23. Asher
Chapter 23
Asher
Jax sat down before me, his hands covering half of his face as he took in everything I had just told him in the last half an hour. After Brooke left me, I requested a few days off work, and luckily, my captain had granted me the days I needed to process just how crazy the past few days had been.
Out of concern and because I wasn’t answering any of his texts or calls, Jax had come to visit me, and I immediately broke down as I told him everything that had happened. In front of Anne , I had to pretend as if I was okay, and I knew she missed Brooke as much as I did, but she barely said anything.
When I was alone, I would cry. I missed her so fucking much that it felt like torture.
“ You’re the biggest idiot I’ve ever met in my life!” Jax yelled as he got up from his chair and looked at me in disbelief.
“ What ?” I whispered, shocked, and he shook his head as he huffed.
“ How could you let the only woman who was willing to deal with you go?” The way he said “you” kind of hurt me, but I wasn’t going to dwell on that.
“ There’s nothing wrong with me,” I grumbled as I hugged my throw pillow, and he clicked his tongue.
“ Nothing wrong with you?” he scoffed before he let out a humorless laugh. “ Nothing wrong with you? You let Brooke leave!”
“ She wanted to go!” I defended myself, and I knew I was an idiot for letting her go, but there wasn’t anything much that I could do. Not when my night terrors had only grown worse, and I was only getting an hour’s worth of sleep instead of my regular four.
“ Because you drove her away!” He kicked the air; he seemed really pissed at me. “ First , you draw a petition to get her kicked out, and you don’t withdraw it!”
“ I forgot about it,” I admitted, embarrassed, and he sucked in his breath as he shook his head.
“ You don’t forget easily, but fine.” He waved his hands and raised his second finger. “ You proceed to seduce her and let her form a bond with your child.”
“ She formed a bond with Anne before anything happened between us,” I corrected, and he rolled his eyes.
“ The order doesn’t matter; what you did does. After seducing her and convincing her that she was the lady in your life forever, you introduced her to all of your friends.”
“ The order is still wrong, and you’re the one who introduced her to my colleagues and their families.”
“ I said the order doesn’t matter! You failed to remember your petition, you fool,” which shut me up immediately. “ As I was saying, you introduce her to your friends, openly flirt with her, take her to your child’s recitals, screw her Monday through Sunday , secretly protect her, comfort her when she’s depressed, and when she asks you an important question, your answer was ‘ I don’t know’ ?” he mocked, and I rubbed my itchy ear as I nodded, agreeing to everything he had just said.
“ Oh , wait, let’s not forget how you noted the fact that she wanted to have a big family. You basically planted the idea in her head that you would build her a house and give her babies!”
Jax seemed incredibly disappointed in me, and I could tell he had built a strong friendship with Brooke when he met her, but I understood why. They were both basically loud people, and people enjoyed being around them because of their warm energy.
“ Yes ,” I swallowed, and Jax slapped his hands against his lap.
“ Asher , you fooled her into believing everything was working well between you. She cared for Anne as if she were her child. Where did you meet another woman who loved Anne as much as you did?”
He was right; nobody took better care of Anne than Brooke did, and I had ruined that. I hadn’t only hurt Brooke , but Anne was involved, too.
“ You are truly the nastiest person that I have met. You’re moody, and your obsessions with fire hazards can drive a person insane. You are controlling and sometimes annoying to be around, but Brooke ? Brooke was glad to spend time with you every single day. Do you know just how much she defended you during our calls?”
“ You guys had calls?” I asked him, shocked, and he rolled his eyes.
“ Yeah , and you ruined our possibility of having a double date. Thank you so much, you dickhead!”
“ What ?” I asked, confused, and he groaned.
“ What happened with that crazy man, Drew ?” he asked as he settled on the arm of the couch, and I fought not to tell him to move because then he would say I was controlling.
“ He’s currently in jail, waiting for bail.” I clenched my fists. Thomas had found me that day and told me that Brooke was mad at Drew about something and was about to approach him about it.
I was honestly terrified out of my fucking mind when Thomas told me that Brooke went after Drew because I was afraid he would do something, but imagine my joy when I saw him bleeding from his mouth and her hand marks on his face.
But when I noticed her face and just how much pain her eyes held, I couldn’t help but lunge forward and beat the shit out of him. When he was unconscious, I realized that Brooke had left. I immediately ran after her.
I wanted nothing more than just to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but when I saw the look of betrayal on her face, I knew that I had lost her forever.
“ Nah , that stalker won’t be getting bail. I talked to my dad, and he talked to his judge friend about it.” He crossed his arms over his chest, and I raised my eyebrows.
Rich friends.
“ Then why did you ask me about him?”
“ Cause I wanted to see if you regretted what you did, but it seems like you want to beat him up again,” he scoffed as he suppressed his laughter. What an idiot. “ How’s Anne ?”
“ Hurt , but school is distracting her.” I rubbed my face, and he shook his head as he stared at Brady , who sat by the door, waiting for Brooke to walk through and brighten up the space with her presence.
I had been waiting for days, too, but I knew she would never return.
“ So , will you get up and tell her how much you love her, or should I teach you everything?” Jax teased, and I got up from my seat.
He was right. Wasting away here and crying about how Brooke wasn’t home wouldn’t bring her back; I had to go fetch her!
“ You’re a genius!” I praised him as I quickly got changed into different clothes, and Jax scoffed.
“ Of course, I am. I’m not just rich and a player. I’m a bigger romantic than you are.”
“ Yeah , sure. Please fetch Anne for me if I’m not back on time.”
“ Why do you think I brought the Lambo ? My niece has to show off her rich uncle.” I rolled his eyes, and I knew I could count on him to fetch Anne for me.
I ran out of my apartment, stopped by the flower vendor, and bought a few too many flowers for Brooke . I ran to her workplace, and all I wanted to do was tell her was that I was sorry and convince her that I was sure about what I wanted now.
I loved her, and I wanted to make her happy. I knew I didn’t deserve her, but she was all I wanted.
When I arrived, I looked around her center, immediately enveloped in the center’s warmth. I noticed Matthew’s head and ran over to him. His eyes widened as he saw me, and he looked around.
“ Is Brooke here?”
“ I don’t think she wants to see you,” he whispered as he led me away from prying eyes, and I realized it seemed like the flowers were for him.
“ I know she doesn’t, but where is she?” I asked him, and he seemed like he didn’t want to say anything because then he would betray his friend’s trust.
“ She took some time off and won’t return until next week. And she is also isn’t at Marie’s at the moment; I don’t know where she is.” He was telling the truth, and I massaged my forehead as I tried to think of where she was.
I dialed her number as I stepped out of the center. I needed to hear her voice just once to know whether she was okay or not. I wanted to see her so badly and hold her in my arms and be embraced by her.
If I had been smart about it, then maybe she would still be here with me.
I pressed the phone to my ear, praying that she would answer my call, but after one ring, the familiar automated voice sent chills through my body.
“ The number you have dialed is not available at the moment. Please try again later.”
I sent her a message, desperate to reach her, but the one tick told me I was blocked. Fuck !
Me : I’m going to fight for you. Wait for me.