Love Has a Color

Here We Go

I don't even want to talk about the dinner. The only good thing to come out of last night was the dessert, and the surprising fact that my dress didn't rip. Right now I'm laying in bed while, Asher gets ready for the day. I'm crossing my fingers that things don't get worse. Though, I think the only way that could happen is if the hotel literally catches fire.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I hear Asher's voice, as he enters the room. Oh, right. Did I forget to mention that today we're having dinner with his family? It's like the universe says "hey, Scarlett, I see you're having a tough time. What can I do to make it worse?"

"I was, but that question's making me rethink my position."

I flip over on the bed, watching as he fumbles with his tie. He pulls it tight and sighs, placing his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little nervous."

"You can't be nervous, I'm nervous. We can't both be nervous, so since they're your family you've gotta take one for the team," I laugh, though, I'm mostly serious.

He laughs, and moves to sit on the end of my bed. "What if we just don't go? We can go down to the convention, get some free pens, have a fun day and end it with some take-out. Chinese food, or something."

"As great as that sounds, I don't think we can skip this. Well, maybe I could. But, you surely can't. Don't worry, I'll leave some lo mein for you," I tease. I hop up and pat his shoulder, then head over to the bathroom.

"Scarlett, do not stay in that shower forever. We have to be downstairs in twenty minutes!" Asher yells to me as I start the water.

I open the door, peeking my head around the corner. "Rude!" Okay, so actually I'm glad he gave me the warning. If I only have twenty minutes to get ready, I'm going to need the time for my hair. I am chronically late to places, specifically because I take so long in the shower. Oh, well.

Much to Asher's surprise, and mine to be quite honest, I'm ready in record time. "Look at you, and with two minutes to spare," he jokes.

After a good scoff and slap on the arm, I grab my purse and saunter out of the room. We head down to the convention and take our time checking out some booths. It's nothing special, but I have a good time. I love free stationary, and I love spending time with Asher, so win-win.

The unfortunate part of this whole thing is that at some point, the convention ends. Then, we get ourselves in order and hop in the car. Hop in the car, for what, you ask? Oh, dinner of course. The single thing I've been dreading even before we got on that plane.

I have a lot of issues about this situation. Like, one, what if they hate me? Speaking as if I have a chance in hell at ever being with Asher, he would never date me if his family doesn't approve. I mean, I wouldn't. Well, I probably would, just to piss them off. But, then after a while I would get tired of it all, and bye-bye Asher. He's not the type to play games, though. I'm sure it would just be no, straight up, and that's it. Not that he even looks at me that way, so I guess that doesn't really matter.

I do at least want his father to like me. I know he and my dad used to get along, clearly well enough to want to merge companies. Now that neither of them are part of the businesses, it's partly my responsibility. If he hates me, I'm sure the state of his company is going to be one of the biggest questions on his mind. This is my fear, that he'll just be seeing my weird awkward side, and not my business side. When I'm nervous, or when I'm around Asher, I get all sweaty and my social skills become...well, questionable at best. Like, right now, while I'm rambling in my own mind not making any sense at all. My palms are starting to sweat.

"Stop worrying," Asher interjects, stopping my inner panic.

"Can you tell I'm worried? I'm trying not to look worried, because I definitely can't stop worrying for real. I'm getting more and more nervous by the second, Ash," I say, in one breath.

Without taking his eyes off the road, he shakes his head reaches over to grab my hand. Oh, what? Why is this happening? "Your hands are all sweaty. Are you really that nervous?" He laughs, dropping my hand.

"Yes! I need them to like me, and when I worry I become socially inept. That will not send a good impression to your father."

He responds right as we're pulling up to the restaurant. "They're going to love you, Scar," he says, stopping at the valet. He then turns to look at me, with a smile. "How could they not?" At that, he hops out of the car and hands off the keys. I barely even get time to process that comment and I'm being ushered to the door. We stop just shy of entering, and he turns to face me directly, hands on my shoulders. "Last chance to back out," he warns.

"Don't tempt me," I smirk and wave him on. We enter the restaurant and head toward a table in the back. Here we go.

"Asher! Oh, sweetheart, you look so handsome!" I hear a woman's voice call, the second we come into view. His mother, I presume. She is wearing a beautiful dress, her blonde hair pulled neatly into a bun. Before we know it, Asher is being swept into a bone crushing hug. I see her blue eyes flick over to me, taking in my appearance before whispering something to her son. He responds, then pulls away from the hug. I see his cheeks slightly reddened, and the grin on his mother's face. I can't help but wonder what they said. However, I don't get to ask. I'm now wound in Mrs. Black's tight embrace. "And you must be Scarlett!"

She holds me at arms lengths, smiling at my appearance. "Hi, Mrs. Black. It's really nice to meet you," I say.

"Oh, please! Call me Olivia." She smiles, brightly, once again.

"Miss Indigo, I haven't seen you since before you could crawl." I turn to face the voice speaking now. His father. He reached out a hand for me to shake, then just nodded at Asher.

We took our seats and I realized it was just the four of us. Apparently, Ash noticed at the same time because he spoke just as the thought crossed my mind. "Where are those two?" He asked, pointing to the empty seats at the table.

"Late, as usual. You know, I was actually surprised that you showed up on time. You have never been one for punctuality," his father responds dryly.

Asher clearly forces a smile, his lips pursed and jaw clenched. I just want to reach over and take his hand, but, that would be a stupid move. One time this trip was enough.

Before anyone could say anymore, a cheerful velvety voice fills the air behind us. "We would've been here on time, if someone didn't take so long to do her makeup." A man, looks quite similar to Asher's, comes up behind us. I hardly notice the blonde woman next to him, though beautiful, for his smile is intoxicating. He leans forward and rustles Asher's hair, smiling from ear to ear. "Hey, little brother!"

The uncomfortable expression doesn't leave his face, as he smiles a hello back to the man I now know is Ashton. "Ashton," he says, as a greeting. He then gestures towards me, his bothered demeanor loosening up a bit. "This is Scarlett."

I get no response from Ashley, save a half smile, but another back breaking hug from Ashton. His sister moves to sit at one of the empty chairs, and brushes a stray lock of hair from her face. "I would like to point out that Ashton was the one who took so long to get ready. I was waiting at the car for him forever." She rolls her eyes and sips from the glass of water in front of her.

Well, so far this has just been lovely. I look around to take notice of everyone, now seated. I see a mix of emotions at the table. Some smiles, some clearly annoyed expressions, and the two of us quite obviously feeling out of place. I hardly ever see Asher seem so, out of his element. Usually, I like to mess with him like this. Like, see how long it takes for him to get away from his little uptight, in control, nothing-bothers-me charade. Right now, though, it's making me nervous as well. I feel bad and I just want to figure out what's going on in his head.

I hear a little clink and a sigh from the other side of the table, clearly indicating that there's been some conversing I've missed. That inference seems to be accurate, because I can almost feel Asher tensing beside me. He then turns to me with an expression that can only mean, "here we go."