As Ashton sat rigid in the church for the funeral procession, he was still reeling from shock. Uncle Devin was truly gone. Forever. And he regretted suspecting him for nothing. He regretted having reacted so angrily as he had at the hospital. As it is he had ben distressed by the emotional dependence he was having with Selena and on top of that he had thought that Uncle Devin was meddling again.To him, Uncle Devin had been a friend and mentor ever since he was a kid. He had spoilt him so much and had been proud of him whatever. He knew that kind of unconditional love was rare to have and all he had done was defy him and tried to outrun him without really understanding why he had wanted to control their lives. It hadn’t been a whim; on the contrary it had been a way to express his love for his children. How they had misjudged him and Ashton wished that he could repay him in some way.And he felt bad for having made up the charade now. If only he had known that Uncle Devin was that sic
Selena was back to square one again. No job. No money. She had sent her three months’ salary to Ashton’s office to compensate for the lack of notice. She could not afford not to pay her company’s notice again this time too as she feared she would never get the work testimonials she needed. Along with his damn check and rings. She did not want his money anymore.Hurt was too feeble a word to express what she had felt when Ashton had ousted her out of his life. She had been heart-broken since she had been wishing foolishly that he would finally accepted what was between them and make her his. How mistaken she had been. And to think that he had not even wanted to wait for another month to be her pretend fiancé. The two months he had waited had been for Uncle Dev’s benefit and she should know that.When he had not made any effort to break the engagement, she had been over the moon playing along even if she knew she had been building castle in thin air. But had not been expecting him to en
Ashton Jacob Cooper was not in a very good mood. In fact, he was in a horrible mood. And damned if he knew why. Nobody was approaching him in the office since he was acting as ferocious as a wounded bear. For the past week. Ever since that damned stupid woman had left his office and his life.It was pure hell working without her. Not because of the workload; he was managing that all right thanks to the processes she had put in place. It was hell because every time someone was passing by his office door, his foolish heart missed a beat thinking it was her. And it was irritating him so much that he had to find some other things to keep his mind busy.And as if it was not enough, yesterday he had caught her moving out. On top of that to California! To Somerville. He had not slept a wink last night; had been tormented with thought of Selena with that damned Somerville. How was she so readily willing to hook up with that man anyway? Ashton believed he could offer him more than that damned
“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice sounded just as Selena was trying to disentangle her legs from the bed. And she winced. She had wanted to get away furtively without any dramatic scenes. Not that she had regretted last night; she had no words to describe the awesome moments she had spent in his arms.But she feared that it was only a momentary elapse on his part and that he would regret it on waking up. Even if she had been a virgin, she knew how it worked. Men treated sex like a trivial activity; she had her father as a good example to confirm her theory. It didn’t mean anything to them.And Ashton was no different. Who better than her to know that? And besides when she had decided to sleep with him, she had also made up her mind not to cling to him. She wanted him to fall in love with her without any help from her and if she failed to do that, she would distance herself. It was futile fighting for something that was never destined to be hers.“I’m going back home,” she sai
“All’s well that ends well, Dev,” Ana said looking down at the enlaced shadow of their children in each house. Jake and Rachel were happy playing with baby Adam in the nursery while Ashton and Selena was hugging each other not wanting to let each other away from their sight.Devin grinned at the love of his life. They were in Heaven but was still keeping a watch on their children wishing them all the happiness of the world. Parents could never forget their children wherever they were. It was the law of nature.“Yes sweets. I was right all along,” he said smugly cuddling his Ana close.“Of course you were honey,” Ana said looking at the him her eyes glowing with feelings for him. He was the best husband and king that could ever exist. Even God has acknowledged that he was a good soul when she was around. And had forgiven his past sins.Dev had his kingdom in Heaven now and she was his queen. Of course there was no other way since she had pleaded to God to forgive him and she would vouc
“Hi, I’m Ashton. Ashton Cooper.”No answer. Should he ask her name in return? Well, that was what he actually did with any pretty girl. However that one seemed different. Yet, he decided to go for it.“Hmm…what’s your name?” he asked trying the direct approach.The brunette whooshed round and stared at him with a measuring look. “Why do you wanna know?” she snapped haughtily.What arrogance! Hell, what did she think of herself? His seventeen years old ego suffered a blow but still he offered her one of his dazzling smiles and cocked his eyebrows in a flirtatious manner.“Why do you think a guy like me would ask a girl like you her name?” he drawled in his best macho voice.At that, she laid down her pencil and sneered at him. “Oh, you think you are irresistible, don’t you?”Taken aback, he frowned at her not knowing what to retort back for the first time in his life. It was usually the tactic that ticked the chicks off. Hell, no! Usually, he didn’t have much effort to do as the girls
ANOTHER FIVE YEARS LATER...“Why is it that when you are trying to avoid someone you always find yourself meeting that very person at every occasion?” muttered Selena McKenzie loudly enough for the ‘someone’ to hear.“And of course I can’t understand why anyone would want to avoid me unless I have some kind of effect on her!” came the usual instantaneous retort.Selena scowled fiercely at her neighbor and old time enemy, Ashton Cooper. She couldn’t stand that guy but destiny always had a plausible reason to bring them together. Could it be because their mothers were best friends? Or was it the fact that Ashton lived next door to her apartment? Or more probably because her sister was married to Jake Crighton, the best friend of Ashton? Whatever the reason or reasons may be, she knew she could never shrug him out of her life the way she wanted to. A pity!“Don’t look at me like that, my ‘Touch me not princess’. You know I can’t resist you for long,” sneered Ashton giving her a sweet smi
Five weeks later, Ashton scowled at his computer screen for several minutes and when it didn’t respond, his scowl got even deeper. Computers could be so stupid sometimes. Being a computer engineer himself, he knew how dumb they could be. Couldn’t do anything properly until precisely programmed. He scowled again at his secretary who was peeping in his office. Humans could be so stupid sometimes. Being a human himself, he could easily sense how foolish some people were. Couldn’t do anything properly until precisely tuned. Again he sighed. Or maybe it was one of those days when he was simply in a bad mood. Happened too many times lately however. Maybe it was because of the gloomy weather. Or maybe of the routine work. He was simply bored. Had been feeling that way for far too long a time now. Maybe he should just take a break, go away for a long holiday. Problem was that he had done exactly that some months back and it had not helped at all! Tabbing the top of his pen on and off and tr