Made

Laila ignored him for the majority of the morning, stuffing her duffle bag to keep up appearances. She helped Jen dress for the premiere, picking out heels to match her long blue dress.

"You should really come with us," Jen said while she put on her jewelry.

Laila shook her head. "I've got to head out soon," she said.

He sat on the couch while the girls chattered at the table. Nick was upstairs doing something, but he didn't care. He was busy deciding whether or not he should wear a tie.

"No tie, right?" he asked them. "It's not like an awards ceremony or anything."

Jen shrugged. "I paid someone to pick out this dress. How fucking wild is that?"

He looked at Laila, who shrugged also. No tie.

"Yes, tie," Laila said a few minutes later. She was looking down at her phone, and he couldn't help but smile that she'd looked up on the internet whether or not he should wear a tie. She shook her head at him. "You do this all the time."

He beamed over at her. "But I'm never sure." She scoffed as he went upstairs to fetch a tie.

Nick was ruffling through Laila's duffle bag. That was all he could see when he glanced at the open door.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asked, barging into the room.

"Trying to find her fucking . . . there it is." He pulled out a necklace, a long silver chain with a gold vial attached to the end of it. Nick scoffed. "She's so fucking sentimental." He fiddled with the necklace for a minute until the gold vial slid off, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold ring. Nick slid the ring onto the chain, and reached out towards Michael.

"Give this to her, will ya? I'm sick of carrying it around." Michael frowned, looking down at it. The gems on the ring were dark blue, almost black. There were three of them, oblong little shapes pressed against each other. There was an inscription on the inside that read 'Romantic love will be the last delusion of the old order'. He recognized that from somewhere, but couldn't place it.

Nick had thrown the vial back into her duffle bag, and he reached down for that. It had gold glitter in it, and an little piece of paper wrapped around it. "These sudden joys have sudden endings," it said. He frowned. He didn't recognize that one. He slipped both of them into the pocket of his trousers, and went to his room to get the tie. He could hardly focus on matching the color, and just yanked one from his dresser.

He walked back downstairs, plopping down on the couch to watch whatever someone had put on the television while he concentrated on tying his tie. Jen and Nick were over at the bar talking in hushed tones with each other, but he couldn't see Laila. He frowned, looking down at his tie. He knew what to do, but his fingers didn't feel like it. He must have stared at it for a few minutes before Laila came over, sitting beside him on the couch.

"Need help?" she asked. He shook his head, and she scoffed. "You should at least look nice if you're gonna put on a tie," she said.

He grinned. "I know how to do it," he said. "But do I really need a tie?"

"Here," Laila said, moving one of her legs over him to straddle his lap. He was instantly uncomfortable, but her hands went straight to his tie, and she got a look of intense concentration.

"Don't move," she muttered, as she begin flipping the tie. He didn't know what to do with his hands, and settled on putting them flat on the couch.

Jen and Nick had stopped their conversation, and Jen was looking at him curiously. Laila stayed like that for a few minutes, shifting several times to turn in the direction he was facing, then going back to the tie from there. He began to feel his hands losing blood, and changed their position, resting them on Laila's hips. Jen looked away.

"Don't move," Laila repeated, squirming on his lap. The only sound other than her and that damn tie was the television, as a repeat of a soap opera came on.

He felt weird and awkward with Laila sitting on his lap, and Jen and Nick watching him, as though looking for a reaction. He tried to keep his expression stoic, as though this happened every day, but couldn't help but feel her squirm and shift. It was intimate, and he hated it. Well, he sort of hated it.

"Ha!" Laila exclaimed, smoothing down the knot of the tie. She looked so proud of herself, and he had a sudden desire to kiss her, to taste her smile. It was weird and out of place, and he tried to quell it, but it wouldn't go away.

He looked down, expecting to see a normal knot, that had taken her a long time, but was surprised to see a fancy five-layered knot instead.

"It's called an Eldredge Knot," she said. He looked up at her, amazed. "I like . . . ties," she said sheepishly.

He grinned. "Thank you," he said. "That saves me a lot of trouble for a poorly done tie." He could have sworn he saw her blush.

"Uh, lovebirds, we're gonna be late," Jen said, interrupting. He noticed a flash of something on her face before she stood up and grabbed hold of Nick's hand. Michael frowned. He'd nearly forgotten that they were supposed to be going somewhere.

"Guess that's my cue," he said, and Laila shimmied off his lap and threw herself onto the couch.

Jen came over to give her a tight hug. "You really should come with us," she said. Laila just shook her head.

"Leaving soon, remember?" Jen squeezed her harder, and he heard Laila choke out some air.

"Have fun up North," Jen said. Shit. He'd forgotten about that lie.

"Yeah, well," Laila said, smiling.

"Lovebirds," Nick joked. Jen gave him the finger, but pulled away from Laila anyway, and headed towards the door. The trio waved at the girl on the couch, who saluted back. They left the house, settling in to Michael's black car. Jen and Nick took the back, joking quietly with each other. He couldn't hear their words, but could hear the soft whispers of their laughter.

He found himself wishing Laila had come along after all.