Page 64 of From the Ashes
Silence.
“Doctor?” Dr. Parks coughs and then takes a sip of his Earl Grey. Always fitting the perfect scholar cliché. I’m almost sure he studied in England. Never saw anyone wear that much tweed.
“Marvelous Carter, it’s marvelous. I’m… You made progress in the past weeks, but I wasn’t sure about the development it would take and this is a breakthrough. You can be proud of yourself, Carter; all those sessions throughout the years really paid off. You had intangible proof of it with your progress in empathizing with your friends, but this… This is fantastic.” He claps his hand once, then takes his notebook to scribble something fast in it.
“That’s good, right, Doc?”
“Really good, Carter.” I smirk at his answer, and I swear his pupils dilate like he can’t believe it. That’s actually pretty funny. Parks is always so restrained and composed, I figured he’d stay stiff forever.
“So,” he says, joining his hands in his lap, “I think it might be time we talk about what comes next.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, frowning, letting a few emotions slip through the thick layers of ice I usually keep in place.
“You’ve made phenomenal progress, Carter. I believe, well, at the pace you’re going… it looks like this relationship means something real to you.” He pauses, measuring his words. “Have you thought about what kind of space you want her to have in your life? Where this could go?” No one needs to ask me that. I knew the answer the second I saw her fight me in the ring. That was the moment I realized I would do anything to tie myself to this woman for the rest of my life.
So yeah, to answer his question, I have thought this through.
“SHE’ll be there? You mean THE mom?” shouts Ash, bouncing on the stool of the bar’s club. He’s so excited that he made his coffee spill everywhere. It's fight night, but I’m not throwing punches tonight. It’ll be two guys having a fuss over who should inherit a casino downtown. Blank against another guy he lost a bet with and the last one will be Ares. A dealer from the town over thought he could sell on our ground without his agreement, so he’ll have to settle his debt with our President if he wants to continue walking the earth with both legs. And also ‘cause I know he likes to fight in front of Mia. They got that weird thing about her watching him fight and then going straight toward his office. Don’t know what they do in there, but all I know is that she always comes out in a different outfit and with wet hair.
Ash and I will protect her once she gets here in an hour. Since the first fight she saw, they decided they would always drive herejust the two of them. I swear, if he wasn’t a workaholic, he'd be glued to her every second. Those two are inseparable. Anyway, Ash and I sparred a bit in the ring before the crowd started to arrive. Afterward, I took a quick shower and finished with a cold-as-ice stream, then grabbed a bite with Ash.
“Yeah, she’ll be there.”
“I can’t believe it, look at me, I. AM. SHOCKED.” He feigns an attack of the heart, palm on his chest as if he had taken a bullet. His red hair all disheveled as he keeps on with the drama. I notice his freckles are less apparent now that the lights are dimmed.
“Why? I did follow your advice.” I grin, and this time he stares at me, livid. Turning so fucking white, I wonder if he’s sick of something.
“Ash, you good?” I pat his shoulder, all blood leaving his face. He mutters something, but I don’t get it, “What?” I ask, narrowing my eyes.
“Guys! GUYS!” he yells, and Tank and Shadow, who are a few feet away, cleaning their bikes in the garage area, hurry to us.
“Ash, you’re a fucking drama queen,” I groan, shaking my head.
“Guys, you’re not gonna believe me, but I swear on the Prez’s head, Carter just fucking smiled at me.”
Tanks growls. “C’mon, kid, I thought there was a fucking attack, I’m going back to my bike,” he mutters, shaking his head and slapping roughly the back of Ash’s head before turning his back on us.
Shadow narrows his eyes on me, “That true?” asking me. I sigh, staring at Ash, who’s begging me with his wide eyes to confirm it. I groan, shake my head, and grin at them.
“No way,” Shadows murmurs, running a hand into his silver and blond hair.
“Told ya, you bunch of fuckers wouldn’t listen!” Ash shouts, showing me like I’m a zoo animal he found outside of his cage.
“But- How? Why? Is it the chick?” Shadow asks, crossing his tattooed arms.
“Of course it’s the chick!” Yells Ash with enthusiasm, a smile so wide it’s reaching his ears. “AND he’s bringing her to the gathering?”
Shadow lifts a brow, “Really?” I nod.
“Well, she’s gonna be the center of the attention ‘cause everybody’s gonna wanna know what magic she used to turn you all soft and smushy,” he grins, knowing he’s trying to piss me off.
“She’s a good woman, you’ll see,” I grunt.
“Well, now I need to know the whole story, don't forget any details, I need to know everything,” says Ash, removing his cut and pulling up his black sleeves.
“Not telling you a thing, Ash. Whatever you wanna know, you’ll ask her next week.” Ash rolls his eyes dramatically and shakes his head at Shadow, “See? He’s still very much himself.” Shadows smirks in response.
“Good thing he is,” he says and pats my shoulder before leaving for his bike, his dirty, oiled rag in the back pocket. Ash winks at me and spins on his stool, jumping out of it.
