For a nineteen-year-old who could change his mind on a whim, who could grow into adulthood and learn to hate me, for an emotion with no guarantee and no limit to quantify, could I walk away from it? From wealth so old and deep, I would be set for an easy life from here on?
Honestly, I knew better than to make a decision about my heart with conditions set by my parents. Maybe Asher was worth it. Maybe the chance to be with the person I loved was worth it. For now, I couldn’t answer any of the questions swirling in my mind. I wouldn’t answer them while sitting in this tomb of a room across from the crypt keepers.
If not Asher, it would be someone else. If not this demand, it would be some other. However, it would always be me. It would always be them. It would always be a decision of whether I bowed to a request I did not want to grant.
I stood from the table, startling my parents with an abrupt screech of the chair’s legs across the polished hardwood.
“Darling …” Mother trailed off when I glared her way.
I spun on my heels and walked away from the table, from them. Anger and disgust warred inside my head. The audacity. To hold my family name, the family prestige and wealth over me like that. And the worst was that they had figured I would cave. Did they see me as nothing more than a money-hungry weakling? Was that what they’d taught me to be?
The afternoon was much darker. I rescheduled meetings and brooded. One minute, I was too tired to move, and the next, I searched for exits. Figuratively searched because I didn’tactually leave my desk chair until that evening. I’d written speeches in my head, things I should’ve said, things I planned to say at dinner. And yes, I would go. Lunch had been an ambush, but I’d be better prepared tonight.
The drive to my parents’ house held the usual foreboding and more. Was that tingle in my fingertips cause for concern? I could be minutes from freeing myself, saying what I couldn’t at lunch, or from an anxiety-induced heart attack.
No, I was in good health, Asher had proved that. My back might never be the same, but that was a chronic ache I wouldn’t mind since it came with a smile.
It wasn’t until the privacy gate creaked open and a row of glittery cars sat to one side that that spark of a good mood died before it could ignite fully.
“Motherfucker,” I hissed as I pulled around the circular drive and parked at the end, getting in line with the others.
So this wasn’t afamilydinner, as implied. This wouldn’t be a moment for me to shout at them, tell them to kiss my Dorset ass. Mother and Father had planned another soirée, another dinner party. I should’ve known.
I checked my phone, eager for one more bit of Asher in my mind before this travesty got underway. However, under the shadow of my parents’ mansion, an exploit of the entitlement I’d been born into and never questioned, I didn’t deserve it.
Asher had sent a picture, of course, while I was driving. This one was of a sad burrito that had to have been gracing the metal spiral in a vending machine for weeks.
Right. Perspective.
Thank you.
Ash
For?
Everything.
Ash
How thoughtful of me. You’re welcome!
With a smile, I headed for the door. It opened as I approached, as usual.
“Evening, Marcus,” I said.
“Good evening, sir. No date tonight?”
I grinned at the man as I handed over my coat. “No. Sadly. Makes this place a little dull.”
Marcus nodded and closed the door. Would that I could stand here all night and visit with the man I, unfortunately, knew little about. Did he have family? Were his holidays happy? Did my parents pay him well enough for the shit he no doubt suffered from them?
“You’re looking rather dour, brother,” Mary said when I joined her and Paul. We Dorset children tended to congregate at these things, only mingling when forced.
“Drink?” Paul asked as he held his tumbler higher.
“No. What is all this?” I scanned the room. January wasn’t typical dinner party season for Mother. Once New Year’s was over, their social circles took a break before gearing up again for Valentine’s and then spring.
“Mother’s way of being sporadic?” Paul offered.
