Surprise Me Maybe

09. Tête-à-Tête

"What does he want now?" Chloe grumbles when she sees her father standing on our porch. She stares at him with cautious eyes while her hands are clutching my wrist tightly.

Ashton leans on my porch post, waiting for us to approach the house. His face is unreadable. It's exactly the expression he wore in every division meeting back when I was acting as his executive assistant. "I called," he greets. Yes, he has a unique way of greeting people.

"I saw. I thought I would call back when I got home, but it looks like I don't have to. How long have you been waiting?"

"Not long. I decided to come over and learned you guys weren't home. I thought I was going to ring you again but it was then I saw your car coming."

"I see," I reply as I rummage through my bag to find the house keys and give them to Chloe. "You can go inside and watch your series. Mama is going to talk with Ashton. Okay?"

Taking the keys, Chloe reluctantly walks up to the porch and heads straight to the front door. She glares a few times at Ashton in the process, contrasting his soft gaze on her as he follows her movement.

"Don't forget to drink some water!" I remind my daughter before she disappears behind the door.

Once it's just the two of us, I saunter over to the porch and lean on the other post, waiting for Ashton to start the speech. He's probably going to express his disappointment or point out my discourtesy during lunch. I can't blame him for doing that, but I'll also need to say my piece once he's done.

To my surprise, there is not a single word coming from him. We're just standing there silently like a pair of porch statues. While his eyes are on me, I look everywhere but at him. I don't feel ashamed of standing up for myself in front of his mother despite my impulsiveness in handling the situation, but the way his piercing gaze at me, as if he can see right through me, makes it hard for me to look him in the eye at the moment.

"I'm sorry I left without informing you," I start. "It was..." I pause, trying to find the correct word for it, "rather spontaneous."

Ashton raises his eyebrows. "Spontaneous."

Sighing, I trudge to my wooden bench and plop down. "Your mother has probably told you what happened. I admit that I was a bit harsh, but in my defense, she accused me of not being sincere and that I have a hidden plan for you."

"What hidden plan?" He slips both his hands into his jeans pockets. When he notices I take time with answering, he props himself up. "What hidden plan, Charlotte?"

"She bluntly asked me how much money I wanted in exchange for leaving you guys alone in peace. When I told her I wasn't there for the money, she started accusing me of wanting power; your power. You know, something like framing you to marry me so that I can have your last name," I rattle off faster than I anticipated. "And I lost it."

The corners of his lips twitch. "You're framing me to marry you," he mumbles while scratching his nonexistent stubble. "That would be quite a show."

I shoot him a glare when I see what he's doing. "I'm serious, Ashton. She insulted me and talked nonsense about my intention of bringing Chloe into your life. That's not something to joke about!"

Ashton stops smirking and brings both his hands up. "Okay, sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of this situation or anything. You have all the reasons to be upset, and what you feel is absolutely valid because I know how my mother can be," he replies. "But I've warned you so many times about what kind of a person she is, especially since you decided to come along with us."

"Yeah okay, but I had no idea that she was even worse than you." I bite my inner cheek, regretting the indirect insult I just threw at him.

"Why thank you." He makes his way to me and settles at the spot next to me. "You shouldn't take her antics seriously, Charlotte. I told you she's all bluff and loves to scare people off because that's all she knows how to control the situations around her."