem like he would usually open up about that type of stuff to someone he didn't like. A grin grew on Phil's face after Eddie said this, like he'd hit the jackpot. He had been trying to find a fault in the seemingly perfect Californian and he'd clearly found one. Family issues. Layla excused herself to go to the bathroom. Once there, she stared in the mirror, trying to breathe before she had to go back out there. The door to the bathroom opened and Samantha walked in. She looked Layla up and down before snorting, and walking to the mirror to re-apply her lipstick. Once she was done she turned to leave. However, halfway to the door she stopped and turned back around.

"You know, you really have no dignity do you?" She said, laughing at Layla.

"You don't know anything." Layla replied back, feeling weak compared to the woman in front of her.

"Don't I now? Honey, at least I know how to keep a man." She said smugly, delivering a final blow to Layla's confidence. She left the bathroom, leaving Layla nearly in tears. Tonight had been one of the worst nights of her life, and she wished she would have never asked Phil to go. She still felt dirty from what had happened with Eddie, and everything else was making her feel worse.

Suddenly everything clicked into place. She decided that she wasn't going to talk to her friends for a while. She needed some time to think things over and get her head right. She needed time away from Eddie, where he wouldn't be able to influence how she felt. She needed to be by herself for awhile, where she wouldn't be invited to meals that turned out to be a disaster.

She left the bathroom and returned back to her seat, feeling numb after her plan to cut herself off for a while. The hours ticked by and soon, it was time to leave. She didn't say goodbye to anyone, just followed Phil to the car after he threw a twenty down on the bill.

She knew this was what she needed to do.