2. Asher
Chapter 2
Asher
I hate my new neighbor.
“ Daddy ! Hurry up; I’m gonna be late for school!” A smile grew on my face as I slipped on my shoes, slightly rolling my eyes. What kind of five-year-old worried about being late for day care?
“ Did you finish your breakfast, sweetheart?” I asked as I exited my bedroom while pulling on my jacket, and she kept quiet for a while before her muffled voice responded.
“ Yes !” I heard the spoon scrape the bowl before I saw her shove the last of her food into her mouth.
“ Sweetheart , what did I say about shoving that much food in your mouth?” I asked her as I grabbed her recently emptied bowl and washed it as she cleaned herself up.
“ To not shove that much food in my mouth,” she spoke softly as she zipped up her jacket, looking somewhat ashamed as she looked everywhere else but me. “ Sorry ,” she grinned, and I chuckled, leaned forward, and kissed her forehead as I grabbed her bag and held onto her hand.
“ Are you just that excited to go to day care?” I asked her, and a sound vibrated from her chest, confirming her excitement.
“ Today we’ll be doing ballet with Ms . Helen ,” she said while simultaneously standing on her toes, proving her excitement.
“ Do you want to become a ballet dancer?” I helped her twirl on her toes, and she giggled when she only did half a spin.
“ Hmm , no,” she answered almost immediately, and I tilted my head to the side as I closed the door behind us after making sure that my stove was off and most of the electrical appliances were unplugged. “ I don’t want to become a dancer.”
“ Then what do you want to be?” I certainly knew that in a year’s time, right up until her college years, she would change her careers biannually, and, if I was lucky, by the time she came back home tonight, she would have a new interest.
We passed by my new neighbor’s door, and I noticed that she had gotten her door fixed, this time opting for a grey painted two panel oak, and I immediately rolled my eyes. How could Thomas allow such a careless person like her move in?
I need to have a talk with him.
“ I want to be a fireman!” she shouted with a tiny jump, and I chuckled. “ I want to be cool like you, Daddy .” We entered the elevator, and I greeted the people who were in there.
“ Really ? You think I’m cool?” I asked her as I gently clutched her hand in mine, and as a response, she squeezed my hand back.
“ Yup !” She popped the “p” and jumped out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened. Anne was always jumping, very energetic and always said whatever came to mind, and I appreciated her honesty.
We walked out of our apartment building; the sunlight almost immediately blinded us, but we both had our caps on. It was a bit chilly today, but our colorful surroundings looked amazing, regardless. I should buy Anne flowers after school.
We began our walk to her day care, which was close by; I enjoyed our morning walks, and I had every reason to believe that Anne did, too, because of how excited she’d become just from seeing an insect and how much she would try to convince me to let her bring it back home with us so that it could be her pet.
These morning walks with my daughter were my saving grace. Every single day, my mind felt like a battlefield, and no matter how hard I tried to win the war in there, it was futile, but I had to keep on trying for Anne .
She was the only reason why I was still around; I had to watch her grow up into the person her mother believed she would be. I owed her that much.
“ Daddy , look at that beetle.” Anne pulled me out of my thoughts as she pointed to a beetle that was innocently crawling on the pavement and not disturbing anyone. It made its way across the pavement into the grass, and Anne followed it closely with her eyes, probably wishing I would let go of her hand to let her follow it.
“ Yeah ?” I answered cautiously; I knew very well what was about to come next, and her cheeky smile proved my theory.
“ I like beetles.” She looked up at me, and I nodded, agreeing with her wild statement.
“ Uh -huh,” I nodded, and she tilted her head to the side, almost succeeding in her antics, but I knew my daughter, just like how I knew what was about to come out of her mouth.
“ It would be nice to have as a pet.” She looked me dead in the eye, her smile growing because she knew what I was about to say. “ You can’t say ‘no’!”
“ Okay , then I decline your petition to adopt this beetle as a pet,” I said, and she groaned as she ran toward the double doors of her day care.
“ One day, I will also say ‘no,’” she raised a finger, and I nodded, wondering where exactly my daughter had adopted her attitude because it certainly wasn’t from me.
“ Do that in your own house,” I told her as I helped her take off her jacket and packed it into her bag. “ You’ll be going over to Granny Elise’s apartment today when I fetch you after school, okay?”
“ You’ll be working tonight?” she asked softly, and I nodded as I pressed a kiss on her head. “ Will you be back super late?”
“ If I need to do my cool job, yes,” I told her, and she nodded understandingly. “ Do you want me to get you something?”
“ No , Granny Elise already has some of my stuff.” This was not how a five-year-old acted. “ Okay , Daddy , bye bye!”
She pushed me away the moment she noticed her friends, and I chuckled as I waved at Ms . Helen who noticed my daughter’s abrupt change in attitude. After loudly saying goodbye to her, I walked back to my apartment building to get my stuff ready for work and made the necessary arrangements for Anne’s stay with Granny Elise .
She already had a key to my apartment, and whenever I would leave Anne with her, she would fetch the extra clothes, snacks, and games from my apartment so that Anne could be entertained.
Granny Elise was an elderly woman who lived a floor down from us, and she had been a huge help ever since I moved to Chicago with my daughter. If I hadn’t met her that day, I doubt I would be coping at all. She was an angel!
After gathering my stuff, I made my way down to the administrative office in my apartment building. I knocked on Thomas ’ office door, and he gave me permission to enter almost immediately.
“ She has to go” was the very first thing I said as soon as I stepped into his office, and Thomas sighed as he leaned back in his chair.
“ You’re doing it again, Asher ,” he breathed out, the twitching in his eyebrow intensifying as I crossed my arms over my chest. “ It hasn’t even been a full week. What did she do?”
“ She almost burnt down her apartment with candles!” I told him, and he tilted his head as he looked me up and down for a second.
“ Just like how the other three before her almost burnt down their apartment?” They actually didn’t; they all just had some terrible manners I didn’t appreciate. I was a bit particular about it; if I could choose my neighbors, I would.
“ Did you get her door fixed?” I deflected the question, and he nodded as he watched me carefully. “ I broke it while I was trying to save her life, and she had a problem with that. So , get rid of her.”
“ No . I’m the one who always has to do the explaining when the auditors come. You have to come up with proof of some kind that she’s not adhering to the contract.”
“ I just did. She almost burnt her apartment down. Next time, she’ll burn the whole building down, and you would have more than just auditors to explain to. The insurance company, land owners, family members, the bank. Do you really want to go through that because of some careless person?”
Thomas seemed to be thinking of my subtle threat as he slowly nodded his head, staring blankly at the door.
“ You’re right. I’ll give her a warning and remind her to be considerate of others when lighting her candles. Will that ease you worry?” No , it won’t ease my worry.
“ She needs to be kicked out. Gone . Away from here.”
“ No , I won’t be doing that, Asher . You need to learn how to play nice with your neighbors. Besides , Brooke already came and apologized to me about her mistake and fixed the door out of her own pocket.” He shrugged, and I clenched my jaw as I took a deep breath in.
Her name is Brooke , huh?
“ If I get a petition, and more than half of the tenants sign it, will you kick her out?” Thomas looked at me, shocked; he had no idea about the extent I was willing to go through to get rid of this careless girl.
“ Half of the tenants don’t even like you. Do you know how many have come to me and asked me to get rid of you?”
“ Answer my question,” I ignored his comment because I didn’t care about those people; they added nothing to my life.
“ Yes ,” he sighed as he searched through his drawers before finding a document, throwing it across his desk, and pointing at it with his finger. “ If you get enough signatures, Brooke’s lease and stay will be terminated.”
“ Hmm ,” I responded as I picked up the document. I left his office as he expressed how I should give her a chance, but I didn’t care about her. She almost killed herself, and all she did was stand in front of the fire like an idiot in just her towel.
What was wrong with her?
“ Why do you look so angry?” A familiar voice pulled me out of my thoughts, and I noticed Jax was standing outside my apartment building.
“ What are you doing here?”
“ No , that isn’t how you answer questions, my big cupcake. But since you asked so sweetly, I came to give you a ride to work.” He pointed to his newest convertible. The rich boy was a fireman just for fun, but he came from a wealthy family.
“ What do you want, Jax ?” I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest, and he rolled his eyes as he walked over to the driver’s side.
“ I told you, we’re going to work together, and then after that, you’ll let me know who made you so angry.” He pretended to pout, and I rolled my eyes. Out of all the people I could attract in this new place, it had to be the weird rich boy who wouldn’t leave me alone.
“ I’m not angry,” I answered roughly as I entered his car, and he gave me a look before he pulled out of his parking spot. “ It’s just this new girl,” I sighed as I palmed my forehead, and he cooed. He fucking cooed!
“ Tell me all about her! I didn’t know you were interested in dating.”
“ Don’t get excited; I am not interested in dating.” I quickly shot down his ideas and proceeded to tell him about my new neighbor, answering his questions in between even though I knew nothing about the girl besides the fact that she was an idiot.
“ Don’t you think it’s kind of mean to get a petition to get her kicked out, though?” Jax asked after listening to my story carefully, and his question made me wonder whether or not he was listening.
“ It’s necessary.”
“ Give her a chance, huh?” he advocated for her, and I stared at him from the corner of my eyes.
“ She’s careless.”
“ It was a mistake!” he argued, and I scoffed. Why was he speaking as if he wasn’t a fireman?
“ One that we’ve seen claim the lives of many; don’t be an idiot too, Jax .”
He sighed as he shook his head. “ Just don’t judge her so early; give her a chance.”
“ Do you know this girl?” I asked him, and he chuckled as he shook his head. “ Then stop trying to convince me to give her a chance. I know her type; she won’t change.”
“ Ugh , okay then,” Jax gave up on trying to convince me otherwise and after a few moments of silence, he pulled up to a red light and turned to face me with his eyebrows lifted. “ Is she pretty?”
Fuck . She’s gorgeous!
“ Yes .” Too fucking pretty. “ But her carelessness sticks out like a sore thumb.”