Chapter 3
1643 Words
CLEO DAWSON
The rest of the dinner went smoothly. Or not.
My dad seemed genuinely excited for a good while, talking to Beatrice. Johnny wasn’t left out, chipping in between their conversations resulting in the trio actually having a good time.
Throughout their conversations, two people were left out though- me and Ash. I was barely paying attention to them, my attention fixed on Ash while his attention was fixed on his phone throughout the dinner.
There was something about him I couldn’t quite wrap my fingers around. Was it how his gaze remained cold the whole time or how he genuinely seemed uninterested in me while I remained hooked on him?
“Cleo, Ash,” my dad finally spoke up after a good laugh with Beatrice. “You both haven’t said anything the whole time. I’m beginning to feel like we adults are the only ones having fun here.”
Neither of us replied him, prompting Beatrice to speak up. “Why don’t you also try to get to know each other better? Cleo, you’re a freshman in college, right?”
“What? Yes,” I replied her, stealing glances from Ash from the corner of his eyes. Despite his mum talking, he still had his gaze fixed on his phone. “I just got in.”
“What are you majoring in?”
“Economics,” I said and finally, Ash raised his head to look at me. suddenly confident, I took it as an opportunity to also try to get to know him. “How about you? Ash?”
“What?” he seemed surprised at the question. He looked at his mum, received a smile from her then replied me. “Final year. English literature major.”
“English literature?” I failed to hide my surprise. “Oh, wow.”
“Why?” he dropped his phone on the table for the first time to smirk at me. “Were you expecting only nerds to study English? Or should I say, someone that looks more prim and proper?”
“Well,” I couldn’t deny his aura didn’t give off the vibe of someone studying English. If I was to take a guess, I’d conclude him majoring in a course that barely required him putting any effort. “I am surprised. a little bit.”
“I could say the same to you,” he picked up his phone to continue scrolling through it. “For an economics student, you don’t look bad yourself.”
“What?”
“Ash,” his mother immediately hissed quietly. “Can’t you be nicer to her?”
He surely wasn’t the most polite person and instead of taking offense, I found it interesting.
“Cleo, dear,” Beatrice flashed me a smile. “Don’t take anything from Ash personally. That’s just how he is.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” I nodded slowly. “I understand.”
At my words, he looked at me and smirked. A smirk that managed to create an unexplainable heat within me.
“No,” I immediately muttered to myself, in an attempt to pull myself back to my senses. “Stop it. snap out of it.”
The rest of the dinner went quietly and after a couple more conversations excluding me and Ash, my dad and Beatrice finally concluded it was time to call it a night. Simultaneously rising to their feet, Beatrice grabbed her bag and Johnny did the same, both taking steps forward.
“It was nice meeting you, Cleo,” she leaned forward to give me a light hug. “I hope we get to see each other soon enough again.”
“Me too,” I flashed her a smile. “Thanks.”
“Ash, you too,” my dad gave him a pat on the shoulder. “We should see each other sometime soon. tell me, do you play football?”
“He does. He is on the college football team,” Beatrice replied on his behalf with a proud smile. “He is really good.”
“Great then!” my dad exclaimed. “You should come around sometime then. I used to play it back in the days but I’m pretty sure I’ll still have the moves.”
“Sure, Mr. Dawson.”
“Mr. Dawson?” my dad laughed. “Come on. Just call me Frank.”
I watched them in horror as they seemed to be bonding. For some reason, I didn’t like the sight and especially, the thought of my dad inviting him over for them to bond over one of his numerous hobbies.
It felt like a repeat of things with Johnny and definitely, I couldn’t afford to allow that history repeat itself.
After a couple more pleasantries getting exchanged, they bid their final goodbyes and left, leaving the house empty to just me and my dad.
“So,” he said the second every trace of them was gone. Giving me a quick glance, he walked around the living room and then took a sit on my favourite sofa. “What do you think about him?”
I almost choked on my saliva. “Him? ash?”
“I meant her,” he laughed as he corrected himself, a sigh of relief escaping my lips. “I meant Beatrice. What do you think about her?”
“Well,” all I sadly could recall was me paying attention to her son and not her. Biting my lip at the realization, I walked slowly and joined him on the sofa. “Well, she seemed like a great person. She’s nice.”
“Really?” I could finally notice how desperate he looked as he awaited a response from me. “God, I was so worried you wouldn’t like her or approve of our relationship.”
I felt a lump develop in my throat. “So you’re serious about her?”
“I guess,” he smiled. “After the way things ended with your mum, I thought I’d never want to be with another woman but I guess I was wrong. I just had not found the right person yet.”
His eyes glistened as he spoke, a part of me feeling an unexplainable guilt. He seemed happy and I genuinely wanted to be happy for him but for some reason, the image of Ash flashing in my head wasn’t making it easy.
It wasn’t right though. I had been foolish for so many years by crushing on my father’s best friend. I couldn’t afford to be foolish. And most especially, selfish after knowing all what he went through with my mum.
“I’m happy for you, dad,” I finally smiled at him. “I’m glad you finally found the one.”
The one. That one person I was yet to find.
It wasn’t Johnny and it definitely couldn’t be Ash. He was just someone I found fascinating at that moment. He was new and the whole bad boy aura to him was exciting. That was it. I was just curious about him and nothing else.
“One sec,” my dad said, pulling out his phone. “Oh, Beatrice is calling.”
He excused himself for a while and I remained in the same spot I was, reassuring myself I didn’t feel anything towards Ash more than curiosity which was simply natural considering the fact that he was about to become my stepbrother.
“You would not believe what happened,” my dad said amidst laughter as he returned to the living room. I turned to face him, watching him flash a black little purse in my face. “Beatrice forgot her purse here. It must have somehow slipped out of her bag while we were talking. Isn’t that crazy?”
“I guess?”
“Now the craziest part is that Beatrice’s USB flash is in this purse and she needs it tomorrow,” he plopped into the seat next to him. “And well, she’s home already and it’s too late for her to drive back here to fetch it.”
I was failing to understand what the issue was. “You can just go over to her place tomorrow morning to give it to her yourself, right?”
“I wish I could,” he groaned. “But I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I have to be there as early as 8am. God, I guess I’ll have to ask Johnny for another favour then.”
A thought immediately struck me and without thinking twice, I blurted it out. “You don’t have to. I can go over to her place to give it to her tomorrow morning.”
He seemed shocked for a while and so was I. what the hell was I even saying?
“Are you sure about that?” he asked, a look of worry in his eyes. “Don’t you have morning classes tomorrow?”
“No, it’s my free day,” I was actually being truthful. “I don’t have classes so you don’t have to worry. I can do it.”
He looked at me suspiciously for a while before nodding and then handing the purse over to me. “Alright then. Beatrice seemed excited to meet you earlier so it’ll be a good opportunity for you two to meet again and maybe, bond?”
I nodded, tightening my grip around the purse as I did. To him, I was going over as a simple act of kindness to my father and his girlfriend.
But deep down, I knew I had another motive.
I was going over to see Ash, not her. To confirm the fact that indeed, all I felt towards him was nothing but fascination and curiosity.
Simply because he could be my stepbrother in the seeming near future.
- Writer
