Chapter 28
Tune seemed to freeze for a moment as Lily processed what she just heard Asher say. Usually when one says “tell me what I don’t know“, they don’t expect to be hit with the deepest and rawest thing from the other person. But when has Asher ever really been one to do the normal things
“I didn’t expect that. She finally said and Asher let out a deep sigh, shrugging his shoulders.
“Neither did 1. I never talk about them”
She nodded. He actually never did, so why was he talking about it to now? To her of all persons.
Lily dragged her gaze from the ceiling to get a look at him, and she smiled. If he was going to talk about it to her, then she would listen. “We’ve got all night to talk about them. What did they love to do the most!
Asher blinked once, then twice, before he angled his face to look at Lily. Did she seriously just ask that? A laugh escaped his lips and he faced the ceiling again. Of course she did. Others would typically ask what happened? How did they die? Invading his privacy and opening up wounds he’d rather leave buried, others would simply throw sympathy around and act like he never said anything. No one ever gave him a chance to talk about them without remembering the bloodshed that has been engraved in his mind. No one has ever let him talk about the happy memories, they all avoided the topic like a plague and for 15 years, he has carried his stories alone.
You are one strange person, Lily. A beautiful strange person. Lily’s lips parted and her eyes widened slightly. That wasn’t what she was expecting to hear next.
She pressed her hands against her cheeks once she felt the heat on them once again. This night should go down in history.
“My murn loved to garden” Asher began again, and all traces of the earlier surprise faded, and she slowly relaxed against the chair once again, giving him her undivided attention. “She would always get herself dirty planting and tending to her plants or as she would call them, her babies. Dad, the clean freak he was, was always horrified at the dirt coating mum’s body each time he came home. She would chase him round the house, threatening to put it on him, and I always got caught up in the chase. Despite his disgust at the dirt, he funded her garden. He laughed as he recollected the memories, and the corners of Lily’s lips tugged up in a huge smile. “They were quite a chaotic couple.”
He glanced at Lily, his eyes darting around her face, searching to make sure she was still listening. Lily sensed his longing and instead of saying anything, she reached out and held his hand, giving it a tight squeeze.
“My dad liked to collect cars and figurines. Mum helped him create a room for his figurines and cars, but she never let him live it down. She always poked fun at him and his crazy collections, but each time she went to the grocery store, she’d buy a whole pack of random toy cars and figurines. then she’d place them randomly around the house and make it a treasure hunt for dad. He always whined that it was tedious and unfair, but he absolutely enjoyed it.” He paused and deliberated for a little moment, before he snacked his lips together and spoke. “I picked up on my dad’s obsession, and I got my own collection set. But unlike my dad, my choices were wide. I collected anything and everything, and they both ensured I had enough space for my collections. I haven’t collected anything in 14 years tho. It’s pointless when you have no one to rant to about it.“Lily’s stomach knotted painfully and her heart burned at his words. He said it so casually but she understood the pain laced in those words
She searched for the right words to say, the right words to comfort him but words seemed to elude her and her tongue felt too heavy, so she just gave him another squeeze, hoping it would send all the comfort he needed to him.
A few moments of silence lingered between them before Lily felt her tongue again. “Thank you for telling me. They sound like a wonderful couple and even better parents.”
They were
She smiled at him and nodded. “Td love to see their pictures one day” Asher glanced at her and nodded. When he was comfortable enough to see their faces again, he’d show them to her, but for now…
“One day.” They both returned to wordlessly passing the wine between them, but the tenseness that was once there had disappeared and was now replaced with an air of familiarity and longing. “We should go to bed. He said after a while and Lily exhaled loudly.
“Sounds boring. Let’s watch a movie”
Asher’s eyes immediately flickered to the clock and the time was quarter past one. He has a long day at the office tomorrow, and he is guessing that she does too, but the thought of ending the night like this did not sound appealing to him either.
His head and mind knew better than to agree to her suggestion. It was better to carry her upstairs and lull her to sleep, but instead he gave her a thumbs–up. “A movie sounds nice. Let’s go to the movie room. He said and tried to stand up, but Lily dragged him back down.
“I’ve got my phone right here, just scoot a little closer and we can watch whatever, here. She wiggled the phone in his face and Asher stared at her amused. The wine has definitely started getting to her.
it in the home theater, he scooted closer to her and placed his blazer over their legs,
fostead of arguing about how much better it would be to watch it in t before he took the phone and held it right for them.
“Make your pick”
1/2
424 PM
Chapter 28
Lily stared at the movies displayed on the screen before her for a while before she clicked on the Korean drama Asher mediately groaned at her pick, but made no attempts to change it.
