Page 78 of The Layover

Around mid-morning, Joystick walked into the building. I was both surprised and apprehensive to see him. Had he made things right with Isabella? Was he here on her behalf? Was she really that ballsy, considering what she’d said to me last week? The questions had tension coiling through my entire body.

“Hey.” He gave me a warm smile.

I wasn’t prepared to offer the same in return. “What can I do for you?”

Raul must’ve seen him come in, because in an instant, he was by my side.

Joystick held up his hands, as if in surrender. “Not here for nefarious purposes. I just wanted to check on all of you, and make sure you and your daughter were all right.”

“We’re good.” I clipped off the half-truth. For his purposes, for what he was asking, we were fine.

“I’m glad.” Joystick sounded sincere. “I can only imagine what you went through, and if I can do anything… And I’m sorry about Isabella. I’d known her for like, three days. Her I need to see my daughter sounded righteous. I didn’t realize.”

“You should’ve asked more questions,” Raul said.

Joystick shrugged. “Probably. The instant I found out who she was, why she was really here, I kicked her out of my room.” A hint of disgust bled into his voice. “Told her to lose my number and that if I ever saw her manipulative fucking face again… I let her fill in the rest. I’m absolutely disgusted that she’d do something like try to worm her way back into a child’s life for fucking connections.”

“Yeah. That’s Isabella.” I didn’t try to hide my distaste for our ex. Joystick on the other hand seemed all right. He radiated a genuine vibe, and despite being a stranger, he had been here helping us look for Eloise.

Joystick cast his gaze around the room. “What are you doing here? Restaurant, right? In an old church? That’s so wicked. How do you come up with an idea like that?”

Now he was asking questions. It was a nice distraction though. A hint of normalcy. “Raul bakes, I love historic architecture, it was a natural conclusion.”

“Heh.” Joystick scoffed. “Sure, okay. So, I like tattooed hotties, mature women, and video games. Natural assumption is that I should build a themed restaurant around it?”

Interesting conclusion to draw. I wasn’t sure what to say. “Not quite my point, but if you also like themed restaurants and the idea of owning one, why not?”

“Dude, you guys are nuts. I love it. So, I’m gonna leave you to work. I figured I’m here, I might as well see the city. Any suggestions?”

No. Really. Who was this guy? “We can give you a list—local places and tourist traps. You flew to Milan without any sort of plan?” I said.

Joystick shrugged. “So I was at this party, and God I hate those Hollywood bullshit events, but a friend asked me to go, and then ditched me. I couldn’t even tell you how much I’d had to drink, but I was probably a tequila away from black-out something. This woman says let’s go to Milan, and when I woke up fourteen hours later, apparently we were almost here.”

“You don’t look too upset about the fact that Isabella—I assume—basically tricked you into coming here.” Raul’s puzzled expression was understandable.

“I was furious at first. But like I said, when I was soberish, she told me she was here to find her daughter, and you know the rest of the story.” The way Joystick explained things, he made it sound like a common occurrence in his life to just end up in a foreign country.

I couldn’t fathom being so spontaneous. Though, I’d do something like that for Raul. For Carly.

Raul and I gave Joystick a list of places to visit, and he was on his way.

Life returned mostly to normal. Or rather, as normal as could be when Raul and I jumped every time we had to leave Eloise alone, and with a person-sized hole that was impossible to ignore.

Around the end of the week, Raul got a call from a friend letting him know that Curtis had warrants in the US for fraud. There was some current discussion between the two countries about where he would do his time first.

As long as he stayed in jail for decades, I wasn’t picky about where the cell was.

The following Monday, more than a week after Carly had gone home, she’d managed to direct all of our questions through someone else at her offices. Worse, Eloise was still asking every night if she was coming back.

I was surprised to see Joystick walk into the church again. He exchanged greetings with Raul and me. “I’ve been thinking about your suggestion,” he said.

I stared at him, confused. “Which one? The sandwich place down the street?”

“Aw, man. I went there that first day, and I keep going back. Incredible.” Joystick’s face lit up. “But no. Your suggestion that I open a themed restaurant back home. I can’t get the thought out of my head. You’re right, I should do it.”

“That’s not how the conversation went,” Raul said.

Joystick waved a hand. “You know what I learned growing up in Hollywood? When someone gives you credit for an amazing idea, you take it.”

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