Chapter 38 Asher #4
“Certain,” he snaps, leaving no room for interpretation, and she nods and walks away a bit despondent.
If there’s something we mastered young, it was how to push women away.
We were all preyed upon young. We were just teen boys when grown women started throwing themselves at us because of our last name.
I could have lost my virginity at fourteen to a woman twice my age if I’d wanted to.
And I was tempted to many times throughout my teens.
Luckily, my parents kept us on a tight leash and kept our guards on the highest threat levels that if they allowed that, they would be prosecuted for enabling statutory rape.
As such, I was the respectable age of seventeen before I lost my virginity to a schoolgirl in my grade.
And now that I look back, I realize how that was practically a miracle.
I have spent the majority of my life dodging women’s advances.
I loved it when I was young, but somewhere along the way, it’s grown tiresome.
I know that when women see me, they see money.
They see my name. They see my power. I know I’m attractive, so they see that too, but they don’t see me.
And I’m now at an age where that matters.
I want to be seen for who I am as a person, not who I am in status.
I give Ella’s knee a squeeze before letting go to start on my dinner.
“The hussies these days,” Aunt Bethany says, sipping her wine. “As if a Langford man would stoop to the level of a waitress.”
Maya’s mouth pops open, but she closes it quickly. Sterling and I both cringe.
“I see nothing wrong with dating a waitress,” Sterling says to Aunt Bethany. “Honest work is honest work.”
Aunt Bethany clucks. “You can’t date a waitress. That’s like dating the help.”
“We’re in a new century. Those old rules no longer apply,” I say.
“The world has gone soft. And it’s a mess and a shame.
In my day, we kept to our own kind of people, and the waitstaff was not included in that.
Sometimes men would dally with the help for a bit of a distraction, for some roguish behavior.
Men will be men, as you two well know. But they would never date them, or be seen with them in public. The scandal it would have caused.”
Sterling and I both take deep breaths. We love our family, but the older generations on both sides can be difficult at best.
“While classism is still very much alive and well in our world, we don’t personally subscribe to it,” Sterling says.
“We’ve both dallied plenty, but never while we were in another relationship,” I say. “I refuse to have a wife at home and a mistress on the side. That’s a recipe for disaster and a lifetime of unhappiness.”
Ella looks at me with appreciative, raised brows. Maya is surveying everything quietly.
“Men like the Langfords can’t be expected to be wholly monogamous,” Aunt Bethany says, waving her hand dismissively. “Those with that kind of power and wealth never are.”
“Our father has been faithful to our mother,” I snap.
“He is an exception, dear. And Catherine was the greatest beauty of her time. And her mother and I were ruthless in her grooming. We molded Catherine into the perfect, model wife for a powerful man. She had royals from several countries seeking her hand. Your father is intelligent enough to understand that he had won the heart of Europe’s most eligible young woman. ”
Yes, we’d heard snippets from our mother of her formative years and her upper class “grooming.” Her mother’s and aunt’s methods would absolutely be deemed abusive by today’s standards.
“It’s also because he loves her more than anything, and no other woman compares in his eyes,” Sterling says, annoyed.
“Yes, yes. Your parents’ life has been like a fairytale. But those are rare, my dears.” She turns her eyes to Ella. “I just hope you understand that,” she says pointedly. “You can’t expect Asher to always be faithful. It’s best to accept that now, before things go any further.”
“I would absolutely expect that,” Ella says, her tone firm. “I would never agree to marry a man who had no intention of being faithful.”
“Then you are marrying into the wrong social sphere.”
“That’s enough, Aunt Bethany,” I say as calmly as I can.
“I understand that is how things were back in your day, but that is no longer acceptable behavior. I do plan to be faithful when I marry, and I won’t marry until I’m ready to do so.
I would not disrespect my wife like that.
I will treat my wife with the same dignity and respect my father has always given my mother. ”
Aunt Bethany holds up her wine with a smirk and a glint in her eye. “That’s good to hear, dear. It does make for a smoother life. I think you two will do just fine.” She winks at Ella.
Ella’s eyes are wide with shock, and I want to bang my head on the table.
Of course Aunt Bethany was goading me to see what I would do and to see how Ella would react.
Good lord, Aunt Bethany has always been a feisty one.
She’s a strange amalgamation of rigid old school and out of touch, while also being a fiery, independent woman who advocates for other women.
It’s a mind fuck at the best of times.
The rest of the meal is fairly quiet, and the conversation doesn’t go much deeper than the weather and what brought Ella and me into town. It’s somewhat awkward, but also a relief. I brush my fingers along Ella’s knee several times, hoping she’s not too upset by Aunt Bethany.
Unfortunately, Aunt Bethany’s views are not uncommon in my world, and Ella is only getting a taste of things to come.
I need to talk to her about it later. Conversations with old, backward views on people and classes and men are still very much the norm in many cases, and it’s not something I’m going to be able to do much about.
I tolerate the people however I can, and call them out for their shit when I can, but it’s still a delicate slope to navigate.
At least Aunt Bethany is only half serious.
Most of my extended family still very much believes in those views.
When the meal is finally over, Sterling and I escort Aunt Bethany to her waiting car.
“Ella is a fine girl,” she says, patting my arm. “But you need to prepare her more. The press is ruthless. You don’t want her to drown.”
“I will. Thank you, Aunt Bethany.”
“And you,” she turns to Sterling. “You need to find yourself a girl. You’re not getting any younger. Your parents had two children and a third on the way when they were your age. Don’t waste your youth on floozies. Find a great love like Asher has, and fight for it.”
I can tell it’s taking Sterling everything he has not to tell Aunt Bethany that Ella is being paid to pose as my girlfriend, which pisses me off. But he keeps his mouth shut, and we bid her a final goodbye.
“A great love, huh?” he says, elbowing me, whispering low so that only I can hear. “I just need to find a girl and pay her five million to pretend, and then I’m all set like my big brother.”
“Fuck you.” I roll my eyes.
“Aunt Bethany is going to have many words for you when things end between you and Ella. I can’t believe she approves of her since she isn’t some sort of heiress. Who would have thought?”
I let out a derisive laugh. “It’s because she’s seen the press Ella garners, even over here in the UK.
Aunt Bethany may be stuck far into the last century, but there’s one thing she understands in this new age, and that’s the power of attention.
Even she can’t deny that Ella’s appeal is its own currency.
Ella doesn’t need the ties to an old family with money, and in some ways that probably makes her more likable.
The people are equal parts enamored and annoyed with our wealth and history.
I honestly think an heiress would have tipped the scales further to annoyed. And I think Aunt Bethany knows that.”
“The question is, brother, what do you do with all this? This is bigger than any of us expected, and it’s only going to get bigger. How do you see this all ending?”
“I don’t fucking know anymore. It’s getting more complicated by the day.”
Sterling opens his mouth to say something else, but closes it when Ella and Maya exit the restaurant and head our way.
“I’m not ready to go back to the hotel,” Ella says, sidling up to me. It’s a chilly night, even though it’s almost May. London weather. “I want to spend some time with Maya, and I need another drink after that delightful inquisition. Would you guys be up to going to a club or a bar?”
I look at Sterling, and he shrugs. “Sure.”
“Let’s do it.”