Maria was chatting with one of her cousins as they waited for the turkey to bake in the oven. Then her younger cousin came running in the kitchen.
"There is a grey Lexus SUV parked outside and a pretty lady stepped out of it." He said.
Maria then received a text from Ashley. [ I am here Pie...a bit anxious though].
[ I am coming baby] she replied,smiled then walked out of the kitchen and headed for the front door. Ashley held her hair in a ponytail style,she wore a blue long sleeve shirt that was folded revealing her inked arm, a black coat vest,black pants and black loafers with no socks on.
Maria ran to her and embraced her. " You look gorgeous babe." She said.
" You to Pie."Ashley replied then they broke the hug and Maria took her in holding her hand.
Everyone had gathered around the dining table, Ashley was welcomed with the nice smell of freshly baked turkey and other delicious dishes on the table. Mr. Rudge was seated at his usual seat and his girlfriend Dorothy sat besides him. Rudge has the features of his daughter, blonde hair and those ocean blue eyes. He stared at Ashley and a slight smile curved on his pink lips. Maria then introduced Ashley as her girlfriend,her dad was not surprised since she had already told him about her personality. Rudge stood and reached out his hand to greet Ashley. "Nice to meet you Mr. Rudge." Ashley said shaking his hand.
"My pleasure Ashley, welcome to our home." Rudge said cheerfully as his smile widened.
"Thank you so much Mr. Rudge." Ashley responded.
Soon they all digged in on the food after praying together. Maria served Ashley the meal as Ashley appreciated it.
Ashley then spotted a guy who kept staring at her girlfriend and was glaring at Ashley. Then she thought this must be him.
"So Ashley what do you do for a living?" Dorothy asked smiling.
The guy now paid a lot of attention to hear the response. " I make deliveries, for anything,food, electronics,just anything that one needs to be brought for them wherever they are." Ashley state,then she heard the guy giggle.
Ashley stared at him,a bit annoyed. "Um, did I say something funny?" Ashley asked.
He pulled his head upwards to look at her. "It's Ace, I mean you only do deliveries and you're able to afford a Lexus SUV? I doubt there is something you haven't said Ash!" He state then bit into a piece of his oily turkey.
"Ace!" Maria hissed. Ashley placed her hand on Maria's thigh below the table, still without taking her eyes off him. " I got this Pie." She said making Maria to calm down.
Ashley knew that what Ace was saying was true, because the Lexus is not hers but, she wouldn't let this guy ruin her reputation like that. Ashley maintained her calm expression and held her fork with the other arm above the table. " And Ace what do you do for a living,if I may ask?" She said.
"I do hacking and also get paid for playing videogames." He answered.
"And how much do you earn per year?" Ash asked again.
"About, eighty thousand,why are you asking about all these?" He asked.
Ashley just smirked. " Even though my work is just making deliveries,I'm earning more than you. Let's say two fifty thousand for like half a year and if the year is great I could make half a million per year ." Ashley bragged.
Ash was stunned but still wanted to debate. " But that does not mean that you have convinced me enough that you can afford a Lexus,I feel like you're living a fake life, I mean does Maria even know your family..." Ace said but then got cut.
"Ace can you bring more barbecue from the backyard please." Mr. Rudge interrupted. He knows how Ace can talk a lot,and that he can also ruin the lunch if he wanted to,so it was best to stop him before he made bad decisions.
Ace accepted took the tongs that Rudge reached out to him,and he picked a plate,and walked out of the room.
Mr. Rudge turned to Ashley,and smiled without revealing his teeth. "Ace can be a bit hard to deal with, I'm sorry Ashley." He apologized.
"No, it's okay he was not bothering at all, no need to apologize Sir." Ashley said.
"Just to warn you he's not mentally okay." He said making others giggle.
His girlfriend, Maria's cousin didn't like this discussion. " Uncle you know it's not true, he's perfectly okay." She defended him.
"You're wrong, your boyfriend is not okay." Rudge argued still smiling.
Ashley read the room and wanted to change the topic. " I'll go check on him and help out." Ashley offered. She smiled at Maria then stood up from her seat and placed the napkin besides her unfished meal on her plate.
She walked to the backyard since it wasn't hard to miss,she saw Ace standing near the barbecue grill,and he seemed like he was so full of thoughts.
She walked close,but he still didn't notice her.
"Did I get to you,Ace?" She questioned.
Ace turned and saw Ashley. They were of the same height and they looked at each other.
"No,you didn't." He answered still making eye contact.
"I'll help." Ashley offered and took another pair of tongs and roasted the steak while turning it.
"Are you still in love with Maria even though you cheated on her, oh she mentioned you one time." Ashley said.
Ace didn't answer immediately. Then sighed. " I wasn't good enough for her,and I felt like she's too perfect, breaking up with her without a reason felt stupid,so I cheated so it could end." Ace said.
Ashley thought he sounded like a jerk,she got so mad that she wanted to beat him into a pulp.
"Have you ever had a concussion?" She asked.
Ace was confused, Ashley turned to face him and punched him on his nose making him to start bleeding. Ace hissed and tried to stop the bleeding.
" What was that for?" He asked really pissed.
"You and I both know that you deserved that,for being such a lousy jerk." Ashley altered.
"You bitch! You're lucky I can't hit you because it's your first day here." He said angrily.
Ashley smirked then pinched his bleeding nose causing him to hiss even more." Yeah the bitch that's gonna get you into the ICU unit next time." She said then let go of him. She took the barbecue she was roasting and placed it on the plate she carried. " And wash yourself up, you don't want me to tell them why I punched you." She said." Oh yeah I'm a better a boyfriend than you could ever be." She reminded him then left.
***
Later on lunch was over and Maria's other relatives were leaving. Ashley was waiting in Maria's room. She was standing by the window and watched as they all left. Maria was at the kitchen helping out Dorothy with cleaning, Rudge was clearing up what was left in the back yard. Ashley offered to help but was denied,so she had to wait.
Not for long, Maria came running up stairs to her room. She locked the door and jumped on Ash. She kissed her so passionately like she couldn't wait to do it all day. Her hands explored Ashley's hair almost untying it.
They then pulled back. " I've waited the whole day for this." Maria said smiling.
Ashley smiled back." Really?" She asked. Maria just nodded,then she placed her on the bed as they giggled with Ashley on top.