Chapter 6: Asher

    Asher sat at his desk, filtering through important papers, but he wasn't reading anything. He couldn't help but think about what his driver, Rich, had told him. She couldn't help but think about Seraphina in a strange hotel room, dealing with the information about her treacherous boyfriend alone.

    "Fuuuuuuuu*ck." He sighed, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands on his head. This was his father's old office when he used to live in the manor. It still had the old cigar smell stuck in the mahogany desk. The bookshelf was covered in random books that his father never let him look at as a child, and paintings of his grandfathers covered the dark walls. It was like a damn tome in this god-forsaken room; the only light was coming from the old but luxurious lamp and the fireplace in the corner. Asher stood up, walked toward the fireplace, grabbed his glass container filled with whiskey, and poured himself a glass, watching the flames flickering. He not so gracefully flopped himself against the plush couch and continued to watch the flames dance.

    In the fire, he saw her glowing blonde hair, lovely body, and tears streaking down her face. What was it about this woman that drove him so crazy? Asher shook his head. He has a thing for blondes with good bodies; that's all. Feeling convinced enough, he took another swallow of his whiskey. The smooth burn made him lean his head back once again.

    A knock sounded at the door, and Asher yelled,

    "It's open." It didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who it would be.

    "So, did you get it out of you're system?" Xavier asked as he grabbed a glass and filled it halfway with whiskey. The crystal glass made a clinking noise when it made contact with the pitcher.

    "No." Asher mumbled, "Some hopefully soon-to-be-ex was cheating on her, c*ck-blocked the crap outta me." Xavier scoffed and flopped down on the couch next to him. For a minute, Asher didn't think that Xavier would say anything else, but Xavier could not be at a loss for words.

    "That's never stopped you before." Asher chuckled.

    "Yeah, well, a woman has never been brutally honest with me either." Xavier's head flipped toward Asher, and his eyes widened.

    "Oh, do tell." Asher chuckled again and shook his head.

"Not a chance in Hell." Xavier groaned and threw back the rest of his whiskey, muttering something under his breath that soundly awfully like 'douche-canoe.'

    Silence fell over the pair, and nothing but the crackling fire filled the void.

    "You know..." Xavier said after moments of beautiful silence. I had to send Gwen home again. She was here waiting for you, and your maids weren't exactly happy about her presence. It turns out that woman has a nasty mouth when it comes to people 'below' her.

    Asher scowled and gritted his teeth, that woman is going to be the absolute death of him.

    "It won't be long before I hear from her again; I 'missed' twenty calls today." Asher made air quotes,     "You'd think she would get the hint already." Asher stated with annoyance. "Not. Interested."

    "Yeah, Ash." Xavier said, "Tell your father that, you've been avoiding his calls to."

    "Tell Max to kiss my a*ss." Xavier didn't say anything but slightly shook his head.

    "He's never going to get off your back; you're 26, Ash. It's time to find a wife in his eyes and make a new heir for the family business." Asher rolled his eyes.

    "Maybe I'm not ready to settle down." Xavier sighed and turned toward Asher. Asher kept his eyes straight forward. He didn't want to look at the pity on Xavier's face; he didn't want to see the truth he knew they both saw.

    "She's not coming back Asher..." He knew that Xavier was talking about Aria, a woman he had loved and lost to her own devices. "She chose to leave Asher, nothing can change that."

    Asher stood up. "It doesn't matter. Even if she crawled her way back to me, she would never be part of this family again." He returned to his desk and sat down, filtering through the papers again.

    "What about Sera?" Asher paused, but only for a split second before he moved on to another stack, signing his name down at the bottom. He only briefly read the word distribution before he scribbled his name.

    "What about her." It wasn't a question.

    "Why don't you try to marry her?" Xavier shrugged, "You seemed to like her enough to have her escorted to a nice establishment and even use your influence to get her the nicest room at the cheapest rate." It was Asher's turn to shrug.

    "What of it?"

    "I'm just saying, if you don't want to marry Gywn, you must find a way out." Asher slammed the paper down on the desk and glared at Xavier, who didn't even move an inch from Asher's outburst.

    "What the hell am I supposed to do? Walk up to her and just propose a contract or some sh*it??" Asher scoffed, "She would laugh in my face and shut the door."

    "But you didn't say she repulsed you." Xavier pointed out. Asher stopped and just stared at him. Xavier was right; the woman didn't repulse him, and the thought of a relationship, even a fake one, didn't seem too far-fetched.

    "I can't believe I'm even considering this. I just met her," Asher said, leaning back in his chair. She's got a family, for God's sake." Xavier tilted his head a bit and looked point-blank at Asher.

    "When have you ever known a woman with a family who would stay at a hotel rather than go home for a night?" Asher stopped; he was right and knew he had Ash by the balls with this one.

    "One year, man, get her to agree to one year. By that time you'll own the family business and to damn with whatever your father says." Asher nodded numbly; Xavier was right. Asher would rather slit his own throat than be married to someone like Gwenyth.

    "One year." Xavier nodded, pulled some keys out of his pocket, and tossed them to Asher.

    "Take midnight, theres two helmets. It'll be quicker than getting ahold of Rich." Xavier shrugged when Asher smiled, "besides, I highly doubt Rich would be too happy with you interrupting his anniversary night."

    "It's not Rich I'm worried about; it's that damn fire-cracker of a wife he's got." They both chuckled, and Asher stood up and headed to see his future bride.

    "This is such an awful idea."

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