The Love of Lies

Simple

Ashton’s POV

I want to complain about Cori cleaning, but since I know she needs to be active to feel helpful, I choose to ask about something else.

"How did your interview go?" Cori frowns, so I can only assume that it didn't go well. "Doesn't matter. I told you how I feel about you working right now, and if it helps, after you reach your target weight, I'll only have Tia Linda come help out around the house once a week."

"I-I would like that, but how will she feel?"

“Probably relieved. You caused a lot of trouble today.” The pout of Cori’s lips is a little seductive to me, especially because it happens naturally, not forcefully. "By the way, sorry about what happened earlier. I’ve made sure everyone knows that you can do whatever you want going forward."

"Can I buy a car?" She teases, likely thinking that I'd react suspiciously, but it only reminds me that I still have her vehicle in a storage lot.

"I think I'll have to call them back and be a little more specific." A small smile flashes on Cori's face, and given our closeness, I take the opportunity to hug her, but again her body stiffens.

“Your head looks much better.” Since morning, I've felt as though Cori's been acting, and the tone she used just now wasn’t typical for when she’s actually concerned.

I don't want that, in fact, it scares me because if she gets too good at pretending, I won't know what's real between us.

"Cori, please don't force this. It's okay to be unhappy, it's okay to be sad, and I don't expect your feelings for me to change overnight."

I don't know what I was expecting, but the woman squeezing me tighter felt like she was relieved by my statement.

"I'm so confused Ashton." I cup Cori’s cheeks with both hands and rest my forehead against hers.

"I know, and I appreciate that you're trying, but I want our relationship to be real. We'll get mad at each other, we may argue, we may not want to talk to each other sometimes, but eventually we'll make up, naturally."

"I don't know if it's that simple."

“Try your best.” I wait for a few seconds before I gently tug Cori to my bedroom.

I want to give her time to think of a response, and I want to change my clothes while talking to her. However, I feel like the conversation we were having needs my undivided attention, so I ask mundane questions about her day.

Cori looks a little confused by the sudden change of topic, but she tells me that she spent most of her time talking to my aunt, being bored, or on social media.

"Since we're on the subject, can you unblock me now?"

"Not yet," she honestly replies, but I'm not at all offended. She needs time, and I want to give it to her.

Again, I guide the woman to another room, wanting to show her that I have all the patience to wait to hear why it's not that 'simple'. However, we get through a meal and halfway through a movie before I have to bring it up again and she starts to squirm uncomfortably in my arms.

"Are you ready to talk to me, or do I have to keep waiting?" The woman takes some time to consider, looking around the living room as though there's something she hasn't seen before. "Cori… Please?" I lean forward, wanting to be closer to the woman, who takes a deep breath, likely to build her courage.

"Were you really at work?"

"That question didn't come from nowhere…" I’m doing my best to stay calm, but my chest is burning in annoyance.

Normally questions like that are a complete turn off to me, but with Cori, I understand why she’s insecure, and unlike what I would have done with anyone else, I gently push for the woman to help me understand where that line of questioning originated.

In response, Cori hands me her phone, and my face goes completely flat as I read the dozens of texts from a number I don't recognize. I don’t even have to confirm by inputting it into my own device because I can guess who sent them.

"I told you that Vanessa is a liar, and I really hope that you believe me. I promise you that I was in my office for most of the day and when I wasn’t, it’s because I was in the conference room.”

“Okay,” the woman whispers back, but I can tell that she’s struggling to accept my words as true.

“You should have called me when she sent the first message to you."

“What would that have done besides stress you out?”

“Well, I would have video called you.” Still holding Cori's phone, I pull her closer to my body.

We're laying on the couch, so her back is against my chest as she rests between my legs; basically, the pose is perfect for the picture I want to take.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm capturing the sweetness of the moment." The way Cori looks up at me is so cute that I give into instinct and peck her lips before actually taking the picture of us.

"Are you going to set that as my screensaver or something?"

"That's a good idea, but I'd rather you do that on your own. I'm simply replying to a text."

"Ashton!" Cori tries to snatch her phone but it's too late. I send the image to Vanessa, and before she can respond, I block the number. “What did you just do?!”

“I only did what needed to be done. Vanessa and I are broken up. We have been for a long time. I know that’s not what other people think, but it’s true.”

“Then why did she have the key to your apartment?”

“She didn’t have the key. I just never bothered to change the code, and every day since I found out what happened between you two, I’ve wished that I did.”

“Oh.” Cori looks a little down, so I lift her chin, hoping to raise her spirits by changing the subject.

“How do you want to break the news to my mother?”

“What news?” The woman gasps audibly when she remembers that my mother still doesn’t know we’re having twins, and her reaction is probably going to be over the top. “I-I don’t know. D-do you think she’ll be mad?”

I have to laugh at Cori’s expression, but I don’t want her panicking over something that will never happen, so I start making guesses as to how I think it’s going to go while massaging her belly.

I keep making up funny hypotheticals and rubbing Cori’s baby bump until I feel her body relax. I was looking for the right moment to come up with some sort of plan together, but at the same time, I don’t want to disturb her.

It’s not long before I hear the sound of a light snoring, so I leave Cori alone, wanting her to rest because my mom will be back in a few hours, and she likely won't give the poor girl a moment's peace.

I also close my eyes, still tired from the night before. The knot that was above my brow is pretty much gone as Cori pointed out, which is good because I don’t want my parents to think that we had a physical fight when they come back.

“Are you really asleep?” I whisper, slightly nudging Cori who just makes herself more comfortable against my body.

She must have been drained, and now that I think about it, I’m exhausted too. However, it’s rare for me to have this kind of access to Cori’s abdomen, and I'm enjoying it, so I keep rubbing until my eyes get heavy.

Without waiting any longer, I allow myself to follow Cori into sleep, hoping that the rest of our interactions are as peaceful.

Cori’s POV

The sound of someone knocking on something is annoying, and it forces me to open my eyes. From a distance, Troy waves at me with two fingers, and the embarrassment of being caught sleeping on Ashton’s chest makes my face feel hot.

“Welcome back.” My voice is hoarse, and as I sit up, Ashton lurches forward, looking as though he’s trying to stop me from falling.

“Sh*t.” He mumbles before realizing that his brother’s around. “Finally. How did it go?”

“Not as good as I hoped.” Ashton and his brother get into a conversation that I can’t really follow, but I feel the need to give my opinion.

“Wouldn’t marriage be proving him wrong though?”

“Not in our circle, Cori. As far as he’s concerned, all I’m interested in is the Moore family influence.” Troy looks extremely disappointed, but a phone call lights up his face, and he visibly allows himself to relax.

“Julia will be here in ten minutes. She says wait for her to get here.” I know the woman wants to hear about the ‘baby,’ but I wonder why she didn’t come with her fiancé; however, Ashton steals the question from my lips.

Ashton’s POV

Troy looks exhausted, and based on the absence of Julia, I can tell that he didn’t get the response he wanted from her brother.

“Her folks make her take the flight with them?”

“They claimed that they needed time to talk to their daughter without my distraction. I’m sure her toxic brother didn’t help anything.” I feel for Troy, who has been battling this problem for years now.

Julia’s brother is twelve years older than her, and moved out when she was thirteen, but he just so happened to be around when Julia and Troy were caught by her father. Although he didn’t put his hands on my brother, he retaliated by targeting me.

We didn’t fight, but he nearly ruined my career before it even started, and his actions directly correlate to why the board doesn’t see me as a fitting replacement for my father.

The man’s issue with Troy isn’t so much based on the fact that he was screwing his sister in their family home, but it’s more based on the fact that my brother is extremely overprotective of Julia.

Sadly, Julia’s brother felt as though Troy’s behavior was ‘troubling.’ The man is in fact a very manipulative person, so genuine affection is warped in his eyes, especially after he found out that their relationship passed the point of platonic.

Troy was popular among girls, not that he slept around or anything, but the opposite wasn’t true for Julia. It wasn’t until her high school junior year that guys actually started to pay attention to her, but by that time, my brother had long been in love with her.

“So, he’s really not supportive?”

“Who?” Cori innocently asks, prompting my brother to tell her a very quick and watered-down version of the past. “Wouldn’t marriage be proving him wrong though?”

“Yes, but I think he wanted to use his sister to foster some sort of business arrangement. I don’t think he thought I’d really marry her.” Cori makes a weird face, and it makes me remember the story she told me about rumors she faced as a teen.

It's different, but not really, since, essentially, it's still using a woman for financial gain.

Troy continues with his tales of how annoying Julia's brother was during their visit with her out of state family, but he’s cut off by the arrival of our parents who must have waited for Julia as well.

“Welcome back,” Cori says, standing so that she can hug my mother.

“You’ve grown!” My father exclaims, looking at me with an unreadable expression. “How far along are you again?”

I know where my father is going, and I will not allow the conversation to go there, so I stand and clear my throat.