Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake

Of Love And Hate, You Were My Greatest Mistake ~36~

“It’s quite alright,” Dario assured her. “I was just asking James some questions about you and the things you’ve been through.”

“What things are you talking about?” She asked sweetly.

“I had no idea your mom almost gave you up for adoption last year,” Dario shifted uncomfortably as Laila’s jaw dropped in disbelief, “That must’ve been very hard for you.” 

For she was once rendered completely speechless.

“She was a mess,” Jace readily answered for her. “She’s lucky no one wanted her, otherwise I would’ve run out of time to convince her mum to keep her. It took weeks, almost months. She really didn’t want her anymore. It was sad, really. Really tragic. One of the worst things I’ve ever seen.”

“I can imagine,” Dario murmured.

“Laila, I mean. Not the situation,” Jace clarified. “If I didn’t love her so much I would’ve gotten rid of her, too. But then again who can blame her, I mean--”

“No! No,” Laila cut right into Jace’s speech, having finally found her voice. “That never happened.”

“Yes it did.”

“No, it didn’t.”

“It definitely did,” Jace insisted. “She doesn’t like talking about it.”

“It was an April Fool’s day joke,” Laila blurted. “It just lasted a really long time.”

“She doesn’t like to talk about it,” Jace told Dario, completely disregarding what she’d said. “The therapist said it’s better to humor her denial. I do that sometimes.”

“I’ve never seen a therapist in my life,” Laila was trying so hard to fight back frustration she was on the verge of tears now, which, unfortunately for her, made the story that much more believable.

“I won’t mention it again, love.” Jace promised, patting her leg for fake comfort. “It never happened.”

“It didn’t,” Laila said firmly, trying not to knock his supposedly sympathetic hand away.

“It really did,” He told Dario, though his attempt at a whisper was loud enough for her to hear.

There was an awkward silence while Dario stared for a good ten seconds, seemingly at a loss for words. He finally picked up his writing utensils and began taking notes, glancing up every few seconds to observe the ongoing interaction between the two. Jace was positively grinning while Laila forced a loving smile his way.

“Well,” Dario finally set his notebook aside to look at them, “The reason I’m here is because your wedding is coming up very soon, and I wanted to see how everything is going.”

Laila quickly wracked her brain for an excuse, any excuse, because she had completely forgotten the wedding was supposed to be that very week. It only took a second before she wailed, “My mom didn’t tell you? We had to postpone! School is getting so in the way of the planning we didn’t even have time to finish. I haven’t even picked out my wedding dress yet.” 

“And what kind of thing are you busy with?” Dario inquired.

“Practice,” Jace replied. “I have soccer and she has fairy stuff,” He smirked at Dario’s confusion while Laila resisted the urge to smack him in the head. 

He just had to throw that in, she thought bitterly. But on the outside she kept up the convincing charade, making her face solemn as she nodded along.

“Fairy stuff?”

“Cheer practice. Our first game is this week,” Jace explained.

“It’s horrible. I was so excited to get my dress,” Laila fanned her eyes as a fresh onset of tears came, this time on purpose. “I’m sorry. I get really emotional,” She was careful not to let the tears fall, somehow sensing that would be an overkill.