Chapter 16
1099words
Clearing her throat. she decided to be the bigger person and put an end to the suffocating silence by striking up a conversation despite the fact that Asher looked like he couldn't care less about the awkwardness as he has been buried in his phone ever since their breakfast ended. "So..." she started, but Asher barely raised his head as he hummed in response. "Are you going to tell me where we are going?"
Asher glanced at her for a split second with a frown etched on his face before he went back to tapping away on his phone. "I thought I already made our plans for the day clear, is your memory that weak? How are you going to handle the project you've been entrusted with if your ability to remember things is this weak?" Lily's eyes widened at his words, her lips fell open as she struggled to form a coherent sentence to respond to him with, but words and the ability to string them together seemed to have eluded her. Her mind searched desperately for what she could have done to have warranted such an outburst from him, but just as words eluded her, memories of what could have caused this also seemed out of reach.
Thining her lips, she nodded her head and turned away from him, the little moment of friendliness they shared seemed to have gotten into her head and have caused her to forget who she was actually dealing with, a selfish, conviving, arrogant ass, who gave zero fucks about her. She had let herself slip up, and ultimately had her hops skyrocket for a brief second, but not again. Never again.
Asher raised his head again only when he felt the car come to a halt. He immediately turned to Lily who was already on her way out of the car, and a frustrated sigh escaped his lips. When he opened his mouth and spewed out those words without thinking earlier he knew he messed up big time, but he couldn't help himself earlier. He had gotten a text from Charlotte just as they got into the car, cursing him out for abandoning and embarrassing her at the family dinner earlier and threatening to show up at Paris. He had simply laid out his frustration at Charlotte's behavior on her, and looking at her retreating figure, he knew he messed up bad. Taking a deep breath, he immediately pushed the car door open and rushed after Lily, who has already mde her way into the boutique.
Upon feeling his presence beside her, Lily hastened her steps. "You don't have to babysit me, I can handle my own sopping. a dinner gown , right? You don't have to ...."
"I know you can handle yourself Lily," he said, cutting her off. "I'm not here to babysit you. I just want to -" he let out a breath, stopping himself midway before he could go on rambling "-I'm sorry about how I spoke to you earlier. I honestly didn't mean to."
Giving him a once over with her eyes, Lily didn't bother gracing him with a response except a quick nod before she strutted away. To her, there was no need for his apologies, it changes nothing about the state of their relationship, and should she continue to give in and accept the crumbs he feeds her with, she'll find herself back and stuck in a vicious cycle.
The shopping spree went by quickly. She had thought earlier that she would let herself have a little fun shopping, but the very moment she picked out a fitting gown, she was ready to leave. She vehemently turned down all of Asher's offers to pay. The dinner might be a step in helping him close his deal, but it was also the same for her, and she wants him playing no more than he already has in helping her get the offer.
The rest of Asher's plans to get them to hang out, and have a little fun in hopes of earning her forgiveness were ruthlessly thwarted. Lily insisted on going home to rest, and prepare herself for dinner. She wanted to spend not a second longer with him, and fortunately for her when they got back to the hotel their lodging issue had been solved, and they were moved to the Presidential Suite, giving her access to her own room.
She immediately set an alarm for 5:30 for when she'd start getting ready, then proceeded to bury herself with work. she busied herself researching Stellar Interior 90's designs and some of their modern ones before she got to making her designs, taking no longer than a 5-minute break now and then in order to avoid thinking about him. After his earlier apology, her heart had softened yet again, but she knew better, he's ever ready to burn down every glimmer of hope that rises in her heart and she was sick of it.
She shook her head ridding herself of every thought of him before she went back to her work. Her alarm set off less than 10 minutes later, and she immediately reached for her phone and dismissed it. Stretching, she stood to her feet, and began walking to the bathroom. The dinner starts in 3 hours. Each second before that counts if she plans on getting there on time. Once in the bathroom, she made to set her phone down and start getting ready when a message notification from Charlotte buzzed in.
Both her brows shot up at the unexpected notification and she immediately opened it. A picture of Asher and Charlotte cuddled together on a bed, while Asher was asleep displayed on her screen, and beneath it was a message, "it is a shame that you have chosen to be with a man whose heart lies with another, Lily. Save yourself the heartache and walk away before our relationship and the rapid progression of it is made public. PS: in case you are wondering what the progression is, just know that the title Mrs Allard might belong to someone else (me) soon."
