The Love of Lies

Staple

Cori's POV

Ashton and I had s*x again, and because I don't know what it means, I tried to fish for an explanation, but he didn't clarify anything by asking me to move into a place I'm already living.

I feel like I was too emotionally involved in what we were doing, and while it felt good, Ashton was very specific from the beginning.

The doctor gave me medical advice, and he fulfilled it, nothing more. However, the fact that he's holding me makes me feel like less of a fool, and for as long as it lasts, I'll pretend that this is normal for us.

Still, Ashton’s willingness to entertain my nonsense was charming, so I thanked him for his patience, because it did make me feel better, and I feel like tonight is the real first time he and I were together, specifically because it wasn’t fueled by alcohol.

Inevitably though, sleep conquers my racing mind, and when I wake, Ashton is lightly snoring beside me, sparking a hurtful sense of Deja vu.

It's early enough to start cooking breakfast, and because there's no use in trying to go back to sleep feeling the way I do, I get up to shower.

Ashton and I didn't use protection, so I feel sticky between my legs, making me feel like the condom that broke the first time we were together must have been defective, only allowing a little of him to seep through.

Otherwise, I would have felt the residual semen the way I do now, and that reminds me that I need to look into hiring a new attorney.

Ashton may have money, or as he put it, his family has money, but I don't, and regardless of how supportive he's being right now, I need to be able to support myself.

Ashton's POV

Cori took a long time to fall asleep, and I know it because she was keeping me awake.

I was afraid that if I closed my eyes, she might not be able to wake me up if she decided she had something else to say, but eventually, she lost her battle with sleep, allowing me to close my eyes in peace.

However, when I woke, Cori was gone, so I got up abruptly, ignoring the ache in my back caused by the uncomfortable mattress.

If she left me again, I’ll be twice as devastated because I thought our conversation meant that we were starting over, and not just for the sake of the baby. I quickly pull on my pants, stumbling out of the room because I'm still waking from sleep.

I shout Cori’s name, feeling like an i***t for not noticing the warning signs. She gained my trust by pretending that everything was okay, and yet she-

“Ashton? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Cori looks terrified as she runs up with a kitchen stool for me to sit on. “Are you having chest pain? Is there any stiffness in your neck?” The woman keeps asking me questions that I don’t answer, but when she starts looking for her phone to call for help, I'm calm enough to stop her.

“I’m fine, I just had a horrible dream,” I lie, taking deep calming breaths as the woman brings me a glass of orange juice. “Why did you leave without waking me?”

“I wanted to cook, but I didn’t know that you suffered from night terrors.” That's embarrassing. Cori now thinks that I have a ‘condition,’ one I don’t know enough about to scoff at.

“I haven’t had a bad dream in years,” I reply, taking a drink with Cori's aid.

“Maybe you overexerted yourself?” Again, I’m offended.

I’m not old enough to feel worn out after just thirty minutes of s*x the night before, and if we continue being intimate, Cori will understand that I went easy on her last night.

“I didn’t sleep well. That bed is as hard as a rock. How do you manage it?” That's an excuse, but it is true.

“Really?” Cori asks, looking toward her room as though she doesn’t believe me. “I guess I’m used to it.” The woman shrugs, and noticing that she smells like bacon and soap, I suddenly feel self-conscious.

“I should shower.” I try to stand, but Cori physically keeps me seated.

“Finish the juice first. I don’t have a glucose monitor, but low blood sugar can cause bad dreams.” This is the first time that I realized that Cori takes her job as a nurse seriously, and because I’m admiring how beautiful she is, I just sit there, drinking the orange juice like I’m actually sick.

The woman goes back to cooking, and when I think she’s distracted, I stand to leave, but Cori is clearly paying attention to me.

“Don’t lock the door; if you aren’t out in ten minutes, I’ll come check on you.” I set my cup on the counter and put the chair back before leaving, and when I returned, Cori was just about to check on me.

“I’m okay,” I say, resting my hands on Cori’s shoulders while I speak. “You don’t have to be worried.”

“But the way you looked-”

“Because I thought that you left.” Cori’s face recoils, and after a few seconds, it turns red.

“Sorry.” I kiss the woman’s forehead, feeling guilty because I should have just been honest from the beginning, but because I’m famished, I don’t continue the conversation.

Earlier, Cori actually presented me with a menu to choose from like she promised, but I told her that she was free to surprise me, so breakfast this morning is exciting, especially because I love the woman’s cooking.

It’s seasoned well, looks nice, and because she understands healthy eating, I’m almost certain that it’s good for me.

“How did you learn to cook like this?” I stupidly ask because I really could’ve guessed.

“My mother taught me. She worked a lot, so I would cook so she didn’t have to, and when she got sick, I started to take it more seriously because of her dietary needs.”

“What did your father do?” I really hate hearing about Cori’s past because it always stresses me out to think that her life could have gone in a completely different direction, one that could have landed her in the wrong man’s bed, not that I’m the ‘right’ one.

“He worked construction until his back went bad. After that, I don’t really know.”

“Who paid the rent?”

“My grandfather left me the house.” That raises an eyebrow for me, and when I inquire, Cori admits to owning the property.

“So, you pay taxes on a house that you don’t live in?”

“Ashton, some things aren’t easy to explain.” I don’t have to pry; I intuitively know that Cori’s mother must have asked her to take care of her father, otherwise, she wouldn’t be helping the man. “The taxes aren’t much, and when my father’s gone, I’ll rent out the property and use the money to pay for my baby's college.” That couldn’t have been Cori’s original plan, but I’m too distracted by her use of the word ‘my’ to question it.

“‘Our’ baby, and before ‘we’ set up a college fund, we should talk to Chris and Pauline. They get a commission for bringing in new clients through the company they work for, and I would like it if we patronize them, if only because Chris is like a brother to me.”

“I don’t want to gamble with my- ‘our’ baby’s money though. I would prefer to just put money into an account with a high interest rate.”

“We can do both. I’ll manage the one through Chris and Pauline, and you can deal with the bank.” Cori nods in agreement, and when we’re done eating, I invite the girl to watch a movie with me.

I scroll through the selections, waiting for her to stop me when something interests her, but she never does.

Out of selections, I settle on a classic, shocked when Cori tells me that she’s never seen it. I find that hard to believe, but I can’t think of a reason she would lie.

“So, you're telling me that you don’t watch TV at all?”

“No, I watch TV, but I prefer to read.”

“I like to read too, but Cori, this movie is a-” I was going to say family staple, but I’m speaking from the perspective of someone who came from a loving home, not a broken one. “It’s just one of those movies that people reference all the time.”

“Oh, like ‘Pretty in Pink?’”

“Um…?” Cori sits up, looking at me as though I have three heads now.

“You’ve never seen ‘Pretty in Pink?” I may have had it wrong. Cori probably does have fond family memories, but since they were likely made with her mother, they’re more feminine than mine. “See if you can find it.” I know I’ll be able to find the movie, but when I do, Cori sighs. “Oh man.” The woman is referring to the four-dollar fee, but before she can stop me, I buy it. “Why?”

“Because you wanted to watch it.” Cori’s posture changes, but I can’t tell what the problem is, and because she hasn’t left the couch, I keep my mouth shut.

Cori’s POV

Ashton keeps making me feel self-conscious. I’m not sure what his end game is in being nice to me, but I know he probably wants me to do something for him.

Still, the movie was rented, so I curl up on the couch and watch it, mouthing the words the same way my mother did when I was a child. It was her favorite movie, and when I was in middle school, we watched it once a month.

We even went as far as to make my dress for the eighth-grade dance, but it was a total failure that we had a good laugh about. Even my father had to join in on the giggles, and it’s quite literally the only happy memory I have with both parents.

That week was the calm before the storm, and that year was the toughest ever.

Ashton loudly sucks his teeth, startling me out of my mind.

“Damn…” The man says, stretching awkwardly. “That was tough. I don’t think I would have been able to just let her leave me like that.”

“He loved her.”

“He must’ve because that had to be… Damn.” I frown, not understanding why I never saw it that way. My mom loved Blane so much that I just loved him too.

“But Blane loved her.”

“Yes, but my brother almost let Julia go because he loved her. I was the one who convinced him to say something, and now look at them.” My heart just about explodes in my chest. I feel so giddy that I can’t help but to smile at how much attention Ashton paid to a movie that he has no sentimental attachment to. “Who would you have chosen?”

“Neither,” I reply. “Duckie was Andie’s best friend, but he really kept tearing her down, and Blane knew how his friends would react to his date, but didn’t consider her comfort at all.”

“True…” Ashton says nothing else, and we fall into silence as the man looks for something else to watch, still appearing pensive as he presses the buttons on the control, which allows me to study his side profile without being noticed.

He's really a very handsome man, so I know that he must've been popular as a teen, making me wonder how his life experiences shaped his thinking.

"Who would you have chosen?" I question, wanting to know what kind of man he is.

"Assuming that you're not implying anything weird and solely asking for the context of this conversation, I likely would have chosen Steff then broke his heart… I don't like being looked down on.” I giggle, knowing that the man is serious.

“That's mean.”

“Exactly.”