Ashley Ch. 06

Fighting back my emotions, I vowed not to let any of those questions arise. "Dad, I promise I will never hurt Ashley. The reason why I've done all that I have for her is not what you think. I just want to be a good brother."

"I know that, son, and I trust you. I trust you."

Shortly thereafter we arrived at our destination.

My gloom was easy for my dad to spot as we entered the store. It was hard to be cheerful when all I could think about was a future with a heartbroken Ashley. I realized, however, that if I didn't downplay my anxiety, he might think there was a bigger story behind what she and I had been doing. And so, as we scoured the aisles of dress clothes and suits, I kept my chin up and focused on picking out an outfit for my date with my sister.

We carefully loaded my expensive new wardrobe into the backseat. On the way home, dad made the surprising suggestion of visiting my Aunt Kim at her flower shop.

"There are three ways to win a woman's heart: flowers, chocolate, and jewelry. I wouldn't recommend spending your savings on jewelry for your first date, but flowers and chocolate are a lot more affordable." The suggestion sounded like a good idea and I agreed to it.

"My, my, my, look at who we have here," my exuberant aunt greeted as we entered her shop. "What do I owe for the honor of this visit?"

Before I go on, there is one thing I must get off my chest about my Aunt Kim: she is one beautiful woman. I don't mean that in a friendly, familial manner. I mean she is bee-yoo-tiful. Years younger than my mother—she never told me their age difference—my aunt is a tall blonde bombshell with an incredible bust that makes jaws drop, both men's and women's alike. How she managed to stay unmarried up to her age was a question that's asked repeatedly at family get-togethers. And not a single get-together went by without at least one of my uncles flirting with her.

Just like how my dad didn't expect me to be impervious to Ashley's beauty, I didn't expect him to be impervious to my aunt's. Already he was chatting it up with her like mom didn't exist. It looked like something I should have been worried about, but my aunt had an uncanny talent of deflecting advances with not-so-subtle remarks, probably from years of practice in dealing with lechers.

I was aimlessly wandering past a rainbow of petals when her jovial voice startled me.

"Hello Brian, can I help you with anything?" My aunt stepped right beside me, her smile somehow even whiter than Ashley's.

"Hi Aunt Kim. I'm sort of just looking around. My dad thought it'd be a good idea to get some flowers for my date tomorrow night."

"He was telling me about it. If you don't mind some advice, might I suggest a bouquet like the ones over here?" She showed me some colorful arrangements of flowers in glass vases, some small enough to hold in one hand, some that would give me a hernia if I tried to carry alone.

"I think something more colorful like these are prettier," she commented. "Not only do you get your roses, but you also get your carnations, lilies, tulips, and daisies. Or if you prefer, I can have a special bouquet with all the bells and whistles ready for you tomorrow, free of charge."

I didn't know what to say other than, "Really?"

"Yes, really," my aunt giggled. She had to be close to twice Ashley's age and she still sounded like a teenage girl. "It's the least I can do after all the help your mom has given me each weekend. This is one way for me to repay my big sister. That reminds me, though. She tells me you're still job hunting."

"Yeah, I'm still looking. All of the places I've applied to haven't called me back yet."

"Then how about working for me? I need someone to help with the heavy lifting. It'll be a simple part-time job, eight to noon. No need to fill in an application or anything like that. Just say yes and you can start whenever you want. What do you say?"

The day just kept getting weirder and weirder. I hadn't been looking for a job since the start of summer, and I lost the impulse to find one when things started to heat up between Ashley and me. But my aunt was practically giving away a position, and as nice as the proposal was, a flower shop wasn't what I had in mind for my first real job.

Aunt Kim wasn't finished. "Because you're my nephew, I'm willing to pay you a little extra for your help. I'm sure a guy your age could use the extra money. Maybe to impress a certain girl if things work out on your date tomorrow?"

That sealed the deal for me. The allowance I had saved up over the years couldn't possibly sustain my monetary needs. With my recent spendings and upcoming date, my short stack of dollars was only getting shorter. Taking this job would let me hold off on bankruptcy for a while longer. I told her I'd accept the offer.

"Oh, that's fantastic," she exclaimed. "Olivia is always complaining to me that mornings are a bore. She'll be so happy finally having another person to work with. Now, come with me and tell me what kind of flowers you want. You can drop by tomorrow to pick them up."

My dad couldn't suppress his smirk on the way home. He found it hilarious I was working at a flower shop, and for my aunt, no less. I let him indulge in his laughter. It lightened up the mood tremendously compared to the earlier ride.

He eventually calmed down. "Brian, think you can help me cook dinner? I want to surprise the women tonight with my spicy fried chicken."

"Shouldn't mom already be home from work?"

"Not today. She's taking your sister out shopping for dresses. Don't think you're the only one who needs new clothes."

As dad had suspected, mom and Ashley were nowhere to be found when we arrived home. Preparations for dinner got started right away. We fried the chicken, mashed the potatoes, tossed the salad, and poured the drinks. There wasn't a second to spare. Dad and I finished just in time to welcome the ladies home with a hot, delicious meal.

Dinner came and passed like many others before it. Since the men cooked dinner, it was up to the woman to clean it up. That's what mom and Ashley insisted upon. I used the free time to soak beneath a hot shower.

As I was drying myself up, I heard Ashley call from outside. "Dad is taking Nicole and me to get some ice cream. Do you want us to get you anything?" She had been home for less than an hour and was already on the verge of leaving again.

"A pint of butter pecan would be great, thanks." I wiped the fluffy shaving cream off my chin. "On second thought, give me another minute to get dressed and I'll join you guys."

There was no reply; she and the others were already gone. I couldn't have picked a worse time for my annual shave. Cradling my wet clothes, I sulked toward my room.

Light from within illuminated the hallway. I peeked inside.

"Mom! What are you doing in here?"

"Oh darn, I'm busted," mom quipped, standing at my closet. "How am I ever going to explain to my son I'm here to retrieve his dirty laundry? He must think I'm a terrible mother for doing his cleaning for him." She emptied my overflowing laundry bag into a large basket.

"I'm thankful for what you're doing, really, but you should take a break for once and relax. I can do this myself."

Mom narrowed her eyes. "I don't mind. I'm also doing laundry for Nicole and your father. Thought it'd be a good idea to wash your clothes in the meantime." She hoisted the basket to her side. "Want to toss those wet clothes in here too?"

"Mom, I mean it. Give me the basket and I'll take care of my laundry right now. I don't want you to trouble yourself over me."

She refused to move. I had no choice but to steal the basket from her. I dropped it onto my bed and stashed my clothes on top of a triangular patch of silk.

"Huh, okay. If you say so." Mom crossed her arms, and like a hawk having caught sight of its prey, watched me rearrange the clothes in the basket for what seemed like no reason at all. I had three very good reasons, none of which should have belonged in a guy's closet.

Mom cleared her throat. "While you and I are both here, there is something I want to talk to you about."

I dodged a bullet only to step onto a landmine. "What's on your mind?"

She pushed aside my laundry and sat on my bed. "Your date, of course. I don't think I've ever seriously talked to you about dating before."

"You don't have to talk to me about that. Dad already handled it and I've been on dates before, so I know what to expect." I carried the basket over to my desk and hid a black thong in a dirty pants pocket.

"I have a hunch this is one lecture you'll never hear from him. Sit down. You can do your laundry after I finish."

After the talk I had with dad, anything mom needed to tell me couldn't be very shocking. I dropped what I was doing and got comfortable in my desk chair in front of her. "Okay, I'm all ears."

"Describe this girl to me. I want to know what she's like."

"I already told you, mom. She looks like a younger version of you, just not as pretty."

"Brian, flattery is not going to get you out of this." So much for Plan A. "Don't just paint a picture of what she looks like. Tell me about her. You can start with her name."

"Oh, right. Her name is... Vanessa." That was the name of my secondary crush in grade school. It never evolved beyond the cootie stage. "She's a nice girl; always cares about other people's feelings. Also very outgoing; loves to try new things no matter how crazy it may be. And best of all, she's a lot fun to talk with; I never run out of things to say when I'm with her."

"Wow, I am impressed. I thought you may have just met this girl but it sounds like you have known her for a long time. There does seem to be a problem with this Vanessa, however."

"Problem? She sounds like the ideal girl to me."

"That's the problem. She sounds too ideal." Mom didn't sound like she was kidding.

I fidgeted in my seat. "Don't you want me to see a girl like that?"

"Of course I do. It's great you're taking such a keen interest in someone like her. I'm just concerned your sister may have a problem with it."

"Nikky? Why would she have a problem with—"

"Not her. Ashley."

I sat motionless, futilely trying to understand what she meant. I gave up after a minute of blank answers. "Why would Ashley have a problem with who I date?"

"You can't tell? Your sister is a very protective woman when it comes to you."

"I've realized she's protective, but she's like that with everyone."

"Not exactly. When I say protective, I don't mean the kind where you help a sibling deal with a bully or a friend overcome peer pressure. Ashley has an extreme level of protectiveness that's reserved for very special occasions, and very special people. It's quite interesting to observe."

"Mom, you're kind of creeping me out the way you say that."

She smiled and lightly laughed. "You'll find this to believe, but while you were on your first date, Ashley was an absolute nightmare around the house, ready to bite off the head of anyone who spoke to her. I could have sworn I even saw her fangs and horns. She refused to eat dinner, scared her friends away when they came to see her, and locked herself in her bedroom for the night. Your father thought she was having PMS, but I knew better than to believe him. I had a theory for her outburst, and was able to confirm it weeks later when you went on your second date. Guess what happened the moment you walked out the door? Ashley re-grew her fangs and horns and terrorized the house again. I didn't need to see any more to understand her behavior: your sister doesn't want you to date."

"Th-that can't be it. I'm sure she was just angry I could get out of the house while she had to stay home. She's probably the same way when I'm with my guy friends."

"If only that were true. You know your father and I don't force her to stay home. We give her the same freedoms we give you. She's only a monster when she knows you're with another girl."

That didn't sound like the Ashley I knew at all. The previous week, she told me she didn't care about my dates and crushes, yet my mother was telling me the exact opposite. I remembered one time Ashley had even wished me good luck before I left for a date, though it must have been a facade to disguise her real feelings. As to what they were and why she would hide them from me, I wasn't sure.

"Mom, why are you telling me this?"

Silent seconds stretched to what felt like silent hours. "I don't think it is healthy for Ashley to get so emotional over what her brother does. There is nothing wrong with her being attached to you, but she has to learn to let go. You have your own life, your own dreams, your own future to worry about. You will not always be there for her, and the sooner she realizes this, the less she will be hurt by the hole in her heart where her big brother used to be."

My chair crashed loudly into my desk as I stood up, towering over my mother. "That's not going to happen," I snapped. "I'm not going to let it happen."

She was stunned. The silence that suddenly befell the room was excruciating. Finally, after what seemed likes hours, she mumbled, "Oh no. Not you too."

The mere mention of me possibly hurting my sister had me irritated. But... to lash out at my mom? That wasn't like me at all.

I fell back in my chair, dizzy and regretful. "I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—" It was my turn to be stunned when she moved forward and put her arms around me.

"Brian, honey, I didn't mean to upset you. I am not trying to get in the way of you and your sister. It's just that as you two are getting older, it seems like you two are drifting closer instead of apart. None of the parenting books I have read dealt with this."

Of course, books. My mom lived life on facts and research, rarely on experience. She had infinite knowledge of the world, but not of the people living in it. That's why she was trying so hard to understand what was happening between Ashley and me.

I returned the hug, a reflex I did so often with Ashley but so little with everyone else. "What do you make of this?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. It is probably something I don't have to worry about anymore. You and Ashley will both be out socializing tomorrow, having a great time, forgetting about your parents for the night. You must look so handsome in the new clothes you bought with your father. I know Vanessa will be impressed. That's a good thing, by the way. Impress your date half as much as you impress your sister and Vanessa will never look at another boy in the same light."

I faked a comforted smile, for mom's benefit. Deep down, I wanted to cower in the loneliest, darkest cave, away from this turmoil. Something Ashley said to me earlier in the week echoed powerfully in my head. "Just because we're not lying doesn't mean we're being honest." How true is that. The remorse I felt during my talk with dad returned tenfold, as did my angst. Both he and mom were troubled by the possible outcome of me hurting Ashley. I had done all I could for her, to protect her, yet it's that willingness that my parents believed would one day devastate my sister. That logic didn't make any sense to me.

"Mom, a minute ago, you said 'not you too'. Does that mean..."

Mom sighed deeply, long-drawn, maybe even hopelessly. "Ashley shared similar feelings when I brought this up with her earlier. She said you would never hurt her; that she simply wouldn't allow it. I had to tell her that just because she refuses to move on doesn't mean you will too. But now that I know how you feel, she may be right."

"You think there's something wrong with us, don't you?"

"No, no. There is nothing wrong. Brian, don't worry too much about what I told you. Ashley will be on her first date tomorrow. She will have other things to concern herself with than what her brother is doing. But promise me that when you have the chance, you'll talk to her about how she feels, if only for a few minutes. The last subject I tried to lecture her on was her choice of underwear and that didn't end well for either of us. Since this involves you too, maybe you will have better luck with it."

"Okay, I'll speak with Ashley later tonight, see if I can get the green light on things."

Sudden noises from the living room made their way to us. Loud, boisterous chatter from my sisters and dad signaled their arrival home.

Mom prepared to leave. "Make sure you separate the whites from the colors before you wash your clothes. I don't want to have to replace all of your socks again."

"Won't happen again," I embarrassingly said.

One woman left my room only to be replaced by another. Ashley came in with her half-eaten ice cream cone and my butter pecan.

"What was mom doing in here?" she asked, sitting in the same spot where mom had sat.

"She was trying to help me with my laundry," I replied, resuming my task of sifting through the basket.

Ashley walked over to my desk and peeked into the pile of clothes. She stuck her hand in, magically pulled out a red panty, and spun it around the end of her index finger. "Looks like she was trying to help with mine too. Should I stop giving you every pair of underwear I cum into?"

I snatched the panty from her fingertip. "No need to do something so drastic. I'll just be more careful next time."

Ashley sidestepped closer, her hip bumping into mine. "Brian," she whispered, "in less than twenty-four hours, we'll be on our first date."

"I know," I whispered back. "I'm getting jittery."

She smiled reassuringly. "In a little later than that, we'll be back home. Then a little later than that, we'll be doing something we won't ever forget. And in a little later than that, if things go our way, we can do it again."

"Are you sure you don't want to rent a motel room or something? I wasn't kidding when I mentioned it last night. I don't want to have to worry about mom and dad when we finally do it."

"I'm sure of it. They'll be asleep and we'll have the house to ourselves. Everything will be all right. Just have some ice cream tonight and be ready for me tomorrow." Ashley handed me the cold, frosty pint and a plastic spoon.

"After spending the day with dad, I feel like spending the whole night with you right now."

"Did you two have fun shopping?"

I dug my spoon into the ice cream. "It was... enlightening."

The conversation carried over to my bed. Ashley turned on the picture box and grabbed a pillow to lay on. "What did you two talk about?"

"Typical guy stuff. Your don't have the testosterone to handle it."

"I bet my testosterone level is higher than yours."

"Girls have testosterone?"

A pillow to the head knocked me over. Ashley pounced onto my back, sitting on top of me. I retaliated with my plastic spoon. It bent in half when I poked her arm. I was defenseless and she knew it. Going for the kill, she tickled me beneath my armpits. Without even trying, she was able to make me laugh away the worries from throughout the day.

"Okay, okay, I believe you," I chortled against my will. "I'll go Google it or something."

Ashley didn't give me the chance to. She stayed on top of me the entire evening. Through the TV movie we weren't really watching, through the goodnights our parents said to us, and through the back to back orgasms I gave her from tonguing her pussy.

Things were starting to look up again. The storm was over with and there were only clear skies ahead of us. That was what I believed, anyway. Little did I know that when I kissed Ashley goodnight in her room and drifted off to sleep in my bed, the storm had yet to come.

* * * Friday * * *

"Ash, can you help me with something? I don't know how to—"

The door to her room slammed shut before I had the chance to look inside. "Don't come in," she shouted. "I'm not ready yet."