The Love of Lies

Perfect

Ashton’s POV

Cori put on a movie that I really wasn’t expecting to enjoy, but I paid attention to it because I felt like it was important to her, and after she said that she wouldn’t have picked either man, I knew that I made the right choice.

Her fondness for the movie wasn't based on an attraction or affinity with any of the characters, instead, it's likely based on memories she made with her mother.

However, my interest is piqued because, as silly as it may sound, I saw myself in one of the characters, and I'm not sure if Cori sees my affection toward her as genuine.

She may see my kindness as an act, especially since I'm almost certain that she hasn't fully forgiven me for how we started our 'cohabitation.'

“Hey Cori, what kind of guys did you date in high school?" I turn to face the woman, patiently waiting for her answer as I study her beautiful features.

She isn't far from the age she graduated, so I know she must have looked similar to the way she does now, just a little younger.

Cori's POV

Ashton almost spotted me staring, but I'm not really concerned because his question caught me off guard, curbing my embarrassment.

“I only went on one date as a teen.”

“Cori…" Ashton doesn't believe me, but I have no reason to lie. Still, I understand that he's probably just trying to figure out if an ex could have gotten me pregnant.

“I’m serious. There were boys that I found cute, but they…” I pause, not knowing if I should continue. "I just preferred to keep my distance."

"Did they?" That's confusing because the answer is a combination of yes and no that won't make sense without context.

"Most of them stayed away from me, but others were cruel. They…” I take a deep breath, still angry about that part of my life. “Someone started a rumor about me."

"And they believed it?"

"Not everyone. I spent all my time at work or the library, and a lot of people knew that.”

"Can you tell me what they said?" Ashton picks up my hand, bringing my eyes back to his face.

I looked away because I didn't want to have this conversation while making eye contact with him. Now, I feel like I have to.

“When my mother passed, she had an estate; one she didn't touch because she knew that I would need it. The woman I'm named after had a son not much older than me, and we supposedly shared a father.”

I tell Ashton that the boy's mother tried to take my father for child support, thinking that her son would get a piece of my mother's pie, but she underestimated the man’s love of money.

He didn't sign the boy's birth certificate, so paternity had to be established, and my father didn't reject a DNA test. It turned out that 'the love of his life' was a liar, and the son he thought he had belonged to someone else.

I remember how angry he was, and shortly after that, he started hating me for being named after a ‘lying wh*re.’

"Anyway, that boy told everyone that my father sold me to his friends. People believed it because he didn't have a real job, but my mother's estate provided for us, almost like child support payments."

Ashton's POV

Cori had a terrible life, and I feel like it's my job to show her that nothing she experienced was normal or fair. She and I are going to have a baby together, and because I still don’t know what caused her panic attack, I have to assume it’s the pressure of not knowing how she’s going to protect our child.

“Have you seen any of them since high school?”

“None of them. I haven’t been back to my home state since I moved here.”

“Not even to check on your inheritance?” Cori shakes her head in the negative, and because I feel like she’s being taken advantage of, I ask her if she wants me to hire a property manager for her.

“What would that do?”

“Your father should be paying something for living in that house. Even if it's just fifty dollars a month.” Cori thinks about it for a while, then nods.

She’s clearly still worried about money, and because I don’t want her stressing over something that means nothing to me, I make the arrangements right in front of her.

That brings me to the woman’s apartment, and because I feel like we’re in a good place to negotiate, I ask her about it.

“Ashton, it was hard to get an apartment on my own, and when the baby is born, I don’t want to have to start looking for a new place.” That was not the answer I was expecting, and I have to shut that thought process down before it grows out of control.

“I’m sorry, but when the baby comes, you aren’t living in that neighborhood. It’s not a place that I would feel safe leaving you alone. Let’s just move all your things here, and if you want, I’ll help you find a new apartment later.” I hope that Cori understands that I want her to stay with me, but I’m too much of a coward to outright say it.

“Okay,” the woman whispers.

I squeeze her hand affectionately, and because I don’t have anything planned for the day, I instruct her to get dressed.

We get to her apartment with a moving crew that I hired, and although Cori doesn’t have much worth taking, she refuses to throw anything away.

Before I know it, the woman is knocking on a neighbor’s door, and shocking me to no end, she asks the little girl who answers for her mother in not so perfect Spanish.

“How long have you spoken Spanish?” I ask, but the woman Cori is looking for comes to the door before she can respond.

Thanks to my mother, I also speak Spanish, and about midway through the conversation, Cori starts to lose context, so I help her out, and the woman finally understands that she isn’t being asked to buy anything.

“I didn’t know that you spoke Spanish too,” Cori says, looking at me like she’s just seeing me for the first time.

“I can say the same about you.”

“Learning the language qualified me for a pay raise.” Cori is waiting for my explanation, but it occurs to her before I can respond. “She never told me that she taught you to speak Spanish too.”

“So, my mother knows?”

“She even offered to help me work on my accent.” Once again, I get that feeling in my chest. If my relationship with Cori fails naturally, then at least I can say I tried, but if I’m unable to start a relationship with her, I’m afraid that my mother will never forgive me.

In the meantime, the men I hired start bringing Cori’s excess furniture into her neighbor’s apartment, making me wonder what their relationship is.

Cori tells me that she would have knocked on every door if she had to, explaining that it took her years for her to acquire her furniture, and based on the smile the little girl is wearing, she’s likely excited about getting a bed.

I kneel to the child, asking her if she has her own room, and in Spanish she tells me that she shares a room with her three cousins. Cori must’ve known that the small apartment contained two separate families, which is why she went straight to them.

I suddenly feel terrible about having an apartment that costs as much as it does, and since I know that Mark has had his eye on the place since before I moved in, I’ll have the lease put into his name, and it suddenly occurs to me that Cori can do the same thing.

I ask the mother of the little girl if she’s interested in taking over the apartment, and at the annoyance of the men who just moved the furniture out, they start moving things back to the unit.

My father paid up Cori’s rent throughout the remainder of her lease, and while the men are moving the items, Cori and her neighbor head to the leasing office, intending to make the changes formal.

It’s then that I learn that the woman lives in a rent-controlled building, and after thirty days, when Cori can legally pull her name off the lease, the lady who’s taking over will see her rent drop to just under three-hundred dollars a month.

Still, I remind her that she has nearly seven months to save before rent payments become due, not expecting her to start crying.

I don’t know the circumstances, but she seems happy to have a place for her and her young daughter to live, even if it is a small studio apartment.

“Ready to go?” All of Cori’s things have been given away, save for her mother’s ashes and photos that she had.

I’m so glad that my parents decided to be civil and pay the woman’s rent for her, otherwise, she could have lost things that are precious to her, something that I was fully intending to let her lose because I was angry.

When we get back to my home, my mother is standing inside, and before I can say anything, Cori tells her all about our ‘trip.’

The woman looks so happy that I can’t help but to smile at her, and after putting her mother’s ashes into her room, she comes back out to show my mother her photos.

I love seeing the women interact with one another, especially because Cori doesn’t have any other family to depend on.

At some point, Cori’s stomach grumbles, and I get a death glare from my mother.

Fortunately, my mother already cooked something, so we follow her back to the main estate where we had a meal full of laughs.

The night is still young, so we spend time with my mother until my father comes home, and when he sees Cori, he pulls the girl into a hug that shocks everyone.

“Ashton, I need to see you.” My father and I go to his office where the man hands me his phone.

“What’s this?” I scroll through the email, hardly able to keep the smile off my face. “Why are so many people signing with us?”

“Cori!” I flash a weird face, making my father chuckle. “Johnathan Crosby failed to disclose his health condition to his firm.”

“Was he fired?”

“No, but some of his more high-profile clients have lost confidence in him.”

“What does that have to do with Cori?”

“Don’t play dumb Ashton. She pointed out the shape of his fingers, and people paid attention to it.”

My father and I start talking about how we’ll divide and manage the new clients, and when I leave his office, Cori has already left to start making dinner.

I quickly say goodnight to my mother, but my father tugs on my arm before I leave, letting me know that he wants to say something.

“Remember what I told you about her. Don’t be an i***t and let it slip through your fingers.”

I nod at the man and practically run back to my house, happy to see that Cori seems to have just finished cooking.

I press my body against the woman’s, making her look back at me with an expression that’s equal parts annoyed and confused.

“What happened?”

“I just wanted to hug you.” I press a kiss against the woman’s cheek, making her smirk in such a sexy way that I know she’ll be sleeping with me tonight. “Are we having Caesar salad?”

“I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s as perfect as you are.” Cori goes stiff, but I plan to prove my words to her in bed.