Chapter 13: let's meet the In-laws
When Asher finally pulled away, Pepper had a look on her face. She was besotted. She watched him like she was just noticing him for the very first time. She took his hand and placed it on her chest so he could feel her pounding heart.
June watched both of them unable to move away.
What was happening? The woman in front of him with the look on her face wasn't the Calliope Pepper Hart, she knew and loved.
"What are you doing?" Asher was surprised by the way she was looking at him. Then she surprised him more when she took his hand and placed it on her chest. He could feel it rise and fall as she breathed.
"What are you doing?" Asher asked her. He was just trying to prove a point when he kissed her. He didn't expect her to become so…so enchanted and weird.
"What are you doing?" Asher asked her for the third time.
"Can you feel my pounding heart? I think I am falling in love with you. I never thought it would happen" She turned to her friend. "You kept telling me that it was going to happen for me, that I was going to fall in love but I didn't believe you"
Pepper gave Asher a big kiss on the lips.
"Oh, my God I am in love with you. We are going to have a real wedding and I will pop out a couple of children. You and I, Asher…we are going to have a happily ever after"
Asher looked dumbstruck like he was in shock. He stared at the woman professing her love for him and he didn't know what to do.
"Cut the crap, Pepper!" June yelled at Pepper with her head tilted slightly to the right.
Pepper sniffed and wiped her mouth. "Fine! He deserved it!"
Asher was confused.
"What the hell just happened?" He asked nobody in particular.
"I think you just got pranked by Pepper" June clarified things for him.
"Wait, so you mean…everything she just said about loving me is…" Asher blinked to refocus his chaotic mind.
"Yes, she was getting back at you for…oh, you may want to take your hand away from her chest because…"
"Ahhh!" June was interrupted by Asher's screams.
"...oh well, she just used the staples on you" June shrugged. Nothing ever surprised her when it came to her best friend.
"Are you crazy?" Asher asked her.
"No. I just don't want to be kissed by my homeless roommate" Pepper smiled and sat down.
"Now that we've cleared up everything…why are you here, Asher?"
Asher saw little droplets of blood come out of the back of his palm. Who knew he married a crazy stranger?
"It's 3pm" He said.
"Good for you, you can tell time" Pepper openly mocked him.
"No, it's 3pm. We have to go visit Gramps in the hospital. You know, so you can introduce me to him and he will finally die?" Asher shook his head before taking a couple of baby wipes from Pepper's table to wipe out the blood.
"Oh, crap! I totally forgot. Gramps I am coming!' Pepper picked up her bag and rushed out of the office.
Asher smiled at June awkwardly.
"Hi"
"Hello" June waved back.
"How far do you think she will go before she realizes that I am not with her and she can't introduce me to Gramps" Asher asked the young lady in front of him.
"She will be back" June was certain about it.
"Oh that's a relief, I hate to be the forgotten husband"
"She will be back because she left her car keys on the table…"
June hardly finished what she was saying when Pepper came back inside.
"I forgot my keys" She said and took them from the table.
Asher cleared his throat loudly to remind her that it wasn't only the keys that she forgot.
"How did you get here so fast? I thought I left you by the car" Pepper said with a surprised expression.
Asher opened his mouth to talk but he realized he might be wasting his time, he simply walked out.
When he got to where Pepper parked her car, the janitor was there waiting for Pepper.
"What are you doing beside my car?" Pepper asked the janitor.
"You asked me to stay here. You said not to move an inch" the janitor replied to her.
"Oh! Sorry, I thought you were…"
"Really, Pepper….we don't even have the same skin color!" Asher was fed up.
"Sorry" Pepper whispered to both of them.
"Give me the keys, I am driving"
"No, you are not. It's my car and I will be driving" Pepper insisted.
"Then you can go alone then" Asher told her and started to walk away.
"Wait…try not to kill us before we get to the hospital" Pepper threw the key to him and Asher caught it.
When they got to the hospital, Asher parked the car and they got down.
He watched Pepper exhale and stand still for a moment.
Pepper felt the sweat at the nape of her neck. Her heart was pounding just a little bit faster than she was used to.
Damn! Why did her hand choose to be clammy now that Asher was watching her. She took a step and another step towards the entrance of the hospital but then she stopped.
"Are you alright?" Asher asked her.
Pepper was quiet. Her eyes began to form tears.
"They are it for me. They are all I have. Gramps and Gigi are the only ones left. And I am going to lose Gramps. That is one more funeral I have to attend. Then it will be Gigi's funeral and suddenly, I am the ten year old standing by two graves worrying about shoes" She rambled for a while.
"Shoes?" Asher was confused.
"When my parents died, all I could think about was these particular red heels my mother hated. Who the hell thinks about shoes at her parents funeral?!" Pepper didn't know this but she was freaking out.
Asher cupped both her cheeks.
"Hey, it's going to be okay. Just take quick breaths until the ground beneath your feet is steady…come on, breathe Pepper"
Pepper took quick breaths until she was calmer.
"What am I going to do, Asher?"
"I don't know but you won't do it alone, I promise"
Pepper looked at him "Oh shut up, you are just my fake husband"
"And…she is back!"
Pepper walked inside the hospital. When she got to Gramps' room, it was empty. The panic came back.
She found a nurse by the door.
"Where did the patient go?" Pepper asked her.
"Patient? I am sorry, he is gone"
Pepper's bag slipped from her hand to the floor, as sobs went through her like a bullet.