Ashley's POV:Once he is done with grandma and has made sure that she is maintaining a distance of at least six feet from me, he finally turns towards me and winks, speaking like it is a completely casual meet-up between friends. “Sorry for being late dear! I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. Apart from all the good things in this city, I completely forgot that the traffic in this city sucks! I mean it completely sucks!!”“No hard feelings, Stuart. You are right on time, because prior to this, I was just giving them a record of what belongs to whom, and who is the boss here!”“Oh, that!! Old so old grandma, who can easily be classified as an old hag, and you three ugly looking women! Listen to me very carefully, if you– by any chance– have missed Ashley's words.All four of you need to vacate this house within an hour, and after today, you all aren't even allowed even a hundred meters near this property… or any other property that belongs under the legal ownership of Miss Ashley
Ashley's POV: “Ashley!!”The word and the voice, both somehow lock my legs to the exact place where I was standing.I have already left this name in the past, along with the identity attached to it. But the moment this voice knocks against my ear drums, I just can't deny my reality any longer… I can't deny the life that I have once lived.Because I know no matter how harsh the past was on me, this person… the owner of the voice has always been kinder to me. In fact, I have to accept that when everyone else was there just because they were seeking some kind of benefit from me, he was the only person who was genuinely there for me, just because he cared for me.He cared for me like his own family.“Ashley! I knew it… I knew it! It's you, and I just knew you are alive… you have to be alive, healthy and happy! Or else… or else how could I have asked forgiveness for the sins I have committed in the past? The mistakes that I have committed thinking that they are harmless–”“Peter!”I turn
Ethan's POV:I stare fixedly at my reflection in the mirror, fixing my tie, which is just flat- out refusing to cooperate with me today. I've been standing here for the last eleven minutes and seventeen seconds, trying to make myself presentable and attractive. But deep down in my heart, I also know that this effort of mine has been futile from the beginning. Because the ray of hope, which I have been holding on to with all my might, is slipping away slowly– just like this stupid tie which insists on shifting ever so slightly to the left. I had been thinking Ashley won't be able to resist me if we will work in the same set- up in the same office… but man! This girl is really adamant on making me realize just how wrong I can go.It has been five days since we have been sharing the same office building, the same working space, the same common area, the same working plan… and most importantly, we are working on the same project. But for once… she hasn't spared me a glance, even for o
Ethan's POV:Ashley is standing there… just a few feet away from me, and I almost can't believe it.Her head is bowed slightly as she checks something on her phone, her black hair falling around her face like a veil. I don't know if she is wearing this dress on purpose to punish me… and if she is, I'm ready to repent for anything. The deep, cherry red of her dress is pulling all the attention to her…The long puffed sleeves end at her delicate wrists, making her look completely elegant and untouchable. The neckline has this sweetheart shaped cutout that teases just below her collar, and I find my gaze stopping there for longer than I intended. Her lips are painted a deep red, and since I've first seen her, I can’t help but think of when how well her hair would have blended with the deep red of her dress if it was still that same auburn shade… but instead, it's a sharp and bold black, which stands out in contrast. And somehow, I have to admit that the black suits her now.Time feels
Ashley's POV:Everything has been well for the first five days of this collaboration, and I have successfully managed to ignore Ethan as much as I can. Not because I am afraid of him or something, but I just don't want my past to stand in front of me and apologize.For me, every action has a consequence attached to it, and we both have already faced the consequences of our actions taken in the past. So now, there is absolutely no need to come and justify our actions or be sorry for those. But I don't know why I have been feeling a little uneasy since the morning. There is this strange feeling as if I am going to be caught by someone, or like I have made some mistake and today, everyone is going to know about it… how is that even possible?Shrugging all those thoughts as some underlying anxiety, I have decided to go to the office anyway. After all, I'm just supposed to verify the samples today, and then, I will be off work!!But the moment my assistant tripped over his own legs and s
Ashley's POV:My heartbeat, which was already engaged in a race against time to establish a world record, ends up breaking its own personal record. It is showing no signs of calming down, making my heart miss a beat as the sudden warmth of his embrace surrounds me in it with a strong sense of familiarity, like I have always been here and never left this place at all… like it has always been in my heart. As if, for these five years, I have been suspended in the bittersweet realm of hiraeth.Only to find my home again. But I know things are different than what seems on the surface. Everything that I am feeling… everything that I am going through– it is not the real oasis but the mirage, which has started to blind my vision after five years of wandering.I try to pull myself away, to get out of this hug so that I can reach the panel and press the button to open the elevator, as forcefully as I can and frequently as well.But soon after, I realize that it is of no use at all, we are
Ethan's POV:Ashley has closed her eyes all of a sudden and fully passed out in my arms, giving me the reality check of my life: this… this is the person who solely holds the powers of stopping my own body's functions, wrapped around her fingers.And now that she is unconscious and not breathing properly, I don't know what I am supposed to do. Apart from screaming at the top of my lungs, nothing else is coming to mind.Punching the elevator door is also going to be fruitless– and this is something that I come to realize after three heavy rounds of punches, along with a gush of blood rushing out through bruises on my knuckles.Only then do I stop to think; even if I tear down the door, how would we step out? As it is, we are stuck in the middle of two floors.And why the hell is my support team not here yet, why am I paying them so much? When they only have to disappear like they never existed, in the time of need! Just let me get out of this place, and I will solely book personal app
Ethan's POV:I tighten my grip around her, there ain't any chance that I am going to allow even a single scratch on her body till the time I am alive and breathing.I yell back. “Will somebody care to tell me what is going on! What the hell was that sound in the background?”“S… ss… sir!”Maria's shaken words eventually manage to leave her mouth and knock against my ears.“For God's sake, Maria, speak up! I don't have the time to hear you stammer! Nor am I able to see your face to judge the situation from your expression!! So woman, I request you!! Please use your words and tell me what's going on–”“Boss! Some… somehow, we really have lost partial control over the elevator, and…”There is something really ominous about the way her voice abruptly drops off after the long pause, making me wonder if there is anything else coming out after that or not.Oh God, couldn't they have found— no, couldn't God himself have found a better opportunity to waste my time with their stupidity? “And