The Love of Lies

Blame

Ashton’s POV

Cori isn’t the kind of girl to over exaggerate, or even show that she’s afraid, but right now I can visibly see that she’s uncomfortable with what Mark is asking for.

He claims to just want to apologize to her, saying that he had no idea she was expecting, but I don't think that's her main issue with him. I believe that, like me, she’s more put off by the fact that he thought it was okay to do what he did in the first place.

Cori is a nurse, so I’m sure she knows about secondary drowning, which even now is still a very real, albeit rare possibility.

“Come on Ashton, just let me apologize for myself. You're not the one who was just played back there; I was.” I understand where the man is coming from, and while Cori hasn’t voiced her discomfort, I could see it.

“You’ve got two minutes, and the second she even looks like she'd rather be anywhere else in the world, you leave.”

“Good enough.” I follow Mark into the room Cori is sitting in, prompting Julia to exit. She looks up at us and stands, becoming instantly defensive in her posture.

“I don’t want any trouble. I only want to go home.”

“Ashton can arrange that with you. I just want to apologize for what I did. I never met a woman from this city that doesn’t know how to swim, and I thought you were playing cute.”

“I’m not from this city, and there’s nothing cute about a grown woman using a toddler float.” Mark takes a step forward and Cori takes two steps back, literally ready to run if she has to. “I’m not a f*cking monster; you don’t have to look so scared.”

“That's exactly what a monster would say.” Mark isn’t a patient man, and sensing that he isn’t getting the reaction he wanted, he becomes an as*hole again.

“Listen you little bi-”

“Okay, you're done,” I interject, pulling the man away. “You said sorry, she doesn’t accept it; now let’s move on.”

“Don't you think she’s being a little ridiculous?” The man asks outside of the room.

“No,” Troy says.

“You weren’t even in there. You don’t know what she said.”

“Doesn’t matter. What if someone did that to your sister?”

“My sister can swim,” Mark quips, making my brother look at me in scorn.

“Yeah, so… Julia and I are going to take Cori home. I’ll leave you guys to deal with Pauline.”

“Sh*t,” Mark and I both say, forgetting that Chris’s wife isn’t the docile type.

“She’s about to rip us a new as*hole, isn’t she?”

“No doubt about it,” Troy says, patting my arm consolingly. “That is why I’m taking Cori away from here. She doesn’t need or want any of this drama.”

“Then why did she come?” I ask, semi annoyed that my brother, who is also one of my closest friends, seems to like Cori more than he likes me.

“Because our mother and Julia forced her to.”

“She knows your mother?” Mark clearly finds that odd, but I’m not airing any more of my dirty laundry today.

“It’s a long story, one I’m not telling you or anyone else, just trust me when I say that it's none of your business.” I walk away from Mark, attempting to look broken as I go back to the pool area.

Few people have left, which is good, but Pauline is sitting in her basket chair like a mob boss as her husband hands her gifts to open. She’s barely acknowledging them, and wanting to have an even stronger shield, I go back inside and take their daughter from the nanny who’s been upstairs with all the children.

The minute she sees me making the little girl giggle, she glares at me, and Chris just shakes his head, already knowing where I was going with my little stunt.

“We need a good picture of the family.” If there is one thing I know about Pauline, it’s that she loves family photos. However, the woman is an expert actress, and as quickly as she put on a smile, it dropped again, letting me know I was in big sh*t.

“Can we talk about it in private?” I practically beg. “Cori is already embarrassed enough as it is.”

“Fine but let me explain something to you first. Between you and Mark, this baby shower is a gift.”

“What’s the damage?” Mark asks, already pulling out his phone to send the money.”

“Four Thousand Six hundred seventy-three dollars and twelve cents.” Pauline is an accountant. She specializes in family budgeting, and clearly, she carries her work into her everyday life.

Neither Mark nor I have an issue with money, but Pauline and Chris are self-made, and spending lavishly has never been their thing. They are still recovering from their wedding, they are paying off a mortgage, and I know that they’ve already started a college fund for both children.

“My limit is two thousand a day. Can I send you the rest tomorrow?” Mark has a way of coming off as cocky when he speaks, so his words rubbed the already angry pregnant woman the wrong way.

“Sure, but if I don’t get it…” She says nothing, and I chuckle at Mark’s face, knowing that the man is terrified of the unknown.

“What is she talking about bro?” Mark is actually concerned, but Chris and I know she means nothing.

“Calm down. Just set a reminder and none of us will have to find out.” Mark is visibly irritated by that, but he leaves without words, heading to the bar where I also feel like I need to make a stop.

He must feel like and idi*t after being played by Vanessa, and Cori's corny line about monsters likely embarrassed him even more.

I don't get to stand there staring at the man for too much longer because Pauline grabs my arm and pulls me into the house, her husband trailing behind us.

"I knew Cori slept with you, and I knew she was pregnant, but I thought there were doubts."

"There aren't, she just thought she was saying the right thing by telling me I wasn't the father. I heard she made you cry." I only asked because I don’t understand how that could have happened without anyone stopping it, but it appears that my mental image of an argument was wrong.

"I just felt bad for her. She was trying so hard to be useful, but I was being a b*tch and now… I owe her an apology, and you know I hate apologizing."

Cori has a way of doing that to people; she makes them feel like they owe her something even when they don't. She used to do that to me all the time, and honestly, there were a few nights where I caught myself wiping my area of the bar, trying to do my part to lessen her load.

“She left,” I add, knowing that Pauline might start looking for the woman. “She already felt like she ruined your baby shower, but if you apologize on top of that, she’ll likely break down. I’m sure Julia told you that she cries for nothing. Fortunately, I’m not there, but it sounds exhausting.”

“Ashton, she’s pregnant bro.” I don’t know why Chris’s words hurt me the way they did, but I find myself angry again.

“And she was going to hide it from me. Do you know that I practically stalked the girl for weeks, and she ran from me when I found her?"

"Um… I'd run from a guy who stalked me too." The image of Chris, who isn't exactly a small man, running from another man almost makes me laugh, but he does have a point.

"Yes, but she knew me. Imagine if this situation happened between you and Pauline. How would you feel?" I realized too late that I put Chris in a tight spot, but when I tried to save him, his wife stopped me.

"Were you dating her?" She asks, making my brows furrow.

"Not exactly, but we did a lot of flirting over… I don't know; maybe five or six months?"

"And in all that time. You didn't ask her on a date? For all she knew you were just using her, and from what I heard you tell Vanessa, Cori thought that you were engaged. She probably didn't want the drama."

"So, she keeps my baby a secret?"

"Her baby," Pauline corrects. "I was in the room when you were talking to Chris on the phone. You said that you wanted nothing to do with the child. That makes it her baby with your DNA."

“Yes, but that’s not what the law says. She could have randomly come back and forced me to provide for a baby I didn’t know anything about.”

“Ashton, I’m not saying that’s okay, but what I gathered from the conversation that I eavesdropped on, she was trying to get you to terminate your rights. I’m not an attorney, but I know from work that legally, you wouldn’t have been financially responsible.”

“Forcing me into the position of deadbeat.”

“And you plan to do what after the baby is born?” I open my mouth, but nothing comes out because after paternity is established, I have no plans.

“Bro, I don’t want to kick a down horse, but my father sent my mother money regularly, and paid for my college tuition completely. In my mind, he was still an absentee parent.”

“But I’m only twenty-six. I can’t be someone's father.”

“I’m also twenty-six and I’m growing my second child.” Pauline looks annoyed by me, so I know whatever she says next won’t be nice. “You really need to get over yourself. You slept with that girl, the condom ‘broke,’ and whether you could tell or not, she’s the one that's suffering from it.”

“She should have had an ab*rtion.”

“Wow,” Pauline says, taking a step back from me in shame. “I hope she never lets you be a part of that baby’s life; you don’t deserve it.” The woman leaves, and I feel so disgusted with myself that I can’t stand to stick around anymore.

“I hope you didn’t say that to Cori.” I sit and hang my head because I have said that to her, and I even offered to pay for the procedure. “You know, I remember you telling me about her before Troy’s party. She didn’t sound like a bad person, and when I met her, I honestly thought she was a better fit for you than Vanessa.” This is not the first time Chris has said similar words, and yes, I genuinely liked the girl.

That said, if a baby between us happened in any other way, I don’t think I would be this upset, but she crossed a line by cutting me out of the decision.

“That baby is a part of me, and if she had gone to any other attorney, I wouldn’t have even known about it.” I don’t want to have this conversation anymore, so I stand, telling Chris that I’ll send my portion of the money as soon as I get home.

The entire drive, all I could think about was Cori. I’m just so disappointed by her. I know she didn’t plan it, but I feel like she could have handled it better.

If she wouldn’t have hidden from me, I could have prevented this whole thing from happening, but at the same time, I understand why she ran.

I call my father, wanting to tell him what happened before he hears it from anyone else, but the irritation in his tone lets me know that I’m too late.

“This isn’t a conversation for the road,” he says. “We can talk about it when you get home.” Immediately, my mind blames Cori for this.