The Love of Lies

Appointment

Ashton’s POV

I got home to hear giggling coming from my kitchen, and honestly, I was surprised to see that Cori was still awake.

She’s watching my mother cook something while she picks at a plate, making my chest feel heavy when I look at them.

If Cori’s baby isn’t mine, my mother will be devastated, and if the baby is, she won’t want to let the girl go.

I’m not sure what Cori wants to do in regard to our relationship, but as it is, she and I are barely friends.

We've decided to keep things amicable for the sake of the child, but other than that, I'm not even sure Cori sees me as anything more than the man who 'accidentally' got her pregnant.

“I’m back.”

“How did it go?” My mother asks, but I don't want to tell her in front of Cori who seems much more relaxed right now.

“We’ll talk about it later.” I reach over and pick one of the cherry tomatoes off Cori's plate, noticing that she’s been purposefully pushing them to the side. “Don’t like tomatoes?”

“They’re weirding me out right now.” My mother shakes her head at the girl's admission, drawing my attention to her.

“I think that Cori’s entering her picky phase. I was just telling her that lopsided Jell-O made me sick when I was pregnant with you.” That must have been what made Cori laugh, but I find nothing funny about it.

I’m not exactly thrilled about a woman who can be triggered by gelatin, and so far, Cori’s been ready to bawl over popcorn and cookies.

“Does it go away?”

“Never,” my mother teases, making Cori choke on laughter when she sees the fear in my eyes.

“I’m not that bad.” She says, looking at me as if she expects me to agree, but I can't and I won't.

“Cori Hun, you’re pretty emotional. You almost cried over popcorn.” The woman shrugs, but I can tell that she knows that I'm right.

“Almost isn’t," she finally whispers, unable to let my statement go even though it's true.

My mother puts a plate in front of me, and I notice Cori cringe when I mockingly pop a tomato into my mouth again.

“Ashton,” my mother says, smacking the side of my head. “Don’t do that unless you want to clean up whatever mess she makes; and to make sure that you learn your lesson, I’ll cancel Mr. Ernesto for six months.

“Who’s Mr. Ernesto?”

“He’s our housekeeper.”

“How much does he get paid?” My mother and I go completely silent, already knowing that Cori is looking to take the man’s place.

“I’m not telling you because I’m not hiring you as a housekeeper.”

“But it could possibly save you money.”

“Maybe, but I’m still not doing it.”

“But I’m really good at cleaning.”

“I know.”

“Ashton.” I stand, no match for Cori’s pout, but the girl scampers in front of me. “Can you just tell me?”

“Mom, help!” The wateriness in Cori’s eyes completely dries when I shout for my mother, and the girl starts laughing until she... cries? “What did I say wrong?” I put my hands up like Cori is pointing a gun at me, scared because I might actually agree to whatever she wants right now.

“Nothing... I don’t know why… I’m sorry… I’m just… Oh my goodness, this is so embarrassing. I need to sleep.” The girl leaves, and I turn to my mother, unsure if my idea to follow her is a good one.

"Go." My mother prompts me to follow Cori to her room.

"I'm sorry," Cori says, wiping her eyes. "Your expression was so funny, and then I started thinking about my mom, and becoming a mom, and I just…" she shrugs again, and now that I know what happened, I feel more comfortable talking to her.

"When you wake up, we can talk about other ways you can make money, but right now, I don’t want you worried about anything."

"Thanks." The girl says, and because I don’t want to trigger her any further, I start moving toward the door.

"And Cori. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you,” I add before leaving.

Cori’s POV

I woke up to my alarm for work, and the heaviness of being unemployed hits me again.

I'm so worried about my future that I had dreams about budgeting, but since Ashton was kind enough to hire me as his personal Chef, I should probably be grateful.

Since I slapped him, the man has been showing me his soft side, and while I feel horrible about using violence to get my point across, I can't help but to wonder if that moment was pivotal for us.

I know he doesn’t believe that my baby is his, which is understandable, but so far, he’s been mostly respectful about it by not calling me out of my name.

"Hey, you're awake." The room I sleep in is close to the sitting room, and I have to pass through it to get to the kitchen.

Ashton is sitting on the couch watching a movie, and I wonder if he wants me to start cooking tonight.

"I ordered dinner so that you can sleep in." That answers my question, and when I go into the kitchen, I find a container with my name written on it.

"I wasn't sure what to get, but I remember you telling me that you like stir fry." I scrunch up my face, not at all remembering telling the man about my meal preferences. "You were drunk."

That makes sense, and because I have no complaints, I start to dish out some of the food.

"Can we talk while you eat?" I'm not sure what Ashton wants to talk about, but I can listen. "First, I want to talk about your work situation. Did you check your email?"

I haven't checked my email regularly since I moved in with Ashton, but since he asked, I got my laptop and brought it to him.

He inputs the information for the Wi-Fi, and one of the first emails I see is from my previous employer.

The email says that there was a mistake in my file, resulting in excess disciplinary measures. I’m not fired, but I have been suspended and they’ve listed out a liability clause in the contract I signed, so I can’t return to work until I provide proof that I’m not pregnant, or I have the baby.

However, the only thing I care about is that I’m still enrolled in the loan forgiveness program, so despite the fact that I’m not working, the time will count toward the year that I need to qualify for loan assistance.

"H-how?"

"The McLean’s and Dodson’s are close families. What they did to you had nothing to do with a slap." I do not believe in violence as the answer to any problem, but it has been an effective tool throughout my life, making me fear that I’ll become my father unless I figure out how Ashton made this happen, because I don’t believe anything I’m reading.

"I'm confused."

"Cori, don't worry about it. Just know that as long as you're under this roof, I will take care of you.”

“You didn’t hurt anyone, right?” Ashton smirks, but I can’t tell if he’s intentionally trying to creep me out like with the cherry tomatoes.

“Also, send me the address to your doctor's office. I don't want to be late.” I'd almost forgotten about my appointment, but it looks like Ashton is more serious about going with me than I thought, so I drop the conversation to focus on eating.

"Cori," the man says, pulling my attention away from my thoughts that are a mixture of toxic and scary. “I didn’t hurt anyone physically, but I did embarrass the person responsible for today’s ‘mix-up.’

That makes me feel better, and I’m able to focus on eating until I feel Ashton staring at me.

“Yes?”

“Oh, sorry… I was just wondering what about your mother made you want to cry today.”

“You would have had to meet her,” I reply, slightly smiling as I think about the woman. “She was amazing.”

Ashton’s POV

The way Cori speaks about her mother makes me feel like I have to smile, but I don’t understand why someone so amazing would stay in an abusive relationship up to the point of dying.

Cori attributes her mother’s reluctance to leave her father as attachment issues she developed as a child, and she can vividly recall the woman telling her that family should always stick together. I learned that she was orphaned after a house fire, and spent her teenage years in the foster care system.

At some point she met Cori’s father while in nursing school, got pregnant, moved in with the man and his father, and the rest is an ugly dark history that Cori spared me the graphic details of.

One thing is clear, Cori definitely has no problem walking away from people and never looking back. She did it to her father, and if I hadn’t gotten her pregnant, she would have done exactly the same thing to me.

At some point during our talks, Cori yawns, so I cut the conversation short, glad that I’ve taken my mother’s advice to get to learn more about her personal life. If we’re going to co-parent, we need to at least be on the same page when it comes to family matters, and now that I know Cori sees running away as a solution to personal problems, I’ll have to be careful not to push her away.

Cori’s POV

Mrs. Lewis is a very mindful woman, and because Ashton and I are going to the doctor’s appointment together, she’s picked out a dress for me to wear, which is good because Ashton looks amazing in anything he wears, and the last time we went out, I felt very inadequate compared to him.

The entire time we waited to be seen, Ashton has been getting looks from other women in the clinic, but he’s been reading an overpriced parenting magazine, showing me little tips that he finds interesting.

When we’re finally called, my nurse hands me forms to sign, telling me that Ashton cannot stay in the room unless the doctor has permission to speak in front of him, standard practice.

“Miss Russo,” the woman says, coming into the room with a clipboard and a smile. “Is this who I think it is?” I nod, and the pair introduce themselves before the woman sits, blurting out the results of all the STD tests I had done.

Ashton is glaring at me, but I’m too much of a coward to look at the man, so my doctor comes to my defense instead.

“Don’t be angry with her Mr. Lewis. I’m sure your fiancé would like the assurance of these results as well.”

“That was a misunderstanding. I’m not engaged and never was.” Ashton is still glaring at me, so I keep my eyes trained on the wall to avoid looking at him.

The pair start talking about something else, and I’m surprised that Ashton has more concerns than I do. I feel like a child being talked down to when my doctor formally addresses me, but eventually, she asks a question that I’m actually worried about.

“I have some tightness around my stomach.”

“Under stress?”

“Lots.” The woman massages my belly, and then practically mortifies me.

“An orgasm can help you. I won’t assume, but you don’t need a man to get one of those. Now, let's look at the baby.” I don’t know what triggered it, but I suddenly feel like I can’t breathe.

“Cori?”

“I’m not ready.” Ashton doesn’t waste time telling the doctor that we’ll reschedule the scan, making me feel better immediately.

“Mr. Lewis, can I see you privately?” The duo leave, giving me time to calm down alone.