Harmony Island Gazette

26. Ella

Sunday morning, I woke up in a foul mood. I wanted to say it was because it was down pouring. The sky was dark and rain was pelting my windows, but I knew better. Today, the newspaper was being released.

The article about the Proctors was going to be read by the entire town. But more importantly, it would be read by Asher.

I moaned as I covered my face with my arm. I didn’t want to write the article. I didn’t get satisfaction from being instrumental in the destruction of my best friend’s business. I just had to hope the fallout for Asher wouldn’t be that bad.

Three solid knocks on my door had me pulling my arm down and staring at the ceiling.

Or maybe it was going to be just as bad as I thought it would be.

The knocks came again. I sighed, pulling my blankets from my body and climbing off the bed. I grabbed my robe and stuffed my arms into the sleeves as I made my way to the door. It was Asher. It had to be Asher. I had very few friends who would come to my apartment at six in the morning on a Sunday.

I rested my hands on the door handle and dead bolt as I sucked in my breath. I’d written the article, it was time I faced the consequences.

Asher was mid-knock when I flipped the dead bolt and turned the handle. His hand was swinging toward the door when I pulled it open. He widened his eyes when he saw me. I could see a mixture of emotions as he stared down at me. If I could sum up his expression in one word, it would be betrayal.

“Why did you write this?” he asked as he held up the paper crumpled in his hand.

I folded my arms across my chest, hating that I’d ever been put in this situation. By him. By Gloria. By the strange man outside of the newspaper. Why hadn’t anyone else been brave enough to expose what was going on?

“Asher, I had to,” I said, wishing I sounded more confident than I felt.

He frowned. “No, you didn’t.” He paused as he stared down at the paper. “This will ruin my business. If any of this is true, they will assume I was complicit with fraud.”

Guilt washed over me. “I know, Asher. But they were cheating people out of their homes. You were too blind to see it.” I swallowed as my emotions rose up in my throat, making it hard to speak. “I tried to tell you, but you just said to ignore it.” I freed one of my hands so I could wave it around, there was so much anxiety coursing through me. “You were too busy making deals to listen.”

His lips were parted as if he were preparing himself to speak, but as the last words left my lips, he stopped. “Is that what you think this was? That I was just in this for the money?”

I stared at him. “Well, isn’t that true?”

He scoffed and shook his head. He pushed his hand through his hair before he scrubbed it down his face and sighed. “You don’t get it, do you.” He straightened. “I was doing it for you. I wanted you to see me as someone who could take care of you.”

I furrowed my brow. “I can take care of myself.”

He nodded. “I know. I guess…” Then he shook his head. “Never mind.”

He turned to leave, but I didn’t want our conversation to end this way. I didn’t want our friendship to be over. So I reached out and rested my hand on his forearm. “Asher, wait. What did you guess?”

He froze, his gaze dropping down to my hand before he brought it up to meet mine. He studied me for a moment and then sighed.

“I did it for you, because…it’s always been you.”

I stared at him. What was he saying? Did he mean…no.

“Asher, I…” My brain wasn’t producing the right words. I didn’t know what to say, and yet, I feared if I didn’t say something, he would walk away and never look back.

“It’s okay, Ella. I never expected you to return the sentiment.” He pulled his arm back and used his other hand to press the paper into my open palm. “I just never thought this was how you truly felt about me.”

He dipped his head and walked back out to the hallway of my apartment complex. He paused, and I stood there like an idiot, watching my best friend walk away from me and feeling powerless to stop him.

“Goodbye, Ella,” he said as he held my gaze for a moment before he turned and walked down the hallway.

I watched him disappear into the elevator and lingered in my doorway long after the elevator doors had closed.

Now alone, I stared down at the newspaper in my hand. I’d known this article would hurt the Proctors, and I’d known that Asher would be affected by the debris. I guess I just hoped it wouldn’t have this kind of natural-disaster effect on our friendship.

There had never been a situation we couldn’t work through. We were friends first and foremost, and I thought we’d always stay that way no matter what.

Apparently, that wasn’t the case.

What had I done?