I opened my eyes, I had fallen asleep too. Asher's hands were still wrapped around me and he was still asleep. He looked so peaceful, so adorable as he was asleep, I traced his face with my fingers. I never thought I would be back here, in this room especially with me in his arms, I thought that leaving a year ago was the end of it all but fate again brought me back here. Being close to him felt good but that is the thing with things that feel good, you get addicted, and when you try and withdraw you will only get hurt more. "Take a picture, it lasts longer," Asher said in his deep sleep voice, he was looking at me, still drowsy. I had zoned out that I didn't realize he was waking up, I tried to sit up but he tightened his grip around me, "You are not getting away so easily, we are drugging each other now?" he asked snuggling closer to me.
"You needed to sleep, you were like a zombie," I said defensively. "So you drugged me?"
"I didn't really drug you...it was just sleeping pills, and please let me go," I said trying to get away but he instead got on top of me, locking me in between his arms, he was looking down on me, some of his hair tickling my face, "I am not letting you go, you are stuck with me now," he said as his other hand caressed my face. I was flustered, flushed but then I couldn't fully enjoy this moment because I remembered that there was a lot to unpack. I pushed him off me and got off the bed, "You still have a lot to explain to me," I said folding my arms at him.
He sighed and sat up straight on the bed, "I was going to explain everything to you but you left, you ran away and grandma wouldn't tell me where you were," he said.
"I didn't run away, I just wanted to get away."
"I understand that, and I apologize for that but I swear whatever happened that night wasn't true. I did not have an affair with Aria, the kiss, she kissed me and it so happened that the paparazzi arrived in that moment. And on the night of the dinner, I was trying to clear up the mess and by the time I was done, I was too late," he said his head facing down.
"I had put my dreams on hold when we got married, you told me that now that I was your wife you expected me to behave like one and care for the house. I had no issue then, I had gotten used to my dreams being cut short and being told what to do, but when Aria came back I realized how disposable I was, how I didn't have anything to myself, and when that article was released and you didn't show up to dinner I realized how much of myself I had lost. It was a wake up call, I needed to get myself together," I said.
"I am sorry, I was angry when we got married. I was so angry that every logical reasoning got blinded. It is no excuse and I have realized how much of an A*hole I was. It took you going away for me to realize that," he said as he rose from his seat, he walked closer to me, placed his hand on my cheek and cupping it so gently. His hands were warm, his hair disheveled, "I can't lose you again Zaliyah, when you were gone, my heart...my heart felt like it had been torn apart, like you had reaped it away and taken it with you."
"Asher," I whispered but he shook his head, telling me to allow him to say what is on his mind.
"I don't want to waste anymore time. Zaliyah I have fallen in love with you."
"Asher," I whispered again, but this time my voice was failing me, my heart was drumming so hard against my chest, I couldn't explain it. I felt overwhelmed, my knees felt weak like I was going to drop any minute from now.
"I have," he said staring at me like I was the only thing that mattered, "I haven fallen in love with you, every second, every minute that passes by all I do is yearn to have my eyes on you, have you close to me, to have you in my arms every night. All I want is to come home to you, and I have never wanted to grow old with someone the way I want to do with you. You occupy my mind all day long, It feels like everything I do, is for you. You have completely and utterly taken over my life and the thought of you leaving me again will end me."
"Asher," I said once again, it seemed like it was all I could say, I didn't now what to say. He loved me? He Loved Me. HE. LOVED. ME. This felt foreign, I felt this burst of heat, my body felt so foreign, I couldn't take it. I was overwhelmed. I stepped back from him, I needed some air, he looked so distraught, so broken as I walked further away from him, but he had to understand, I wasn't processing any of this well enough. I walked out of the bedroom made my way to my car and drove away, before I could figure out where I was going I was already parking my car outside Eloise's apartment.
"Zaliyah?" she said surprised, I mean I did ring the bell like a crazy person. I walked into her apartment, "Did something happen?"
"Eloise," I said her name trying to gather my thoughts, she looked worried and was next to me. "What happened?"
"He said he loved me."
"Who?"
"Asher."
"Asher said he loved you?" she said surprise in her voice, "Asher said he loved you," she said, her voice seeming excited.
"Yes," I said.
"Then why the hell do you look like somebody died?"
"I felt overwhelmed, I didn't know what to say."
"Uh did you maybe try I love you too?" she said.
I shook my head and made my way to her couch, "I freaked out, I didn't expect him to confess, "I said laying on the couching and kicking my feet in frustration. "You have secretly loved this man for what how many years now?"
"Four?"
"And the minute he confesses, you feel overwhelmed? Makes sense so what did you tell him?"
I just looked a her with an apologetic face, she chuckled in disbelief, "Please don't tell me you walked away without a word," she said disbelief on her face. "I was overwhelmed, it was just too hot, I needed to breathe," I said remembering his distraught look.
"Well that is kind of befitting payment for standing you up that night," she said as she came to sit next to me. "You should have seen his face," I said.
"Oh I should have, I would be so satisfied right now," she said as she gave me a tight side hug. I then told her everything that happened until the point where I ran away from him after he confessed, we were now having snacks and some drinks which helped get rid of the overwhelming feeling, I even told her about the Aria encounter. "Aria, I don't understand your sister to be honest. Your family in fact, I know you love her so much because she is your sister and she loves you too but there is just something odd about your family and I have always been telling you this. Your parents love Aria more than you and they treat you like an outsider, Aria kind of loves you but she acts like she doesn't see the abuse and doesn't even fight for you when your family is mistreating you, there is just something fishy about the McCoy family," she said.
I mean she was right, I used to question if I really was not adopted but if I didn't look like my father, I would have believed that they were not my real family. After we spent some time talking, along with Eloise making me feel better by making fun of me I decided to go home and face Asher. When I got home it was really late, it was quiet , I wanted to go and talk to Asher but then I decided against it and decided to take some rest.
The next morning, Asher was not there for breakfast so I decided to ask Gary. "Sir left early for work, he didn't have breakfast," he said. I packed breakfast and decided to visit him at the office. I got to the office and I was reminded of the time I came here and Aria showed up, "Mrs. Sterling," Jason greeted, he was shocked but he had a warm smile on his face, "He is in his office," he said as he ushered me there, I was anxious as it reminded me of the time he had to stop me from seeing Aria with Asher. I knocked lightly on the door, "Enter," his voice said.
I walked in with a slight smile, I felt embarrassed about the way I acted last night. When his eyes lifted and saw me, there was this glow in his eyes, this warmth, this spark. He had a huge smile on his face as he walked to where I was, "I brought breakfast," I said showing him the breakfast I packed. He just engulfed me in a hug without saying a word.
"Why did you leave without having breakfast," I asked as we were sitting and having breakfast, "I didn't want to have breakfast without you, you were still asleep," he said trying to feed me. "But..."
"Eat up," He said feeding me like I could not eat. "No I came here to feed you not the other way around," I said taking the food from his hand and feeding him. "I am sorry about disappearing without a word yesterday, I was overwhelmed," I said.
"It's fine, I understand," he said.
"It's just that you caught me off-guard, I didn't know what to say or do about your confession but Asher why the sudden confession?"
"Zaliyah, I have loved you for a long time, at first I didn't know what it was, why I felt the way I felt, but the more I tried to fight it the more I felt it. That time when we were supposed to have dinner I wanted to tell you how I feel but circumstances said otherwise but now that you are here in front of me I don't want to waste another minute, I want you to know how I feel, you don't need to feel the same way."
"What about Aria?"
At the mention of her name, his demeanor changed. "Aria is the past, forget about her. I love you and only you," he said holding my hand.
I wanted to tell him how I felt but I held myself from saying anything, I felt like it wasn't right to confess now, it was all happening so fast, it was too much. So I smiled and nodded at his confession and we continued having breakfast, but as we were having breakfast Jason came in looking so stressed. "Sir the Board of directors have summoned an emergency meeting," he said but his tone showed that this board meeting wasn't just any meeting, something was happening.
"An emergency meeting?"
"Yes apparently they want to vote that you step down for a while due to the decline in market share of the company caused by the scandal of the article."
Vote him out? That scandal was quite a huge deal, but it didn't make sense, the scandal came out a year ago, how was it still relevant. And how could they suddenly just summon an emergency meeting to vote him out, it didn't make sense and looking at Asher he knew it didn't make sense too. Something was going on, someone was responsible for all that was happening.