Chapter 5 - Asher
I waited in the living room while Hazel ran upstairs to change. I put on a pair of jeans and a nice blue button-down. It wasn’t anything fancy, but classy enough that my father couldn’t say anything.
“I’m ready.”
I turned to take Hazel in. She had put on a long, tight black dress. She wore a sweetheart neckline with a dangling necklace. She had a pair of boots in her hand and a long cardigan to go with them. It was simple yet elegant.
She had her hair down with some makeup on. She looked stunning, and I felt my heart skip a beat. I soaked in the sight of her, taking in the way the dress hugged her curves, and how her breasts were concealed in the dress, yet giving you an idea of what was underneath.
“Is this too much? Too little?” She did a twirl, and my eyes snapped to her ass for a split second.
I quickly shook my head, trying to pull myself together. “No, you look good. It’s a nice dress.”
She blushed, looking embarrassed. She bent down, sliding her boots on.
I walked over toward her and opened the front door. “I want to give you a little warning before we go. My parents can be a bit much sometimes.”
She raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Doesn’t everyone say that about their parents?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but it’s true for me. Don’t take anything personally is all I’m saying.”
We headed to the car, falling into a silent again. It was hard to figure out what to say. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing and set her off. We were talking, but we still felt like strangers.
She cleared her throat, looking at me. “So, who is all going to be at this dinner? Is it us and your parents?”
“My parents and my younger brother, Kyle. He is living with them until he finds his own place.”
She nodded. “Do you get along with your brother?”
“We get along,” I said with a shrug. “But I’m not calling him up to have a beer. We’re very opposite, and it won’t take you long to figure that out.”
She nodded, her hands tugging at her dress. She looked nervous as I parked, her eyes looking at the building. Her jaw dropped. “You used to live here?”
I nodded. “It’s pretty spacious, which is why I liked it. And private.”
She gave me a look. “Well, yeah, and I imagine it costs a lot of money a month.”
“Sometimes you have to pay for your own little slice of heaven.”
I got out of the car, and she hurried out herself. We headed inside and took the elevator up. I watched her chew on her lower cheek, her eyes staring at the door.
“You can turn back home if you want,” I offered. “I can say you weren’t feeling good or that you were working late tonight.”
She shook her head. “No. I’m fine.”
I felt a little bad about asking her to come. But I honestly didn’t want to come alone. I’d be stuck listening to my father go on and on about work, and my brother would agree with him, probably not even understanding half of what he was saying.
The elevator doors opened, and we stepped off. We walked down a hallway and got to the door. I knocked, and three seconds later, my mother opened the door. She was wearing a cream dress with her hair pulled back. Her smile grew as soon as she spotted us.
“Oh, I’m so glad you both came!” She stepped out, pulling me into a hug. “We just pulled the dinner out of the oven.”
She turned to Hazel and held her arms out for a hug. Hazel looked a little surprised but accepted the hug. My mother held her tightly for a long moment before pulling back. “Come in.”
She allowed us to step inside. The huge living room was quiet with the fireplace roaring. I found they had kept the space the same as I had it decorated. Photos of mine hung on the wall, and there was a piano pressed in the far left corner.
The space was warm, so I pulled my jacket off and took Hazel’s as she slid hers off. My mother wrapped her arm around Hazel, tugging her with her. “Have you seen Asher’s photography?”
Hazel nodded. “I have. He has some at the house.”
My mother beamed. “He’s gifted. I sort of wish he did it more.
He didn’t start doing it until he was out of high school.
” My mother chirped as she pulled Hazel to the living room.
I looked down the narrow space and into the kitchen.
But I didn’t spot my father or my brother.
But I knew they were home since their shoes were out.
“This is my favorite.” My mother said, pointing toward a picture of a mountain I had taken after doing a trek in the Himalayas.
“He took it when he was twenty-one. He went trekking with a friend for two months.”
“Really?” Hazel looked at me with wide eyes. “ I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, I did that before I started working with Brandon. It was my last long trip. Most of my trips are a week long at the most now.”
Hazel looked at the pictures. “They are beautiful.”
“Do you have any hobbies?” My mother sat down on the couch. “Play any instruments? Sew or anything?”
Hazel swallowed, and I could see the way she looked nervous, like she wasn’t sure if there was a right or a wrong answer.
“I uhmm….have tried a little bit of everything, but nothing that I would count as a hobby.”
“Such as?”
“I used to draw portraits. I think I did decent on them. I don’t have much time for hobbies between the two jobs I have.”
“You have two jobs?” My mother’s eyebrows went up.
Hazel nodded. “Yeah, I work part-time at the bar and part-time at the healing center. I’m hoping to get full-time at the healing center, but they don’t have the need.”
“The healing center is beautiful. I went there for a deep cough I’d been having for almost two weeks, and the gal who helped me was such an angel. We didn’t have anything like that in our old pack. It’s amazing how well things are handled here.”
“They are hard-working witches,” Hazel said, seeming to relax a little. The moment was short-lived as I heard my father come down the hallway. “Food is done.”
He stood staring at us, his eyes glued to Hazel. I could see he was judging, his jaw tense together and his shoulders tight. His lips were in a tight line as he turned.
My mother got up. “Great. I’ll grab the plates.”
We all moved into the dining room. There was a long maple wood table with eight chairs around it. My folks had laid out the stuffed chicken and the salad. My mother cut up fresh fruit and had a flower arrangement in the center.
“This all looks lovely,” Hazel said as I pushed her chair in. I took a seat next to her and watched as my mother sat down. My father was already seated, scooping up a chicken breast onto his plate.
“Where is Kyle?” I asked, having expected him. I heard the front door open and shut as I asked, and I knew right away it was him.
“I’m home.”
I looked down the hallway, staring at my brother.
He looked exactly like our mother, with blond hair and light blue eyes.
He, however, took after our father in every possible way.
He was hard-headed and heartless, because our father was respected and higher up on the chain of command, he acted like he was, too.
“Sorry, I’m late. I was just accepting a job offer. You are looking at the new floor manager of the law firm.”
“Oh sweetie, that’s great.” My mother gave him a soft smile. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Comes with a big raise, too.” Kyle froze when he spotted Hazel and me. His eyes quickly scanned her, and I watched a smirk pull at his lips.
“Asher and Hazel were able to join us for dinner tonight.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Hazel said, offering Kyle a smile. My brother returned it, but it wasn’t sweet.
“Yeah, I’ll get a corner office and quarterly bonuses. And within two years, I will have the chair set on the board.” Kyle said it like he’d been working his ass off his entire life for this. But our father probably called in a favor.
“Proud of you, son.” My father offered him a smile as Kyle sat down and looked at me. He held a smug smile, his eyes waiting for me to say something, but I learned long ago to just let things go. “How is it going for you, Asher? Still holding your same job? No climbing the ladder?”
I knew he was saying it as an insult, trying to tick me off because I hadn’t followed in my father’s footsteps.
“I’m still holding the same job. I don’t need to climb the ladder.”
Kyle looked at Hazel, clearly not getting what he wanted out of me. “And what do you do, Hailey?”
I ground my teeth together, knowing he said her name wrong on purpose. I watched Hazel squirm uncomfortably. “It’s Hazel, and I work part-time at the bar and the healing center.”
Kyle clicked his tongue, turning his attention to his food. “Not everyone is set up to be successful. It happens.”
Hazel looked like she’d been slapped. Her mouth hung open, and her eyes snapped toward me. I offered her a tight smile. I knew it was best to just ignore my brother. He was an asshole. Always had been. There was no changing that.
I turned my attention to my mother. “Mom, did you find a new job? Did you call Ashley at the school?”
She nodded. “I did, but they don’t have any openings at the moment. Which is fine, I don’t mind being here and getting settled.”
“Which I think is utter bullshit.” My father added. “You are more qualified to work there than anyone else is. They should give you a spot. Make one if they need to.”
“That’s not how it works, Dad.”
“It’s fine.” My mother added, trying to calm the moment. “I enjoy being at home.”
I watched as my father’s jaw worked before he took a bite of his chicken. “It’s their loss in the end. They don’t want to hire someone talented, then they don’t deserve your time.”
I looked at Hazel, who was staring at her chicken now. She took a bite of it, slowly chewing before she spoke up. “What do you do…uhmm….”
“Mary. I’m a musician. I was hoping to get a job at the school to teach orchestra.”
“Oh, wow.”
“My mother used to teach all around the world. Did a couple of tours.” I explained. “We all know how to do something musical. She knows how to play pretty much every instrument.”