Free Walk Away, The Romance of Nick and Layla (Part 1) by Crystal Cierlak

and stood in front of his
side of the closet. He pulled down a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt and I
couldn’t help but groan my disdain.
    “We’re not going to the movies, Nick.”
    “Okay, Mom, what do you think I should
wear?”
    I looked him up and down. Sweat pants and a
wife beater. Hell, he should just go like that. Really piss people off. I
rifled through hangers of his clothes, mentally picturing how they would make
him look. And then I got an idea.
    I picked out a pair of khaki slacks and a
beautiful white shirt. Then I addressed a large shelf on my half and produced a
box gift-wrapped in Burberry paper. I handed it to him.
    “What’s this?”
    “I bought this for you a while ago. It’ll
go with your outfit.”
    Nick unwrapped the box and pulled out a
beautiful Burberry tie. He looked at me. “You want me to wear a tie?”
    “It’s respectable, Nick.”
    “What are you wearing?” he asked curiously.
    I pulled out my favorite Prada dress. A
black, incredibly snug, incredibly chic, little black dress. I then bent down
and picked up a shoe box holding a pair of gorgeous heels from Chanel. “And
don’t forget to wear your glasses.”
    “Why?”
    “Because they make you look sexy and it’s a
proven fact that nobody can resist you or be mad at you when you look sexy.”
    His face lightened a bit and I swear I
thought he almost smiled. “Proven according to whom?”
    “Me.”
    Half an hour later I dabbed on a bit of
gloss on my lips and took a look at myself one final time. I looked good. It
was a small token, but at least we would look happy and matched-up. Though it
was practically a lie.
    I turned off the bathroom light as I exited
and sat down on the bed to put on the 4-inch shoes. I would be just as tall as
Nick, if not slightly taller. I looked up as he entered my line of view and
felt my heart flutter. Damn. He looked good. And he was already wearing his
glasses.
    I stood up, all six feet plus of me, and
walked up to him, stretching my arms up to his tie.
    “What are you doing?” he asked, looking at
me.
    “Loosen your tie a bit. You’re not selling
Bibles, you’re saving your career. There.” I stood back and admired him. “You
look very handsome.”
    I felt nervous as he looked me over, taking
all of me in. And for the first time he smiled. “You look beautiful.”
    “Thanks. Hold on, I have something else for
you.” I went to my dresser and pulled another wrapped box from a drawer. I
turned around and handed it to Nick. “I got that for you too.”
    Nick’s smile faded and he looked a tad bit
upset. “Did I miss our anniversary or something?”
    “Our anniversary is in a month. This is
from me to you. No reason.”
    Nick unwrapped the box and opened it up,
revealing a watch.
    “I saw it at Kenneth Cole and thought you
could wear it on special occasions. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah.” He looked at me with sad eyes. Again,
I felt sympathy. I looked at his hair and ran my fingers through the gelled
spikes. “You don’t have to buy me anything.”
    “I know. But it makes me happy to do it.” I
took Nick’s left hand and held it in my left hand. My fingers twisted his
wedding band, moving it in circles. “You might want to take this off. Don’t
want to make things worse.” I watched as he slid the ring off his finger and
closed it in his hand.
    “Are you ready?” he asked.
    “No.”
    “Me neither.”
    “Hey Nick?”
    He looked into my eyes and studied me hard.
I wanted to tell him I loved him. But instead I kissed him.
     
     
    My stomach was turning in knots as I
watched Nick standing at a podium, dozens of microphones attached, on a
platform above the hungry mobs of press and paparazzi. He took a deep breath
and glanced behind at me. I softly nodded my head, showing him he was doing
fine, and he turned around to address the people.
    “Undoubtedly you have all heard about the
recent events in my personal life. I’m here today to set the record straight.