The drive back home was silent, my thoughts were silenced, all my mind kept replaying were the intimate pictures between Asher and Aria, they were pictures of the both of them kissing and walking around together. The pictures brought me back to reality, maybe I wanted to say that Asher had forced me to stay but truly speaking my heart wanted to stay and it had been trying to find excuses as to why I had to stay. Eloise hadn't said a word, she didn't have to, we both knew what each one was thinking and the silence was confirmation.
We arrived at the house, I made my way upstairs quickly. I took my suitcases and packed everything, when I was done I asked Rosy to assist me with taking the suitcases down to where Eloise was, after she had left, I looked around the room and the few days I spent here ran through my mind. I took a piece of paper and wrote a message for Asher, I took my perfume the one he applied and placed it on top of the paper and lastly I looked at the wedding ring on my finger. I removed it and placed it next to the letter. I was done sticking around hoping that things could work out, Asher doesn't know what he wants but I do and it's not me.
I got downstairs and Eloise had packed my suitcases in her car with the help of Gary. "Is that everything?" she asked. "Yes," I said looking around, my eyes landed on Rosy. "Bye Rosy," I said and she nodded her head slightly as she tried to hide her tears. "Good bye ma'am," she said.
We got into the car, "I need us to pass by some place first before going home," I said to Eloise as I thought about the one person who had told me that I should come to them when I decided to leave the Sterling household.
THIRD PERSON POV
Asher had been receiving calls right and center , probably from Journalists. He had expected this to happen, when he was informed about the pictures which were circulating the internet he had been busy trying to fix the situation. By the time they had managed to try and contain the situation, it was pretty late. He checked the time and realized he had forgotten about the dinner he had with Zaliyah, things had gotten out of hand that he it slipped his mind.
"Jason call the restaurant and enquire if Zaliyah is still there?" he said as he grabbed his phone and car keys, he saw the messages Zaliyah had sent him hours ago asking if he was still coming. He tried to call her but her phone was off, panic consumed him as he thought she must have seen the article and misunderstood the situation. He drove as quickly as he could, Jason called him and informed him that she had left an hour ago, he increased his speed as he drove home. When got there he got into the house calling out to her, he went upstairs and bumped into Rosy.
"Have you seen Rosy?" he asked.
"Yes, ma'am was here."
He walked towards the room hoping she was still here, "But she left sir," Rosy continued. Asher stopped in his tracks and turned to face Rosy, "Left? What do you mean left?" he said as he got into the bedroom and saw no one, he went into the closet and all of her stuff was gone. He looked around hoping that she would suddenly appear. He saw the perfume, letter and ring on the night stand, he got close, picked up the letter and read the little message Zaliyah had left for him.
'I had to leave, I needed to leave . I don't belong here, especially with you. The circumstances that had led us to get married on were unfortunate but we don't have to be tied together. My sister, your true love is back and you deserve to be with the one you love. Not me, your heart can never be mine and as much as it might hurt, I have accepted it. Please sign the divorce papers and finalize it. Don't try and look for me.
Asher read the letter over and over again and the more he read the more he didn't believe it. He held the perfume that held the letter and his heart ached. It couldn't happen again, not again. He got up and called Jason, "Prepare some men to look all over for Zaliyah. The second they see or spot her tell them to inform me. Find her," he said as he rushed out to the car. He thought about where she could go, Eloise. He drove to Eloise's place, he knocked rapidly on Eloise's door but no one replied. Where could she be? He kept asking himself the same question over and over again.
As he was busy thinking of where she could have gone he received a call from Aria, he ignored the call and tried Zaliyah over and over gain. He didn't want to lose her, he desperately kept calling her phone hoping she would pick up and he would tell her that she was the one he wanted, the one his heart belonged to. That over the past two years he had fallen for her , that his heart had been captured by her.
He remembered it like yesterday, the time he had come back from work, they had been married for a year now and he was still angry, skeptical. He wasn't sure if this was some twisted plot by the sisters to make a fool out of him, he had married her because she claimed she was pregnant but later on it was said to be a false positive. He decided on that day that he would confront her and if it was he was going to deal with her and her lying deceitful sister but that night as he stood by her door and heard her cries, his anger vanished. His heart softened, he heard her cry, and for some weird reason his heart hurt. So every night he would come back from work and stand by her door and try and find the courage to walk in and tell her to stop her pretense but he never could. In the morning when they sat down to have breakfast, he would wait. Wait for her to talk about why she was crying, or to demand something but she never did. She just greeted him with a smile, a smile he didn't believe was real because of how she cried the previous night.
He was frustrated at himself, wondering why she occupied most his thoughts. Why he cared whether she was okay and who had caused her so much pain she cried herself to sleep. So he decided to investigate her life and when Jason stood before him telling him about how she had suffered to get by in college despite her parents money and the shocking truth. Every time he saw her he couldn't stand it, he couldn't stand knowing that she had gone through so much and yet she smiled and acted like everything was okay. He couldn't stand the fact that he had once hated her and was ready to destroy her, but he couldn't get close to her. He wasn't even sure of what his heart was saying. After Aria had broken up with him and disappeared he wasn't sure if he really liked her or the fact that she was Aria's sister and she could be the rebound.
He asked Rosy to look after her, report everything she did or the things she talked about and the more Rosy told him about her the more he fell for her. One night as he was standing by her door, like he always did to check up on her , he discovered she wasn't asleep. She was standing by the window looking out at the full bright moon. The light from the moon caressed her skin making her look ethereal, he wanted to hold her, he wanted her in his arms.
"Mr. Moon, do you think that there is another universe, another life where Asher and I love each other or like each other? This might seem silly but despite not spending any time with Asher or living like a married couple, my heart beats fast when he is around. I feel knots in my stomach and I have dreams, dreams I shouldn't have but I do either way. Dreams of Asher and I," she said looking up at the moon, "I know his heart belongs to my sister but I can't help but to wish that maybe, just maybe he could be mine," she added.
That night Asher finally decided that he would slowly pursue her, he would do anything he could to be close to her until they belonged to each other. He was delighted, excited at the fact that she liked him, like he liked her. But things changed when Aria came back, he thought his heart might want Aria but it didn't. He was angry at her, and afraid that his heart might betray him and fall for Aria again but it didn't. His heart now only wanted one person and she was gone because of a silly misunderstanding. The kiss they shared magnified whatever he felt, and the dinner was to tell her about his feelings, to tell her about how he had been in love with her for the past two years, how he had slowly fallen in love with her but was just afraid.
Jason called him, "Sir, one of the guys says he managed to find some footage that showed where she might have headed."
"Send it to me and where could she have gone?"
"The Sterling House."
"Our house?"
"No sir, Your grandmother, Mrs. Sterling's house."