#asher fox

Title: The Vineyard

Author(s): Lexi

Character(s) Involved: Asher Fox

Word Count: 257

Trigger Warning(s): None

Summary: Talk about a place you remember from your childhood.

Most of Asher’s memories from childhood were tainted in one way or another. He could have a happy memory of his mother being there for him, but it was because once again, his father was too busy with work. Or he could do really well at one of his soccer games, only to have his father not make it or criticize him in some way making him once again, not feel like he was good enough. No matter what he did as a kid, he could never live up to the expectations his father had and make him proud. Which was why he decided long ago to do the opposite. Pissing off his father became Asher’s favorite past time and he eventually took joy in it.

Title: Phone Call

Author(s): Lexi

Character(s) Involved: Asher Fox

Word Count: 433

Trigger Warning(s): None

Summary: Are you willing to die for anything?

It had been a while since Asher had heard from anyone at home. Not that he was surprised, not when his dad and him were so estranged and he had such a controlling hand over Asher’s mom. The last time he spoke to his mom was when she was dropping him off at the airport before he came to Orenda again. He’d confided in her, sharing with her about Antoinette and why he’d left her in the first place. But his mom told him that he was nothing like his father and that he wouldn’t end up in a relationship like the one she and his father was in. Asher wouldn’t be forced to marry someone, having already gone against that when his father cut him off after Academy.

And so with his phone in his hand, finding an actual quite place away from all the sounds of people fucking everywhere during this double points week, he called her. The phone rang a few times until she answered with her happy tone of voice. “Hey Ma,” He greeted her, letting her ramble on quickly, happy to hear the sound of her voice. Out of anyone in the world, she was someone he would do anything for and even die for if it ever came to that. They spoke for thirty-three minutes, filling one another in on everything that was going on, even getting to hear his little brother’s voice for a while too (who was turned three in a few weeks). And then for the last five minutes of their conversation, she asked about Antoinette and how things were going. “I don’t know, Ma…We’re trying to be friends, but I keep going back and forth from being a decent guy to a complete ass. I don’t know if she’ll ever trust me again,” He admitted, glancing around to make sure no one was listening in on his conversation, seeing a few people come around the corner and so he walked in the opposite direction until he found an empty corner.

“Give her time, Asher. And give yourself some time too. If it’s meant to be. It’s meant to be. And if not, then find someone else, because I want you to come home.”

“Alright, Ma,” He nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. “I should let you go, but I promise I’ll call sooner this time. I love you.”

“Love you too, mi niño guapo.”

Title: Keeps Me Up

Author(s): Lexi

Character(s) Involved: Asher Fox (mention of Antoinette Bellerose)

Word Count: 400

Trigger Warning(s): None

Summary: How many hours do you sleep each night?

In the past, Asher could sleep for eight plus hours at night. It all depended on what he had going on, how late he’d stayed up partying and who had kept him up at night on how much he actually got. He was the type who could sleep anywhere and everywhere, anytime of the day. The sun could be right in his eyes and if Asher closed his eyes, he could eventually fall asleep. It was never an issue for him.

That was until he left Antoinette and Orenda back in January. At first, he chalked his inability to sleep up to the fact he missed the sound of the waves from the island. Then he blamed it on his roommates and them staying up all night with their shitty music playing. And eventually, after trying to avoid it, he had to admit that it was because he couldn’t stop thinking about her, about Antoinette. 

Asher tried to shut his mind off with drugs, liquor, even another body next to him at night, but as much as those things would distract him for a while, it was Antoinette who kept him up at night. And Asher went from sleeping eight plus hours every day, to about three or four. No one paid enough attention to him to be able to tell the difference.

Coming back to Orenda, Asher had hoped it would get better. Maybe just seeing Antoinette would help him sleep. But it didn’t. It actually got worse, knowing she’d fallen in love with someone else, that she wasn’t even willing to talk to him at first. All the jealousy flooding him so that anytime he shut his eyes, he’d see Antoinette with someone else—with Mark or any of the other men he knew she’d spent time with. And it kept him up.

That was until they were on the cruise and Asher finally was able to tell her everything he’d been trying to say, but kept getting distracted by other things and never getting it out. And then they kissed. That one kiss. It had ignited some kind of hope, feeling her kiss him back, even if she now said it was a mistake. Things were by no definition fixed between them. It would take a long time for that to be the case.

Elwood Beach on a nice day, from my phone 

  Journal Entry #9

.....What do you do with that kind of information? I turned to only person I felt I could trust right now.

“Cal. What do you think I should do?”

“Well, my advice would be to complete your report straight away. Don’t act like you know anything. File the report and walk away Asher. Let us know if things get too dangerous or you think this has been blown and we’ll look after you.”