Page 11 of Aiden

“It isn’t me he wants to protect.” Ashley whispers with a sly smile.

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Aiden is in Portland, an hour and a half drive away.

I’m guessing he’s looking for apartments there. I wonder what he does, what his major was. He exudes confidence and wealth when you look at him, I just have no idea what his career path could be.

My curiosity on a high, I search our small house for Ashley. I find her on the couch with her laptop open, typing violently against the keyboard.

“Ash? You okay?” I assess her behavior, her fingers meticulously and harshly combing the keyboard with a little more force than necessary.

She clicks one more button before slamming her laptop shut. Turning to me, she slaps a manufactured smile on her face. “Yeah, I was just sending my English teacher a few choice words on an e-mail for giving me a seventy on my final. It was an essay about ‘love’, which is supposed to be subjective!”

“Miss. Parks?” I ask with a laugh.

She makes an air check mark and huffs. “Yup, that’s the one.”

“I think you’ll be okay. You have a what...ninety-seven in that class?” I stifle a laugh.

She groans. “I wanted a perfect one hundred. That essay is thirty percent of our grade! She’s just angry her husband left her last year. I mean, why make us write that for a final if you’re scorned and don’t want to hear about love?” She places the laptop on the table beside the book Aiden was reading yesterday.

I take a seat on the couch, smiling in surprise when I see the title.

“Aiden reads classic novels?” I eye the bent and tattered copy of The Merchant of Venice.

“Yeah, it’s weird right?” She laughs while gesturing to the book. “He’s always been a reader. When he came to visit when I was younger, he would read instead of playing with the neighborhood kids. I always wondered why he went down the corporate road, you would have thought he’d be a writer with the amount of time he spends with his face buried in a book.”

“Corporate? Aiden?” I ask, astounded.

“I know. With the tattoos, it seems odd, right?” She pulls her thick hair through a scrunchie and leans back on our couch. “He went to Stanford and got his bachelor’s in finance,” She announces proudly.

I nearly choke on air before I compose myself. “Wow, that’s amazing! Does your dad have money like that?”

I know Ashley is on a scholarship, as her mom doesn’t have a ton of money. She has no contact with her dad, but it seems like Aiden does. I remember her saying she originally wanted to go south for school. I’m glad she decided against it or we would have never crossed paths.

She lets out a loud laugh. “No way. Even if he did, there’s no way Aiden would want shit from him. Aiden is completely self-made. He got a full ride for his academics in high school.” She beams.

I understand why she’s proud. That’s a huge accomplishment at twenty-five. I ponder this for a second; a full ride to Stanford. He must be insanely smart. I try to tamper down my attraction and nerves, knowing he has brains to go with his brawns. Could he be any more perfect?

“He told me about how his classmates glared at him for a few weeks when he started.” She laughs, waving her hand absentmindedly. “I mean a guy who looks like Aiden, covered in tattoos, has to be quite the unusual student at a school like that. But his brilliance showed through, and the students there quickly realized it I’m guessing. He made some really great friends there. I know he was sad to graduate but he’s ready to start his life in Portland.”

It’s scary how Ashley can read my thoughts.

“Why Portland?” I rest my elbows on my knees, listening intently.

“That’s what he’s doing today. He intern-ed before college, making investments for high up businessmen. He’s so good at what he does, he made his own investments early. He owns some properties there, which is why he wants to move there.”

“He’s also leasing a floor of a high rise, so he has somewhere to meet with his bigger investors. Some of them can be... intimidating.” She looks at me uneasily. “Others are your normal run of the mill rich men. He’s going to check out his new office and see about his lease on the apartment. That’s why he’s staying here for a while, so they can get it finished.” She concludes with another proud smile.

I straighten. “What do you mean by intimidating?”

“I don’t know how to explain it. Almost like the Mafia is what I would guess. Aiden can handle himself, so he takes those clients when no one else will. I don’t know much about it, but I would stay away from his work if I were you.” She laughs humorlessly.

“What does he do though, like his title?”

“He’s a private investor. I’m not really sure what it entails. You have to remember we don’t talk all that much. But from what I know, he’s great with numbers. I believe he purchases investments for CEOs and things like that?” She questions herself.

“Good for him! That’s awesome, he’s already got a job that quick. I hope when I graduate, I can find somewhere I fit in.” I hide my internal frown with an outward smile. Everyone has their lives figured out.

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