Page 77 of Hot Mess

I tried to relax after that. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about any of it. The news about May really had been the least of my worries. But it had been on the list.

I texted Isaac. “Anything?”

“Nothing. Do you have Kayla yet?”

“We land in about two more hours. Soon. The second you hear anything.”

“I will let you know.”

It wasn’t Isaac who contacted me with some very interesting information about an hour later.

The plane landed and I called an Uber to take me to Kayla’s house. I had been to her place once before, when I picked her up before Christmas. It had been outlined in Christmas lights and had a wreath on the door. Now it looked like every other house on the block, ready for winter to be over, with mounds of dirty snow piled at the corners of the driveway. Brown dead lawn showed through patches where the snow had melted.

I swallowed and walked up to the stoop. I rang the bell and waited until Kayla’s mother opened the door.

“Hi, um, is Kayla home?” I felt like a kid picking up a date.

“Who are you?” The woman scanned her gaze over me. Maybe she didn’t recognize me from the photos, after all, my own fans couldn’t recognize me in costume.

“I’m Nick—”

The door was closed in my face before I could even say my last name.

I turned and made eye contact with the driver who was sitting in the driveway. I had asked him to wait until I went inside. I would call for another car when it was time to leave. We shrugged at each other. I turned and rang the doorbell again.

I leaned in close to the door, I could hear voices, yelling, but I couldn’t make out the words. I straightened up as I heard pounding footsteps.

“Nick!” The door flew open, and Kayla stood there looking at me.

She was bedraggled with messy hair and dark circles under her eyes. I took half a step toward her, and suddenly she was in my arms. I bundled her in close and rested my cheek on the top of her head. She felt so good to hold. She was shaking, but I didn’t let go.

She fisted my hoodie in her hands, and the shaking was now recognizable as sobbing.

“Sh, babe, I’m here. I’m here now. We’ll be okay.”

A light mist of rain started. It was too cold to be standing outside, even with her hot body pressed to mine. I stepped in through the open door and closed it behind us. I continued to hold her and breathe her in until she pushed back out of my tight embrace.

I didn’t let my arms drop from around her. I didn’t want to let her go. I loosened my hold, and she moved back enough so we could look into each other’s eyes.

“I’m sorry Nick, I tried to stop them. They sent me those horrible pictures, and… and…” She started sobbing again.

The stern woman hovered just past Kayla’s shoulder. She stood with her arms crossed and a look of severe disappointment across her face. “How do you think you can make anything better?”

I nodded. I understood. We were in the middle of a proverbial storm, and they didn’t know that I had shelter.

“Can I come in, and talk?”

“Kayla is refusing to speak about this with anybody,” she said.

“Mom, I said I didn’t want to talk to you or Jessie. I’m sorry. Nick, this is my mom. Come in.” She took my hand and led me into a well-lit kitchen.

I looked around. It was large, and clearly the heart of this home. No wonder Kayla had wanted a decent kitchen, she had grown up with one. She let go of my hand and began making a pot of coffee. I didn’t sit down until she did. When she finally sat down, I pulled my chair next to hers, so that I could touch her, wrap my arm over her shoulder. I wanted to be as close to her as possible. Her mother sat in a chair across from us. It looked like we would have a chaperone.

“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?” Kayla asked.

I nodded. “Before we start, I need to clear something up. I think I know why you ran; you were hurt and embarrassed. You did it before, back when we first met.”

She nodded, her eyes down cast.

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