Ash
I hate everyone and everything. I hate people, I hate things, I hate houses, money, greed, emotion, injuries. I hate my fucking job and I hate the paperwork, you'd think there be more killing and less working. I hate me most of all, Except her, never her.
My Aria. Shit, I miss her so much. She's so stubborn, why is she so stubborn? In the month that passed, I felt like I'd seen her five times. Ever since Davinski's antics, investors are losing trust in Aria and she is not handling it well. She is at the office from seven am earliest and back home by midnight.
It's fucking creepy that I know when she's back home but she had a tendency of leaving her heels in the hallway. I just throw them in the corner of my room every time I trip over one of them. I'm pretty sure they could make a whole closet. I relive my thoughts and focus back on my work.
One month has passed and things are not getting any better. It feels like every decision we take and make is all part of someone's big game. As if everything we're doing is working towards his victory. I demolish the thought, probably overreacting to the situation, and get back to my work.
Romano has paid me various visits this month in hopes of finding out where his shipments are disappearing to. He wanted me to send out my informants and assassins to shoot down whoever was behind it with no mercy. Of course, I agreed to lessen suspicion but the audacity he had to come to me for help after stealing from right under my nose is unbelievable.
I know he couldn't do it alone, Roman's too weak for that. He'd need someone's connections, intelligence, and a hell of a lot of men to pull through so many heists without me noticing. And still, it fucking amazes me how he is making me question my abilities. Still lost in thoughts, I hear giggles outside my room and I'm more than certain it's Marae and River. I swear those two are fucking teenagers.
It reminds me of Aria and me, sometimes. I roll my eyes and shut my laptop. I stack the paperwork on one side and leave it for later. I'm too fucking tired for this shit. I stretch and decide to see what the fuss is about. I walk out and over to the balcony, from where I'm standing, they both sitting on the couch watching a movie. Marae and River are watching Moana. Like I said, teenagers.
It's good to know Marae can keep River in check, I don't think I could do it any longer. He usually disappears and reappears whenever he feels like it. Not to mention, the fucker is like a ticking time bomb. He may seem carefree and all too funny but there's some dark shit he hides about himself. There's dark shit I hid about myself too, dark shit I made Aria go through.
"Hey dipshit, thanks for finishing the shipment" I shout from the balcony. River looks up at me and starts singing.
"What can I say except you're welcome!" he sings. Marae facepalms herself and snuggles under her blankets.
I hear a sound coming from Aria's room and I head over to open her door. A part of it is already opened and I step in to find a mess. Her bed is full of papers scattered in different directions, a pile of clothes sits on her lounge chair, leftover food on her nightstand and she's sitting in the pile of papers, frustratedly trying to find something.
She doesn't even notice me in her room when she digs through the pile of papers, I have to admit it's very cute to see her all worked up about something. Did I just say cute? I brush it off and watch Aria as she reaches for her shoulders and groans as she throws her head back. I smile but it's more of a little chuckle and she hears me.
She pulls a gun from under her pillow and points it in my direction, when she notices me she sighs and lowers it.
"Ash, don't do that!" she sing-songs.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you" I walk over and sit on her bed. She still goes through her pile of papers. Her hair is still tied up, her face gleams and solemn, and she looks like me on a bad day - which is well every day.
"Mhm, why aren't you sleeping?" she asks, a worried tone in her voice. Why isn't she sleeping? She's worried about everyone else but herself, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
"The giggling goblets downstairs," I chuckle I notice she's still wearing her pantsuit and her hair is curled into a bun and she's wearing her glasses. I never see her with her glasses anymore - it's adorable.
"I heard them, at least they're relaxed that's all I want" she sighs, finally finding the piece of paper she was looking for, and a little smile forms.
"You're still in your work clothes?" I notice.
"Didn't have time to take them off"
"What are you busying with?" I enquire, picking up some of the papers. I read through some bank statements about her company, there's negative everywhere with money being usurped by God's know who. It's at least about forty million lost already.
"It's nothing, don't worry-" she notices the paper in my hand and snatches it immediately, "Don't worry about it." her face grows an expression of embarrassment or humiliation. She must think I believe she's incapable of running her own company - unfortunately, it wouldn't be the first Aria faced misogynistic comments from men
"By the month or by the week?" I ask.
She sighs, hesitant to answer me but when she sees that I'm not going to change my mind, she realizes that it's useless "For now, by the month but in a few weeks probably by the week and if I dont do something about it, we could be losing 10 million by the day."
"You need to rest" I decide.
"No, Ash I need to figure this out" she reads some documents and stands from the bedside to fetch some documents from her shelf. She barely makes it up without falling back on the bed.
"Corazón, you're tired. Your room is a mess and I rarely see you eat, you can barely even stand without feeling dizzy. I'm not even sure how you can concentrate on your work if you can't take care of yourself. " I confirm.
"I know-" she stops and huffs, before her eyes linger around my abdomen and torso. She curls her lip I'm genuinely confused at what she's staring at.
"What?"
"You're not, -you're not wearing a shirt" she lowers her head.
"Oh, um," I think and walk over to the pile closest. There's an oversized white hoodie and I think it'll fit me so I put it on. It's a bit tight but it'll have to do - I walk back into the room and sit back on the bed, it bounces a little and she giggles, Aria hates giggling "continue..."
"I-I want that back!" she deadpans. She takes a deep breath before answering me.
"I know I'm tired, but I can't rest. Ash, people depend on me. Families depend on me, if this continues I might have to consider retrenchment in two months, I can't fail again. I can't be that person who depends on others. I have to figure this out." She rambles.
"Risking your health is the way to go about it. Did you even eat today? - and don't you even dare try to bring the fact that I don't have to care about you. You're human too and you need rest too - or you're allergic to mundane things?" I explain.
"I'm more than capable of doing this okay. I've done it before in the last few years and I can do it now, it isn't a big deal. You should understand where I'm coming from - the pressure I'm under. I'm well aware of the late hours you use after work which is why the coffee-" her eyes widen before clearing her throat and returning to her work without another glance?
"So you're the one who makes me a coffee?" she murmurs a 'no' before pulling a paper so that I can't read or see her face, "Aria, let me help. Teach me how you do business and I'll help but this torturing yourself I won't allow it."
"Since when did you become sensible?" she smiles. Fuck that smile. It's so rare to see her smile nowadays, to know that the reason is that something I said makes me feel shit for her all over again. Her smile is like the one that lights up even the darkest of rooms. The darkest of hearts.
"When you hit me with a pan." I laugh, flinching when I remember the bump I had for weeks.
"Alright Eugene, get out I promise once I finish this last document I'll get some rest" she lies. Horrible liar. How does she even negotiate when it's so easy to detect her lies.
"You're a terrible liar. Stay here and pack up those files." I demand.
"But-"
"I swear to god, Corazón I'll shoot you with your gun" I deadpan. She murmurs something an awful lot like 'as if you have the guts' and I throw a ball of paper her way but she quickly ducks it.
She tightens her lips together and I walk over to her bathroom, a bottle of Arendol and a couple of energy drinks lies on the sink. I sigh and throw them into the bin. I open the tub's tap and check the temperature, I remember she liked them hot and never lukewarm she goes cranky when it's lukewarm. I dump a bit of bubble bath soap and the water foams.
I remember she loved reading a book and I don't think she has many here. I walk back out into the bedroom and she instantly hides something behind her, I roll my eyes and run over to the door. I hear her sigh in relief so I decide to work with her a little.
"Get rid of that paperwork or I'll shred them to pieces" I sing-song as I run out of her room and over to mine.
I come back in with the book she loves to bits in my hand, a limited edition copy of Pride and Prejudice with all the letters that were written. I got it for her five years ago and she sent it back to me after we broke up. I trail the cover and place it on the bathroom counter. I check the water for good measure and it's still good to go.
I fetch her, basically dragging her to the bathroom while groans saying she had to finish her work. I end up throwing her over my shoulder and she complains about the various boundaries I'm overstepping. When we get to the bathroom, I place her on the counter.
"Have a bubble bath, relax in it and let loose, capiche?" I ask. She nods.
"Asshole" she mumbles quietly to herself, I decided to ignore it for now because it might end in an argument and that's not what I'm going for.
She climbs off the counter and I exit the bathroom, looking over a few stuff in her room without invading her privacy. I hear the water as she climbs in and I picture her relaxing in the warm tub. I smile when I practically hear her moan in pleasure. I stand near the bathroom door.
"Is it okay?" I ask, lightly knocking on the door. She hums.
"It's more than okay, thank you Ash" she groans.
"Anytime, Corazón." I chuckle.
"Why do you still call me that?" she asks. I pause for a silent moment and try to decipher what I should say.
"Because the name belongs to you, Corazón. You own my heart, it's engraved with your name - as fucking cheesy as it sounds." I reminisce.
"Well, thank you for still calling me that. It may bring a lot of memories I would rather much forget but it brings good ones which I thought I'd forgotten forever," she replies.
"Are you enjoying the book?" I ask, I know she might not read it but I'm hoping she will.
"What book?" she deadpans.
"Pride & Prejudice - on the counter?" I replied.
"Oh, I didn't know that was there" she snickers, "I don't want to read it."
"Why not?"
"I'm enjoying your company."
A smile threatens to form on my mouth, I knock asking if I should come in and she allows me. The bathtub is hidden by the curtain so I lean against the counter and skim through the pages of the book. Aria has tried to read this book to me more times than I can read and I always fell asleep. When we separated, it was the only book I could read day and night.
She starts humming little sounds of pleasure which only tells how much she needed this. She might become pruney if she stays in there longer than she should. As long as she clears her head, it's okay because we need her focused on this.
"What are you doing?" she asks, noticing how quiet I've become.
"Skimming through the book," I tell her, "why would you like me to join you?" I joke. The atmosphere grows quiet, Aria not uttering a single word or making a sound, "You're debating it, aren't you?" I assume.
"A little bit" she laughs.
"Aria, I've never truly asked you how you felt about what I did. I've caused you immense pain, pain that I cannot fathom anyone should through. You're probably angry at me but yet she is no less kind to me than everyone else?" it's a risky question, but hopefully she's in a good mood.
"I'm not angry, I've never been angry about it. I expected it way before you warned me and I didn't care, I'm hurt because you chose to run away and not face me." She runs a hand through her hair as I notice her silhouette through the curtain.
"Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better" I answer truthfully.
"It shouldn't." she deadpan.
"This is the first conversation we've had since I came back without fighting with each other or walking away" I confess.
"That was on my part, I should've been mature. I just hate that you didn't give me any explanation, you at least owed me that." her words are true, I owe her that and it's something I can never give to her.
"I do, but I can't tell you I can only hope to make it up to you."
"I expected that but I'll try."
I laugh at how well she knows me, my next decision is made purely on impulse as I pull open the curtains. She gasps and furrows her eyebrows, I take a few seconds to watch her. Her hair is completely wet, and her knee is above the surface. The rest of her body is hidden safely under the water. Thank fuck. There was no way I would've been able to hold myself.
I kneel in front of her and cup the side of her face, she flinches but slowly relaxes in my palm. I lean in and connect my forehead with her. God, I want to kiss her so bad. But she deserves her space and I'll give it to her as long as she needs it. She bites her lip, and I pull her lip out with my thump because if that doesn't turn me on.
"I miss you, come back to me," I whisper. She stays still and I kiss her forehead and leave the bathroom as fast as I can. Only I know what I would've done if I stayed a while longer.
I sit on her bed, but it only takes a few minutes for her to come out of the bathroom. She's wearing a robe and, her hair is completely soaked while she tries to dry it. She doesn't seem to mind that I'm still here- she looks more like she expected me to still be here.
"I need to talk to you about something" she scoffs.
"What happened?" I ask. She reaches for her phone and gives it to me. Her screen shows a call log and the recent calls are unknown ID callers. The others are private numbers.
"I keep getting phone calls from those two numbers, the person never speaks but I can hear them breathing. I always drop the call before it reaches ten seconds because I'm not sure if they're trying to hack my phone or accounts," she explains all while drying her hair.
"Who do you think it is?" I ask. I take the towel from her and muffle it through her hair.
"Thank you, I'm not sure who it is at first I thought it was Davinski but then I realized that..." she stops midway, and I drop the towel. She almost whimpers at the loss of touch.
"Realized what?"
"Nothing, it's too insane. I might sound crazy" she chuckles.
"Aria, tell me," I demand.
"Let me get all my facts straight first, my theories have loopholes and I want to make sure I feel certain" she answers.
"Okay, always with the brains. I'll get River to run some diagnostics on the number and we'll see what happens." I clarify.
"And beauty, power, money, faith, family" she continues for me. I roll my eyes and shove her -only a little. She laughs and it sounds like a sweet melody to my ears, like an Aria
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Sometimes I wish you guys had insight into how their relationship was five years ago.
Oh well.