The Love of Lies

Thief

Cori’s POV

I wake up feeling so sore that I can barely move my legs. The pain is pretty intense, and the cramping in my calves tells me that I’m also dehydrated.

I shouldn’t have done so much walking yesterday, because now I’m on my own. I reach toward the nightstand, wanting to check the time, but my phone isn’t where I usually put it, so I have to drag myself to my feet, hoping to find it.

I know that I had it last night because I used it before falling asleep, but it's nowhere to be found, and now that I’m looking, neither is my laptop.

Only one person would take my things without permission, but now isn’t the time to play games, so I rush into the kitchen, hoping that it’s early enough to catch the man before he goes to work.

“Good morning, Miss Cori.” Linda’s face practically changes color when she sees that I’m limping, but I’m not here for sympathy.

“Where is Ashton?”

“He went to work already, but he left something for you.” At first, I thought the woman was going to return my electronics, but she pulls a box of cookies from the oven instead. “He said he would be back before dinner.” I am livid, but I’m also curious about the cookies, so I take them first.

The full day goes by like that. Me pouting in some random part of the house because I’m bored out of my mind and literally have nothing to do, and Linda trying her best to force feed me things that are on a nutrition plan someone printed out.

I tried to go out, but the woman insisted on driving me, and eventually, the zeal to explore my surroundings was gone. I feel like a prisoner in a luxurious jail cell.

Finally, Ashton comes back, and the first thing I say to him is…

“Where is my phone?”

“Hello to you too Cori.”

“Ashton, this is not a joke. I have a remote job interview coming up. I need my-”

“You’re not working,” he calmly interjects.

“You fired me for no good reason, and I have to support myself somehow.”

“Here.” Ashton goes into his wallet and pulls out a debit card, holding it out to me as though my concerns are invalid.

“Why are you doing this to me? I’m the one who you took advantage of, not the other way around.”

“Well, you won’t even talk to me, and until we can have a constructive conversation, I’m not giving you anything.”

“Please stop this, Ashton. I don’t want to do this with you.”

“I heard you loud and clear last night, but it doesn’t change the fact that you're pregnant, you're behaving irrationally, and you disappeared for hours yesterday.”

“I went for a walk to clear my mind while you were out with your ‘family.’” Something falls in the kitchen, and because I can hear Linda muttering under her breath, I ignore Ashton to check on the woman.

She’s been cooking all day, trying to make me happy, but I've done nothing but eat and frown.

"Are you okay?" The woman must have dropped a pot cover because she's on the floor cleaning up the mess it made.

I bend to help but both her and Ashton stop me, making me furious.

"I'm pregnant, not helpless."

"Whatever you say, but why’re you limping?" Ashton is looking down at my legs, but I shrug out of his arms, ignoring the man.

"Linda, are you hurt?" I'm fairly certain that the woman was listening to my argument with Ashton, but I don't have proof.

"Please don't fight because of me. I shouldn't have-"

"Hey,” I interject, glaring at Ashton who's only just helped the woman stand. "Didn't I tell you that I used to do this work too?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Ashton doesn't need to know anything, and I hope Linda doesn’t cave.

"Tia… what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on, Ashton. She just feels guilty because while you're over here pretending to be my boyfriend, you're bound to another woman."

"Cori, I told you that she's a liar."

"So, you weren't at lunch with her?"

"I was but-"

"But nothing, don't drag anyone else into this." I storm away from the man, and to my surprise, he doesn't follow me, but like a fool I have to come back because I still need my phone.

Linda must have left already, which is good because I don’t want her to lose her job. First because she’s nice, and second because she’s a really good cook.

The man is sitting at the table, staring down at two empty plates that were likely set out for us.

"Can I please have my stuff back?”

"Later," Ashton coldly replies, and this time he walks away from me.

I just watch him walking away, wondering what in my life I've done to deserve this.

Right now, I feel just like my mother, and while Ashton hasn't hit me, keeping me hostage by taking away my means of escape is no better, and unable to handle it, I break down, freezing the man in place.

“Why are you doing this to me? Do you know how humiliated I feel? Don’t you have any idea of how broken I was after that night? I gave it a shot Ashton, I tried to start over with you, but you, you don’t even respect me.”

“Cori, that’s not true. I-”

“Yes, it is.” I’m not going to give the man a chance to lie to me again. “If you had any respect for me, you wouldn’t have brought me here against my will, you wouldn’t have led me on, and you wouldn’t have taken my things.” Ashton keeps walking closer to me, but I keep stepping back until he finally stops moving. “You’ve had your fun with me, now please let me go. I promise that I won’t interfere with your relationship, nor will I keep you from the babies.”

“Cori, I’m really struggling to understand what the problem is right now. I’m telling you that I wasn’t on a date with Vanessa. Her father is a difficult client, he came to the office, and I went to lunch with him. She was there before us.”

“Ashton, if you were me, would you believe that story?” I hate that I’m crying right now, so I run back to my room, wanting to find some sort of peace for myself.

It doesn’t take long for Ashton to come back, and when he does, he’s carrying my things.

“You’re right. I wouldn’t believe you, especially if you had a history with that person. Cori, I’m sorry for everything, and if you give me some time, I’ll put you in your own apartment.” I sniffle, not sure how I feel right now. “Just know that I liked you enough to go looking for you. I hoped that our friendship was enough to erase everything else, but… Just please stop crying. I don’t like to see you upset.”

Ashton places my things on the nightstand and slowly exits while gently shutting the door.

I don’t know what to do in this situation, but the man’s words successfully bring to mind the flowers he brought to my graduation. If I take everything I didn’t know then and apply it to his actions, maybe I am crazy, and maybe I do need help, but then again, I saw the picture of him at lunch.

I don’t want to be a part of Ashton’s family if it includes someone who threatened and slapped me, but then again, is she really?

Ashton's POV

All day at work I kept looking up things to give Cori, but guilt gifts seemed like the wrong way to go. I already woke up extremely early to get her cookies, hoping to make the blow about waking up to being ‘robbed’ a little less painful, and so far, I haven’t heard anything from Tia Linda.

Getting through my workday was slow and torturous, but on the plus side I’ve recovered most of my accounts, meaning that I’ll still make commission on them, and since I recently sublet my apartment to Clarence and his brother, I’ll now be putting what I would have spent on rent aside for the twins.

I promised Cori that I would make her responsible for the household expenses, and so far, I’ve yet to do that, but when I get home tonight, I plan to tell her that any money on the debit card I’m giving her is for her to use however she sees fit.

________

I left work early because I wanted to make sure that Cori and I could eat together, but as soon as I walked in the woman demanded to know where her things were.

She’s not as upset as I thought she would be, but I’m annoyed because she hasn’t listened to a word I said.

I did not fire Cori, I simply asked someone to help out around the house until she’s been cleared by the doctor, but she’s even gone as far as to apply for a job somewhere.

She’s clearly not in the mood to talk, so to diffuse the situation, I don't follow her when she walks away, but I notice that she's limping. I ask about it, but she literally ignores me to focus on Linda, who starts crying in guilt.

Subsequently, I find out that Tia Linda was gossiping, and Cori heard it all. I can’t imagine how Cori must see me after hearing about my very recent past.

I wanted to talk to her about it, but she broke down, and she's right, I would never believe her if I were in her shoes. In fact, I've been jealous of Cori just talking to another man, so I can relate to where she's coming from.

Trust is important, and Cori has none for me, so not wanting to fight anymore, I return her things.

It's best if I find her a place to move into, that way, she can be happy away from me, and I can know that she's safe.

My head starts hurting when I think about how the conversation with my mother is going to go tomorrow. ‘Welcome back! By the way, Cori and I are having twins, but she doesn’t trust or want to be around me, so she’s moving out.’

I’m not too worried about my father’s reaction. I’ve been disappointing him since I agreed to take over, so I’m sure he’s already expecting to come back to hear unwelcome news.

One thing leads to another, and I find myself drunk at a bar, but no matter how many women flirt with me, I’m not interested nor in the mood to entertain anyone.

Cori is only pregnant because I had the bright idea to remove the condom so I could ‘feel’ her properly. I won’t even dare to tell her that because she already thinks poorly of me, and that fact will probably push her over the edge.

I don’t know why I care so much, but I really want to be with Cori. I never imagined myself having kids with more than one woman, so if I can salvage our relationship, I’m really willing to do anything.

“Why do you look so sad?” I glance to the side, unintentionally comparing the woman to Cori, who even while pregnant, is, in my opinion, absolutely stunning.

Annoyed by the intruder, I stand to leave, but I’m in no condition to drive home, so I call a cab to take me back to where I genuinely want to be.

I know that it’s wrong, but I strip down to my boxers as my feet take me to Cori’s room, where I carefully climb into bed with her. I wrap my arm around her body, not expecting her to violently heave and move away.