Love Me Later

The Surprise Guest

STILL SIX YEARS AGO

I opened my closet and took out a couple of dresses I had. Then I laid them down on my bed.

Gosh! It's only Ashton. What's wrong if I choose a mismatched outfit? It's not like he's gonna make a big deal out of it.

I decided to put the dresses back in my closet and pulled out a simple shirt and a black skirt instead. I grabbed a clean robe and headed to the bathroom adjacent to my room. When I went out of my room, I heard my parents talking to an unfamiliar female voice downstairs.

I knew it was the same woman who I heard scream earlier. I don't know why, but something about her made me feel uneasy. My friends used to ask me if I hated someone that I had not even met. I laughed at them back then, but I think I understand them now.

The sound of her chatter annoys me. Her laughter sounds rich and seductive, not even the sound of the shower can drown them. Though I do not want to acknowledge it without Ashton's confirmation, I think I know who the woman is. I know why she came with Ashton. I turned on the shower and soaked myself in its warm drizzle, trying to wash away the bad feeling. A woman's image appeared in my head. I felt something lumping in my chest.

Why do I feel pain?

"Tasha?" my mom knocked at the bathroom door. "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. Make sure you're ready by then." She did not wait for me to answer. Her footsteps faded and then I heard a door open and closed.

I went down as soon as I changed clothes. I found all of them in the living room. My dad blocked my view of the person who is seated beside Ashton. Then Ashton saw me.

"Hey, Tasha! I heard you were not feeling well?"

He came to me and attempted to put his hands on my face. I turned my face away and quickly took a step backward. The confusion on his face made it apparent that he was taken aback by what I did. I looked down, as I could not meet his gaze.

"I'm fine," I said coldly, and then I forced a smile.

"Are you sure?" I can still sense the worry in his voice.

"Yes, sure." I forced another smile and then glanced in the direction of the woman. "So, who do we have here?"

Ashton clapped his hand once, and then he walked back to where he was seated and offered his hand to the woman. I saw the delicately manicured hand take it. And then there she is, right in front of me.

The woman is beautiful. I'd say maybe she's exactly Ashton's type.

"Tasha, this is Bianca Mason, my girlfriend. Bianca, this is Natasha Collins. She's like a niece to me."

She held out her right hand to me, offering a handshake. I had no choice but to accept it. Her smooth hands slid slowly into mine.

"Hello, Tasha. I've been looking forward to meeting you."

I chuckled. Even her voice is sweet. The way her mouth twitched to one side as she talks reminds me of the actress Chloe Grace Moretz.

"H-- hi, Bianca." My voice cracked as her name left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I withdrew my hand and shyly kept them at my side. My gaze caught it when Bianca wrapped her arms around Ashton's body.

As if right on cue, my mom called us from the dining room. Dinner is ready. I let all of them walk to the dining room first, and I slowly followed. I watched from the back how Ashton treated Bianca as if she were going to break down anytime.

Seriously?

I let out a sigh that was loud enough to make them both look my way. I raised my brows and whispered," What did I do?"

Ashton halted. I felt like he was gonna approach me, but Bianca stroked his arm with her hands, tagging him away.

I rolled my eyes. There at the dining table, I wondered which part caused a sting in my heart: the fact that Ashton was already taken, or the way he referred to me as his niece.

Why? What's wrong with it? I have always treated him like a family too. Why can't I stop feeling weird?

I winced at the thought. I have not paid attention to it before. As a matter of fact, I did not care if Ashton looked at me that way. Though we are not related by blood, we have always regarded him as part of the family. Besides, he is twelve years older, which made him qualified old enough to be my uncle.

I knew he regularly went out on dates before too. I shrugged at the thought. Though I have never met any of them in person, I have had a nice chat with a few of them online. I pushed the negative thoughts aside. Maybe I am feeling this way because Ashton has not introduced any of his past girlfriends to us in person before. I made myself believe that it was the only reason why I felt differently towards Bianca.

Despite the inner prep talk, I still couldn't wait for dinner to be over. I hated how sweet Ashton and Bianca were to each other. I hated the fact that she is also staying for a week with us and is sharing a room with Ashton. And it is so infuriating because I don't even understand myself. I hated the smug look on her face. She acted as if she had already marked Ashton as her property.

Owned. Possessed. Won.

Stop being so immature, Natasha. I keep on reminding myself. Ashton is 28. At 16, I knew he had probably dated and slept with a lot of women before. But knowing who he was going to sleep with at this very moment agitated me. And it's not even my business, to begin with.

During dinner, they decided to go to the beach on the coming weekend.

"Uhm. I can't come. I'm sorry." I said without looking up. I kept on twisting the fork, just watching the pasta swirl with it.

"Natasha!"

Mom's voice startled me and I dropped the fork on my plate. She threw me a warning look and then pointed at my plate. She might have noticed how I have been playing with my food. I twisted my fork again and reluctantly put some spaghetti strands in my mouth.

I momentarily closed my eyes as I forced myself to chew and swallow the dish. When I opened my eyes, I caught Bianca staring at me. I am not sure if it is guilt, but I thought I sensed suspicions coming from her.

"Why, honey?" My dad's brows furrowed as he waited for me to answer.

"Why what?" I looked around and realized that they were all looking at me.

My dad swallowed. And then he twisted in the air the hand that was holding the fork. "This weekend."

"Ah, that. I..Uhm... I am hanging out with my friends." I lifted my hand and scratched my head.

"Then why don't you just ask your friends to come with us?" My mom said.

I rolled my eyes in frustration.

"Mom, can I just not go?"

Ashton cleared his throat. I felt like he was going to ask me something, so I quickly excused myself and headed back to my room. When my mom asked, I told her I needed to be in a group study via video conference. I sighed when she did not ask anything further.

Once inside my room, I looked at myself in the mirror, and I hated what I saw.

I am tall and skinny. I do not have any curves. Not to mention that Ashton is 28, and I am only 16.

Wait, what? OMG! Do I like him? This is not right!