Layla
The hand came down and smacked hard against my cheek. My head snapped back and I could feel my cheek swelling and burning. Tears brimmed my eyes but I held them in; I couldn’t let them see me cry or they would do it twice as hard.
“You are such a waste of space. I don’t know why your mother and I even had you!” my father said as he stood beside me. Before I could even look up, his fist connected to my stomach and I slumped over, all the breath in my body escaping me. I fell to my knees trying to gulp in some air as my father stood over me with a cruel smile across his face. I knew my cheek would be bruised in the morning, and that I would have a pretty good-sized bruise on my stomach. Although the pain was nothing new to me, I never got used to it.
“I think it’s time you learn what your place really is.” I saw his feet move away from me. Instead of relaxing, I tensed up even more as what he said ran through my mind. A deep, wrenching feeling wedged itself in my stomach as my mind came up with what he would do. I heard his feet shuffling back to me and my eyes shot up. I bit back a scream as my father held a big cooking knife in his hand. As he advanced on me, I couldn’t stop myself from moving backward, away from him. He really has lost his mind this time, I thought. Just as he stood a foot away from me, I opened my mouth and let out a scream.
I jolted awake as I felt arms shaking me. My eyes snapped open and I moved back on the bed.
“No, no don’t hurt me!” I yelled as I kept backing up until my back hit something. Turning my head, I saw it was a headboard. I felt the bed dip and I felt my heart speed up.
“Layla, it’s okay. It’s just me,” a familiar soothing voice said. Upon hearing Ashton’s voice, my heart seemed to calm down. I couldn’t stop myself from going over to Ashton and wrapping my arms around him. His cologne surrounded me, and I breathed its scent in deeply. “It’s okay,” he said as he rubbed my back in circles.
I hadn’t had that dream in almost four months. Why now? I thought as I calmed down. I lay still in Ashton’s arms, not wanting to move in case it ruined the perfect moment.
“Are you okay?” Ashton asked as he still rubbed my back. I nodded into his chest, starting to feel embarrassed. “Do you want to tell me what happened today?” I knew I had to explain what happened to Ashton, but I knew telling him would wreck the peacefulness around us. I eventually sighed and pulled out of his embrace. My body seemed to go cold as soon as his arms fell from me and I had to stop myself from launching back into his arms.
“Well…I went to work today and everything was fine, even after I had to take someone else’s shift. It was getting close to the end of my shift when a guy smacked my ass. It’s not like it hasn’t happened before, but this guy got up and kept coming onto me so I did the only thing that came to mind; I kick him in his…private area,” I explained, staring down at my hands. “My boss saw and told me to follow him to talk. Well, long story short, he wanted me to do something in order to keep my job and I said no and quit. Then I called you.” I waited for Ashton to say something but he stayed silent. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him. Does he think that’s a terrible excuse to quit?
After about five minutes of silence, I looked up not being able to handle him not saying anything. Surprised, I saw him sitting there with his hands in fists and his jaw clenched almost painfully.
“Ashton?” I asked, slightly scared. “Ashton?”
“Did he touch you?” he finally bit out, his voice hard and tight.
“What? No.” That seemed to calm him down slightly, but not much. “Ashton, what’s wrong?”
“I will destroy that man.”
“Stop. Ashton, it’s fine. Nothing happened to me. Plus, I quit and isn’t that what you wanted?”
“I don’t care if you’re fine or not! That man has no right to ask or treat you that way. And yes, you are never going back to that place,” Ashton said. I wanted to argue with him but I knew that he wouldn’t budge and it would only make things worse, so instead, I stayed silent waiting for him to cool off. My stomach took the opportunity to make mating calls. My cheeks flared as Ashton looked down at me in amusement.
“Hungry?” he asked, a small smile on his face. Seeing him smile made him instantly one hundred times hotter. His blue eyes brightened up. I nodded, not able to find my voice. “Let’s go make something.” He got off the bed and held his hand out for me, and I instantly grabbed it and let him pull me off the bed. He kept his hand in mine as we made our way to his kitchen. Walking through the door, I was once again hit with awe at his beautiful kitchen. “What would you like?” His voice interrupted my gawking.
“Um, how about spaghetti?” I asked, hoping it wouldn’t be too much trouble. For some odd reason, it sounded good to me at the moment.
“Fine with me,” he said as he started to move around the kitchen gracefully. By looking at him and seeing him grabbing what he needed, I knew he was familiar with a kitchen. For some reason, that surprised me. I never would have pictured Ashton Miller as a cook in a million years. Again, it made him even hotter. I felt awkward just standing there and staring at him.
“Need any help?” I asked, hoping he would say yes.
“Sure. Here is the pan; can you fill it up with water?” He handed me a pan. Smiling, I took it and started filling it up. As I did my thing, Ashton was opening cans of tomato sauce and pouring it into another pan.
“Are you making homemade spaghetti sauce?” I asked, bringing the almost-full pan to the stove and setting it down.
“Yes. I think it’s better than a can.”
“Me too. Where are the spaghetti noodles?”
“Over there, top shelf,” he said, gesturing to a cabinet with his head.
Opening it up, I saw the noodles and reached up to grab them but found I couldn’t reach. I tried again and then tried hopping, but my fingers barely made it. Suddenly, I felt a warm body pressed against my back and an arm reaching past mine to grab a package of noodles. I felt Ashton’s strong chest pressed against my back and felt my knees go weak. “Here you go,” he whispered in my ear, his voice low and husky.
He stepped away from me and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I was breathing slightly heavy and my knees felt weak as I walked over to my pan and set the package down. Something about Ashton made me want to jump him then and there. After cooling off some, I turned around to see him stirring something and moving his head to an unknown beat. Smiling, I slid up behind him and stood on my tippy toes to see over his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” I asked into his ear. He jumped slightly but then pretended like he didn’t.
“Mixing. Care to help?”
“Sure. What do you need?” I walked to his side and saw a bunch of spices sitting around his bowl.
“Can you start putting some spices in here while I stir it?” Nodding, I reached for the garlic first and started sprinkling it in. I never really measured stuff like this and it seemed Ashton didn’t either because he didn’t say anything about it. We did that in comfortable silence. After stirring in the spices I put in, Ashton lifted the spoon to me. “Taste it,” he said. Smiling, I leaned toward the spoon but instead of licking the spoon, I put some on my finger and tasted it. It needed something, so I grabbed more stuff and put it in then tasted it again.
“Good,” I said, looking up at Ashton.
“Good,” he repeated after me and went and put the pot on the stove, warming it up. Following his lead, I turned on the burner to start the noodles. While waiting, I leaned against the side of the counter and looked at Ashton. He was still in his work clothes but had his suit jacket off, and his gray button-up shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows showing his strong forearms. He had a slight stubble gracing his cheeks, and his brown hair was messy like he had run his fingers through it multiple times.
If you had to ask me why I called Ashton instead of Kacey, I couldn’t tell you. Even though I had just met him, I felt like I knew him and could trust him. I knew I should be hesitant to do so because I didn’t know what his true intentions were. Everything inside of me screamed that I should run away as far as I could before I get hurt, but I couldn’t make myself. The longer I stared at him, the more I felt insignificant. I felt so plain and poor against Ashton. He was so handsome and could have any girl he wanted, I couldn’t wrap my head around why he would be wasting his time on someone like me. Someone so boring and broken.
“Layla?” Ashton said, breaking me out of my self-drowning thoughts.
“Hmmm.” I shook my head and looked at him.
“Ready to eat?” He didn’t bring up that I zoned out and I was glad. I didn’t want to explain how I was thinking about how hot he was and how I wasn’t.
“Yes, please.” I nodded and took the plate he offered to me. At the mention of food, my stomach seemed to awaken and was making gurgling noises. I blushed as Ashton chuckled but he silently spooned a handful of noodles on my plate, as well as sauce. It looked like a lot, but I knew I would be eating it all. I stood off to the side waiting for Ashton, not knowing if he wanted us to eat somewhere besides at the bar.
“We’ll just eat here at the bar since it is only the two of us.” He seemed to read my mind. As I walked to a seat, Ashton grabbed up napkins and silverware.
“Sorry, I would have grabbed some,” I said apologetically as I slipped onto a stool.
“No, you’re fine.” He set down a napkin and fork for me and put his stuff down beside me. “Would you care for a drink?”
“Sure.”
“I have beer, wine, water, or juice if you’d like.” Deciding that beer didn’t really go with our meal, I opted for the wine. He shot me a smile as he grabbed an already open bottle from the fridge and two glasses. Once he was seated beside me, he poured us some.
“Cheers,” he said, his blue eyes piercing my gray ones.
“Cheers.” Our glasses clinked and we both took a sip, our eyes not wavering from each other’s. We both turned to our food and dug in. Even though there was nothing special with the spaghetti, it tasted amazing. Maybe it was because I was so hungry and hadn’t eaten all day or that Ashton made it, but either way, I had to stop a moan from escaping my lips as I ate.
We were silent as we ate but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It seemed we were both so comfortable with each other that we didn’t need to fill the air with constant chatter. Every time Ashton would move, I would catch a drift of his cologne. I didn’t know what he used, but whatever it was it became my new favorite scent.
“So, what are you going to do now that you don’t have a job?” Ashton asked. I found myself closer to him than I should be and moved back. I took a sip of my wine before I answered, hoping to win some composure back after practically smelling him.
“I don’t know. I guess I better start job hunting tomorrow,” I said and frowned at the thought. I’ve always hated job hunting and interviews. I was never really good at them and usually messed them up so that I wouldn’t get a call back. I was actually surprised when I got a call saying I was hired at the River Cafe.
“Well…are you good at making phone calls?” Ashton asked suddenly.
“I-I guess,” I answered, caught off-guard.
“How about running errands for someone, keeping track of schedules, following orders?” The last one sounded very kinky to me, but I quickly got my mind out of the gutter. I nodded, still confused. Ashton leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hand across his jaw.
“Well, it seems that I have an opening at my company. Would that be of interest to you at all?” I sat there in shock. Was he offering me a job?
“I, uh.” I cleared my throat and continued when I found my voice. “Yes, that would be great!” I practically shouted at him. I jumped out of my chair and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Ashton, that would be amazing.” Working at a company that large and well known would be amazing, even if it were some low-level job like being a receptionist. When Kacey and I were looking Ashton up, we read about his company and I knew he paid his employees very well and everyone wanted a job there as well.
“But you haven’t even heard what the position is,” Ashton said in my ear as I tightly gripped him. Realizing he was right, I pulled away embarrassed at myself for jumping to conclusions.
“Sorry.” I got back in my seat and calmed down.
“I am looking for an assistant who will be able to handle all my appointments, take care of my schedules, do paperwork, come to meetings with me. They will practically be with me every day and night. This person will have to know my company almost inside and out. Do you think you could do that?” he asked, his voice serious.
I sat there and thought about it. I actually knew I would say yes the moment he mentioned having to be with him every day and night. Other than being able to spend almost every waking moment with him, could I do the job? I think I could. I was very efficient and when I set my mind to something, I would do it whether it takes me forever or not. I knew it would be a lot of work and would be quite hard at times, but I also knew I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by either. Plus, whenever I get another job, this would look very good on my resume. I made my decision then and there.
“Yes, I can,” I said confidently, or at least I tried to sound that way. Ashton stared long and hard at me, almost making me squirm in my seat. Finally, he nodded.
“Good. You start tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” So soon?
“Yes. I want you there at six a.m. sharp.” His voice was all business and I didn’t even try to argue about how early that was. Looking up, I saw it was nine at night. Oh god! Kacey’s probably wondering where I am. Seeing as the air had turned from fun and light to business, I slid off my stool.
“I guess I better get going then,” I said, sending him a small smile. The feeling had changed drastically in just a short amount of time. Ashton just nodded and got up too.
“Oh wait, what about the dishes?” I said after I stood up.
“It’s fine. I’ll take care of them when I get back,” Ashton said.
“I don’t want to leave you with all these dishes,” I shot back, looking at the pans and our dishes on the counter.
“Don’t worry, I’ll have my maid clean it up in the morning. Let’s go. I’ll drive you home.” His hand pressed against my lower back. I finally caved as he led me to the front door.
As we reached the front door, I saw my bag hanging on a hook beside it. Knowing that Ashton put it there put a small smile on my face as I grabbed it and hung it over my shoulder. We walked in silence all the way down to the garage level and to his car. I tried not to stare in awe at his black 911 Carrera Porsche. I knew just a little bit about of cars to know this was a very nice car and super expensive. Being a gentleman, he opened the door for me, and I slid inside, gawking at the interior. The seats were black leather and it had a state-of-the-art stereo system. People were right; this car did scream luxury and sleekness. Ashton slid into the driver’s seat and started the car. The engine purred to life and rumbled underneath me.
“Nice car,” I commented as he backed out and exited the garage.
“Thank you, it’s a 911—”
“Carrera Porsche,” I finished.
“You know cars?” he asked, his voice full of surprise.
“Only a little. My ex-boyfriend was really into them so I picked up on a few things.”
“Oh.” The mention of an ex-boyfriend seemed to shut Ashton up as he drove me back to my apartment in silence. Instead of wondering what pissed him off, I stared at the window. How did he change from happy to pissed off so fast? I wondered. I’ve started to see he can change moods at the drop of a hat. Whether that’s a good thing or not, I don’t know. We pulled up to my apartment and I unbuckled myself. We walked inside and up to my door, and it was almost like deja vu as we stopped in the same spot as yesterday. It was hard to believe just yesterday I went on my first date with him and now here we are, after him picking me up and consoling me, to offering me a job. What a change in only one day.
“Well, thank you for everything today, Ashton. Thank you for picking me up, listening to me, making me dinner, and offering me a job. I don’t know how I will ever be able to repay you,” I said sincerely. I seemed to shake him out of his weird trance, and he turned to me with a soft expression.
“You’re welcome, Layla. You can always call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early,” I said with a grin.
“Yes, you will. Good night, Layla,” Ashton said as he leaned down and kissed the top of my forehead. Even though it wasn’t on my lips, I could still feel my skin tingling. A lazy smile appeared on my face as he pulled away. “Good night.” With that, he turned and walked away.
I turned and opened my door and slipped inside. All the lights were off in the house, so I quietly made my way to my room and set my stuff down. After plugging in my phone to charge, I quickly washed my face and changed out of my clothes and into PJs. Setting an alarm for 4:30 a.m., I slid under my covers. I quickly drifted off to sleep as I thought about Ashton and what would happen tomorrow.