Jackson expertly treads across the familiar floors of Grey's lounge. His destination was the bar where Asher awaits him. He and Asher have shared quite a history at the upscale lounge. It's where they'd sealed their first business deal at the start of their partnership.Back then they were young and reckless, Jackson more so than Asher. Asher has always been a bit of a sad lone wolf. However the situation of Emily's death and his accident made him a total recluse, he became distrustful of other people. For a long time after the accident, he believed someone was coming for him and so he built up walls around him. Asher's movement has remained the same since then. He comes to work in the morning and then goes back to a lonely apartment in the evening. His only contact with society remains with Jackson and the women he has shared congress with. The only reason Asher would socialize is for a realization of his set goals, which he is quite strangely proficient at. "Drinking during an eme
The Nouveau-Riche RomanceChapter Twenty"Oh! That looks wonderful on you," Kathy said cheerily as she examined Joan dressed in a long green-colored dress. The pair were picking out dresses at Alice house. Alice house is a luxury brand that caters exclusively to women's garment needs, they are also quite expensive. When Kathy invited Joan to an afternoon shopping spree she didn't hesitate to accept. It did help when Kathy assured her that all costs would be covered. The payment for anything she buys however would be Joan's presence and some quality time with Kathy. Joan surmised Kathy invited her to distract her from the ordeal she's experienced the past couple of days.It has been four days since Joan's article was released and some really strange occurrences have happened since then.It all started the morning after the articles were published. Brenda Fischer the journalist that was hell-bent on destroying her renounced and deleted her writing. She also quit her job, publicly apolo
It was late afternoon when Joan finished her outing with Kathy. Taking note of Kathy's urgency concerning the Cooper party Joan decided to quite literally, drop in on Asher. She hoped to catch him in the office. It seems that Asher's office is the default location whenever they meet. She still had no idea what to do with the pictures Mabel sent to her. She wasn't sure what her next course of action should be. Joan decided she wouldn't talk about the pictures with Asher just yet. With that in mind, she convinced herself that her visit to Asher wouldn't be a social call. She would just be meeting him to fulfill one of the terms of their contract. That was what she had in mind as she entered Maven enterprise. Her ears picked up a familiar voice and her sight instinctively zeroed in on a familiar figure where the voice came from. It was Asher standing just ahead of her, with his back towards her. Joan strolled forward approaching Asher from behind. Her amble abruptly stops as she go
Asher was peeved, Kathy had stolen Joan from his arms and had left him alone in the company of her young friends. While he knew Kathy took Joan to help ease her into socializing with other women in the room. It still rankled him that Joan was not by his side. He especially hates how the eyes of more than a few men followed Joan around the room.Kathy finally letting him stay in one place without the constant fraternizing from table to table gave Asher a chance to take in the room.There was no shortage of people seated at the tables, ingesting the fare before them. There were others to the side of the hall socializing with new acquaintances or catching up with old friends. Needless to say, there's a considerable amount of chatter floating around the room.Yet Asher found that to get the really important discourse you have to be around or at the bar. After all Imbibing on spirits always loosens the lips.And so here he was standing close to the bar in a conversation with the group Kat
'Asher is kissing me, Asher is kissing me? Asher is kissing me!' those were the thoughts bouncing through Joan's head as she melted into Asher's arms. She knew it was coming too, she expected it, yet it was so sudden. He hadn't just launched himself at her. No, he'd eased himself into her embrace and had brought his face ever slowly, deliberately to claim her lips.And he did claim it. At first, she was unyielding, but after the first few seconds of his ministration, she closed her eyes and surrendered herself. A moment later and she became potty in his hand. His kiss was just enough to make her forget her troubles, the world, and Dylan. All she could feel was Asher. His warm embrace, his hands encircling her waist, his hot breath. It seemed like everything in her world revolved around him at that moment.It was so ridiculous, she could feel her heart racing, and her breath ragged as the kiss lingered. The kiss was perfect until it was snatched away.As she lost contact with Asher's
Joan groaned for the umpteenth time. She lay on the bed restless. She'd spent most of the night awake contemplating how knotty her life had become.She was frustrated by how quickly her seemingly normal life had unraveled. Months ago she was a young normal industrial designer, who was just starting to become financially stable. She'd made sure to pay off the little debt she owed, and she had hope for the future.Her father's death has ruined all of that. Not only is her job as an industrial designer gone, but her life is also now muddled with quandaries she could have never fathomed.It didn't help that the latest of these quandaries are two handsome, successful young men. One was her ex, while the other is her fiance-albeit a contractual one. But what drove her crazy was Asher and Dylan's attempt to entice her. She was especially concerned by the little fight that erupted between both men after she and Asher's kiss the night before.In a way what happened last night while it distress
Mabel cringed her nose in disgust at the number of greasy foods on display as she scanned the room. She could not comprehend the reason Nolan Evans would choose such a location to meet. Nolan had instructed her to come to a restaurant located in lower Manhattan, Mabel had no idea it was a fast food dump. "Mrs. Hargreaves?" a big bald man in a cheap suit asked Mabel as she continued to look around the room. "Yes I am, who are you?" Mabel asked, she had no idea who the strange man was. "Follow me, Mr. Evans is waiting," The man said and walked off to a row of seats by the joint's large window at the far left corner. Mabel followed after the man, who she was now sure was one of Nolan's minions. It didn't take long for her to spot Nolan seated at the sixth-row table. Nolan had on a sleek black suit, a white dress shirt, and a blue tie. She considered Nolan handsome in a silver fox way with piercing green eyes like his nephew. High cheekbones and angular jaw. He had a tall frame and
"Excuse me, you're Joan Hargreaves, right? Hello, I'm Cassidy. Cassidy Myers." Cassidy said giving Joan a sly grin."Yes I'm Joan, how may I help you miss Myers?" Joan asked the strange woman. She had no idea who this woman was or what she wanted but Joan decided to at least hear her out."There are a couple of things I'd like to discuss with you about an acquaintance of ours," Cassidy said taking a closer look at Joan.Joan wondered who the person Cassidy was referring to was, "and who is that?""Can we find a place to talk? This could take a while.""Well, there's a pastry shop nearby, it's just around the corner," Joan offered."That would be perfect, lead the way.""I see why he chose you, other than your family name I mean," Cassidy said appraising the young woman before her. The two of them were seated outside of the pastry shop. The color of the day has taken a darker luster."Excuse me?" Joan said visibly offended. She had no idea what the stranger before her meant by her word