Esperanza (Brides Dock On Portum Island!) #1

Untitled Part 13

Chapter 12

Three weeks later, Esperanza was standing in front of the council members. Tessa and Kevin were both in the front row. Asher glanced at her, a smile on his supportive face. She could do this. Wait, why in the hell did she agree to be the one to present? She smiled back at Asher, taking support from his proud gaze.

"Good morning, everyone, I'm Esperanza Lawson, and my business proposal is—" A buzzer sounded out of nowhere.

The man sitting at the head of the table stood. "Who has a question?" the dark-skinned man asked.

Esperanza was confused when a brunette that she hadn't met before spoke. "It says on your slide that you are starting a spa? Are you retaliating against Emma Adams?" she challenged.

"No. I'm starting a spa because I'm familiar with most of what is done at a spa. Back in Jersey, I got a license for doing hair and nails."

"But can you offer massages?" she challenged.

"My partner, Tessa, is a licensed massage therapist. Also—"

"What is Kevin's purpose?" the woman hotly asked.

"Kevin is a barber and—"

"Exactly. Most spas don't have barbers."

"Why not?" Esperanza asked. "Men could get massages as well."

"Enough," the head councilman roared. "Let this young lady present her business."

Esperanza's presentation took two hours. It was only supposed to take twenty minutes, but everyone seemed to have a question for Esperanza. She did her best to answer everything. But come on? How was Esperanza supposed to know the volume of the building that she would need? Really? And the more she spoke, the more inept she felt. She had no idea why these people had something against a spa, but she didn't care. She was ready to go home. As soon as the head councilman told her to exit, she strolled out of the room. Her anger was so powerful that she nearly broke down and cried. Kevin and Tessa joined her, their faces lined with outrage.

"Who were those people, Kevin?" Tessa demanded.

Kevin frowned. "Those people were all Emma Adam's friends," he answered.

"Oh really?" Esperanza snapped.

"Really. You are married to her ex-fiancée. Maybe she's upset about that," Kevin suggested.

Tessa rolled her eyes. "Dating Asher didn't make him her property," Tessa protested.

Then the door opened, and Asher came out, his eyes on the ground. "It would seem that some of the council members felt that your presentation wasn't as detailed as they would have liked. They have requested for you to make your presentation in two weeks. The decision wasn't unanimous. Most of us agreed—"

"This is all your fault," Esperanza hissed. "If you just talked to Emma, none of this would have happened. For the last month she has been showing up, disrupting our lives, and you take the passive approach. Now it is going to cost me a job. I hope you're happy," Esperanza shouted. She was so angry; she couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"Esperanza, I—"

"Don't, Tessa. I can't. I—" Esperanza bolted out of the administration building, not watching where she was going. She furiously swiped at her eyes, her tears soaking the front of her shirt. She crashed into someone, who firmly gripped her by the arms.

"Esperanza, calm down," Asher pleaded. "I'm sorry. J—"

She wasn't in the mood to deal with him. "I need space, Asher. Don't talk to me." Asher held her hand as they walked home. She cried, and he watched where they both were going. As soon as he led her into the house, she released his hand and ran into her room and slammed the door shut.

Asher felt like a tool. Of course Esperanza had been right yet again. Emma was trouble. But he wasn't sure that talking to her would improve the situation. He tried doing it already. She never got the hint. Her baby was due in less than a month. He was confident that once the baby was born, she would forget about him. But now, he wasn't sure that Esperanza would wait that long. She was hurt and discouraged. Her presentation had been long and dreadful. She wasn't completely prepared, and his hands were tied. It wasn't like he could tell her what everyone thought. Most of the councilmen wanted to push the proposal through. But Jerkins, the weasel, said no. Councilman Jerkins was best friends with Emma's mother, and just wanted to be annoying.

What should he do about Esperanza? Would chocolate work? Would flowers work? Damn it all to hell, the last month had been so busy. It was a relief at that moment that she hadn't known how terrible he really was. He decided to chip in on some of the cleaning. That would make her feel better, right?

After feeling sorry for herself for a couple of hours, Esperanza sat up in bed. Her eyes were burning, and her nose was red. She had to get past the disaster. She stood and decided on a nice bath. She left the bedroom, wearing the bathrobe and nightgown that her husband had purchased for her. She frowned at the scene. There were a few incense sticks set around a full bathtub that was full of bubbles. There was also a vase of red roses by the tub. Her agitation faded away at the thoughtful sight. She sighed and left the bathroom, her intention to thank her husband. She nearly screeched at the sight. Her husband was trying to move eggs around a frying pan. The eggs clearly still had eggshells in them.

"Stop. I have another idea," Esperanza protested. Asher squawked and dropped the sauce spoon that he was using on the nice, clean floor. Esperanza sighed and turned off the stove. Then, she dumped out the food and scraped the frying pan clean. "Why are you trying to cook, when you don't know how to?"

"I wanted to do something that would make you feel better, Esperanza. You were upset, and I wanted to make things better for you. Did you see the bath?"

"Yes. I'll take it. Then I will give you your first cooking lesson," she decided before storming off. After her long, relaxing soak, Esperanza was in a much better mood. She took the vase of flowers and placed them in the center of the table. Then she pulled the Crock-Pot out of the closet. She waltzed into the kitchen and washed the Crock-Pot before placing it in front of her husband.

"Here is your answer," she announced. He gave her a frown.

"A pot with knobs?" he asked.

"A Crock-Pot. All you have to do is dump stuff in, set it to low, medium or high, and let it cook. Now wash your hands, I'm going to teach you how to make a stew." Her husband looked afraid for a moment, which cracked her up. But then she put him to work.

Esperanza was smart. She bought stew meat, a vegetable broth, baby carrots, baby potatoes, onion powder, minced garlic, and a bay leaf. She made sure that her husband didn't have to cut or chop a single thing. She observed him as he cooked. He made a bit of a mess when he poured the ingredients into the Crock-Pot, but she instructed him to clean as he went. An hour later, she had a house smelling like cooking stew. Yes, the stew would be done probably by midnight, but at least he made it.

While the stew was cooking, Esperanza made grilled cheese sandwiches and warmed-up canned soup. After they ate, her husband did the dishes, without argument. By then, she was exhausted. As Asher sat on the couch in front of the TV, Esperanza plopped down on his lap. She was ready to make up. Asher glanced at her in surprise.

"I thought you hated me," he admitted, which nearly crushed Esperanza. Yeah, she was pissed, but she didn't hate her husband. She cared deeply for him, which was why she had gotten so mad.

"I care about you, you know," Esperanza told him. "I'm sorry for losing my temper, but I'm not sorry for what I said. You need to talk to her," Esperanza insisted. "And don't give me the crap about her having less time to be annoying when she has her child. Please just.... Asher, do you like her attention?"

Asher vehemently shook his head. "No. I think that she's annoying," he confessed.

She relaxed into his arms and buried her face into his chest. It was as hisarms wrapped around her that she realized that she had overreacted because shewas falling for him. She would be damned if some hussy who wouldn't let godrove a wedge between them. By reacting that way in public, she actually gave the menace more ammunition.