Let It Be Me (Let It Be Me #1) (13 page)

Alex tightened his hold on Kayla. He steered her to the portion of the dance floor that was less crowded. Kayla appreciated his thoughtfulness.

“I wasn’t really that insecure of a person,” Kayla continued in a soft voice. She never really told anyone about this. But she suddenly wanted to tell him about it. “Even during my geeky high school and college days I knew where I was in the social hierarchy.” She laughed, though it came out a bit dry. “But common friends started telling me that they noticed something whenever Barry and Deirdre talked. I trusted Barry. So I didn’t really pay attention to what they were saying. I was so stupid. It was only until Barry admitted to me what has been going on for four months.”

“Fuck,” Alex exclaimed. “And you’re not stupid. Barry’s the stupid one to choose her over you. And she is definitely not prettier than you.”

“I dated Barry for three years, and we never talked about marriage. They’ve just been together for a couple of years and they’re getting married!” Kayla exclaimed, the realization sinking it. 

“Then good thing you were spared from marrying him,” Alex said consolingly.

“They were the only family I had,” she continued. She was surprised at herself as the words spilled out. Even Jenny didn’t know what happened and what Kayla has been suffering from since. “My aunt, my uncle, my cousins, my nephew, my niece – I miss them so much.”

 With the hurt she felt from what Deirdre and Barry did to her, Kayla distanced herself from her relatives. She has spoken to her aunt over the phone a few times, and her aunt has been very apologetic for her daughter’s wrong. Kayla knew it was also hard for her aunt and her uncle since they’ve treated her like their own. But Kayla couldn’t fathom how important people in her lives like Deirdre and Barry could hurt her that way. 

Barry and Deirdre have repeatedly asked for her forgiveness. She has already told them she’s forgiven them, but she still had a hard time forgetting. 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Kayla,” Alex said huskily. “I wish I’ve been there for you sooner. You’ve been holding this for so long.”

Kayla couldn’t reply. Her thoughts agreed with him though. He could have been the rock she needed for the past years.

She just leaned forward until her forehead was almost on Alex’s shoulder, where her hand was resting. She was grateful for the comfort he was offering.

“I’m pretty sure my scenes would be done by then,” Alex said. “I’ll double check with Ben and my director. But if I don’t have anything I promise I will be there with you.”

“Thank you,” Kayla said, and for once she just wanted to lean on to someone for help.

Chapter 16

Chad was waiting for her as she walked to The Met the following afternoon. He was dressed casually in a white collared cotton shirt, khaki shorts and boat shoes. He had with him an old-fashioned picnic basket and a blanket.

“Hi,” he greeted cheerfully. There was a moment of awkwardness as it took him a second to decide before leaning down to kiss her on her cheek. “You look great.”

“Thanks,” she said shyly. She also dressed down in a floral button-down blouse, cut-offs, and ankle boots. “You actually own a picnic basket?”

“The deli sells them,” he admitted sheepishly. “Come on, let’s walk.”

Chad starts walking towards the park. Kayla followed suit.

“How was the charity event?” he asked as they made their way.

“It was interesting,” she said. “It was a fund-raising event for the housing development we are working on.”

“Were they able to meet their target?” Chad asked.

Kayla nodded. “I was told the results were fantastic. Based on their ballpark, they made millions last night. It should about cover the development.” She briefly chatted with Ben towards the end of the event and he was ecstatic with the outcome.

“Wow,” Chad exclaimed.

“I’m sure you’ve been to a number of these events,” Kayla said, trying to ignore the “wow”. “It’s the first one I’ve been to.”

“I’ve only been to a few,” he said. “My dad supports several organizations.”

Chad brought her mid-park by the Belvedere Castle. It was quiet enough and had great views of the castle and portions of the city skyline. It was a nice summer day for a picnic.

“It’s beautiful here,” Kayla said. 

“You haven’t been to this part of the park?”

Kayla shook her head. “Haven’t had much chance to go out as often as I used to. Going to site is just about it.” She used to enjoy the outdoors when she was still studying. But with the hectic life as a professional, her schedule hasn’t allowed her to go out that often. And with the limited free time she had, she would just stay in to rest.

Chad laughed. “I know what you mean. I only go out too when my friends drag me along.”

He laid the blanket on a shaded spot. He motioned for Kayla to sit before getting seated himself. Kayla was grateful he brought a thick blanket that provided enough cushion over the hard ground. She also remembered she hasn’t been to a picnic since her college years.

He opened the picnic basket and started bringing out plastic containers of food. “Before you ask, no, unfortunately I didn’t prepare any of these. I got them from several places.”

Kayla laughed. “I wasn’t going to ask, I swear. And since you already mentioned you already got the basket from the deli, I already kind of expected they’re all store-bought.”

“Smart girl,” he teased.

Kayla watched as he laid out the different food he bought for them. He had sandwiches, slices of cheese, crackers, fruits, and chocolates. He also brought out a bottle of wine and a couple glasses. Even if he just purchased everything, Kayla was pretty impressed with the amount of thought he put into it. 

“Hope you’re hungry,” Chad said as he poured wine into their glasses. 

Kayla shyly reached for a piece of cheese, and started eating. She had brunch, and that was hours ago. She wanted to eat before having some wine.

“Is your whole family here in New York?”

“Yup, my sister’s a resident at Lenox Hill. My dad is my boss.” Kayla laughed. “My mom takes care of my dad.”

“At least you can always run to her if you want some home-cooked meals,” Kayla said.

“That I do at least once a week,” he admitted with a grin. “Is your family in New York?”

With what happened the previous night still fresh, Kayla was slightly taken aback by the question.  But she was quick to recover. “I have family in New Jersey,” she said vaguely. She took a sip of wine then grabbed a piece of sandwich. She checked to see it was salmon and dill. He had good taste.

“Close enough,” he said.

“Yeah.”

Her phone started ringing right then. She scampered for her phone to check who it was. Seeing it was Alex, she tried to quickly decide if she should take it. But she remembered he was still her client.

“Excuse me, I have to take this,” she said to Chad then answered her phone.

“Hi,” she answered.

“Kayla, Ben just told me,” he said without preamble. His voice was filled with awe. “He told me about the check you wrote for the foundation. Thank you.”

“Oh, well, I wanted to help,” she said simply, suddenly getting shy. Kayla and the rest of her team only stayed for another hour after she and Alex danced the previous night. Alex also became busy entertaining other guests.

They did say their goodbyes, and Alex kissed all the girls’ cheeks. Kayla couldn’t help but grin as she remembered Jenny’s dazed look after being kissed by Alex. 

Alex didn’t know that during that hour, Kayla wrote a check for five thousand dollars. Of course she knew her contribution wasn’t as huge as their other donors’. Her salary was enough for her lifestyle and some savings; she’s never donated such a large amount. But she sincerely wanted to help their cause, and she didn’t regret parting with that large amount of money at all. She truly believed in their vision. And being part of it was very rewarding already.

“You’ve done more than enough already,” he said still in wonderment. “You didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to,” Kayla replied softly, using the line he has used before with her. Kayla quickly looked at Chad to see if he was trying not to look at her or listen, so he was just eating. She didn’t want to make him feel awkward. “Anyways, I’m sorry, can I call you back later?”

“Oh, okay, sure,” he said after a beat. 

“Bye,” she said then cut the call immediately.

“Sorry about that,” she said. “It was for work.”

Okay, not really
.

“No problem,” Chad said assuredly. 

They went back to eating but Kayla couldn’t stop thinking about Alex even if she tried not to. His usual wisecracks she was used to. But him getting serious?

 She tried to mentally shake herself and forced herself to listen as Chad recounted last night’s episode of Saturday Night Live.

“Dan Aykroyd and Alec Baldwin did a cameo. It was hilarious,” he said.

“I haven’t had the chance to watch SNL for the longest time,” Kayla admitted. She used to watch it when she was still an intern. “I usually read books when I’m home.”

“Unfortunately all I see are accounting books,” Chad said, making a face.

Kayla laughed.

“How about movies? What was the last movie you watched?” he asked.

Kayla stilled for a while. She thought she already did great going back to focusing on their conversation. Then he asks a question that brought her thoughts back to Alex. “I don’t watch movies often, but I actually watched High Alert.”

“Wow, you actually watch sci-fi films?” 

“Well, usually no. But, um, Alex Stone is one of our clients,” she disclosed, feeling weird that she was just talking to him a while ago.

“Wow,” he said again. 

“Yeah,” was all she said.

“He must be spending a lot for his house,” he said.

“Oh, no,” Kayla defended quickly. “It’s his foundation who’s having the housing development built. His foundation organized the fund-raising event last night.” 

Kayla felt like a hypocrite because she thought that of Alex too the first time she met him. 

“Oh, wow,” he said.

Good thing Chad was oblivious to Kayla’s distracted state through the rest of their picnic. Kayla managed to survive till sunset, when they started packing up before it got dark.

“I’d like to see you again, Kayla,” he said as they walked back towards The Met.

“Okay,” she said without really thinking. She was a perfectly nice guy who was treating her well. There was no reason not to go out with him again. 

“Great,” he said. 

They reached the sidewalk in front of the museum. 

“We can take the same cab; I’ll bring you home,” he offered.

Kayla thought of declining, but she thought it might give him the wrong sign. “Okay.”

Chad hailed a cab for them. Chad placed the picnic basket and blanket at the front, then they got in the back seat.

“We have two stops,” he told the driver. “First stop?” He looked at Kayla expectantly.

Kayla recited her address then Chad gave his. Kayla recognized his address as a nice neighborhood.

“Thank you for arranging this picnic,” Kayla said as the cab driver made his way.

“It was my pleasure,” he said. “I hope you enjoyed yourself.”

“I did,” Kayla said politely. But she felt guilty for her lack of focus. “I should spend more time outdoors.”

“I think we both should,” Chad said, grinning.

Kayla then heard her phone beep with a text message.

She checked, and it was from Alex.

“You haven’t called me,” she read.

Kayla wanted to laugh over Alex’s bout of brattiness, but she didn’t want Chad to ask questions. 

It wasn’t long till the cab driver parked in front of her townhouse. By then it was already dark. Chad quickly got out to open the door for her.

“Thank you,” she said as she stepped out. 

Chad told the driver to wait for a second. Chad reached out to rest his hand on her back as he walked her to her door.

“Thanks for going out with me,” he said. 

“Thanks too,” she echoed, smiling at him.

“I’ll call you, okay?”

Kayla nodded, unable to speak.

“Good night.” He leaned down to kiss her on her cheek then walked back down and to the cab.

It was when Kayla closed the door behind her that she remembered Alex’s text message. She took out her phone from her bag then dialed his number.

“I thought you forgot me,” he said as an answer.

“And hello to you too,” Kayla said, chuckling. “Someone forgot that he’s no longer the brat from his yesteryears.”

Alex laughed. “Sorry about that. So you’re having a good Sunday?”

“It’s okay,” Kayla said vaguely. Having Alex find out she came from a date might not be a good idea. She expected he would tease her tirelessly.

“Good,” he said. “There was another reason why I called earlier.”

“What is it?”

“It turns out I’ve got the last weekend of August free,” Alex declared. “There was a gap in my filming schedule.”

Kayla knew what that meant. He can go with her to the wedding. Kayla must have forgotten to breathe because her exhale was long and deep. Kayla couldn’t lie that she felt relief. 

A jumble of thoughts entered her mind.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kayla asked, giving him a last out. He was doing a favor of all favors for her. She wasn’t even sure she deserved it.

“Yes, Kayla,” he assured. “So what are the details? Where, what time, dress code.”

Kayla hurried to the console table by her foyer, where she placed the invitation Deirdre gave her. She dictated the details to him. 

“Were you planning to stay there for the night?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kayla said. “It would be too late for a long ride back.” It was written in the invitation that guests had discounted rates if they stayed in the bed & breakfast where the wedding was going to be held, but there was no way Kayla was staying there surrounded by people from both camps. She planned on looking for a nearby hotel.

“You don’t have to stay the night if you have something else,” Kayla added. He must have a packed social calendar.