Asher smiled lightly, looking at her. "You're welcome." He replied, laying down on his back on the floor and spreading his arms, staring at the ceiling. "I can't wait to see what you do in here. If you let me see, anyway. I won't come in here unless you want me to."
(XD okay! I can have him be a little less of a polite gentleman all the time, if you want)
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Arabella laughed. “If you ask before entering then sure. I wouldn’t mind it at all.” She giggled lightly, looking down at him. “This is all too much but I love it.”
(I don’t mind either way! Whichever you’d like.)
Asher smiled softly. "Alright." He said, looking at the ceiling still. I want her to be happy, even if I don't love her and she doesn't love me. He thought to himself. Even if we aren't mates.
(Alright XD)
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“I’m kidding Asher. You’re allowed in here. Just be careful when I have paints and other things out. I don’t want to ruin any of your nice suits or clothes. Paint is hard to get out of clothing sometimes.
Asher glanced over at her. "You can tell me not to come in, you know. Just because I'm your husband doesn't mean you can't tell me what to do and not to come in." He said softly.
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She hummed happily and nodded to him. “It’s alright… it’s a room. Why wouldn’t I let you in this room? It’s yours anyways.”
Asher nodded, then shrugged. "Okay." He replied simply, sitting up on his elbows.
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She laid back and smiled at him, closing her eyes. “Now that we’re both on the floor I don’t think I can get back up.” She giggled softly and sighed. “What do you want to do tomorrow?” She asked softly. “I suppose after work we should do something. It’ll be awful just sitting around…”
"Well, we have that business dinner at my parents house." He reminded, looking over at her. "But before that, I can help you get started setting this up."
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“Ah, I forgot about that.” She said softly, groaning. She rubbed at her face and sighed deeply. “Alright that sounds good, thank you.” She said softly, smiling.
He nodded. "You're welcome." He replied softly, turning back to stare at his ceiling. "You'll need to dress up tomorrow…do you need any new clothes or anything?" He asked.
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She shook her head. “All I have is business stuff.” She murmured. “Nothing else and I hate it.” Her eyes opened suddenly and she stared at the ceiling.
"Are there… different clothes that you want?" He asked slowly. To be honest, he hadn't really thought thst maybe she would want something other than business stuff.
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She tilted her head and thought over his question, blushing softly. “I would love a few casual clothes…” she said softly, smiling.
He nodded. "We can go shopping tomorrow? If you want to. I only have one meeting tomorrow and then I'm free, so we'll have plenty of time." He shrugged slightly.
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She nodded softly. “Of course! I would love that.” Unfortunately, Arabella had been trained to agree and to not add her own opinion to anything. So she just agreed, blinking slowly as she sat up.
"I mean, you can go shopping alone if you would rather." He added with a one shouldered shrug. "You can just text me to pick you up when you're done." Then he frowned. "You have a cellphone, right?" He knew her father had been, well…at least borderline abusive. That was one reason he had reluctantly agreed to this. But he wasn't sure she would even have the freedom of having her own device. If she didn't have one, he decided, he would buy her one tomorrow.
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(Sorry for any low quality or short responses. I’m moving out of the house in a day. I’m a little busy.)
She shook her head and sighed. “No… I don’t have a phone. We had a house phone but that was it…” she murmured. “My father was strict.” She reminded him. “He allowed by brothers to go out and do what they wanted but I, I had to be ‘trained’ for this marriage… in his opinion it was the best thing for me.”
(it's fine, don't worry about it. I'm moving soon too)
Asher nodded. "Oh. I'm sorry. First thing we do tomorrow, then, is buy you a phone." He looked over at her with a tiny smile. "You know you don't have to do what he tells you anymore. Technically, you are now the one with all the power." He looked away. All the power…she won't see it that way. She sees me, this house, as just another prison. He sighed softly.
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(Oof it’s stressful isn’t it?)
She brightened up. “Really!? You’d let me have one?” She beamed, humming happily and giggling to herself. “It’s weird being so free. I used to not even be allowed to speak up.” She said softly. But truth be told, she did feel trapped still. She felt trapped in their marriage.
(yes it is)
He smiled slightly. "Yeah." He glanced over at her. "Arabella…I know this isn't what you wanted, and i want you to know that you can do and say anything you want, okay? If you want to scream at the top of your lungs that you hate me, that's fine." He shrugged. Freedom was important to him. Having freedom to do and say what he wanted. Which was slightly ironic, considering how much he lied at work about what he wanted and how he felt.
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(Good luck and I hope everything goes well for you!)
She narrowed her eyes in thought as he spoke. “I’ll keep that in mind, thank you Asher. It’s good to know you care for my freedom. At the moment I don’t hate you… yes it’s true I greatly dislike our situation and just can’t find a place for you in my heart, but I do not hate you. I am more upset with the fact that we were forced into this. And because we were forced into this, we will never end up in love. It’s just the facts of this.”
(same to you!)
Asher nodded. "I know." He replied simply. "And even though i know we won't fall in love, i do want to be friends, at least. You can hate my parents for this all you want, just…don't hate me too much?" He chuckled softly. "Sometimes I hate my own parents, too…" He muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. "And if you ever meet someone you could love, tell me. Because I don't mind stepping aside to let you be with someone."
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(^-^)
“I can’t hate you… you’re kind to me and as much as my mind is screaming at me to dislike you, I just can’t do it.” She sighed softly and rubbed her thumb against her leg. “I can’t do that to you, Asher. Even if I find someone to love I couldn’t ever be with them. If the world found out they’d target you. I don’t want that on your reputation. You have a company to take over, a whole life ahead of you.”
Asher looked at her. "And if I fell in love with someone else, I wouldn't be able to be with them. No one wants someone leading the company who is cheating on his wife. The only exception would be if that person happened to be my mate." He sighed softly. "And even then it would be frowned on." He shook his head slightly.
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She looked away sadly. “If you find a mate, please, please divorce me and go after them, Asher. I can’t stand the thought that I’d be in between you and someone you love… you deserve so much more than me. My family can always marry me off to another man and they will for sure. You can find love and start a wonderful life for you. If one of us can, I want it to be you does it.” She murmured, looking up at him. “And this isn’t me wanting to be divorced. I don’t care because I’ll just end up with another man. But you have a chance at marrying a mate or someone you love.”
"Arabella." He said softly. "The only person I ever thought might be my mate was Peregrine Arestos, and…he's dead now. So. I have most likely missed my chance to ever have a mate, and I don't plan on falling in love anytime soon." He told her, glancing at her for a moment, then at the ceiling again.
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“You don’t know that.” She said quietly. “Fate is strange in that way…” she hugged her knees to her chest. “I think you’ll be able to find someone to love someday. It might have been Peregrine who could have been your mate but fate always will let you have a second chance.” She told him softly. “I know you loved Peregrine… I know you loved him a lot… I’m sorry you lost him. I’m sorry you had to settle for me, I truly am. But don’t give up hope.”
This was a lot coming from the girl who had already given up hope. She would be married off again and again if she divorced over and over again. If Asher divorced her she would go to the next rich man willing to take her… even if that man was decades older than her. The first choice of a husband for her - so graciously picked by her father - was a near fifty-year-old man with a large sum of money and a fetish for young women…
Asher shook his head. "You know the reason I chose you? Out of all the people my parents found for me a few months ago?" He paused. "You were the only one who hadn't volunteered. You were the only one whose parent had done it for them. The only one that…" He shook his head. "I know what the upper class is like. And I keep if I hadn't picked you, some other man would have." He sat up. "And you won't ever love me. That's fine. I didn't want you to get stuck with someone terrible just because of your father."
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Arabella shuddered, hugging herself. “I’m glad you chose me… I really am thankful for that too. The only other option wasn’t ideal…” her eyes moved to the window, staring out up at the sky. “You were the best candidate for this to me. It was one of the reasons I didn’t fight it. I knew if I ended up with you I wouldn’t have ended up with someone much older and much less caring about what I feel.”
