There were certain things that I'd required of her as my wife for a year, and Ash showed up for them, displeased about a good number of them, but growing used to it, I liked to think.
We were halfway through the contract, and it wouldn't be long before she could be free of me if she wanted to be.
Sometimes I thought about that, and I didn't know how to feel.
I liked Ash.
She was fiery and funny, smart and interesting. She put up with the things about me that she probably didn't like and was always trying to get me to be better. Better in her eyes, probably, but I couldn't deny that some of her advice was good from time to time.
We'd made a comfortable little friendship in the middle of our marriage, with certain benefits, of course, but still. I was going to miss that if she decided she never wanted to be seen with me again or something.
But she had her own life. She had her own dreams and things that she needed the money I was going to give her for.
I couldn't hold her back because I was going to be lonely.
I didn't want to hold her back.
I didn't know what I wanted, really. There would be no reason for us to ever do the things we did now once the marriage was over, and I was going to have to try not to miss that too much.
When I finally shook myself from my thoughts, she was looking at me, brow furrowed. "Are you okay?" she asked.
I nodded, going for the wine again.
"Fine. Hungry, so if you could make a decision sometime this year, that would be lovely."
Ash rolled her eyes, but went back to looking at her options, and when the waitress came over to finally get our orders, she was ready and gave our server an extra-large smile when she handed her menu over.
I tried to hide my grin in my glass, not wanting the waitress to think I was laughing at her.
"So," I said, settling back in my seat. "Tell me about this customer."
"What customer?"
"The one who stayed after you were closed," I said. "Was he pompous? Too much money and not enough sense? Entitled all to hell?"
I waited for her to make some joke about how it hadn't been me there, but it didn't come.
Instead she played with her forks, picking one of them up and clinking it against the other where it rested on the table still.
"No, nothing like that," she said. "He was just working on something, using the Wi-Fi. We told him he could have a little extra time while we cleaned up, and I guess he got too deep in it and lost track of time."
"Hm. That's less entertaining."
Ash shrugged. "Sorry, being a barista isn't all fun and glamor. Sometimes we just have to make coffee and deal with forgetful customers."
"Well," I said. "You don't have to."
She rolled her eyes. "Killian, we're not having this conversation again. You already know where I stand."
She was right. I did already know.
I'd been trying to get her to quit her job at the coffee shop almost since we'd started this whole thing. She worked long hours and dealt with shitty customers, and I kept trying to point out to her that she didn't have to if she didn't want to.
The money I gave her every month would more than cover what she would lose if she quit, and even if it didn't, it wasn't like I couldn't just give her more.
I got that it was a pride thing, but I couldn't understand why she couldn't find something else to be prideful about.
I wasn't going to tell her that, though. I valued having her not want to punch me in the dick.
Once the food arrived, we settled in to eat, not really talking much. There were a lot of things I wanted to say, but I just... didn't say them.
Instead I ate my steak, focusing on the task of adding the demiglace to it and getting potatoes on my fork, washing it all down with sips of wine.
"How was your day?" Ash asked finally, glancing up halfway through her salmon like it had just occurred to her to ask.
I shrugged a shoulder. "Same old. Meetings, moving money around, looking at investment opportunities."
She tipped her head to the side. "I have a question about that, actually."
"About investments?" I asked, surprised. In all the time I'd known her, she never really asked me about how I kept my money moving and making more money. I'd assumed she either didn't care because she found it dull or because it was one of those rich people things she avoided dealing with so she didn't want to punch me.
But she was nodding, licking sauce off the back of her fork thoughtfully. "Yeah. How do you pick what to invest in? Do companies like present you a plan for how their business is going to look, and if you like it, you say yes?"
"Not exactly. I have someone who does the research for me, and then presents me with the options. I choose from those what I'm interested in."
"Hmm." She nodded, looking like she was taking that in. "Okay. And what if someone did come to you, asking for help in that way. Is that something you'd entertain at all?"
"Are you looking for investors for something?" I asked her, confused. I'd like to think that if she had some plan for her own business, I would have already heard about it.
Ash laughed, shaking her head. "No, not me. You know I don't have anything going on. But I have a friend who has started a business, and I think he could benefit from some investments."
"Have I met this friend?" I asked her, even though I already knew the answer to that. Ash kept me fairly separate from her life, mostly because she didn't want people to know about our deal.
"No," she replied. "It's Simon."
I fought
