|Randy|

“I thought you weren’t going to be here today” I heard Nikki as she came down the staircase.

“It is my house, in case you forgot that fact, and you are my guest for the week”

She rolled her eyes before pouring out the remainder of the protein shake I had blended as a breakfast. “I know that but I thought you were going to have breakfast at the diner and then hang out with Lyla somewhere. I wouldn’t have told the Birdiebee people they could come shoot here if I knew you would be home”

“I told you I don’t mind that my house is going to be filled with models” I joked which earned me a glare from her.

“I was more considering your girlfriend than anything else but why are you here?” She asked again.

I shrugged and glanced at my phone while feeling her eyes on me as she waited for an answer I didn’t feel like giving her. I groaned as she continuously poked my shoulder which sounded like it shouldn’t have hurt but it did. “She hasn’t been answering my texts for the last couple of days, okay? I went by the diner and she wasn’t there, and her friends weren’t in yet”

I was used to being iced out by her before we became official, and if I had done something stupid like hang out at Hooters. But the last time I had seen her she had dropped me off at the airport, kissed me goodbye and we had talked everyday.

“Is she even okay? Have you been to her house?” She frowned as concern filled her face. I was concerned as well but she had been to the diner yesterday according to her boss and worked her shift, so I knew she was just avoiding me.

“Her mom isn’t my biggest fan so I don’t want to risk showing up and having her answer the door” I shrugged, that was partially the reason but I also didn’t want to make Lyla uncomfortable by having me and her mom in the same room unexpectedly. If she had wanted to have a proper meeting with her daughter’s boyfriend, I would have gotten the invitation by now.

“Seriously? Randy, come on we are going to her house right now” She rolled her eyes.

“I am serious. The woman met me once and despises me, there is a reason I go to the diner to meet up with Lyla. ”

“If I wasn’t worried about Lyla I would honestly find this hilarious because you are a grown man, Randy. Let’s go!”

“Don’t you have a photoshoot to be concerned about?” I reminded her and hoped it would get me out of it. I would head to the diner again in a few hours to hear what might have happened.

“It's still a few hours till they arrive, so no excuses. I mean, facing her mom has to be better than you staring into space and wondering how you fucked up” She scoffed and left the kitchen while I reluctantly followed her as I took my keys.

“Hey, why do you just assume that I fucked up?” I screamed as she had gotten in the passenger side as soon as I hit the unlock button.

“Because why else would she be avoiding you?” She shrugged as I entered the car.

“I don’t know, sometimes I think I know and then her reasoning throws me off, so who knows” I mumbled as we pulled out of the driveway.

“Maybe the fact that you blurted out that you loved her while fighting with John freaked her out”

I glared at her, “I don’t want to get into your boyfriend being an ass”

“I love how when its all great he is your best friend but the moment you are pissed off at him its my boyfriend”

I shrugged, “Anyway, she was fine after that. I told you she spent the weekend with me the last time I was here and we hung out with her son”

“Maybe her son bragged about hanging out with you to her mom and now there’s drama?” I didn’t bother discussing the possibilities further because that could have happened but we had spoken since then and she hadn’t mentioned anything about her mom.

●●●

“We knocked, no answer. We should go” I turned to move off of the porch but she didn’t bother moving.

“That was hardly a knock besides, there’s a doorbell” She rang it before I could stop her and I glared at her but quickly stopped as the door was opened.

“Hello.. Oh my.. You’re Randy..” 

Nikki giggled which caused the teenager to notice her as well but before she could continue Nikki spoke, “Hello, Sorry to drop by but is Lyla here?”

“Uhm no. I’m Lily by the way…” 

“Her sister?” I frowned even though as far as I knew she didn’t have any siblings.

“Oh no, I’m Lacey’s sister. I’m just babysitting Luca while her mom’s out” She mumbled and I realized my presence flustered the teenager abit and I tried to be as kind as I could be even though I was confused and very impatient.

Nikki sensed it and spoke up, “Nice to meet you, Lily. Do you perhaps know where Lyla is though?”

“She’s at my sister’s place, they live about two minutes away.”

“I remember. I dropped her home a couple of times” I nodded, feeling relief fill me to know she hadn’t completely disappeared.

“You know my sister?” Her eyes widened and I knew she would probably be mad at her sister for not telling her that but I couldn’t stand to hear anymore which Nikki could tell as she answered for me.

“Yeah uhm Lily, we have to go but I'm sure this wont be the last time we will be seeing you. Thanks for the help and…”

I didn’t listen to the rest as I offered a smile and a nod before heading to the car and as I entered Nikki came running to join me. “You can be such an ass sometimes”

“I wasn’t going to stay and watch her freak out which she was two seconds away from doing. She can ask Lacey all those questions” I rolled my eyes as we pulled out of the driveway.

“So you’re all friendly with her friends yet you don’t even mention her being your girlfriend until she’s right in front of us”

“I don’t have time for this either right now. I can drop you off and you can hike back to my house” I threatened as we turned into the road where the house that Lacey and Felix shared was located.

“And yet your girlfriend is so sweet, sometimes I wonder how you managed to get her” She smiled knowing that she may have helped in that but I couldn’t really give her that credit without revealing what Lyla did so I ignored her as we pulled up at the house.

We made our way up the driveway and Nikki ran the doorbell with a smirk just as I was about to knock which led to me raising my middle finger with a smirk in return. I heard a dog barking and assumed I had remembered the address correctly and once the door open to reveal the surprised face of Lacey I was proven correct.

“Randy.. What are you.. Uhm Hi”

“Hey I’m Nikki” Nikki briefly waved while I was slightly amused by how shocked Lacey was to see me, I would have thought her sister would have given her a heads up.

“Oh I definitely know who you are. Nice to…”

“You guys can get to know each other while I find my…” I tried to push past her but she wouldn’t let me.

“Why would you think she’s…”

“Because your sister spilled the info. So please can I go and see my girlfriend that has been avoiding me for the last two days?” I narrowed my eyes trying not to let the concern and annoyance let me snap at Lyla’s best friend.

“Fine but if she asks, you lifted me from the door and I put up a big fight, she’s in the backyard. Nikki, come on in…”

I walked into the kitchen and spotted Lyla through the glass door immediately, she was poolside tying her hair up. I smiled as I moved closer as her back was turned to me but as I did I noticed the visible bruise on her back.

“So that’s why you are avoiding me huh?” I questioned as I opened the door and she jumped to her feet and turned around. I wish she hadn’t though because I saw the cut in her lip that seemed to have been swollen and the fading bruise left by fingers on her neck.

I saw red, felt red, blood rushing to my face while her eyes widened as she was still surprised to see me. “Are you fucking kidding me right now, Lyla. What the hell are these!” 

“Randy…” She stared at me while I shook my head, avoiding her brown eyes.

“Don’t fucking give me that look when you are filled with bruises again. What the hell happened?” I hated seeing her beautiful skin bruised, especially after the talk we had the last time.

“He.. He got mad and I fought back and…”

“What. Did. He. do?”

“He just hit me, I swear. I know what you said and I don’t want to lose you so I decided I would hide out until the bruises were gone. But I didn’t want to lie to you..” She croaked and moved closer to me.

“So you ignored my calls and texts? Look at you! Look at these fucking bruises! Fuck Lyla, I don’t want to fucking see you like this” I groaned and ran my hands over my face as I distanced myself from her.

“Please don’t leave me..” She whispered while I sat down on a chair trying to calm down as all I felt was anger coursing through my veins.

“Was this enough?” I breath.

“What?”

“Are you finally going to leave that place and let me take care of you” I spoke and glanced up at her and by the look on her face I knew she wasn’t going to give me the answer that I wanted. “You’re not because you are stubborn and you believe you can stand your ground. I fucking believe that too but I also know that dickhead is twice your size.”

“This is the first time its happened after…”

“After the last time? And how many times before that? Cause you see it as a rare occurrence at a job that pays well while I see it as something that just keeps getting worse. First a bruised wrist, then a blue eye, cheek... Now you have bruises on three different fucking places and you are trying to fucking make excuses!” I stood up as trying to calm myself down wasn’t an option any more when she refused to listen.

“Stop shouting at me!” She cried.

“I cant stop. How do you not understand how pissed I am right now looking at you like that!” 

“This is why I didn’t want you to have to look at me like this. How did you even find me?”

“What’s going on?” I heard Nikki who I was sure had been standing there for awhile, with Lacey, during our screaming match.

“What’s going on is that I’m going to fucking kill somebody right now” I turned on my heel and pushed past her into the house.

“Randy, please don’t go there!” I heard Lyla as I approached the front door.

“Give me one good reason other than the fact that you are stupidly holding onto that fucking job” I snapped. 

“Randy, don’t shout at…”

“Nikki, stay out of this. Do you see Lacey saying anything? No, cause she knows the full fucking story and she knows I am right for being this pissed. And she knows…”

“I know you are pissed and I know why but you going over there will just make it worse. I beg you, if you love me like you said then you will just stay here and…” I frowned as she hadn't brought it up at all and now when I was seeing red she chose to acknowledge that she had heard me.

“So I should stay here because I love you, you choose now to bring up that you heard me. Wow…” I chuckled as I shook my head. “If you fucking loved me you would never set foot in that place again yet you go back every fucking time so what is love anyway?”

“Randy…” I heard her but opened the door and quickly got into my car and if Nikki hadn’t been fast I would have probably left her behind as well.

“Randy, slow down or get out and let me drive before we end up hurt instead of her boss” I heard Nikki beside me as she glanced between me and the road.

“You don’t understand.” I hit the steering wheel before gripping it tightly needing to get rid of all the anger inside my body. 

“I understand that you are upset, hurt and you are going to make an accident if you don’t pull over” I heard the slight fear in her voice and saw the tear-filled eyes of Lyla staring at me back there. I hated that I lost my temper, that I was so angry but I did love her and I didn’t want to see any woman looking like that especially the one that I loved.

I sighed and slowed down the car before pulling over to the side of the road. “I just don’t know what the fuck to do. She doesn’t want to listen to me, Nicole..”

“I am assuming this is her dancing job and not the diner?” Her voice was calm as she questioned me while I tried remembering if I had said anything about that back at Lacey’s house.

I frowned, “Did she tell you?”

She shook her head with a small smile, “No but I connected the dots from when you asked me advice of how to get with the dancer. While I will gladly follow you to this place to beat some guy up, I can’t watch you kill someone and beating him up wouldn’t be the best idea.”

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes but every time I did I saw her bruises and the tears I had caused but didn’t regret because I was mad at her, “Im so pissed and I need to get it out.”

“So with all that shouting back then you didn’t get it out?”

“I know maybe I could have handled it better. But this wasn’t the first time, the first time killed me and now its worse. I fucking love her and she is staying at this job where any minute a guy can be too strong or she gets fucked up for being her stubborn self or defending herself” I shook my head and slowly pulled onto the road again, still pissed but I wasn’t going to murder anyone anymore.

She didn’t add much, I knew she didn’t want to overstep and I also knew it wasn’t really a situation she knew how to advise me on. “If her decision is to stay at this job then you going there now will just worsen everything for her…”

“I’m going home. Booking a flight to the next city today so I don’t have to stick around here”

I saw her eyes widen in the corner of mine but just focused on the road, “Don’t you maybe want to talk to her tomorrow or tonight when the anger isn’t so…”

“No. If I see her its all going to start back up besides, she made her choice.”