~ Asher's POV ~
Asher stood anxiously in front of Damon's office door. He and Zoie just got back from the airport and instead of asking to see his daughter, Damon asked to see him first. With a nervous hand, he knocked on the door and waited for a response.
"Come in," he heard Damon's voice say.
Asher pushed the door open and stepped inside. Damon was sitting at his desk with a pile of paperwork in front of him. Around the desk stood Zach, Zane, and Zander.
"Give us a moment," Damon said to his kids.
"Sure thing, dad," Zane replied as he stepped away.
The brothers nodded at Asher as they walked past him. The air in the room felt tense. Asher didn't know what to make of it.
"Uh-oh, is someone in trouble?" Zander muttered under his breath.
Asher narrowed his eyes, looking for an explanation, but Zander just kept walking. The guys exited the room and closed the door shut. It was just Asher and Damon in the room now. Asher approached the desk cautiously and gauge Damon's reaction. Looking at his stoic face, Asher could never tell what Damon was thinking. Hopefully nothing bad, he wished. Hopefully nothing about the relationship between Zoie and him.
And hopefully nothing about that playroom.
"You wanted to see me?" Asher asked, pausing for a beat before adding, "Sir,"
"What's with the formality?" Damon chuckled and pointed at the chair in front of him. "Have a seat, Ash,"
Asher laughed nervously and sat down.
Shit. Pull it together or Uncle Damon's gonna notice something!
"So, what's up Uncle D?"
"You tell me," Damon replied.
Asher swallowed hard.
"W-what do you mean?"
"You know what I mean," Damon said. "I wanna get an update on how things are with you and Zoie,"
Me and Zoie...?
"Ehem," Asher coughed awkwardly. "Everything's great. Just like I said on our last call, Zoie did really well in all her finals, and now she's getting ready to start that internship on Monday,"
"Right, I know all that," Damon nodded his head. "How about you?"
"Me?"
"How's your first year at Stanford been?"
"It's... actually really good,"
"Zoie told me you declared a major,"
"I did,"
Wait. Zoie and Uncle Damon talked about me...?
"International relations, huh?"
"Yes,"
"Do you know that it was your dad's major too?"
"I know that," Asher nodded his head. "I found a thesis paper that he wrote in the Stanford library. That's kinda what inspired me to... you know,"
"Yeah," Damon said in agreement. He paused for a moment before continuing. "You know, sometimes I wonder if your dad should've stuck with his education. Adrian was always so smart. He didn't belong in the old business..."
Asher glanced down at his feet. Sometimes he wondered about this too. If his dad never got involved with Damon's questionable businesses, maybe he'd still be around right now.
"If only he could see what we have now," Damon said again, smiling bitterly. "This is what Adrian and I were dreaming about all those years,"
"He wouldda loved it," Asher smiled too. "He could be, like, an ambassador for your foreign companies or something like that,"
"Exactly," Damon smiled knowingly. "So, how about you, Ash? You got any interest in running an international corporation?"
"M-me?" Asher almost blurted out laughing, but Damon kept a straight face.
"Well, I... never thought about things like that," he said again.
"Things like what?"
"Things other than racing,"
"You don't have to stop racing," Damon said. "But you can still do other things too,"
Asher narrowed his eyes. What was Damon trying to say?
"I think you should start thinking long term," Damon continued. "While I think your hobbies are fun and exciting, I want you to explore your options because you have options. And I'm not trying to make you do anything you don't wanna do. It's only a thought, you understand?"
"Yes... sir,"
"You know you don't have to call me that,"
"I understand, Uncle D,"
"Good," Damon said as he stood up. "Because I got a new job for you,"
"A new job?"
"I'm releasing you from bodyguard duties this summer. Zoie's gonna be around the house and we have actual men around here that can do that,"
"So I'm not Zoie's bodyguard anymore?" Asher kept a straight face, trying to hide the fact that he was unhappy about that.
"You'll continue to do that when you two return to California, but in the meantime..." Damon smiled cryptically as he threw a file of documents in front of Asher. Asher glanced at the file and back at Damon in confusion.
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~ Zoie's POV ~
Zoie couldn't stop glancing at the house. At Damon's office window to be exact. She was lounging in the backyard pool with Landon by her side. They were in their swimsuits, enjoying the perfect summer day, but she couldn't help but be anxious. Damon immediately asked to see Asher once they arrived and it seemed serious. They'd been talking in that office for a while now.
"What do you think is taking them so long?" she tsked.
"You know what your dad's like," Landon replied. He was sunbathing, wearing his sunglasses as he stared at the sky. "I'm sure he wants a detailed report on your first year and everything,"
Landon's sculpted abs were on full display and it was distracting Zoie a little bit. Shaking it off, she threw her glance elsewhere and put her sunglasses up.
"Why are you so worked up about it anyway?" he asked.
Zoie thought for a moment and huffed, "I just don't like it when dad's being nosey. I mean, why can't he ask me those questions himself?"
"Hey, he's just protective of you," Landon said. "Besides, you got nothing to worry about, right?"
Zoie swallowed hard.
"Right,"
"So anyway, are you excited about the internship tomorrow?"
"Oh, of course!" she turned to him with excitement in her eyes. "And I'm super nervous,"
"Don't be. I've been around their office a few times and they're totally looking forward to seeing you. Especially after they heard that you got published by The Atlantic. They were all wondering why you didn't send your article to them instead,"
"I-I don't know..." she stammered nervously. "I just kinda did it without thinking,"
"Well, anyway, since your dad put me in charge of media and PR for his campaigns, I'll probably be seeing you a lot around the office. We do a lot of work together with the New Yorker,"
"Oh, cool,"
"Yeah, and sometimes we get to go to really cool events! Like the other day, I got to sit courtside at the Knicks game..." As Landon was rambling about basketball, Zoie glanced over at the house again.
From the window, she could still see Damon and Asher inside. Their faces looked so serious. Damon was handing Asher a file of documents and Asher took it. Asher read the contents for a moment and looked up at Damon. Damon gave out his hand and Asher took it. Damon then pointed to the door and Asher stood up.
"...So, yeah, I can get us tickets to the Billie Eilish show if you're interested? We can go next Friday?"
"Hold that thought, Land, I'll be right back!" Zoie quickly jumped up from the lounge chaise and ran toward the house.
She met Asher just as he left Damon's office. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her and she stopped too. There were bodyguards and other people in the room. She didn't want to stand too close to him.
"Hey!" she beamed. She was panting as she was running.
"Hey," he replied. His face held no expression. It was hard to read.
"So... how'd it go?" she asked cautiously.
"It was fine,"
"No seventy?" she whispered.
Seventy means trouble. It's a no-no.
"No seventy," Asher said reassuringly.
Zoie let out a sigh of relief.
"You looked stressed," he noted.
"Yeah. You were in there for, like, an hour. What did you guys talk about?"
"We talked about my options, mostly,"
"Your options?" Zoie eyed the documents in his hand.
"Your dad wants me to intern for him. In his company," Asher showed her the file. It held Damon's company's logo. "So that means I'm off duty as your bodyguard this summer,"
"What?" she squeaked.
"He says it'll be a good learning experience,"
"Wait, you're not gonna be my bodyguard anymore?!" Zoie was panicking. Asher held his hand up to calm her down.
"I'll still do that when we go back, it's just for the summer," he said.
Zoie immediately felt a huge wave of relief.
"Oh," she said. "I see,"
"Yeah," Asher chuckled, noting the relief in her voice. "My sentiment exactly,"
Zoie's lips curved into a smile.
"So, you're gonna do it then? Work for my dad?"
"I figured why not," he shrugged. "Besides, I need something to keep me occupied while you're away from 9 to 5,"
"Ash!" Zoie hissed as she turned from side to side, making sure no one was listening.
"What? I can't even flirt with my own girlfriend?"
Zoie's eyes widened in shock. Did he just say that out loud? Here? Where her dad was sitting in the other room?!
"Asher Luciano!" she gaped. "There are guards walking around in here!"
Asher looked from side to side. Though the guards were doing their rounds, they weren't paying attention to them. Letting out a naughty smirk, he stepped closer to her and leaned into her ear.
"Meet me later tonight at twelve," he whispered.
"Where?"
"You know where," he winked. And with that, he sauntered away nonchalantly, leaving Zoie's heart racing like a bullet train.
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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -