Stolen Truth

The Kiss

At the end of dinner, Asher walks me back to my front door.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight as just friends," I say with a smile.

His smile turns to a frown. He looks away and says, "Yeah. Thanks for going with me."

"What, Asher?" I question him about his mood.

"Oh, nothing," he says as he looks back at me. "Was this evening just friends going to dinner, or were we two friends on a date? I came by, picked you up, paid for the fancy meal, and dropped you back off. Look, I even walked you back to the door. Also, you are dressed up. You are wearing heels. I don't think I have ever seen you in heels before."

He makes good points. I say, "But we hate each other, Asher. We fight all the time. We are toxic around each other. If we were left in a room with a plastic knife, I don't think the two of us would make it out alive. Not to mention what happened the last time you visited me...It wasn't too pretty."

He chuckles then says, "Fine. I'm not asking for a second date, but I think this was a date. Are we going to argue about this now?"

"No – we are simply going to agree to disagree. You think it's a date; I think it was just friends at dinner. We cannot agree on what to call it; therefore, we are agreeing that we cannot agree on the name."

"You totally lost me. I'm confused," he says.

"Goodnight Asher," I say as I open my front door to step inside.

"Ugh. You are impossible! Goodnight Adrianne," he says with a wink as he turns around to head back to his car.

I close the door and lean my back against it. What just happened? I think I just went on a date with the person I hated growing up.

Taylor – I need to call her. I dig my phone out of my purse and dial her number.

"Hello?" she says when she picks the phone up on the second ring.

"Hey, Taylor. What are you doing?" I ask.

I can hear the annoyance in her voice when she says, "Um, nothing."

"Okay. You are being short with me. I'll call back later," I say.

"Bye," she says.

Before I hang up the phone, I hold it to my ear to listen to the background. I hear the phone being tossed or dropped on a table. Then, I hear a familiar voice. A voice all too familiar.

"Who was that?" I hear the voice ask.

"Oh nobody. Okay, Tom, I'm ready. We can go celebrate our two-month anniversary," Taylor chuckles. "I usually don't count the months, but I did so you can take me somewhere nice tonight. Let me grab my purse and I'm ready."

I hit the end-call button. Tom and Taylor. Taylor and Tom. My best friend and boyfriend of almost five and a half years. She said two-month anniversary! We just broke up tonight! He has been cheating on me with my best friend for two months!! Before I can stop myself, I dial Asher.

"Hey babe, are you calling for a second date already?" he says as he answers.

"He cheated on me. For two months. With Taylor. What do I do? Do I call and confront him? Do I drive home and confront him? Do I just ignore it? What do I do? I am trying to be rationale here and I promise you that everything I am thinking about right now is irrational mixed with a little bit of illegal," I say quickly as I pace across my living room floor.

"Breath first Adrianne. Take a deep breath in then out. Now, what's his address? I'll go beat him up."

I chuckle and say, "Stop making me laugh."

"No – I am serious!"

"Beat him up? Are we in the fifth grade?" I ask as I continue giggling.

"How do I not sound serious? I could totally take him – easily."

*Ding dong.

"Hang on, someone is at my door," I say.

I walk over and open the door to see Asher. I giggle and say, "What are you doing?"

He puts his phone in his pocket, leans in, and kisses me. I freeze. What is going on? Just like years ago when we held hands, the electricity returns. Why does this feel right? Why do I not care? Why is Asher so handsome in this suit tonight?

He leans away and smirks at me. I reach to slap him, but he catches my hand.

"Let me go so I can smack you!" I say, trying to sound angry.

"Ade, I did that for a reason. I am sorry I did, but I wanted to know how upset you really were about Tom. You told me tonight that you haven't seen him but twice within four months. Yeah, he might have cheated on you with your best friend. That sucks and makes him the most low-life piece of garbage ever, but did you seriously see a future with him? I know you sounded shocked when you found out that he didn't want to get married, but seriously? I think he would have given you a sign before you left. Or, he would have visited you every single weekend. I don't think that all of this is as surprising as you think. Let's look at tonight. You were apparently still dating Tom when I came over; however, you were dressed up very nice and ready to go on a date with me in a heartbeat. You didn't even think about Tom when I had asked you to dinner had you?"

I frown and look at Asher. He's right. I knew my relationship with Tom was almost non-existent. Then, Asher came down here just to see me. He didn't have any reason to come here other than to see me. I definitely didn't think twice before accepting his date invitation. I hopped on it in a heartbeat. Then, when Asher kissed me...Things felt right. I think tonight was his way of proving the point: I don't love Tom anymore.

"You're right. I don't love Tom anymore. I guess I didn't realize that this doesn't surprise me too much. You are right. I didn't even think about Tom when I got ready for our date. I guess I was sidetracked by the fact that you, someone I hated, drove all the way down here just to see me. I was so blown away by this side of you that I met tonight, this sweet, caring, compassionate side of you. Then, I just wanted to know more. I didn't care about Tom, or my relationship with him since it was non-existent."

He smirks and says, "You just said date."

I give a soft smile and look away. What does this mean? This is the same guy that tried to buy out my investors. He just waltzes in here and expects to be forgiven. He pretends that none of that even happened. Maybe it was just an excuse to come down and see me.

I nervously say, "Well it's too bad I live three hours away. You probably should be heading back to the inn. The breakfast there is phenomenal. You need to make sure you have enough sleep so you can get up in time to enjoy it."

"Yeah. You are probably right," he says, but he continues to stand on my porch.

"Yeah," I mumble.

He reaches out and grabs my hands. He wraps his strong hands around my small hands. He shortens the space in between us. He takes one hand and pushes some loose hairs behind my ear. I stare deep into his eyes. He is so handsome. He leans in and gently kisses my cheek. I inwardly frown because I didn't think he was going to only kiss my cheek. As soon as his lips are gone, I was wishing I could lean back in.

He says, "Goodnight, Adrianne. Hopefully I will see you soon."

With that, he disappears down the driveway and leaves. I walk inside and close the door to my house. I walk to my couch and sit down. At this point, I don't know what to do. I lost my boyfriend of five years and four months tonight. But, I also went on a date with Asher. Asher proved a point to me: I don't love Tom anymore. Now, I am starting to have feelings for Asher. I am not sure what he is doing to me. One thing is for sure: he is making me confused.