A Wrong Surrogate for the CEO-Chapter 120: Left at the door

Laura kept pressing the door bell. But no matter how hard she pressed, Lara refused to open the door.

Lisa sighed, frustrated beyond measure. She understood why Lara wasn’t willing to talk to them, but she also wanted her son’s wife to at least open the door and hear them out first.

Laura glanced at her mother.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked. Lisa’s lips stretched into a thin line.

"If she wanted to open that door, she would have. She is clearly not willing to, and well, we can’t break our way in, right? There’s nothing we can do if she doesn’t open up and give us a chance to speak."

Laura groaned audibly. Her mother was right, and she knew it. Still, it didn’t stop Laura from feeling a large dose of impatience. And a tiny dose of helplessness.

Her plan wasn’t going to work if Lara didn’t give them an audience.

"But we need to talk to her. Curtis and the kids are waiting for her to come back. If she keeps this up...I don’t know what to do," Laura stated. Her frustration seeped into her words, and Lisa sighed.

Lisa placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulders.

"Listen to me, baby. Lara needs space. She’s hurt and she feels betrayed. Of course she is not going to want to talk to us. But that’s not going to stop us. I’ll keep coming back here everyday. She will eventually have to open the door and hear what I have to say. If not next time, then another time."

Laura sighed.

"I guess...you’re right. We’ll just come back tomorrow instead."

Lisa shook her head at her daughter. "You are not coming with me. I have to do this myself. Besides, you have Curtis and the twins to take care of, remember?"

Laura nodded. "You’re right."

They made their way back to Laura’s car, and with one last look at the door, Curtis’s mother and sister drove away.

~~

Lara leaned against the door, her heart pounding in her chest.

She had ordered pizza and boxes of takeouts earlier, so when she heard the doorbell, Lara thought it was her food.

It turned out that neither her pizza nor her takeout boxes were at the door. Instead, Lara came face to face with Curtis’s mother. And sister.

And she had shut the door in their faces.

Lara knew that she should probably open the door and hear them out, but she wasn’t willing to deal with them.

So she waited until they left, and when the door was finally empty and devoid of people trying to convince her to go back to her husband, Lara heaved a deep breath.

By the time her pizza and take out boxes arrived, Lara had lost all appetite. Kayla frowned at the unopened food when she got back from work.

"These things are stone cold, Lara. Why did you order them when you knew you weren’t going to eat?" she asked as she plopped down on the couch, exhausted from working all day.

Lara raised her head to meet her friend’s gaze.

"Lisa and her daughter came here today."

A small wave of surprise slammed into Kayla.

"How did they find out that you’re here?" she asked. Lara shrugged, she had no idea either.

Kayla closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. That doesn’t matter. What did you guys talk about?" she asked.

Lara sat up. She had been laying on the couch mindlessly before, but she felt as though she had to sit for what she was about to say.

"I didn’t speak to them. I...I freaked out and shut the door in their faces."

Stunned silence wafted out of Kayla.

Lara wringed her hands as she went on. "I didn’t mean to. But I knew they were probably, no, definitely here to talk to me about Curtis. They would try to convince me to go back to them, and I...I wasn’t ready. I didn’t want to talk about my marriage, or Curtis," she explained.

Kayla moved closer to her friend. "I get your point. Really. And I assure you, it is very valid. But darling, you should have spoken to them at least. Tell them that you aren’t ready to talk. Shutting the door in their faces was a little bit rude."

Lara sighed and put her head in her hands.

"I know. I know. And now I regret it, just a little bit. But I just...I am not ready for that conversation, Kayla. Really. I know that may sound weird to them and to you probably, but it’s the truth. And forcing me to go through a difficult conversation when I wasn’t ready, well...it wouldn’t have gone well."

Kayla sighed.

"I won’t ask you to do whatever you don’t want to do, Lara. This is your life, and your choice. And I know that you need space to process everything, you need some time away from your marriage and from your husband. I respect that. But all I am saying is that maybe you should not shut them out. At least invite them in next time. Hear them out. You don’t have to go back with them or even come to a decision. Just...give them a chance."

Kayla’s words were stated so firmly, and with enough resolution that Lara’s heart fluttered slightly in her chest.

Tears stung the back of her eyes, but she blinked them away.

Then she nodded at her friend. "I can’t promise anything now. But I’ll try. I’ll listen. That is if they come back. I will not seek them out though. And if they do not come back here, fine," she concluded.

Kayla gave her a small smile.

"Good. Thank you, Lara."

Lara smiled back at her, reaching out to squeeze her friend’s hand.

"I should be the one thanking you, Kayla. You took me in when I had nowhere to go. Thank you so much, sweetie."

Lara was so grateful to her friend. Kayla was so kind and patient with her. And she was a very good friend.

So when the doorbell rang the next day, when Lara opened the door and found Lisa standing outside, she took a deep breath.

Then she followed Kayla’s advice. She opened the door wider and stepped back before she invited Curtis’s mother in.

"Come in, Lisa."