Asher's Core
"Your father summons you."
There it goes again. It has been months since him and his father talked.
The only time he sends for him is when he wants him on a mission, or he is disappointed in him — and Asher knew it was the latter.
"Tell him I do not wish to see him," Asher rebelled, but got up minutes later, knowing the kind of father he had.
It was a thirty-minute drive, considering his father's villa wasn't far from his.
Dressed in a black and white suit, and a black long coat, anyone can picture his status.
"This place looks the same," Asher commented on the old dark castle he saw. He entered into the castle and was welcomed by silence, cold stares, and the unbothered behaviors of the staff.
There were no please and thank you here, as there was no master apart from Damian — Asher's father. So even though he was his son, the staff couldn't care less.
Asher helped himself, moving upstairs to his father's usual study room he uses for conversations.
A creak — and he was inside, his father waiting with his pipe.
"You called." Asher went straight to the point, never greeting.
"Not even a 'I miss you'?" Damian blurted naturally.
"We both know you couldn't care less about greetings and formalities. Now speak." Asher said to Damian, wanting him to just hit the nail on the hammer.
"I hear you've been running wild over a girl," Damian cut to the chase.
"And what if I am?" Asher questioned, pissed. He knew where he was going, and he wouldn't back down.
"Desist from it," his father said with clarity.
"I will not have my heir be malfunctioned by some girl — and never to that family at the very least," Damian said.
"You caused it. I'm only trying to fix it," Asher responds to him.
"She completes me," Asher repeats.
"She will ruin you… she will shatter all the things I've worked so hard for you till this day."
"I'll gladly let myself be wrecked by her than to live in a world where she barely exists," Asher beats his chest confidently.
"You disappoint me," Damian told Asher. The expression was seen in his face.
"I have always disappointed you. Right from my birth," Asher replies.
"But for once, Father, I don't wish to be your reflection… I choose something far better than fear," Asher continued.
"You mean love?" Damian mocked.
"I mean peace… look at yourself, Father. You have built this legacy, brick by brick, and let fear into the hearts of others.
"You maintain a cold aura, but deep inside you… you are miserable with no one to lean on. You are broken from within, and that is why violence is your peace," Asher speaks to his father, meaning every word.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."
"You think I don't feel, Asher?… that's a fact.
"But do you think this world would show you mercy if you keep on believing in such fantasies?
"Wake up, Asher! People like us don't deserve love. And I'm glad such sentiments aren't involved, because the one person you love may be the one person who will tear you into pieces," Asher's father, Damian, narrated — just like he was speaking from experience.
"You're no love preacher… you and Mother had never had a love-built relationship," Asher responds, wondering where he got such speech from.
"You were just about Asher… now don't make the same mistake everyone makes in the name of love," Damian banters, eyes cold, not wanting to reveal too much.
"Fine, Father. You stick to your self-righteous legacy of power. I'll build my own empire, with her as my inspiration.
"For she isn't someone I planned to be with. But yet, she has eaten deep inside me.
"She doesn't ask for gold, silver, wealth or fame… all she asks for is freedom. The same freedom I have but wish to abandon. The same freedom I want to explore side by side with her," Asher tells his father.
"You will regret exploring that journey."
"I won't lay a finger on her or your desires," Damian said.
Asher caught off guard with his words.
"It is not a matter of won't, it is an issue of can't. For if a hair be removed from her head, and you are unlucky enough to be caught as the propitiator… you will wish I wasn't your son," Asher threatens his father.
"Then so be it. But remember, Asher… you will come back to me and yield to my words. I promise you that," Damian said, with a feeling of confidence and clarity.
"I believe that wraps up our family conversation," Asher took his coat from the hanger.
"I'll see you again, Father. Don't be shy to fall when next I disappoint you — because I feel that will be my motto from now on."
Asher barges out of the room, with footsteps loud enough to attract scavengers.
But the only thing he enjoyed about the meeting… was seeing his father scared of what his actions may cause.