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Busy. Even on the weekend. Must be miserable. But when you have a house like this…
I get out of the car and immediately feel like I should have dressed nicer, even though I spent two hours slaving away over my appearance, trying to get that perfect I-don’t-care-I’m-just-naturally-pretty look. I’m wearing tight jeans and a tight, lavender top, and some black heeled boots. Which seemed totally fine until my dad remarked on my way out the door, “Who are you all dolled up for?”
Talk about feeling guilty. The more I nurse this crush, the guiltier I feel. My poor dad just wanted someone to help me out. Not someone for me to thirst over.His best friend.That’s a no-go. When I was a kid, it didn’t matter. Now I’m an adult. And if I make stupid choices, peoplewillhold me accountable.
Including Dad.
As I approach Ash on the front stoop, he finishes his up his call in clipped short words. “Yeah. Yeah, I hear you. I got to—I have to go. I’ll send the paperwork over in ten. Yeah, yeah.” He hangs up and tucks his phone into his pocket with a sigh. “Sorry about that.”
“No worries. Thanks for having me. Your home is… ” Eludes all adjectives. “Big.”
Ash laughs. “Good observation.”
We stand there for a moment. Feels like we should hug maybe or greet each other with more than just pleasantries. After all, we’ve spent quite a few days together over the past three months.
“Come on in,” he says, pushing the door open for me and stepping aside.
“Thank you,” I remark. The inside of Ash’s home defies description as well. The entry hall is tiled black and white with a huge chandelier overhead and a staircase curling up to the left. “Wow,” I say quietly.
Ash closes the door and walks in with purpose. “If you don’t mind, I just have to get some paperwork settled and sent off and—“
“Of course. Take your time.”
He folds his hands as if in prayer. “I’m so sorry about this, Rye. I thought I’d have everything finished but—”
“it’s totally fine. I promise.” The whole reason I came to meethimwas that he’d been hit with a bombshell at work and had been doing damage control all day. It only makes sense he’s still tying up loose ends.
Ash smiles. “Promise. Ten minutes and then I’m all yours.”
All yours. I like the sound of that.
“Go ahead and make yourself at home. There’s coffee brewing if you want some. I thought we could set up in the dining room,” he says, gesturing through the entry way before darting off toward his office.
The silence as soon as he’s gone is overwhelming. I walk through the entryway and wince at the sound of my heels on the floor. The house opens up divinely, with big picture windows giving stunning views of Lake Michigan. The Eastern sky is warm with swathes of orange and pink. I stand, captivated for a few moments, before following the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen.
Do I need to go into detail about the kitchen? It’s beautiful just like everything else in this godforsaken house. It’s state of the art, it’s divine!
I pass through the kitchen into the dining room, which has a long, dark wooden table with a beautiful arrangement of lilies right in the center. I drop my bag on one of the chairs and begin to unpack. In classic event planner fashion, I have made a binder to keep track of everything. It has pockets and pull outs which I begin to disassemble and spread out purposefully across the table.
Ten minutes, though, turns into twenty. Turns into half an hour. Turns into… forty-five. I feel too uncomfortable to move from the dining room, even though I really have to pee. The sky outside is darkening. I try to find the light switch, but it must be hidden somewhere. Rich people. Nothing can ever look like the thing it is.
“What are you doing here in the dark?” Ash asks.
I jump at the sound of his voice. “You scared me!”
“Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
I turn to find him in the doorway of the dining room. “I can’t find the light switch.”
He frowns and looks askance to a white light switch beside the door I completely missed. Fuck, he must think I’m an idiot. “Sorry, I got held up again with a call. It won’t happen again.” He flicks on the light and it immediately hurts my eyes. I didn’t realize just how dark it had gotten. Ash scans the table. “Looks like you’ve already got everything ready to go.”
“Yeah, I thought I’d get it all set up so we can just jump in.”
Ash stares at me. Blinks. “Great.”
“Great.”
We stare at each other. Both of us quiet. Ash starts to walk into the room; I flinch reflexively. He stops and holds up his hands as if he’s hurt me.
