Sleep doesn’t come for me until I see the sun peek out from the horizon. All night I refused to succumb because I wanted to enjoy every second of my time with Asher, whether he was awake or not. What he told me about time before, how it’s one of the most important things we can own, he was right on target. I’d do anything to have more of it. But I had this time and it was glorious, memorable. He continued to caress and snuggle me throughout the night. At one point, the breeze increased just slightly. He awoke, momentarily and adjusted the linens and tightened his arms to ensure my warmth. Otherwise, he slept peacefully while I continued to reflect and inspect my feelings. Until finally, my mind gives way to physical demands, and I sleep.
When he wakes me with a kiss later, I’m tired but happy when I look at his rested and happy face. “I’m sorry to wake you, gorgeous, but we need to get back to the room. I need to get ready for breakfast with Hunter and the staff is here to clean up after us. I let you sleep as long as I could.”
“Oh, of course.” I hold the sheet to my body and look around for my dress. He hands it to me and I slip it back over my body and stand, taking my shoes in one hand and Asher’s hand in the other. We’re quiet as he walks me back to our room. It’s as if we don’t want to disturb the left over magic from the night that still lingers in the air.
While he moves to the restroom to get ready for breakfast, I collapse onto the bed, still feeling tired from my lack of sleep. I must doze off because the next thing I know, Asher’s waking me again. “Wake up beautiful princess,” he says making me smile before I open my eyes. “Hi,” he smiles when I open them, “you’re sleepy.” I nod. “Well why don’t you stay right here and when I get back, I’ll join you. I’ll bring you some food too, I’m sure you’ll be hungry.”
“That sounds perfect.”
“Okay. I didn’t want to go without giving you a kiss.”
“I’m glad,” I murmur and sigh with pleasure when he presses his lips to mine. I cup the side of his face and keep my hand there when he pulls back.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Take your time. I’ll see you when you get back.” He nods, gives me one more kiss, then stands from the bed. He’s almost to the door when I call, “Hey,” he spins around a smile on his face. He’s wearing a simple black t-shirt and jeans with his ball cap. “I was thinking I would call the concierge and get us a few groceries and I could cook for us tonight. Would that be okay with you?”
His smile widens, “You would cook for me?”
“I would love to cook for you.”
“You know,” he begins resting a hip on the doorway, “in some cultures that means that a woman is going to accept a man into her bed. When she offers him food.”
“Does it now? Well, I guess we did this whole thing backwards then. But we already know that, don’t we?” I place a finger to my chin, “I guess we could role play. Pretend I haven’t already had you in my bed and I can feed you food and maybe fan you with a palm frond or something. Make my intentions clear.”
His eyes narrow, “And what are your intentions?”
“To get you back in my bed of course, duh.”
He smirks, “Of course it is.”
“Alright stud, see you later.”
“Bye, princess.” But instead he runs over to the bed and gives me one more kiss before he pulls away, looks at me intently, then walks out of the room.
Falling back onto the bed I sigh at how in love with him I am. It’s probably wrong that thoughts of handcuffing him to my bed and never letting him leave have crossed my mind. Laughing at myself, I’m startled when I hear a knock at the door and then laugh again. I run to the door wondering if he forgot his key, grab my robe on impulse and throw it on as I open the door, “Did you forget your key?” But it isn’t Asher at the door, it’s Hunter.
“Oh. Hi.”
“Is Asher here?” he practically snaps at me. So much for formalities.
“No, he-”
He cuts me off, “We’re supposed to meet for breakfast.” He sighs as if divulging even that is painful for him.
“Yeah, I know. He just left. Maybe he went to your room?”
Without a word, he turns and starts walking down the hallway. His attitude pisses me off and before I can think twice about it, I blurt, “What the hell is your problem?”
He spins around, “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. But I’ll say it again. What the hell is your problem? I told you I have no ulterior motive here, and I don’t. I don’t get why you hate me so much.”
“I don’t hate you. I just don’t like you.”
“Oh, well that’s so much better.”
“Look, I think if you gave a damn about him, you’d let him do something about all of this bad press before it effects his career. He’s worked his ass off. And with the shit that hit the fan yesterday-” He stops and sighs putting the bridge of his nose in his hand as if he’s getting a headache. “Maybe you don’t care about the shit that’s being said, but I do. And he should. It matters.”
Shaking my head I stare at him, “What the hell are you talking about?”
He stares back, open-mouthed, “You don’t know?”
“No.”
“Your friend, the one I met before-”
“Katie.”
“Yeah, her. She hasn’t called you? Don’t you have an assistant or something?”
“Let me grab my phone.” Holding the door open, he steps into the room and I go to my purse and grab my phone. The last time I remember using it was when I took photos at the sky pool. Pulling it out, I push the home button but nothing happens, the screen remains dark. Walking back into the next room, I hold it up, “It’s dead. Maybe she’s tried. What the hell is going on?” Now he has the nerve to look hesitant and that infuriates me. “Oh hell no. You don’t get to make accusations and assume shit about me and then back down when you realize I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“The press has been going nuts since the word got out that you two got married. Asher’s been ignoring calls from his publicist and agent refusing to discuss it, so of course the press is having a field day.”
“Well that’s nothing new, right? Asher told me they are like rabid dogs with a bone.”
“That’s true, but word is that even the producers of his upcoming movie are asking questions and he’s not dealing with any of it. Aside from that is the fact that there was a major story that came out about you yesterday.”
“About me? What do you mean?”
“Your father’s wife? She’s stating that you’re mentally unstable. She gave details to the press about how you were supposed to get married and went crazy at the altar. There’s even a sad interview with your ex-fiancé. She said that marrying Asher is the cherry on top of your going crazy sundae and that you aren’t within your right mind. Moreover, she says you’ve been unstable for a number of years. After your mom died? And I guess there’s discussion by the Board of Directors at the company where you work about terminating you.”
“Oh my god,” I whisper, horror making me feel sick to my stomach. Hunter may not know why Angelica would be doing this, but I sure as hell do.
“Sorry to break it to you like this, I thought you would have been told and I couldn’t fathom why you didn’t care.”
“I’m sure Katie is going crazy trying to reach me.”
“I’m sorry to make this worse, but if you care at all about Asher, you will do something about this. This press is really bad for his image. He’s a good guy. He doesn’t get caught up in all the Hollywood hype and shit. He doesn’t deserve to have the image he’s worked hard to maintain dragged through the mud for some chick he met and wanted to hang out with for a week. No offense.”
This isn’t really about Asher – though it’s impacting him – it’s about me. The room is whirling around me. So many thoughts are going through my mind. Angelica is trying to take my company out from under me. I know she’s trying to get the board to side with her
and to push me out of my own company. I need to deal with this. And unstable? She’s telling people I have been mentally unstable? And as much as I hate this, Hunter is right. Asher doesn’t deserve this kind of trash attached to his name. This is all because of my family drama and he doesn’t have anything to do with this, but he’ll still reap the consequences all the same. One whispered word against him is too much. “I need to leave. Now.” I look around the room frantically thinking about everything I need to pack but I don’t really see any of it. I want to cry, scream, and throw up in response to my own words.
Looking back at Hunter, he’s looking at me with pity. “I think that would be best.” Each word he says hitting me between the eyes like a hammer.
Nodding absently, I try without success to keep the tears at bay, but they flow down my cheeks freely. Hunter looks at me with a mix of horror and confusion and my anger flares again. “So sorry to burden you with my tears. You can leave now.”
“I just don’t get it.”
“Don’t get what?” I snap at him.
“Why are you crying? This is just a fling for you.”
“Says who? You? Why would you just assume that? You know nothing about me.”
“Oh come on, you expect me to believe that all of this, the whole sham of a marriage and spending time with Asher all week isn’t you trying to take advantage of him somehow?”
“Take advantage of him? Because of his money? Oh wait, I have my own. So, what then?”
“I don’t know, you tell me.”
“Fuck you. And the horse you rode in on.”
“That’s what I thought,” he has the nerve to say. A smile of triumph on his face.
“You couldn’t be more wrong. I love him. I’m in love with him. And leaving, that’s going to kill me.” More tears fall down my face as my voice breaks with my confession.
Hunter is frozen staring at me with a look of disbelief. “I really don’t care what you think, but it’s the truth. I didn’t ask for him to walk up to me at that party. I wasn’t even the one that suggested getting married. I didn’t come here looking for anything other than to get away from my life in New York for a little while. I never expected to meet Asher. I never expected or thought it was possible to be completely charmed by a man in less than a week and fall in love. I didn’t ask for any of this.”
“God, I had no idea. I’m so sorry,” Hunter’s face falls and I believe his words, but every ounce of my emotion is tied up in my leaving Asher. I don’t have enough in me to care about how Hunter feels.
Walking into the next room, I grab my suitcase and start throwing all of my stuff into it. I don’t take time to fold anything, I just shove anything and everything I can grab inside. Going into the bathroom, I gather all of my things from there too. “Fuck!” I curse suddenly.
“What’s wrong?” Hunter asks, and I jump a little not expecting him to be right there.
“My phone is dead. I need to make a plane reservation, and can’t.”
“Let me help you.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“Please, let me do this. To make up for being an asshole.”
“It won’t make up for it. But, I will take your help because I’m out of options.” He nods and removes a messenger bag from his body. He pulls a computer out of the bag and pulls up the airline once he connects to the internet. His phone begins ringing and with a look at me, I know without him saying who’s on the other end. “Hello? Hey man. Yeah, I’m sorry, I’m running late. No! No, it’s not cancelled, I’ll be there in a few minutes. I know, but you promised because we need to deal with this whether you like it or not. Okay. Good. I’ll be there soon.” He hangs up and his fingers fly over the keyboard once more. “There’s a flight in a couple hours.”
“Okay, that works.”
He turns the computer to me and I book my ticket. While I grab the rest of my things, he calls the concierge and gets me a taxi ride to the airport. All packed up, I look around the room and my heart aches at the thought of leaving, but I have to. This was never going to be something other than a week. I love him, and that’s why I need to do this. Besides, maybe on some level this will make things easier. I’m not sure I could stomach a goodbye.
“For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry that this is hurting you,” Hunter says and I scoff in response.
“Just promise me that you’ll explain to him. I’m going to leave him a note, but take care of him okay? I don’t mean now, he’ll get over this, I just mean always. And stall as long as you can at breakfast. I don’t think he’d come after me, but just in case, alright?”
He nods, and with one more glance at me, he’s gone. Forcing myself to keep it together a little bit longer, I take out a piece of paper from a notebook in my carry on bag and a pen.
Dear Asher,
I’m sorry that I won’t get to make dinner for you tonight after all. It would have been amazing just so you know – I really am a good cook. I’m sure you’ve noticed by how clean our room is that I’m gone. Maybe you’re thinking, ‘she’s talking about cooking?’ or ‘thank god her clothes aren’t all over the place now’, I don’t know, but I’m only talking about cooking first because what I want to say isn’t easy. You see, the impossible happened this week. I came to Cabo not even knowing I was looking for something other than just needing to get away. It wasn’t until I met you that I realized what’s been missing. I never expected to meet you, let alone fall in love with you, but I guess fate had other plans. I’m sure some would think that love this fast is impossible; I think I would have thought that too, but it’s true. I’m in love with you. And because I’m in love with you, I can’t allow my life to come down on your head due to someone wanting revenge against me. I’m so incredibly sorry that my broken family life has bled onto you and your career. I can only hope that it didn’t leave a stain. I promise I will handle it. Just know that with you I found out what it’s like to feel love, to be happy, to have fun, to be carefree. I found a magic I didn’t even think existed for me in you, and my life will forever be better for it. I will treasure this week and the memories we made. I’ll look for you in that chick flick you promised me. I hope that somehow in some way, I also left you with a gift – anything of importance - like you’ve given me.
My address is on the back of this paper, so when you have the divorce papers you can send them to me for a signature.
Keep being you, Asher, because you’re amazing.
Love,
Your Princess
Placing the note on his pillow, I grab my bags and walk out the door. A golf cart is waiting to bring me to the lobby so I can catch a cab and I’m sure it’s Hunter’s doing. He may be sorry, but he’s anxious to smuggle me out of here as soon as possible. Guess I can’t blame him. I’m all business until I get into the cab to ride to the airport. When the door shuts behind me, and we make our way out of the resort, I turn around and give it one last look. Down far below, I can see the cabana on the sand that was occupied by Asher and I just hours ago. My heart hitches at the sight, and I close my eyes and turn around, finally letting the tears flow uninhibited down my face, feeling as if my heart is breaking inside of my body.
When Faye hands me another tissue, I smile gratefully. Just as my story ended, our plane landed. We sit patiently waiting for the door to open and for people to start filing out. It’s been a long flight and I’m eager to get home. To see Katie. To get back to my normal routine so I can put this pain behind me. To settle this with my stepmother and others.
“Oh, sweet girl. No wonder your heart is breaking.” Nodding, I’m unable to form words. “And so you left without a single word to Asher?”
“Only the note.”
“He hasn’t blown up your phone with calls?”
Shaking my head, I smile sadly, “We never exchanged numbers. We were together all the time and it never came up. I don’t even have his email. Other than my address that I gave him in the note I left, we don’t have any contact inf
ormation for each other.”
“Oh, dear,” Faye says with a shake of her head.
“It’s better this way. If I had his number I would probably call him or think about calling him, or call and hang up over and over like some teenager.” I laugh a little bit, but it’s forced.
When it’s our turn to exit the plane, it takes me a few tries to budge my suitcase from the overhead bin and I laugh a little remembering shoving it in there to begin with. Following Faye off the plane, we wait for our luggage together and then hug each other goodbye.
“Thank you for sharing your story with me,” Faye says, her sweet hand holding mine.
“Thank you for listening. It helped to talk about it. I think I would have gone a little nuts all those hours on the plane just holding it all in.”
“Keep your chin up, sweet girl. These things have a way of working themselves out. Believe in magic.”
Shaking my head sadly, I try to smile for her, but I’m sure it looks more like a grimace. “Love is the closest thing to magic I think. The way it makes one feel, how it makes you feel things you’ve never expected, has the power to make sad things disappear and makes you believe in the impossible. I’m afraid that I’ve lost my belief in magic. At least for now.”
Faye pushes the hair that escaped my ear, back behind it, “Then I’ll believe enough for both of us for now.”
Charming: A Modern Day Sexy Cinderella Story Page 19
