"I'm bored!" Ellis complained unhappily from her sprawl on the living room couch. She was dressed in jeans and a black hoodie. She was also barefoot, and had her feet propped up on the table.
"Then work." Ash retorted without looking up from his laptop. He was actually dressed in a deep blue Armani suit with a white shirt today, having come straight from a meeting with a client.
"I finished everything." Ellis said with a grimace.
Finally Ash sighed and looked up at her. "Ellis, what do you want me to do? You would have been bored even if you had not been in danger and you know it. Don't try to take it out on me."
"I'm not!" Ellis exclaimed, glaring at him.
"Right." Ash placed enough sarcasm into that one word to make a paragraph proud.
"Ash... how about you tell me something?" Ellis wheedled, giving him the puppy dog eyes.
Ash closed his laptop, knowing he would not get anything done now that she was in such a mood.
"What do you want to know?"
"How did you meet Adam?"
"Actually that is a boring story. It won't help you any."
"But I wanna know!"
"Oh fine! Stubborn brat!"
Ellis gave him a satisfied smile and Ash rolled his eyes.
"You know how he grew up?" Ash asked.
"On the streets. He was taken in by an old Mercenary when he was twelve, after he tried to steal from him, and succeeded." Ellis answered.
"Yep. His name was Gray and he taught Adam everything he knew by the time he was fifteen. Then Adam worked some jobs, and earned some good hard cash but he realized that he needed a team. But you know Adam. He does not trust just about anyone, and he was not about to trust people who had already been in the business too long. He needed people who would let a seventeen year old lead."
Ellis nodded, hanging on to every word.
"So he came back to the street. That's where he got me, and Vince. I was running with a gang at that time, and Vince was already a hacker. He picked up everyone else off the street too, but the two of us were the first. Not to mention I grew up in the same neighbourhood as him so we clicked." Ash shrugged.
"You didn't know him before he left?"
"I knew of him. He was a legend even as a brat. But I did not meet him until he showed up and asked me to come with him."
"My future husband was a legendary thief. Cool!" Ellis exclaimed and Ash chuckled.
"Only you come up with such conclusions." He told her grinning.
"I am one of a kind."
"Of course you are."
"So are you gonna give me a declaration on how you owe everything to Adam?"
"No. I would have made something of myself even if he hadn't shown up. Not to mention we saved each other's lives too many times to keep track of stuff like this." Ash shrugged.
"Good... by the way, I meant to ask you, why are you named Ash Lee. You really do not look Asian. Not to mention, it sounds so much like Ashlee, that I wonder if it was on purpose." Ellis was smiling mischievously. Ash heaved a sigh.
"Give you an inch and you take a mile."
"Would you have preferred an emotional reaction to the story?" Ellis asked coolly.
"No, thank you." Ash replied immediately looking horrified and she smirked.
"Mymomwantedagirl." Ash said quickly when she showed no signs of backing off.
"Excuse me?" Ellis asked.
Ash sighed. "My mom wanted a girl. She was fourteen when she had me and had no clue who my father was. She wanted to name her daughter Ashlee. So she named her son Ash Lee. And as I learned very early on, you do not argue with my mother."
Ellis just stared at him.
"You wanted to know!" Ash snapped.
"I did..." Ellis answered, not knowing what to say.
"Don't look so worried. You can laugh. My mom is still alive, great, and she kicks everyone's butt to kingdom come every once in a while. Believe me, you'd think the entire team was made of meek school boys by the way they act around her." Ash told her as he rubbed his face with his hand.
Ellis stood up and came and sat next to him.
"Hey."
Ash turned to look at her and smiled slyly.
"Hey yourself. You pried. You got more than you bargained for. Now don't come crying to me."
Ellis smacked him but the mood was broken and everything was all right again.
...
"So how was your day?" Adam asked as he barbequed steaks on their back porch.
"It was interesting." Ellis answered him while she set the table for their dinner.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I learned how you met Ash, and why he's named Ash Lee, when he's paler than I am, with white blonde hair and ice blue eyes."
"I see."
"Not mad, are you?"
"Of course not."
"You're weird that way." Ellis mused.
"I don't get mad at you? You want me to freak out over everything? OH MY GOD ELL! THE STEAKS ARE COOKING!" Adam said deadpan, making Ellis crack up.
"Terrible." She finally managed to choke out through her laughter.
"I'm sure." Adam grinned.
"But you're avoiding the question."
Adam sighed. "Why would I get mad at you, Ell? I know you love me. I know you're mine. I know you'll never intentionally hurt me. So what would be the point of adding drama to our life when it's not needed? We have too much of it as it is."
"But.." Ellis sputtered.
Adam smiled. "You have no idea just how much incentive I have to make this relationship work, do you?"
Her eyes widened.
"Incentive?"
"Yeah. I barely got a taste of you, and then had to go without for five years. I know I can't live without you. Why would I take offense when none is intended? Get mad, when you do everything you can to make me happy?"
"Oh Adam!" Ellis had tears glistening in her eyes, but she was smiling widely.
"So start relaxing, okay. Just because neither of us has done a relationship before, does not mean we'll screw it up. We're too stubborn to let anything stand in our way."
"I'll keep that in mind." Ellis answered, before moving next to him and giving him a kiss. Just then Adam's phone rang.
"White." Adam answered on the third ring.
"Hey, Novi is coming to town. Feel free to let Ash know." Vince muttered.
"Why?"
"Why is she coming or why should you be the one to tell him?"
"Both."
"I don't feel like dealing with his bitching, so you get to tell him. She's coming because she's moving here. Something about her major client shifting his business to our humble city." Vince explained.
"Great. Awesome. Brilliant. There will be no end to Ash's whining now."
"Enjoy. Oh and there will be a party tomorrow. I'll message you the details." Vince said with a sigh, and hung up.
"What's going on?" Ellis asked.
"A few years ago, we worked with a lawyer for one of our cases. She works for corporate companies, and is actually excellent at what she does. She isn't reallybad. She's apparently moving here, and well... Novi will wanna hang out."
"What are you not telling me?" Ellis asked with a raised brow.
"She and Ash.. had a thing. Or not. Only they know what went on with them, but things will get interesting with her here." Adam answered after a pause.
"I see." Ellis nodded.
"I'm not sure you do. They were not involved with each other... more like they were at each other's throats the entire time, until they somehow settled it. So now Ash will continuously whine because she's here."
"Aha."
"That's all you have to say? You have no sympathy for my misery at having to listen to him bitch?"
"I'll have to listen too." Ellis mildly pointed out.
"Oh yeah... Humm maybe you'll be the only one who'll have to listen."
Ellis smacked his arm and he chuckled.
"Vince's throwing her a welcoming party tomorrow. Wanna come to meet her?"
"Sure."
...
Ellis's POV:
I watched the party from the sidelines. Vince had booked an entire floor of one of the most "happening" clubs in the city, and we had good music, an open bar, and strobe lights. The place was classy I guess, far better than what I had expected, but crowds were not my thing, even when I knew most of the people. Not to mention, Novi Jones was the center of attraction, and I liked it that way.
Vince's welcoming party had ended up getting a bit out of control, especially where the guest list was concerned. All the team was here, except Chan, of course, and so were Novi's lawyer friends, and current colleagues. Basically there were nearly fifty people here. Which was a good thing, or the floor would have looked too empty, and an empty dance club is just sad. Even I know that, though it has been years since I came to one.
I studied Novi. She was tall, at least five foot six, with a slender, but strong build. You'd never think that a strong gust of wind would blow her away. She was dressed in chic, designer casual, that accentuated her build and olive skin tone.
Her hair was black and fell in waves around her face, but her eyes were her most stunning feature. They were violet. Not blue, but violet.
I was sure she had some Hispanic in her, but definitely not all Hispanic, considering the colour of her eyes. Then again, who was I to know?
Nor did I really care. I had been introduced to her, and I found her charming, but, I simply do not connect with people on a moment's notice. Yes, it took me longer to become friends with men, but that did not mean that I trusted women on first sight.
"How's it going?" Ash asked me quietly as he handed me a cocktail. I did not even check what it was before taking a sip. Adam had to play host for a while. So we had both ditched him.
I shrugged.
"What do you think of Novi?" he asked.
"I hear you two have a history, but I have not heard any details. Care to tell me?" I replied without taking my eyes off the woman in question.
Ash chuckled. "Everyone gossips with you."
"Just who do you think I am?" I said haughtily.
"She helped with a case. Someone leaked trade secrets from one of her companies, and we were hired to find out who it was. She seemed to think that being a lawyer made her better than us plebians."
"She learned otherwise?"
"Just who do you think I am?" Ash threw my words back at me with a grin.
"Right." I said with a roll of my eyes.
"You guys work with so many people. How come she became a friend?"
"Well.. it just happened, I guess. She's a mercenary at heart, anyways. You will be hard put to find a more brutal and cutthroat lawyer. Though that was the only case where we worked directly with her, but she has sent a lot of work our way. She has lots of contacts, and since she knows we get the job done, we're good for her reputation as well." There was something like grudging respect in Ash's voice.
"Aha."
"You're starting to use that sound quite a bit."
"Its non-committal, and works in almost all situations." I answered.
"Aha." Ash smirked. I smacked his arm but he just laughed.
"Stop harassing my fiancée." Adam said wrapping his arm around me, coming out of no where. I jumped a bit.
"She hit me, and you say I am harassing her?" Ash asked, incredulous.
"Of course. You annoy her, and she hits you. That's the way it works."
"Uh huh." Ash gave him a disgusted look, and my dear lover gave him a feral grin.
"You annoy her more, and I hit you." Adam finished. Ash heaved a deep sigh, shook his head and left.
I leaned into Adam's warmth. It felt surreal. There was a time when even thinking about touching someone would send me into a panic attack, and now I spent all my time touching this man. He had fixed me so much, that I could actually be normal, rather than just pretending.
"What're you thinking?" Adam asked.
"You fixed me." I said simply, and he looked stunned. I reached up and lightly kissed his cheek.
He gave me a dazzling smile, his eyes filled with too many emotions to name, before leading me to the dance floor.
I let him lead me in the dance, and just moved closer when he slipped both his arms around me, wrapping my own arms around his neck.
"Have I told you how good you look in a tux? Or in black? In both, Mr. White, you're deadly." I murmured in his ear.
He gave me a lazy smile. "You're not so bad yourself."
My not-so-bad, was a sleeveless green Italian crepe dress with a scoop neck, that looked absolutely stunning on me.
I raised an eyebrow. "You're just too generous with your compliments."
He laughed, and spun me around. That was when I saw another couple on the other end of the floor.
"Whoa!"
Immediately I was wrapped up in Adam's arms.
"What's up?"
"Ash's dancing with Novi." I told him, trying not to giggle. I failed, but in my defence, I was not trying all that hard.
"Huh!" was all Adam would say, but soon I didn't care. I was having too much fun dancing with him.