Damaged Goods

Chapter 5

Lyla was distracted all morning. She had a hard time focusing in her meetings and throughout her day, and frequently she would stop to make notes about what she wanted to discuss with TJ before she would be willing to make a decision. She couldn't believe she was actually considering this, but at the same time, Lyla didn't feel like she really had anything to lose. She could help someone in a way that nobody else had the ability to do, and part of her actually saw this 'marriage' as an opportunity to expand her horizons. She knew how weird that would sound, if she tried to explain it to someone else, but she felt like this could somehow be an opportunity for herself. She had never been to the West Coast, and marrying TJ would provide a great excuse for that. Not that she really needed an excuse to travel, but Lyla rationalized it to make sense in her mind. Lyla also saw it as a way to hide. She had no interest in a real relationship right now, and turning down advances from men was never easy for her, but being able to just say that she was married, and being in a relationship that was strictly contractual seemed like an easy place to hide way to protect herself from a real relationship any time soon. For some reason, the thought of this marriage seemed like a protective umbrella for her, but without the strings attached that a conventional marriage would impose.

From a practical standpoint, Lyla did stand to gain financially from this arrangement. She had essentially started out on her own with nothing, after leaving James. Lyla felt she had done well for herself. She started out as a waitress, working nights and had taken online classes to earn her degree. She had doubled up on classes, and didn't take breaks over the summer, and had earned her degree in three years. After that she got a job at an accounting firm as a secretary, and continued her studies to get her Master's degree in forensic accounting, which enabled her to take a great position with an insurance company. Lyla loved what she did. Researching the data, finding the anomalies, sifting through spreadsheets of numbers, it was her happy place.

Lyla had taken out student loans to finish her education, and was slowly chipping away at them, but at the rate she was going, it would take years. So, the opportunity to take on a two-year contractual agreement that could end with a large sum of money was definitely appealing. She felt bad thinking about it that way. Getting married for the money was never something Lyla would have thought herself capable of, but getting married for what she thought was love hadn't worked out for her either, so maybe this wouldn't be such a horrible idea.

After finally having made it through her day, trying to maintain what little focus she had, Lyla made my way to TJ's hotel to meet him, fairly confident in her decision to say yes.

****

TJ tried to get work done through the morning, but wasn't able to accomplish much. He took a break and worked out at the hotel gym, and tried again. Still no luck on actually getting anything done. His mind kept bouncing back and forth between trying to figure out what he was going to do if Lyla said no, and trying to figure out how to move forward if she said yes. He spent so much time bouncing back and forth between the two scenarios, that he never focused on either one long enough to come up with much of a plan for either. He was a mess.

The plan was to meet at 3:30, so TJ decided to head down to the hotel bar for a quick drink of 'liquid courage' before she arrived. He also planned to sit somewhere he could see the front entrance, so he could try to figure out what her answer was going to be, before they actually came face to face.

TJ sat in the lobby with a newspaper he wasn't reading, and watched the front door expectantly. It was about five minutes before the planned time to meet when he saw her walk through the revolving hotel door. Her hair was down, much longer than I had realized it was, since it had been pulled back when he saw her yesterday. Long waves cascaded down her back, almost to her elbows. She wasn't wearing glasses today, as she had been yesterday, and her eyes sparkled with emotion, although what that emotion was, TJ had no idea. She was wearing a casual black blazer and a form fitting skirt, with a brightly patterned top. She looked gorgeous and confident, and for a second he almost questioned if this was the same Lyla I had known when they were younger, and with that thought, his own confidence wavered.

TJ didn't know how long he sat there, lost in his own thoughts, just watching her, until she finally saw him and made her way over. He stood up quickly, realizing that he was still sitting, and walked to join her. It was awkward to say the least. They both just kind of looked at each other, and said hello, not really sure how else to great each other. A handshake seemed too formal, a hug seemed out of place, but a simple hello felt stilted. They just blinked at each other for a few seconds before she finally said something.

"So... should we go somewhere and sit, or do you want to walk around?" she asked.

"Um, yeah, umm I think there's a bakery café type place around the corner. Should we start there? Maybe grab a coffee and sit down?"

"That sounds nice," she said, smiling at TJ.

Once they stepped outside, TJ tried to make small talk, "So, how was your day?" he lamely asked. She looked at him, almost a smirk of amusement on her face.

"It was very unfocused," she said. "I had a lot on my mind" she added, as she shot him a sideways glance.

"Understandable," he muttered, half under his breath. Feeling very stupid and not knowing what else to say. They walked in silence until they got to the café, ordered beverages and got a snack, which TJ insisted on paying for, and then they finally sat down to talk.