Forever Layla: A Time Travel Romance (16 page)

“And classes prove you still have to be willing to learn and work hard to keep your job. “The poor boy you married is a man in the making, not God. Don’t expect him to just know what you want and get mad that he didn’t provide it. And respect what effort he puts into the marriage. Treat his gigs just like he treats your job.”

I sat back taking in her words. She was right. David hadn’t really done anything wrong. I still didn’t like having a party at our house and strangers all over the place, but it was his house too, and he’d done it to help pay for my car. It wasn’t childish, and I’d probably hurt his feelings when I said it was. The realization that I’d insulted him stirred something in me. I needed to talk to him and make it right.

I reached over and took the old woman by the hand. “Thank you. I’m glad you sat down with me. I needed this talk.”

“No problem. It’s the job of the older women to teach the younger ones how to love their husbands. It doesn’t just happen, you know.”

“I need to get home and apologize.” I stood and looked at the woman. “What is your name? Can I find you in the phonebook? I might need some advice like this again. My grandma used to give the best advice, but she’s gone.”

“Just call me Kate. But no, you can’t find me in the phone book, because I don’t live here anymore. I’m just visiting.”

“Kate, that was my… friend
’s name. A long time ago.”

The old woman smiled

“Well, I hope that I run into you again, maybe on your next visit.”

“That would be lovely.”

I took my tray and emptied it. A dark-haired man in his fifties walked in the door. He glanced around the place before his eyes landed on Kate. His lips pursed as he rushed to her. “Mom, I’ve been looking all over for you. You know you aren’t supposed to go off alone like this. What if something had happened to you?”

“I knew I’d b
e all right. I’m not your child—I’m your mother. Stop babying me.” She stood and picked up her tray. He tried to take it, but she wouldn’t give it up. “I can put away a tray for myself.”

I grinned at the sight as I
headed for my car. I got in, started the engine, and pulled out into the street. I would make it all up to my sweet husband, even if it meant I listened to the whiny guitar music and acted like I liked it.

I drove home,
pulled up behind the line of cars, and parked. I looked at the cars differently now. They represented fans of the band. They belonged to people who enjoyed the talent and hard work of David, Michael, and the guys—and were willing to pay money to hear them perform.

I walked back into my house and
found David selling pizza from our kitchen. I found my scrunchie and pulled my hair back in a quick ponytail before washing my hands and helping out with the sales.

By the time the night was over, the pizza and drinks were gone
, and the kitchen drawer David was using as a cash drawer was full. It had been too noisy to talk, so I hadn’t made my apologies yet. I picked up a garbage bag and started gathering cans and paper plates from around the room as the band cleared out. Once the guys were gone, I put the bag down and made my way to David and took hold of his arm.

“I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier. You were right. This is your home too. Nothing you did here was childish
, and I was wrong to act like my opinion was superior. I hope you can forgive me.”

David’s face relaxed and he sighed. “I was afra
id we were about to have round two. I’m sorry I didn’t run it by you first. It was a last minute backup plan when the other venue fell through. It was our house or no gig tonight, and that would mean no money for the band this week. Michael just bought a car too, so he needed this gig. Maybe we should invest in one of those mobile phones.”

“You told me
they charge by the minute.”

“They do.”

“We can wait.” I grabbed his arm and tried to look excited. “How much did you make?”

David took my hand and pulled me to the kitchen where he had bills rolled up with rubber bands around them. He lifted one roll. “This month’s rent plus…” He put that stack down and picked up another. “… the car payment.” He picked up a loose stack. “… and maybe dinner and a movie with my hot wife.”

“Wow, I had no idea you made that kind of cut. We can stick most of my paycheck in savings this month.”

“I don’t usually make that
much. The hosting house gets to run concessions. I was hoping to make enough this summer so we could put a lot of your check away for the months I’m at school. I won’t make much while I’m at college, and I don’t like not pulling my weight.”

I leaned against him and felt the strength of his bicep as I circled my arms around it. “I’ve told you, the finances are my job. Yours is to discover time travel.”

He leaned over me and kissed the top of my head. “It’s my job to be your husband. We are a team, for now and for the next…I don’t know…sixty years. And I will see what I can find on campus, but coming home every weekend makes getting a job there difficult.”

“Sounds like a nice grownup plan.” I turned around and kissed his bottom lip, followed by his top lip and finally a real kiss that sent electricity through me.

He pulled back. “You know grownups don’t usually call themselves grownups. They refer to themselves as adults.”

“True
, and adults get to do all kinds of adult things.” I followed that with a flirtatious smirk.

“What about this mess?”

“It will still be here later.” I took his arm and started for the bedroom. “Unless there is a mess on our bed. It was locked when I tried it earlier.”

“Nope, didn’t stick anything in our room. Just locked it.” David reached in his pocket and pulled out a key as he took my hand and headed for our room.

Layla

I ROSE FROM THE BED and stretched. I loved Saturdays with David. No real plans, just us hanging out. I glanced beside me to see David still asleep. I smiled at him there, my comic book prince. I was about to lie back down when I saw a thick strand of blonde hair on my pillow next to him.

“Oh no, my hair!” I jumped up from the bed and ran to the bathroom and flipped on the light.

David called from the bedroom. “What’s going on?”

I examined my hair in the mirror, pulling back layers
, seeing that the extensions I’d gotten before my trip back in time were coming loose. I’d kept up with my roots with at home color but hadn’t gone to an actual salon since my arrival.

“It’s nothing.” I was pulling another loose extension out when David walked through the door.

“Why is your hair falling out?” His eyes were wide as he grabbed a strand in his hand. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m not sick
, and my hair isn’t falling out. These are extensions I bought with my bonus just before I came.

“What?”

I growled under my breath. “I had hair added to my own for a longer fuller look. My natural hair is thin and doesn’t grow out well.”

“So this is fake hair?”

“No, it’s human hair. I paid extra for that.”

He dropped the strand and wiped his hand on his pants in disgust. “I’ve been running my fingers through someone else’s hair?”

“No, it’s mine. I paid for it.” I made my way to the living room and pulled out a phone book. “I’ve got to call around and find a salon that can fix this.”

After several phone calls, I finally found one that could help me. I got dressed and tied a scarf around
my head, hoping I looked like a chic 50’s movie star and headed out the door for the Fly Girl Salon.

When I got there and walked in, I scanned the room, soon realizing the place specialized in African American hair. A mocha colored woman
, looking to be about my age with long braids down to her waist, walked up to me and smiled, “So you’re the white girl that called here about weave?”

I smiled, and glanced around awkwardly. “I guess. I got extensions before I left California
, and I’ve called around and can’t find any places here that could help me.”

She smiled.
“I don’t think any white girls in Chesnee buy hair. I haven’t worked on a white girl since cosmetology school, but if you’re willing, so am I. I might have to special order for you since most of my hair is for African American women.”

I followed her to the chair and took a seat. “That’s fine, just help me.”

“Do you have the pieces that fell out?” she asked as she used the back of a comb to pull stands of hair back to look at my roots.

“Here in my purse.” I pulled out a baggie of my hair and handed it to her.

“These aren’t like any I’ve used before, but I will do my best. What did you say your name was?”

“Layla. And yours?”

“Tamika. Let’s get started.”

Chapter 15

Two years later - May 1996

David

I GRIPPED THE STEERING WHEEL with my left hand, freeing my right to reach over and take Layla’s. It seemed ridiculous that my wife was always the one helping me move into my dorm the way the other students’ parents did. It made me feel like I was just playing at being a grownup. “I’m sorry that I had to sign up for the summer semester, but these visiting professors are two I have been following closely.”

Layla sm
iled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I’m going to miss you. Are you sure you can’t come home for a whole month?”

“They run the summer semesters pretty tight to make it equal to a three
-month semester. The labs are on Saturdays with only Sundays off to do work for research papers due at the end of the month.”

“I know. This is your destiny—
your calling. It’s my job to get you there.”

“I don’t see why you can’t find a job in Clemson. You’d be an asset to any office over there. We could move
, and we wouldn’t have to deal with this separation.”

She sighed as she looked away. “Drake’s not been feeling well. He’s been out sick a lot the last couple of months.”

“He hired that new girl, Trina.”

“Yeah
, and she knows her stuff, but she’s just not one of us yet. I wouldn’t want to leave Drake with him out so much.”

“You don’t think he’s off the wagon, do you?”

“I hope not. It’s been over a year since his last slip, and he got right back on track when it happened then. Besides, my staying in Chesnee frees you to concentrate on school. You aren’t coming home each night to distractions, the way you would if I lived in Clemson.”

“I like having you to distract me.” I squeezed her hand tight
er before letting it go to stroke her cheek. Leaving her was always the hardest.

“This is the year you really get to start in on your major course studies. You’ve talked about it, reading off long words you plan to study
, while I nodded like I understood what you were saying. You went online to read things published by two of the professors you will have this semester. You not only read them, you picked parts, and read them out loud to me, and again, I nodded.”

“Am I that bad?”

“Yes…no…yes.” She winked. “I’m glad you’re so excited, and I’m happy you want to share all your excitement with me. I might get more excited when you shared it if I could understand it.”

“It’s all pretty simple and straightforward. Dr. Green, one of the professors visiting this summer, has this theory o
n molecules and how they relate to time. His theory states that all matter is pushed forward in time by this theoretical wave. The wave is constant and pushes all matter the same direction in time at the same rate. But he also theorizes that there are other waves pushing back, but the alignment of the molecules allows those waves to pass through matter. But if the molecules could be realigned to match one of those reversed time waves, one could ride that wave back in time.

“And Dr. Volkoff’s formulas in the paper I read were very similar to the ones in my notebooks.” I glanced over at her
, seeing what looked like understanding.

“Why didn’t you put it like that before? That is
amazing. It’s like confirmation that your formulas are real.”

“The only problem with Dr. Green’s theory is he hasn’t figured out how one might travel to the future. Since the wave pushing forward is constant, one could go back in time, but they couldn’t go forward in time any quicker than anyone else around them. One could travel back in time
, but then they’d be stuck there.”

“He lied to me. He was never coming back to get me. He couldn’t have come back to get me if he’d want
ed to.” Layla’s breath hitched.

“You’ve never told me who it was that sent you back. How did he know you were Layla when you didn’t know?”

She shook her head. “You know I can’t share everything. It could re-write history. But this is still exciting, and it’s proof that this is the right path for you. Do you think you would have ever gotten this excited about dentistry?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m sure I wouldn’t.” I got quiet for a minute
, thinking about that other life I almost had.

“Maybe you should tell your parents all this. Show them the notebooks and your professor’s paper
, and I’ll come clean about where I’m from. We don’t need to shut them out forever.”

“They are the ones who shut me out.”

“Maybe, but I think they want back in. They sent us a Christmas card and then sent you a birthday card in April. I think that means they are ready to start talking again.”

“Maybe I’m not ready.” I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.

“You have a little sister you haven’t spoken to in two years, and she had nothing to do with this.”

“Let’s drop it.” I reached over and turned on the radio when some garbage
-sounding music came on. I was about to change the station when Layla suddenly squealed.

“What?” I glanced over at her then out the windows and the rearview mirrors but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

Layla started jumping up and down. “The Backstreet Boys!” Then she started singing along with the song. “I loved them when I was a kid. I always wanted to go see them live. Finally, we are getting into the good music, and I have money to buy tickets.”

“This sounds like music written for tweenagers.”

“I know.”

“You mean this is the future of music?”

“Yep, I’ll go online when I get home and find a concert. You, me, and all the screaming thirteen-year-old girls. It will be a blast.” She beamed at me like that was the best idea ever.

“I may have to pass on that. I think I have to study that night and get us closer to time travel so we can go back to the good music.”

Layla swatted at me and laughed. “No. I listen to all your scientific discoveries, and I’ve sat through Head Trauma gigs until I thought I had head trauma. Let me introduce you to real music.”

“Do these Backstreet Boys play instruments
? Because it sounds super synthesized.”

“No, even better, they dance choreographed moves as they sing.”

“It won’t catch on.”

“Oh
, yes it will. Wave goodbye to all that whiny guitar music, unless you are an emo who loves the indies.”

“The what?”

“Never mind.”

“So is there any other bad news coming my way from the future?”

Layla turned away and wouldn’t look at me. “Like what?”

“Like movies
. Do they stop blowing things up in them in the future?”

She finally faced me with what looked like a fake smile. “Movies suck in the future. All the good romantic comedies are being made now.”

“You just got weird on me.”

“No
, I didn’t. But yes, there is more bad news for you. The Backstreet Boys are just the beginning. Soon there will be a couple more on the charts with more choreography and more screaming tweenagers.”

“Lovely.”

Layla

ABOUT A WEEK INTO THE summer session, I was standing at Trina’s desk going over who needed letters about overdue payments when a sudden wave of nausea struck.

“Excuse me.” I turned and headed for the bathrooms in the back, trying to make it there in time. I ripped open the door and crashed to the floor, my knees hitting the hard linoleum with a painful thud. I pulled my hair back with one hand while lifting the toilet seat with the other.

I stayed there for at least five minutes, until I was able to stand. I stood and grasped the sink for balance and looked in the mirror at my red, swollen face. I quickly rinsed my mouth and cleaned myself up before heading back to my desk. Trina had out the can of Lysol and sprayed it everywhere. Most people would ask someone if they were okay, but Trina said, “I hope I don’t catch whatever you have.” Then she pulled out some Clorox wipes and started wiping down her phone, stapler, and the like.

“Don’t worry
. I feel fine now.”

The next day, I found myself again hunched down in front of the toilet at work. It had been quite embarrassing as I ran from my desk in front of a customer. I stood and washed my face and rinsed out my mouth before looking in the mirror. I started counting in my mind, but not the normal weeks since my period like most women do. I was counting years. I checked myself over and then headed for my desk. I hadn’t quite made it there when I had to go back to the restroom.

“Trina, could you finish him up please?” I called out before covering my mouth and running back to where I’d just left. By the fifth trip to the restroom, I knew I couldn’t stay at work. Maybe it was just a bug after all, because this had to be more than morning sickness. Drake was there that day, thankfully, and he sent me home.

Trina
, the other agent, had experience from another office and was well trained, but wasn’t one to go the extra mile to help others. I hated to miss work and add to the load, but I had to go home.

When I got to my place, I put on my pajama pants and tank top and rummaged through the cabinets looking for saltines. I shoved a couple in my
mouth while I popped open a Coke and sipped it, hoping the carbonated water, and salty crackers would help. I was about to settle myself onto the couch when the doorbell rang. I couldn’t think of who it would be, so I checked out the window to the side. I caught just a sideways angle. It was David. I glanced at the driveway but didn’t see his truck.

I rushed over to the door and ripped it open. “Hey, what are you doing home? How did you get h…?” I stopped when I had the door fully open and could look him square in the face. His blue eyes lit up the moment he saw me
, but they were surrounded by worry lines.

Realization came over me. This wasn’t my David. “What are you doing here?” I grabbed his arm and glanced all around to make sure no one saw him as I pulled him inside and shut the door.

We stood staring at each other. My expression was less than welcoming, but a strange calm came over him as he slowly took me in from top to bottom.

“It’s you,
” I said.

David charged forward and engulfed me in his arms. I let him hold me and finally
wrapped my arms around him as deep sobs resonated from him, and I felt tears dripping onto my shoulder. “I came to see you. You know that’s all I’ve wanted ever since…”

I pushed him away so I could look at him as I spoke. “And now what? You’ve come back to see me and got yourself stuck here? What were you thinking?” I shoved him away, and glanced off, avoiding the hurt in his eyes at my rejection. “What year are you from?”

“2016.” He straightened up and worked to hide the dejection.

I should have been more sensitiv
e, but all I could think of was my sacrifice to make sure it all went as planned…and now what? My hand went to my hip as the other pointed at him accusingly. “So what’s your plan, David 2016? Are you going to move in with me and David 1996? I don’t remember that part of the story.” I spun away, waving my hands in the air. “What were you thinking? You’re going to ruin everything.” I turned back to him and crossed my arms over my chest. “A wife with two husbands might be an acceptable lifestyle in 2016, but in 1996 that’s just plain weird.”

He stepped closer, his eyes intent on me. They were the sorrowful e
yes I’d known before. Always sad, even when smiling. They were the eyes of the David who would stop at nothing to get back to his Layla. I choked back the raw emotion they incited in me and swallowed it down into the pit of my stomach where my own pain always went.

“I’m not stuck. I can go back.”

I felt my brows furrow as I absorbed his words. “How? I was just talking with Dav…you…” I shook my confused head trying to makes sense of it all. “1996, you the other day about Dr. Green’s theory. The forward wave is constant.”

“There’s more than one forward wave. I found it myself. It too has to have a specific molecular alignment to ride it, just like the reverse wave
, and it was a bit trickier to figure out. First I had to find the right…” He stopped as he read my face. “I wrote a paper on it.”

“I’m sure you did. Why did you come here today?”

He stepped even closer. “As soon as I knew it worked, I had to come. I had to see you. It’s all I’ve worked for all these years.” His hands were on my arms, and his blue eyes pierced into mine. “I’ve missed you, Layla. Everything good left when you did.”

I cradled my still flat abdomen for the first time. “Not everything good.” I blinked and glanced down.

“Layla, I had to…”

I didn’t hear him finish as a new wave of nausea hit me. I turned and made for the bathroom, reaching it just in time to
revisit my saltines and Coke. When I leaned up, a cold cloth was suddenly on my forehead. I held it there and grudgingly said, “Thank you.”

David 2016 tested my cheek with the front of his hand “You’re sick?”

“Maybe… or pregnant.”