Ashley heaved a deep sigh before knocking on the door. An uneasy feeling washed over her. It didn’t matter that she tried to convince herself over and over again that everything was fine. It was just her home where she grew up and nothing else. True she had been away for a long time but it couldn’t be that bad she tried to assure herself. She tried to convince herself that it didn’t matter that it was the longest she had been away from home. She heard the locks turn indicating that someone was on the other end. Dread enveloped her as the door opened up. Vera's head popped out, her heart gladdened at the sight of her daughter, she had longed to see her but she didn’t let it show on her face. Her face hardened when she remembered the last confrontation they had. “You shouldn’t have” Vera stated. Ashley crooked her neck to the side. “Why?” Vera outstretched her hand. “You could have sent it like you always do or mailed it. You shouldn’t have bothered with coming down here...” Ashley
Ashley opened up the suitcases on her bed and stared at them in wonder. She would have never been able to afford these in a long while, she didn’t need anyone to tell her they were really expensive, she stared inside the suitcase that had been stacked with clothes she didn’t recognise. The smaller suitcases had shoes and sandals and all the other necessities. She took a deep breath, plopped down on the bed and lay sprawled on it. When Henry had suggested the vacation she had not made sense of his words at all. She had been focused on the primary fact that he was finally agreeing to go on a vacation with his family. In the past, he had been strongly against the idea giving her numerous reasons why he couldn’t stand his family at all. So she had played off his suggestion as a momentary excitement but with the days that followed she realised he was serious. He had taken weeks off work, he had also informed his family. She had been even more surprised when he walked in with suitcases say
Ashley got out of the bathroom, her towel wrapped around her chest, while she tried to dry off her hair with another towel oblivious of her surroundings. She felt a piercing gaze on her, she turned to see Henry staring at her, mouth open. She considered screaming down the whole cabin but that would be twice the embarrassment seeing as his family had returned. She had lost herself in the soothing waters of the hot tub and for a moment she had forgotten they shared a room. Her eyes wandered across the room and a bed too! How could she have missed that? Well, it wasn’t completely unbelievable that she had failed to notice. After they had shared the satisfying lunch. She had fallen asleep on the very large bed which she had imagined she was going to have all to herself. It didn’t help that when she woke up many hours later he was nowhere to be found. They had the first family dinner slated for 7 pm and it was already 5:30 pm. She rushed to take her shower, you could imagine her surprise
Henry stared at his family. “Hello Father, Mother, and brothers” he spoke in a monotone voice. He gestured towards Ashley “This is Ashley” he stated simply. She mumbled her greetings to them. “Fashionably late again are we?” his mother Mary asked with a smile. “My best guess is he had a panic attack this morning" Eric stated a mischievous smile on his lips. “Glad you could find time to hang with us lowly peasants...” Arnold smiled sheepishly. Henry ignored them and instead pulled out a chair for Ashley. She caught sight of Eric staring at her from across the table, he was eating olives “Wait...I know you...” he began. Mary lightly touched his arm. “Leave it, Eric, do not quiz your brother or his guest. He just arrived, we should get on with dinner first and...” “And pretend we are a loving family. Got it” Eric cut in. Arnold shook his head. An uncomfortable silence ensued. The animosity between them was obvious. When Henry had described his father for some reason she had imagin
The revelation was met with utter silence. Sir Allen held Henry’s gaze, Mary on the other hand stared intently at Ashley, her thoughts wandering off. Arnold poured himself more wine. Eric folded his arms across his chest. “Bullshit!” Henry turned to look at Ashley, a smile crept up on his lips. “Yes, we are" he whispered, he turned to look at his family. "We are together”. Ashley tried desperately to appear normal and not blow up her cover but there was nothing normal about what she had just done, telling everyone she was in a relationship with her boss, out of the blue. It was a spontaneous response. The dinner with Henry’s family was a rollercoaster of emotions. He had made it known to her that he had issues with his family but she didn’t know the hatred they had for each other was deep-seated. She truly understood him when he said he needed to drink after every encounter with them. From all the banters she was picking up hints of abuse. Henry had been abused by his family, she co
Adrian sat upright from the sea of naked bodies. He furrowed his brows. He massaged his forehead to ease the headache he was feeling. He got to his feet and stared in admiration at the numerous naked girls sprawled on his bed in different positions, some of them lying on the floor. There were littered bottles everywhere. He tried to conjure up images from the previous night. It had been a wide rave. He walked up to his cupboard. Took out an aspirin and swallowed it. He spotted a half bottle of wine, he picked it up with and glass and grabbed a robe and walked out of the room unclad like the day he was born. He walked through an empty corridor, at the far end there was a room. He slipped on the robe, unlocked the door and walked in. Angela screamed aloud. “What the fuck woman?” Adrian shouted, startled. She shut her eyes. Adrian pulled his robe over him and fastened the robe securely. Mason looked at him in disgust. “Cover up!" she said aloud. “Pfft! You’re not Henry’s woman any
Ashley dialled Leonard’s number repeatedly but it went unanswered. “Hello Leonard” she recorded a voicemail. She was pacing about the room, “I have been trying to get to you for days now...” she ran her fingers through her hair, “I have missed you so much" Henry walked at that moment, dressed in casual clothing. He had two glasses of margarita in his hands. He had a slight frown on his face. “...please talk to me Leonard, I am dying to hear from you...” she sighed. “I love you" she whispered. He froze at her confession. The rational part of his mind told him it was nothing and that they were just friends but he couldn’t shake off the uncomfortable feeling in his chest. “Hi Henry” she greeted. He stopped and stared at her. “Would that be the first time you’re calling me by my name?” She thought about it for a moment “I guess yes...” He chuckled. "Wow,” he laughed. “I do like the sound of that” he dropped the margaritas on the table and stared at her for a moment. “What?” she as
Henry’s eyelids fluttered open, he reached underneath his pillow to find his phone. He grabbed it and stared at the screen, his eyes squinted as he stared at it. He considered turning his phone off but decided against it at the last minute. “Henry!” Arnold shouted into the phone. Henry shook his head irritated. “What is it?” he asked flatly. His voice was groggy. “What do you mean little brother?” Arnold’s tone was mocking. “Can I not call to check on my yo...” “Continue talking rubbish and I might just cut the call on you" “That wouldn’t be the first". Suddenly Arnold let out an excited scream. Henry didn’t care enough to ask but he knew the silence that followed was Arnold expecting him to ask. “Arnold...” “Bro she is hot!” He paused. “Where did you find her from?” Arnold asked. “Find who from?” “I mean she looks like the real deal, not like any of the other girls. You must have offered a lot...” “Arnold cut to the chase, what are you talking about?” “I am talking about