Love Me Again

Chapter 23 - Helping a friend in need

Chapter 23 - Helping a friend in need

"Spill," Ashley demanded the moment they managed to get away from their parents and hide in her old bedroom.

Ashton sighed and collapsed on his sister's bed. "Mom saw me kissing my lover."

Ashley's eyes widened. That was a bad way to come out of the closet. "Where?"

"That's not important."

"At our restaurant?"

"No, I'm not stupid. I just never thought mom would happen to pass by that place when she had never even been there before! In any case, thanks for backing me up. About mom's condition, ignore it. It does not matter if our parents accept my relationship or not. We can still be together without their blessing."

Ashley sighed and then glared at her twin. "Why didn't I know that you liked men?"

"That's because I was hiding it from everyone."

Even if they were twins, that did not mean they shared all their secrets with each other, especially since they were now adults. Ashley asked tentatively. "Since when did you know..."

"College."

"That's a long time ago!"

"Sorry for not telling you, but I didn't know if you would react the same as mom and dad."

Ashley reflected that she was only open-minded about LGBT matters quite recently. If Ashton told her about his sexual orientation way earlier, she might indeed react the same way as their parents did but would then come to accept it. But her initial rejection would have hurt her brother's heart deeply.

"Okay, apology accepted. How long have you been dating your boyfriend?"

"Since college."

"...So, he's the only guy you've ever dated?"

Ashton grabbed a pillow and smacked his hand on it. "None of the others could match up to his standard."

Ashley silently gave him a thumbs up. Knowing her brother's standards from his choices of ex-girlfriends, his boyfriend must be great.

Thanks to Ashton being forced to come out of the closet, her decision to stay at the family home was taken in stride, including her news that Gio had verbally threatened their family.

No matter what incidents happened in the Summer household, their lives and business would still continue as usual.

Ashley also no longer needed to hide from Sean now that things were clear between them and went back to work. These days were peaceful, so much so that she wished for them to last forever. But her wish was never meant to be fulfilled.

"Ashley!" Ashton burst into her office, followed by her assistant right behind him.

"What?" She spared him only a glance before she went back to the pile of papers in front of her.

"Big trouble!"

"You are right. We still can't pick a good supplier among the choices we have." Ashley tossed the file with the three choices of suppliers onto the table, a headache brewing. "I need you to help me pick two of the three final choices."

"No, that's not what I meant! We can do that later, but right now we have a bigger problem! That bastard is causing trouble again!"

"Which bastard?" Ashley jumped when Ashton suddenly slammed his fist onto the table. "Don't make a mess! You will pay if you damage my desk!"