Chapter 37
A smile slowly formed on Asher’s face as he dragged his eyes away from the envelope. “You are awake.
A forced smile appeared on Lily’s and she quickly hid the envelope behind her. She cleared her throat and nodded, “Ye–yeah. I woke up a while
ago.”
He smiled and nodded, and walked over to her. “Does your head feel like it was run over? Lily’s brow arched in surprise and she breathed out a laugh, nodding. “Here,” he stretched out his hand, showing her the glass of water and aspirin he had been holding, “I guessed as much.”
Without looking back, Lily dropped the envelope on the table and took the water and Aspirin from him. “You’re such a life saver!”
Asher smiled and plopped down on the bed. “What can I say? I’m a guardian angel”
Lily chuckled, and gulped the water and Aspirin. “Whatever Boats your boat” She set the glass down and picked up her bag “But, thank you so much for last night. I over drank out of stress. He rubbed his lips together, nodding in understanding and she shot him a smile. “Thank you once again. I’ll have to get going now, I have to be at work in the next hour or so.” She immediately picked her bag and walked away.
She was barely out of the door when he called out for her, rushing towards her with an envelope in his hand and Lily’s mouth ran dry.
“You forgot this.” He waved the envelope in front of her with a smile, before he placed it in her bag, and Lily forced a smile on her face.
“Thank you
He nodded and she stifly turned on her heels to walk away when she felt his hand enclose on her wrist. Is everything okay….”
Asher smiled, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, actually, no.” Lily’s heart dropped to her stomach, and her mind conjured different scenarios of what he could want to say, but she kept the smile plastered on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing actually, I just want to know when you’re getting off She raised her brows, and narrowed her eyes, and Asher cocked his head to the side, waiting for a response.
“Uhh.. Lily started, snapping out of her confusion, “I should get off around 32”
“Good, I’ll come pick you up
“Sorry, what?”
I come pick you up after work, Lily. I have surprise for you.”
Lily’s stomach churned at his words and her eyes flicked to the envelope in her bag before she slowly bobbed her head. “I’ll be expecting you.” She gritted out and he nodded, waving her bye.
Angelica was the first person Lily sighted when she got to work, and a mixture of embarrassment and excitement flooded her veins. She had terribly drunk on their first hangout together, but that made her feel like they’d been friends for a long time.
“Good morning.” Angelica greeted when Lily got close enough and Lily’s smile widened.
“Good morning. Angelica, I’m really sorry about..
gotten
“There’s no need to apologize ma’am, you looked like you needed the drink, or rather drink she said, waving a brown envelope and the smile on Lily’s lips faltered. “Oh. Angelica mumbled, smiling as she handed the envelope back to the Lily. “We got our envelopes switched at the bar. I guess you know my little secret as well now.”
“Uhh…” Lily struggled for words as she reached in her bag for the other brown envelope. She stared at it suspiciously, wondering what was inside, what it was that Asher probably saw. “Here” She handed the envelope over to Angelica, I’m sorry about the switch. Angelica waved dismissively
“You’re not to blame, I’ll see you around. I have to check on the supplies.”
Lily nodded absentmindedly, and watched as she walked away before she peered into the envelope that she handed over to her, and truly it was her divorce papers that were in there. For a split second, the considered asking Asher what he saw in the other one, but discarded the idea as soon as it came. There was no need to probe, right? It couldn’t be that bad
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the thoughts of the envelope content into the back of her mind, willing herself to concentrate on the work ahead, but no matter how hard she tried, her mind kept bringing up thoughts and images she didn’t want to think about
Her hand encircled softly on her neck once she remembered her father‘ a threats, and her bag suddenly felt heavier just by the mere thought of the divorce papers being in there.
1/2
Chapter 37
energy into the
She cleared her throat and walked away, heading to the living room where the work was currently ongoing, and she channeled her e work, believing that if she tried hard enough, within the day, the thoughts would eventually become dormant.
It didn’t happen.
Throughout the hours she worked, even during her lunch break, the thoughts, particularly her father’s threat kept running through her mind, and she couldn’t seem to look away from the brown envelope lying in her bag.
“Should I let Asher know!” She asked herself, even though she already knew the answer to that. Telling him wouldn’t change anything. She now had less than 30 days to make Asher fall in love with her, and while they seem closer now, she knew there was no way in hell he was going to fall in love with her… If anything he was probably looking forward to the end of the 45 days to sign the papers. She felt her heart clench painfully at the thought. What if he wasn’t? What if…? She shook her head, snapping out of her thoughts
If it didn’t happen in 5 years, it couldn’t possibly happen in 45 days.
“Ma’am, your husband is here for you, someone said, tapping Lily on her shoulder, and her eyes widened. She immediately reached for her phone and it was 5:00 PM on the dot. He was on time
She shot the messenger a smile and quickly packed her bags, scanning around for Angelica, but when she didn’t see her, she wrote down her message on a piece of paper and handed it to the messenger. “Please hand this over to Angelica.
Lily immediately ran out and Asher stood out the door with a bouquet of flowers waiting for her. A big smile covered her face at the sight, and the rips of her ears turned red.
“Hey. He walked over to her and planted a soft yet quick kiss on her cheek, handing her the flowers, and the heat crawled up her cheeks.
What e
exactly was inside that envelope that has turned him into this?