Don't Let Us Go

Old Friends, Old Problems Pt.2

Flashback

"I can go with you. Olivia is my friend, just as much as she is your sister." Layla urged sitting on the bed with her arms crossed, watching her boyfriend, Jordan, urgently pack his suitcase.

"Olivia asked for me to come alone." Jordan stressed, not bothering to look up from his pile, already feeling his girlfriend throwing narrowed eyed daggers into the back of his head.

"You and Simone, you mean," Layla snarled, correcting him, her jealously obvious. "Tell me, why does Olivia feel the need confide in Simone over her childhood friend."

"You and Olivia haven't been close since you shunned her after she started dating Spencer during our senior year. And you know that," Jordan retorted, resisting the urge to roll his eyes in regards to Layla's selective memory of how things played out between herself, his twin, and Spencer.

"So what? We worked it out. I apologized and moved on," Layla shrugged. "You and Simone ended months ago. She is in another state living her life with the baby you were supposed to raise together," She added, degrading Simone's value to the Baker twin.

"Broken up, or not, Simone was Olivia's sister-in-law. When you had that falling out with Liv, it was Simone who stepped up as her new best friend to replace you. She and Olivia have a special bond," Jordan grumbled, zipping up his suitcase before facing her with a cold glare. "She could live a country away, and she would still be considered family. And as for baby Shay, he is my son, Layla. My relationship with him is of no concern to you." He snapped, upset that she dragged his little boy into the argument.

Layla's parted lips sealed shut into a tight frown, realizing that she crossed a line.

"I'm leaving now. I will be back in a few weeks after I'm sure my sister is alright," Jordan groaned, sparing her a chaste kiss to the forehead as she glared at him from her seat on the bed.

Pulling his rolling suitcase behind him, Jordan hurried out of their bedroom to leave for his flight to Toronto.
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Present Day

"Oh my goodness, Liv. She's is adorable." Layla complimented her old friend, eyeing Gracianna with a grin, running a soft hand across the little girl's cheek. "She looks like the perfect mixture of you and Spencer, but more so you than him."

"I look like my mom," Gigi replied, smiling at her mother. "Daddy even says so."

"Well, your Dad is right." Coop suddenly interjected from her seat across the table.

"I always wanted to meet you." Gigi squealed in her seat next to her mom, eyeing Coop strangely. "Mommy showed me pictures of her friends from school a long time ago, and I remembered all of your names. Yours I remember the most."

"Oh, Lord."  Olivia laughed aloud knowing something out of pocket was about to come out of her daughter's mouth. "Baby, now isn't the time for silly questions." 

"Let her ask me, Liv." Coop interjected with a encouraging smile, wondering what about herself intrigued the little girl so much. 

"Well Mommy said your name is Tamia, but you like to be called Coop." Gigi began to explain her interest in her Dad's childhood friend. "I've always wanted to know, why do you like having a dog's name?" 

Laughter burst out from Simone as Coop choked on her lemonade, thrown off by the line of questioning. 

"I'm a so sorry." Olivia immediately apologized, holding back her own laughter. "She did not mean anything by it."