A woman at the head of the table gestured to the seat. “Please sit, Cynthia. Asher, I apologize but we had not anticipated your… accompaniment. We should have, at this point.” “I prefer standing,” Asher said. I lowered myself into the offered chair and Asher took point behind me. The woman at
I was riding the high of my acceptance. I felt great about myself and the universe. I finally had achieved my goals. I could keep my baby and my education. The world was finally starting to make sense again. Except now, Asher’s disappearances were increasing. It had started innocently enough,
“Where were you?” I asked, to give him a chance at honesty. If he could ease my discomfort on his own, I would feel so much better. Instead, he backed away. “I was just out. That’s all.” A lie. And not even a very good one. I kept my back to him. Eventually, he did return to the bed and fell a
That night, Asher and I ate dinner at the small two-person table in our room. Unlike most times before, we sat in terrible, awkward quiet, entirely silent except for the sound of our chewing or the scrape of silverware against the ceramic plates. Asher speared the final bit of food on his plate, b
His eyebrows went high up on his forehead. “Following me? What? Why?” I worried my hands together. Embarrassed, I dropped my gaze to watch my fingers hook together. “You’ve been distant lately. You’re going out every night and then not telling me where you’ve been. I’ve been worried about you, a
“You have to take me with you,” I said. “Absolutely not,” Asher replied. “Well, you can’t expect me to let you go off looking for him by yourself.” “That’s what I’ve been doing…” I crossed my arms and frowned at him. “It’s too dangerous, Cyn.” “It’s dangerous for you, too. It will be fin
Nodding, Asher rose from his seat and came to stand beside me at mine. He was protecting me, even as we sat in the relative safety of our stakeout spot inside the mostly-empty café. He placed his hand on my shoulder. His fingers curled, not so much to hurt, but enough for me to feel his presence.
“Over my dead body,” Asher snapped. “That sounds like a great idea,” Joseph said, flashing his teeth. He jumped forward with the knife. “Asher!” I gasped. Asher jumped out of the way, snatched Joseph by the wrist, and disarmed him. The knife clattered away against the concrete sidewalk. Jose