The Love of Lies

Trapped

Cori's POV

It was close to the time I usually leave for work, so I left 'my' room, wanting to pack my lunch and maybe grab a snack before I go.

Julia has an internship requirement, so Mr. Lewis will be taking me to work tonight, which is good.

As soon as we're on the road, I take a steadying breath, turning to the man with intention.

"Mr. Lewis, I’m very grateful for your family's willingness to help me, but I think it's time for me to go back to my own apartment."

"I heard about the cookies." I'm slightly embarrassed that the man thinks that I'm still angry over sweets, but in reality, I'm more concerned about Ashton's violent reactions toward me.

"It's not about that, but I’m scared that having me live in your son’s house is too much for him. He’s already under pressure at work, and I’m afraid that he may do something to me out of anger.

“What pressure at work?” I’m shocked when Mr. Lewis asks me that because I feel like he, of all people, should know.

“I don’t want to get involved.”

“You’re already involved,” the man quips, staring at me as we come to a red light.

“I just think he gets a little discouraged by you sometimes.”

“By me? Cori, my son is not discouraged. Some of his best performances have happened when I was pressing him to work harder.”

“All I’m saying is that Ashton once told me about a client not liking his tone, and how it bothered him that you took that person’s side. Like I told your son, there are people in this world who need personal handlers, otherwise, he’ll always be miserable.” Mr. Lewis’s reaction is silence, but I’m still worried about my safety. “I grew up in a home where physical violence was a daily occurrence. I don’t know when or how it started, but..”

“Relax, Ashton is not going to hit you if that’s what you're hinting at.”

Feeling like this conversation is already going against me, I repeat my request to move out, but I’m completely ignored by the man whose demeanor hasn’t been the same since I mentioned his son’s tone.

When Ashton and I met, I thought he sounded a bit rude when he spoke, but over time, I realized that he’s just too exhausted to put unnecessary joy in his speech. It never did bother me, because I wasn’t often on the receiving end of his deadpan tone, but he is not the man I thought he was, so I’m genuinely fearful.

“I’ll talk to him-”

“NO!” I interject, turning to the man in fright. “Please. I already have enough to deal with, and I don’t need any more drama in my life.”

“Fine, but you’ll have to tell me what happened between you two, and not the watered-down version of the story.”

“You want details?”

“Yes.”

“Intimate ones?” Mr. Lewis slightly swerves his car, staring at me in absolute horror. “Oh,” I say, realizing that he just wants the truth about how we met, and how we ended up where we are now. “Sorry.”

“I forgive you, but please, please, spare me ‘those’ details.”

For the rest of the drive, I explain exactly what happened between me and Ashton, and how the man was just a customer at a bar until I ‘met’ him outside of ‘work.’

I skip the middle part, and go straight to when Vanessa entered Ashton’s apartment and threatened me. I didn’t add the part about the slap because it’s embarrassing, and to this day, I still close my eyes and feel the burning in my chest from not defending myself.

I was innocent, and while I believed that Vanessa was Ashton’s actual fiancé, that still did not give her the right to put her hands on me.

“When your son kept showing up at my job after that, I felt like he was there to either accuse me, or to see if I would be interested in being with him again.” Mr. Lewis is silent, and when we get to my job, he hands me a credit card, making me look at him strangely.

“It belongs to my son. Buy whatever you want,” the man says, but I decline the offer.

“Sir, I’m not sure what kind of test this is, but I’ve already made it clear that I wa-”

“Cori, I know that, my wife knows that, hell, even Ashton knows that, even if he pretends that he doesn’t, but this isn't about if you ‘need’ anything. My son owes you." I shrug, taking the card and putting it in my wallet, but I have no intention of using it.

Ashton's POV

When my father returned from dropping off Cori, he was in such a foul mood that I regretted coming into the main estate to meet with him, but he already saw me, so I can't escape.

"My office. Now!"

I'm curious as to what the girl told my father now, and as soon as he starts questioning me about the handlers I hired, I roll my eyes.

"You do realize that this means she's been keeping tabs on the company, don't you?"

"Do you think I'd be in here fuming if I suspected that girl of anything wrong?" That's confusing, so I sit, waiting to hear the man's reasoning. "She didn't bring it up to brag. She brought it up to tell me that she's afraid the pressure that I put on you will lead you to attack her."

"I'm not a woman beater."

"Yeah well, Cori lived with one for sixteen years, and she believes that you are displaying violent tendencies."

"Cori will say anything to leave this house," I add, needing and wanting to defend my name. "Do you know that she thought I tried to poison her?"

“Your brother told me, and while I think it's ridiculous, if she’s telling the truth about her past, then it would make sense for her to be suspicious of you, especially since you stalked her.” I stiffen, and my father lets me know that he knows ‘everything.’

“I didn’t stalk her, I just wanted to see her again.”

“Why? If she were only a one-night stand, why would you go so far… and to show up at her graduation?”

“I just…” Can’t tell my father that I wanted to tell Cori to take a plan B pill, so I go for what I’ve already been saying. “I felt bad. I’ve already told you, I’m almost positive that I was… you know.” My father knows what I’m hinting at, and he looks unimpressed to say the least.

“Honestly, I don’t know which one of you to side with in this situation, but I know that your sh*t better not carry into the Wayly event. Also, you’ve been suspended from your accounts for the next week. It was the best I could do given the circumstances.”

That would ruin the profiles I’m building, and it's likely that I won’t be able to return to some of the newer cases I’ve been given, which means they will lose faith in me, and that might even reset the progress I’ve made with the board.

Cori’s POV

My wallet felt heavy in my pocket, and as badly as I wanted to run Ashton’s credit into ruin, I knew that it was wrong.

A baby is expensive, and while I’m confident that I can handle it alone, it would be nice to get a little support from his or her father every now and then, if only with diapers and wipes.

I find myself tearing up when I think of how difficult life will be for my unwanted child if Ashton continues to treat me like trash, and I’m a little depressed that this is the way I’m bringing life into this world.

I would be disappointed if a baby came naturally between us, maybe a little sad, but right now, all I feel is fear, which is only being made worse by the circumstances.

I pick up the nursing station's phone, intending to call a taxi service to aid in my escape, but I end up putting it right back down, realizing that I may have been set up to look like a thief by Mr. Lewis.

Why did he have Ashton’s card and why give it to me?

I search for information about credit cards and the rules of lending them out, and learn that the man can’t give me permission to use his son’s card, making me feel like an even bigger fool. I’m only just beginning to calm when one of the day nurses tells me that my ride is in the front, and I quietly leave, happy to see that it’s Troy and Julia.

“You look miserable.”

“I’m just sad.” I get into the car, and settle in. “I thought you had class.”

“I do, but we didn’t want Ashton to get you. So, if you don’t mind, Troy will be dropping me off before taking you home.” I nod, and the woman hands me a bagel with a bottle of orange juice as the car starts to move.

Exhausted, I fall asleep after eating, and when I wake up, it’s because Troy is gently tapping my shoulder.

The man is so different from his brother that it makes me wonder if they were raised in different households, so I ask.

“We grew up in that house together,” the man replies, pointing to the home his parents stay in. “Ashton just has big shoes to fill. I think he thought it would be easy, but it’s harder than either of us thought, and there are outside factors making it worse.”

I can understand that. In fact, it fits into what Ashton used to tell me whenever we chatted at the bar, but he isn’t the only one with a hard life, and like my mother always told me, you can’t change the cards you're dealt because you don’t like them. You have to make what you have work, and sometimes that means taking a loss.

I enter the house, and almost immediately, Ashton is accusing me of something while his brother tries to mediate. I don’t bother to respond, but I hand the man his card, shutting him up as he stares at the little piece of plastic in bewilderment.

“If your family is so eager to get rid of me, do it in a less conspicuous way. I’ve told you before that I have no interest in money, and I hope that this proves it.”

I push past the man and go into ‘my’ room, shutting the door as I prepare for a shower. Ashton doesn’t come to bother me about how I got his card, which is good because I’m able to go right to sleep.

I don’t work tonight, but sadly, it’s the night of that stupid event I’m being made to attend. I really don’t want to go, so when Julia comes to wake me, I try to pretend to be sick, but it’s not working.

“Come on Cori. You were fine this morning.”

“I know, but now I have a sore throat.” I cough, and Mr. Lewis rolls his eyes at me, almost making me laugh.

“Cori, you’re a terrible actress, so just stop.” I groan, holding my belly which works on the man’s wife, but not the man himself. “Okay, let's leave her behind. Julia, do me a favor and call Ashton. He needs to stay home to take care of her.”

“No, I’ll be fine,” I whisper, still afraid to be alone with the man’s son.

“Sorry, but we can’t take the chance that you’ll disappear while we’re gone, and Julia has to show up for her family.” Mrs. Lewis looks so concerned that I feel bad for making her worry, so I actually get up.

“Can’t blame me for trying,” I quip.