Ray sat behind his desk and hesitated before he picked up the phone. He knew that he had to make the call, he just wasn't looking forward to it. After slaving over the proposal for weeks, Cataldo Construction had just landed a very lucrative contract with the largest bank in the county. This morning the bank president had thrown a monkey wrench in his plans by asking for something that Ray was extremely reluctant to give. With a huge sigh and a frustrated swipe through his hair he picked up the phone and dialed as he childishly prayed for no one to answer.
"Best Friend Windows and Landscaping. This is Layla, how may I help you?"
Layla's perky voice only served to irritate him more so he took a moment to compose himself before he said "This is Ray Cataldo, could you meet me at Murph's for coffee or lunch? I need to talk to you about a business deal."
Layla was surprised at who was on the line but recovered quickly. "Can I put you on hold for a second so I can switch phones? My date book is on the other desk." When he agreed Layla quickly pushed the hold button. Her mind raced as she went to the back to get her organizer. What could he possibly want? Over the last year Ikey had slowly regained many of the contracts that Ray had taken from them and by some mutual agreement Big Cat had been leaving them alone. The business had started going so well that Layla had quit teaching at the end of the last school year to start working as part of the business. The guys had formed a complicated partnership, the details of which only they understood, and Best Friends Windows and Landscaping had been born. They each had a part of it and every one of them contributed their own talent and expertise to the business. Nick and Eddie still did most of the window and construction contracts with help from Ronnie and sometimes Ikey. Ikey and Layla did most of the landscaping with help from the others when they needed it. Owen did the bookkeeping and Phil was in charge of the marketing. Layla also ran the office on days when the guys didn't need her help. It kept them all busy and none of them would change a thing.
Layla picked up the extension at her desk "Okay, I'm back. What time were you thinking about meeting? I have some work to do this morning but I could meet you for lunch." Oh boy, how was she going to explain this one to Ikey?
"Sounds good. I can be there at 12:30. I'll see you then." He realized that he sounded a little abrupt so he added "Thanks for this Layla, you won't be disappointed."
Without even replacing the phone in the cradle, she dialed Ikey's cell. When he answered she said "Are you alone? I need to tell you something."
"Yeah, go ahead, baby" Ikey said as he sat on the tailgate of the truck. "I have a few minutes, Nick went to get some more paint so I'm just waiting for him."
"Ray Cataldo just called me and wants to meet for lunch to discuss a business deal. I'm meeting him at 12:30 at Murph's." She waited for the explosion on the other end of the line but heard only silence. "David, are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm just thinking. Are you sure you want to do this? We're doing fine, we don't need anything from him. Do you want me to come? Did he say anything else about what it is he wants.?" Ikey trusted Layla's judgment but he didn't want her to feel pressured into being nice to Big Cat.
She laughed at his barrage of questions. "I'll be fine. I'll call you after. Just keep Nick away, you know how things are since Hannah broke it off with him."
"I know, I know, trust me I know it all." Ikey had heard it all since Hannah had called it quits with Nick a few weeks earlier. He saw Nick coming towards him with the paint so he said "I gotta go babe. Hey, can you pick me up later so I can leave the truck and trailer here?"
"Sure thing. Later dude." She could here him laughing as she put the phone down.
Layla walked into Murph's and saw Ray sitting at a table along the back wall. On her way to him she say Janet and her sister at the counter. She made eye contact with Ray and held up one finger as she nodded at the girls. He smiled and nodded back at her in agreement.
Her sister had witnessed the exchange and asked her "What goes on with you and Big Cat?"
"I'm meeting him for lunch to talk about some business deal he has for us. I don't know any details yet, but I will call you later." Layla told them as she gave them a hug and headed toward the Big Cat.
He stood up to pull out a chair for her and said "They told me at the counter that you like the veggie sub, I hope that's okay."
"That's great. Thank you" she said as she sat down and waited for him to start.
"I know you are wondering why I asked you to meet, so here goes. We're building a new bank down on Main Street and the president asked for you, and Ikey, to personally do the landscaping. He was especially insistent that you do all of the interior plants, it seems a good friend of his wife is one of your clients and she can't stop raving about what a great job you do. So, I either use you for the landscaping or I lose the entire contract to a firm from Boston. I have the contract here if you want to take it to the guys for them to look over." He slid a folder across the table to her as the waitress brought their sandwiches over. He busied himself with his lunch as she looked at the papers, trying to not show just how nervous it was all making him.
Layla's mind was going a mile a minute as she skimmed the contract, Owen would need to take a good look at it before any decisions were made. She told this to Ray and he took it as a good sign, at least she was willing to explore the possibility. They chatted and made small talk as the ate their lunch and Layla actually enjoyed herself. She was amazed by the fact and she shared that with Ray.
He seemed amused as he pushed the remains of his sandwich away. "I'm not such a bad guy, you know. I do have a heart in here" he said as he patted his chest. He looked at her as she laughed at his antics and suddenly said "I love Hannah, I just want you to know that. I don't know what difference it makes to you, I just feel the need to tell you."
"I know, Ikey and I were just talking about that the other night, but it is nice to hear." What he said really didn't surprise her. She had talked about it at length with Ikey but they had never come to any conclusion besides the fact that they both had known for a long time that it just wasn't the right time for Nick and Hannah. They kept that thought between the two of them since they felt that they were in the minority.
Ray was glad that he had decided to go through with the lunch. He had never spent much time with Ikey's girl and now that he had he could see the attraction. "You must be good for Ikey. Does he know how lucky he is?"
"He better or I will kick his butt" she said while laughing with him. "Thanks for lunch, Ray. I'll get this contract to Owen today and I'll try to give you an answer tomorrow or the next day." They shook hands and he watched her as she walked through the small shop speaking to almost everyone she passed, she had met a lot of people though teaching or the landscaping business and Ray could see that she was highly regarded.
Layla spent the afternoon doing paperwork but she had a hard time concentrating, her mind kept drifting back to things that Ray had said to her and to other conversations that she'd had with Ikey, Janet and even Hannah. Her mind was still on the same track when she pulled in at the job site. She saw Ikey at a faucet cleaning paint brushes and went straight to him, waving at Nick and Eddie as she passed them.
"I still don't get it" Eddie said as she passed. "Remind me again why we used to call Ikey the goofus."
"I am just as confused as you are my man. He has a hot girlfriend and I sleep alone every night. Go figure." Nick said as he shrugged his shoulders and continued putting the tools back in the trailer.
"What goes on with you and Hannah anyway? Anything new today?" Eddie said as he wound up an extension chord.
"Same thing as always. She doesn't trust me any farther than she can throw me. The funny thing is that she has been there totally for the Commander. Anything that he needs, she seems to know before the rest of us. She's great about Sam, he comes and goes as he pleases to both our houses but she won't let me near her. It's like she has blinders on when it comes to me and no matter what I do she still sees the person that left her. I don't know man, maybe we just aren't meant to be, maybe all we will ever be is what we were." He looked over at Ikey and Layla and shook his head. "Look at those two. They're like a couple of children." Oblivious to the water and paint, Layla had jumped into his arms for a kiss that had quickly turned into a one sided water war with Ikey chasing her with the hose. Eddie turned the faucet off and was tackled by Layla for his trouble. "Thank you my friend." Layla said as she attempted to stand up only to be hampered by Eddie.
"Ikey, come get your woman off of me." Eddie said as he tickled her while pretending that she was holding him down.
"No way man, you are on your own. I have to live with her and she's sneaky" Ikey held up his hands in mock surrender.
Eddie finally relented and pulled her to her feet. "There you go, Rocky." He had called her that since the time she had slapped Allison.
When she caught her breath she said "Could everyone meet at the office in the morning? I have a contract that we need to go over, Owen is looking at it tonight."
The guys agreed, it was nothing strange to them since she was usually the one in charge of the paperwork. Nick and Eddie waved good-bye as they drove away, leaving Ikey and Layla alone in the gathering dusk.
Ikey pulled her into his arms and kissed the side of her neck where some water droplets still remained. "What time is Allison expecting us?"
"She said dinner at 7:00 so we have about an hour" she replied as she twined her hand with his and walked toward the car.
He pulled her back to him and said "I missed you today. How was lunch with the Big Cat?"
"It was interesting, I think we need to talk later." She told him.
"Later? Okay, since we have an hour and we aren't going to talk then what do you want to do?" He was teasing her, she could tell. He reached into his truck and turned to cd player on. "I guess we could dance out here in the moonlight since I can't think of anything else." She went into his arms as the music drifted through the empty parking lot. They never saw the truck that pulled into the lot.
Ray had been driving around for hours thinking about things when he saw Ikey's truck parked in the lot of their current project. "What the hell, I gotta talk to someone, maybe Ikey will talk to me" he thought to himself as he put the truck in park. He was almost out of the truck when he noticed the scene in front of him. Layla had her arms around Ikey's neck and he was holding her with his chin on top of her head, Ray could feel the love from where he was. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat as he listened to the music coming from Ikey's truck. How I love the way you move and the sparkle in your eyes. There's a color deep inside them like a blue suburban sky. When I come home late at night and you're in bed asleep, I wrap my arms around you so I can feel you breathe. I don't need to be a superman as long as you will always be my biggest fan. As he drove away, leaving the lovebirds in peace, he finally admitted to himself where he needed to be. He knew who he needed to talk to.
After dropping Sam off at the Garrett's house, Hannah made a hasty retreat so she wouldn't run into Nick. As soon as she was safely away from the Garrett house she slowed to a comfortable walk, there was no reason to hurry home to her empty house. There were times when she second guessed her decision to not see Nick anymore but for the most part she was just lonely. As she walked she thought about the mess she had made of her life and the people she had hurt. The fact that she had never meant to hurt anyone didn't make the guilt easier to bear. She just wished that she could figure out what she really wanted. She hoped that once she did figure it out, it wasn't something or someone that she had already lost.
When Ray rounded the corner, he could see Hannah walking up ahead and she seemed to be lost in thought. He pulled up next to her and rolled down his window "Need a ride, little girl?"
She looked over at him and a slow smile spread across her face, a smile that warmed him all over.
