Ash's Marriage Trigger - 5. Chapter 5- Manic Mondays

Ash woke up from a dream where he had been baking with little Ashley, and the two had kitten-printed aprons on. The dream had been calm and steady until he felt Cove’s arms wrapping around him from behind and a soft kiss pressed to the back of his neck. That moment startled him awake because a real memory from the past had fueled it.

A memory that he’d tried desperately to forget on the morning before THAT happened.

Cove: Good morning, Ash. We hope you have a great day at work.

Such lies. “Lies, I say,” Ash grumbled as he ignored the text and got ready for another manic Monday. He highly doubted either of them wished him well.

Ashley would have surely forgotten all about him in the face of a new day of head-start, pre-school, or wherever four-year-olds attended. As for Cove, he was lulling him into a sense of security just before an inevitable attack. Ash was having none of that. He focused on buttoning his stiff-collared business shirt and headed to his car to the hell he called his employment.

His work environment was full of entitled assholes who treated others with less than minimal courtesy and an HR department with a couple of men who were even more cowardly than he was. The tech department that Michael was a part of was one of the few departments with decent employees in the entire building. While Michael had his share of complaints, the younger man was paid well enough to make up for it. Ash found himself in a similar position. After seven years, he finally had a decent paycheck. His goal ever since his mid-twenties had been to support himself independently and be free to do as he wished away from the prying eyes of his family.

He never really calculated any serious long-term relationship into his goal.

“Psst.”

As soon as Ash turned the corner of one of the office clusters, he saw Michael making gestures at him to dive into the room of the only receptionist in the whole building that could keep a secret, Brittany. That meant that there was a secret that needed to be kept under wraps. What the hell was going on so early on a Monday morning?

“I wanted you both to be the first to know, but I have some awful news,” Michael told them in hushed tones while Brittany kept an eye out for anyone else who might approach. “Bowman’s wife left him for his brother.”

“Oh, good lord,” Brittany hissed. Mr. Bowman was supervisor to them both. “We should have all called in sick today or, better yet, taken vacation time.”

“And he’s still coming in to work?” Ash questioned. “To torture us?”

“Actually, our team’s working in the other building today,” Michael confessed.

“Are you freaking kidding? That’s not fair!” Ash whined. “Leaving us to deal with his delusional behind?”

“Hey, I did my good deed for the day in giving you both a heads up.”

“He has a point,” Brittany added.

“BARREN!”

“...and that’s my cue to get the hell outta dodge. Good luck!” were Michael’s parting words on his way out.

Ash gulped and tugged on the cuffs of his sleeves. He took a few slow, deep breaths. He then headed out into the hallway.

“Mr. Bowman?” He prompted.

“I’ll need you and your pretty face to train five new employees for the first-floor corner cluster. I want them ready for tier 2 in three weeks!”

“Three weeks?”

“You heard me. This is non-negotiable.”

He could barely get a group to be tier 1 ready in three weeks, let alone tier 2. Did Bowman want a high turnover rate to mar their department? As if Ash didn’t already have enough to deal with when it came to his regular workload! Though he tried not to rush through, Ash made many mistakes that set him back on his work. Stupid errors like misspellings and sending the wrong links for training plagued him well until noon. If it hadn’t been for Brittany reminding him about lunch, he’d have missed his clock-out window.

When he was on his way out of the building, he saw a couple of familiar faces seated at the entrance. Siena! Cove?

Ash had to swallow hard before he embarrassed himself by drooling. The black polo Cove wore fit so tightly to his chest and arms that it practically looked painted on. The embroidered logo on his upper right pectoral made it evident that it was part of his uniform. His grey jeans weren’t as tight as the shirt, but they highlighted his eye color.

“Surprise!” Siena greeted, prompting Ash out of his daze. “I was craving a Philly cheesesteak from the shop a block away when I saw Cove walking out of the physical therapy clinic, and I knew you got out around the same time….”

“So, we decided to take a chance to come and ask you to lunch with us,” Cove concluded.

Physical therapy? Right, Cove always said he wanted to do something along those lines career-wise. Had he already joined a clinic downtown and got a uniform and everything? For how long had he been back in town?

“BARREN!”

“I don’t care where we go. Just get me out of here,” Ash responded in a rush as he urged them all outside.

Several minutes later, the three were seated at a booth waiting for their food. Ash had explained to them about his stressful work environment intensifying by a few notches. The other two were willing to lend an ear while eating their fill.

“And you haven’t sought employment elsewhere?” Cove asked.

“I’ve been telling him to move on for years,” Siena concurred. “You can’t enjoy the money you earn if the stress kills you.”

“It’s not that simple,” Ash countered. “I worked hard to get to where I am in the company. It would hurt on many levels to get a pay cut. I wouldn’t even be able to afford my rent.”

“This is where I’ve offered to have him stay with me for a while to save until he finds another more affordable place,” Siena explained. ”But Ash keeps refusing.”

“What about with your parents?” Cove suggested.

“I’d rather move into an alley with a homeless guy,” Ash rebutted. “I’ve shared a few drinks with one after a messy outing. His name’s Bryan. Not a bad fellow, actually….”

“I may not be as good a company as Bryan. But, if there’s ever a need for it, you’re welcome to stay with Ashley and me,” Cove offered.

Don’t picture it. Don’t picture it. Fuck! Ash already pictured it. “I appreciate it,” He eventually responded. “But, I doubt that it would ever come to that.”

If Ash would willingly crash anywhere, it would be with Michael and his husband, Marcos. He’d stayed with them before a few times when a couple of his dates got out of hand. They never judged him when it happened. Better yet, they never told his family. Ash knew that if one Barren family member were privy to any secret, the rest of the Barren family would know that very secret within the hour. Sometimes, within five minutes. So, that was a big ‘no thanks’ to Cove Mitchell.