by Cerys du Lys
"Yeah..." Asher sighed. "I don't want to suspect the worst, but it's all coming together. Being away, suggesting Jessika and I go to lunch. If she's hired someone to keep tabs on us, they could take some controversial pictures. Turn an innocent lunch into weekend debauchery."
"Why a book, though?" I asked. "Why is she doing that? I don't understand."
"You showed an interest during dinner the other night," Asher offered. "It's not exactly a secret that you enjoy reading. I mentioned to her that you enjoyed the library in the guest home, too."
"I just think it's odd. I don't know why."
"Yeah, well, you should," Jeremy said. He gave me a pointed stare, chomping on a large helping of pancake.
"I don't understand?"
"Did you forget already? That bookstore you dragged me into? Where this all started? I doubt it's a coincidence she's going to get a book now. Maybe she'll grab one, but..."
"Oh..." I blinked. Popping a bit of sliced strawberry in my mouth, I nibbled on it absently. "Right. Do you think that's it? I did wonder why they were in that bookstore. It's not really the type of place I'd expect to see anyone like them."
"So rich people can't go to a nice bookstore?" Asher asked, feigning indignation. "I don't recall either of you mentioning this to me, either. What happened, exactly?"
Jeremy and I told him, piecing the story together.
"Yeah, and then she drags me into an alley and kisses me. I'm like, whoa! Hold up there, Jessika, but she just keeps on going at it. I don't even know."
Asher narrowed his eyes at me. "Really now?"
Blushing, I looked down at my plate and kept my eyes looking at anything except Asher. "Sorry," I mumbled. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn't want Beatrice or Solomon to notice us."
"Yeah," Jeremy said. "Like in those spy movies, you know? I guess that was it. It worked, but I didn't see Solomon or Beatrice, so who knows."
"You know, you make it sound like I wanted to kiss you in an alley!" I said.
"I'm an attractive guy. Maybe you did? I don't know."
"Jeremy," Asher said, calm and collected. "Jessika and I have been... how should I say..."
"Yeah, yeah, you guys are going at it. I'm no dummy, you know? That's fine. She's nice and I like you, Asher."
"So why are you going on about the kissing?" I asked.
"Well, it happened! What do you want me to do, lie about it?"
I harrumphed. "I guess not. I don't know."
Asher chuckled. "It's fine. I understand the situation. I'm not upset. It's more amusing than anything. You're really different, you know that?"
I glared at him.
"In a good way! A wonderful way. I love it." He reached over and took my hand in his, squeezing my fingers. "I really do, I love you. Not even Jeremy and his good looks can pull us apart."
"I don't know, man," Jeremy said, tousling his hair. "I'm pretty ridiculously good looking. I could give you a run for your money."
I looked at Asher, daring a glance into his eyes. He smiled and squeezed my hand again. "I didn't mean to kiss Jeremy," I said. "I mean, I meant to, but..."
"It's fine," Asher said.
"Alright, so now that this mushy crap is out of the way, can we figure out what's going on? What do you want to do? Do we go to the bookstore? Do you think that's where she went?" Having finished his breakfast, Jeremy chugged what was left of his smoothie.
"Yes," Asher said. "If neither of them are there, I'm sure the owner will be, right?" He looked to me for confirmation.
"Yes, they're open every day but Sunday. They close early today, but we have plenty of time," I said.
"Right. So we'll go, and if nothing else I'll talk with the owner. Since you're acquainted with him, I think this will go well, Jessika. Maybe we can get some help from him. He might know something."
"Alright," I said, nodding.
"Sounds good," Jeremy agreed. "I'll drive, of course. No funny business in the back seat, though, you two." He wagged a finger at us.
He looked so ridiculous that all I could do was laugh.
...
We arrived at Robert's bookstore shortly after it opened. Unfortunately, no matter how much I liked the place, it was never very popular. Robert spent most of his mornings tidying up and re-organizing. Except when I came in, in which case he usually chatted with me and we talked about new books or authors and things like that while I helped him out a little. I never worked there, he never paid me, but I enjoyed it still. It was fun and I liked Robert.
Before we got out of the car, Asher took my hand in his and stared at me with a strange kind of look. I didn't really understand it and it scared me. "Jessika," he said, "if something happens I need you to stay safe, alright? I can handle the situation if it goes badly, but I want you to keep enough distance that you can find safety if need be."
I smiled at him and laughed lightly. "You're talking like this is dangerous," I said. "It's nothing, Asher. Don't worry about me. We're just going in to talk with Beatrice. It's like a business meeting, I bet."
Just talking, right? Nothing more than that. Accusations, yes, and perhaps a heated discussion, but what was Asher thinking? It worried me that he was worried, and I didn't understand it. This wasn't... this wasn't... I didn't actually know what this was, but I knew deep down that everything would be fine.
"I'm sure you're right." He kissed me on the lips, lingering. "I'm worried, that's all. It's silly."
"You two getting out?" Jeremy asked. "You want me to stay here or come in?"
"It's probably best if you stay here," Asher said. "If Beatrice sees all of us, it could seem overly confrontational. I want to settle this as peacefully as possible."
"Sure thing, boss."
Asher opened the car door on his side and stepped out. He stood to his full height and brushed down his suit jacket, peering at his surroundings. I watched him, enthralled. Asher was the kind of person who looked commanding in almost any setting, I realized. In Landseer Tower, yes, and in his home, of course, but when I saw him look like that now, standing on the street having just exited the car, I realized this was him always. It wasn't something he did intentionally, it was a part of him.
He jogged around the car to my side and opened the door for me. When he reached inside, I took his offered hand and let him help me out. He smiled and kissed me again, this time on the forehead.
"Ready?" he asked.
"I'm ready," I said.
We walked to the front door of the bookstore, side by side. No hand holding this time, not like when we'd left his office the other day. I understood, since we needed to act discrete and not upset Beatrice, even if she'd done more than her fair share of upsetting both Asher and I, but still. I would have liked to have the feel of his hand in mine, that tiny bit of comfort.
Asher opened the door for me and I stepped inside. Robert had finished setting up my area since the last time and I nearly rushed over in glee to investigate what he'd done, but I stopped myself. At the counter, older, with fading red and grey hair, stood Robert.
"Jessika!" he said, smiling wide. "Wonderful for you to stop by. I've added some new additions to your shelves. Do you want to see?"
Asher stepped in behind me and nodded to Robert.
"Oh, did you bring a friend?" Robert asked. He never missed a stride and moved out behind the counter to greet us both. "I'm Robert," he said, holding out his hand.
Asher took his hand and shook it. "Asher," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You look familiar," Robert said. "Have you been here before?"
"No." Asher shook his head. "It's a lovely place, though. Jessika has said nice things about it. I'm hoping to become more of a frequenter. I always enjoy a good book."
"Well, Jessika's been a great help here. I should probably pay her, that's how useful she is, but, well..."
I shook my head. "No, no. I like it. I just come in for fun."
"I know. I appreciate it. Shall we go see the new addit
ions to your section? Maybe your friend will find it interesting. I'd love to—"
"We didn't actually come for that right now, Robert," I said. The confused look in his eyes hurt to see, but I promised myself I'd make it up to him later.
"I was hoping you'd know my wife," Asher added, taking control of the conversation. "Beatrice Landseer? Or do you know a Solomon Royce? He works for me, and..."
"Oh," Robert said. "Oh! You're Asher. Asher Landseer. Yes, I recognize you. I... this isn't really... I should have tidied up. It doesn't always look like this, you see, and..."
"No, no. It looks wonderful. It reminds me of my library at home. I'd love to look around after, but I have pressing matters to attend to with Beatrice and Solomon right now."
Robert nodded. "I think they're out back. It was a surprise when they first came here, actually. I don't know what brought them, but they've offered to help me out quite a lot. I'm sure you're aware, since you're Beatrice's husband. She's a little harsh sometimes, but I think deep down she's a good person. Should I go get them?"
"Oh, no. Jessika knows her way around, right?"
I nodded. "You can stay here for the early morning rush, Robert. We'll only be a second."
Robert guffawed. "Early morning rush. Right! I think having you four in the store is the most people I've had this early in the morning in years."
I grinned. "We'll buy four times as much before we leave. How about that?"
"That would be wonderful," Robert said. "You don't have to, of course, but that would be wonderful. Your wife and that other fellow are in the back, Mr. Landseer. It's a little hectic over there, so please pardon the clutter. I use it as storage for extra bookcases mainly."
"I'll show you," I said to Asher, tugging on his jacket sleeve. To Robert, I added, "Thank you, Robert."
Robert nodded and shuffled back around the counter, fiddling with a few of the books stored back there.
I led Asher through the bookstore. We passed by my section briefly and I whispered to him about it, explaining how Robert had set it up for me. He smiled and glanced at a few of the books before we pressed on.
Robert's bookstore was mostly orderly, but nothing like a conventional bookstore. He set up little reading areas behind bookcases shaped into rooms, with blank spaces as doors. Asher and I walked past the children's reading area, where some local parents brought their younger kids for special readings after school, and then through the gaming room. That was my idea, too, even if I knew nothing about it. The older kids, high school level or so, loved playing these trading card games and adventures and dragons or something, so why not give them a place to do it here? The bookstore was nearly an impromptu after-school daycare in those regards, but Robert seemed to like it. He made a few sales from it, and it filled the store with more people and kept him busy.
There were a few more cornered off spots, also, and we passed those on our way to the back warehouse; a romance readers group section and a sci-fi/fantasy one, too. I fondly remembered one time when there was a group of romance readers trying to discuss something in their section while a bunch of fantasy lovers had decided to come by the bookstore before heading off to a movie premier. The fantasy guys(and one girl) had dressed up as characters from the movie and were making a bit of a ruckus, play-acting out scenes. The romance people huffed about it to Robert and he let them use the book club room until the fantasy movie-goers left to catch their flick, but the looks on their faces were priceless; a little upset, a little confused, and kind of laughing but not quite.
We arrived at the entrance to the backroom. Nailed to the door was a sign that read "Employees Only."
"Don't worry," I said. "I think Robert's just hired you. You'll make a good librarian."
Asher grinned. He stepped forward and twisted the doorknob, then opened the door and gestured for me to go ahead. I did and he followed behind me, closing the door after us.
Rows upon rows of bookcases greeted us inside. Some were fine, stacked next to each other in no particular order, but others were rickety and on their last legs. A few broken shelves lay in a pile to the right, tossed their carelessly to await their fate in a heap on the street when garbage day came. The backroom was an old, small warehouse of sorts, where the previous owner had stockpiled goods and received truckloads of supplies through a single loading dock far in the back. Robert didn't use the loading dock often now, since he never ordered enough books to find it necessary, but the large door was still there.
Voices crawled through the air towards us, creepy, wispy sounds, and the lights overhead illuminated the storage area with a pale, faded glow. Beatrice and Solomon were talking to one another, sounding far off and away.
"After this weekend the insurance policy for every resort will lapse," Solomon said. "If they don't receive payment by early Monday morning, that part is settled. Then we send the exterminator to that bookstore owner's daughter's house. We'll have him fix the girl's bed bug infestation, but he'll collect some of the bugs and keep them stored. We don't need a lot for this plan, since it's mostly smoke and mirrors, anyways. A couple infested rooms at Landseer resorts will do the trick. Asher will, no doubt, find out, but with the unfortunate loss of insurance, it'll be a financial burden to eradicate every hotel and vacation resort. Not to mention the exterminators aren't going to actually do anything and will just put down generic foggers without insecticides as opposed to treating the problem properly."
"I've arranged for someone to follow them today," Beatrice said, confirming Asher's earlier suspicions. "I doubt it'll lead to much, but we should have some juicy photos heading to the tabloid news sources after that. They can mess around with the pictures if necessary and make it look worse than it is."
Solomon laughed. "Good, good. Careful with that, though. We don't want Asher to file a lawsuit that he might win."
"Oh, of course not. I'll reluctantly confirm everything if asked, which someone's bound to do, and start the divorce proceedings that way."
I gritted my teeth, becoming so extremely frustrated at what I was hearing. Did they really expect this to work? Granted, it seemed like it should, especially if Asher and I never found out, but... Argh! It annoyed me so much. How could either of them do this? Why would they? They were just so relentlessly vindictive over nothing and I didn't understand it.
And exploiting Robert's daughter's bed bug problem for their own gain? I knew Robert and his daughter probably couldn't afford to hire an exterminator on their own, so they must have put an ad up somewhere asking about a discounted rate or something like that. Solomon and Beatrice swoop in, pretending to be nice people and...
"Great. Don't forget to sell off the rest of your stock soon. The price will drop drastically once word hits the streets about the endless bed bug problem at the Landseer resorts. I have a few people lined up to file lawsuits, too. I'll send out supposedly good-intentioned press releases in regards to the issue and confirm Asher's knowledge of the problem months before it grew out of control. He doesn't even take a second glance at the reports I show him now, anyways, so he won't be able to deny it. I'll make up some excuse, and..."
Asher left my side. He strode through the backroom, weaving between bookcases, heading for the source of Solomon's and Beatrice's voices. I hurried after him, trying to keep up, but he was apparently a man on a mission and refused to let anything stop his progress. By the time he found them, I was still sneaking between a close together, tight pair of bookcase obstructing the only access to the corner spot that Solomon and Beatrice had claimed.
"Hello," Asher said. His voice nearly boomed compared to the sly tones of Beatrice and Solomon. "Thank you for inviting me to this meeting. I definitely appreciate your concern. I think we have a lot to discuss, don't you?"
I shoved through to the edge of the empty spot where we all now stood just in time to see the end of Beatrice's wide-eyed glare.
"What are you doing here?" Solomon asked.
"Are we going to play this game, Solomon?" Asher said.
"Shall I ask you the same thing, or can we cut through this nonsense?"
"You shouldn't know about this," Beatrice said, more annoyed than distressed.
"Yes, well, you can thank Jessika for that."
I'd rejoined Asher by his side, keeping a step back like he'd asked me. Turning towards me, he acted as if he were introducing me to the group. Beatrice and Solomon recognized me, but for wildly different reasons.
"So that's why you were in my office the other day," Solomon said. "If I had known Asher would come for you, I'd have dragged you somewhere else and had my way with you. Locking the door against the man with keys to every office isn't much use, I suppose."
"You know her?" Beatrice asked him. "This is outrageous. I let you into my home and was accepting of you. I went to that filthy doctor's office just to offer my support for Asher's ridiculous plan, and you do this to me?"
"Shut up, Beatrice," Asher said. "Stop being dramatic. I know you're not infertile, too. You weren't accepting of Jessika, you were going to use her to further your plans. Obviously it didn't work."
"Well," Solomon said. "We're at an impasse, I suppose. What do you propose now? What's done is done, and I have a hard time mustering up the inclination to undo my part of it."
"You can stop this," Asher said. "Both of you. Let's be adults here. I'll need to let you go, Solomon, but I'll sign a non-disclosure agreement about your release. For all anyone needs to know, you left the company for personal reasons. I'll give you a good benefits package and a brilliant reference to anyone who wants to hire you, though I doubt you'll need it."
To Beatrice, he added, "And you obviously never respected our marriage, Beatrice. Why did you have to do it this way, though? Couldn't you talk to me like an equal and explain that it wasn't working out? I tried, I did everything I could to make you happy, and you betray me like this? If you wanted a divorce... I would have done it. I wouldn't have left you empty-handed, either. We could have worked it out."
