Saved and Saving: The Single Daddy CEO

Chapter Seventeen

Tiselle

I stayed in bed most of the day, opting to order room service to save myself the trouble of dressing and making myself look presentable. I felt like I had been in a car accident or trampled by a mob of people, and I was in no shape to be doing much of anything.

Sadly, that didn’t stop Asralyn from coming to my room late in the afternoon to check on me. I had just awakened from a nap, making it easy for her to talk me into going out to dinner with her.

Luckily, she was willing to help me get changed once again, since everything hurt so much worse than the day before. While she was helping me into a fresh cream-colored tank top, since it was easier to maneuver over the cast, Asralyn asked me again about the tattoo on my shoulder.

“What exactly was this before it got messed up?” she inquired, sliding her fingertips over the bumpy scar tissue.

“It used to be a bell with a blue jay resting on the bell handle,” I answered, purposely not going into much detail, but Asralyn was much too curious by nature to leave it at that.

“Why a bell and a blue jay?” she asked while draping a pretty, lavender shawl over my shoulders to help keep me from catching a chill.

I glanced back at my new friend and smiled a little before responding, “The bell had a crack in it. The bell symbolizes how beauty comes from within. Even those of us who are broken can do amazing things.”

I paused for just a moment, then continued, “The blue jay has always held a special place in my heart. One of the times when my sister and I were sent to different foster homes, there was a blue jay nest outside my window. They would wake me every morning with their loud warnings to the neighborhood cats to stay back from their nest and their young. It is exactly the type of protection I craved from a parental figure, so they became an inspiration for what I want for my children in the future.”

When I glanced over at Asralyn again, I could see the unshed tears in her eyes, so I insisted, “Don’t do that, please! If you cry, I surely will, too.”

“I’m sorry. That’s just so sweet and such a shame it got messed up,” Asralyn mumbled while patting the tears from the corner of her eyes with her personalized handkerchief that was a light shade of pink with her initials embroidered in a dark shade of purple.

Instead of conversing further, Asralyn went behind me and took the time to pull my hair back in a braid, then she insisted on me using her as a leaning post while I slipped my feet into the slip-ons.

I definitely wasn’t dressed to impress, but I didn’t look terrible either. To sum it up, I looked simple and more like the commoner I actually am. It didn’t bother me until Asralyn’s driver pulled up to park in front of a five-star Italian restaurant.

“I can’t go in there looking like this,” I hissed, suddenly feeling extremely insecure.

“Sure you can. You are my special guest. If anybody says a word about it, I will put them in their place,” she assured me in a calm tone.

I thought for sure, there was no way I would run into anybody I knew anyway, so why not enjoy the evening. It’s not every day I get the chance to enjoy such exquisite cuisine. Putting on my fakest smile, I allowed Asralyn’s driver to help me out of the car, then I walked beside Asralyn into the restaurant.

The walls were covered in authentic Italian decor, and the music was festive and in the Italian language. After being seated, I felt a bit of dismay when I realized even the menus were in the native Italian language.

When the waiter came for our drink order, I decided to keep it simple and just order the same of whatever Asralyn ordered. While waiting for the drinks to arrive, I continued to make a shitty attempt at figuring out what the words on the menu meant.

Asralyn’s voice intruded on my thoughts when she asked, “Do you know what you want?”

I flashed a crooked smile at her and honestly answered, “I have no clue what any of the words are. I am trying to go by the pictures but only a few of them are labeled to give me any kind of idea.”

She chuckled at me a little, then asked, “What is your favorite Italian dish?”

“I’ve always liked baked ziti. Do they have anything like that?” I asked in return.

“This is probably the closest thing you will find to that on this menu,” she answered, turning the page of my menu and pointing at a specific dish, so I would know what to order.

When the waiter returned to take our order, I not-so-confidently attempted to say the words, “Pasta al forno,” and earned chuckles from him and Asralyn.

“What did I say wrong?” I asked Asralyn after the waiter left.

“You didn’t say anything wrong. You just over-emphasized a few syllables more than needed,” she answered with another little chuckle.

I was still feeling a little loopy from the pain meds, so I concluded that was why and let it go.

Asralyn and I talked for a few minutes, then her phone rang. When she looked at it, all she did was huff, then she shoved it back into her purse while grumbling something to herself.

Before I had a chance to ask if everything was okay, she abruptly stood up and excused herself to the bathroom. Since it hurt to walk, I opted to stay seated right where I was and continue waiting for our food to arrive.

I was sipping on the delicious wine I had ordered for myself by accident when I heard a familiar voice smugly comment, “Well, what do we have here? A nobody, who just lost her home and her job. How in the f**k did you manage to get in here, Tiselle?”

I groaned inwardly at the sight of Seth with Annihya, hanging on his arm, wearing the red cocktail dress I had recently bought for myself. All I could think about was jumping to my feet and ripping that dress down the front, just so she couldn’t wear it for another second. If only I wasn’t injured.

“Well?” Seth cockily pressed. “Who said you could dine here? This restaurant doesn’t usually allow a lowlife like you to enter.”

“If that’s the case, how in the f**k did the two of you pieces of s**t get in?” I retorted, not in the mood to listen to his bullshit a second longer.

The last word was barely out of my mouth when Seth yanked me to my feet using my good arm, thankfully. With his face barely a centimeter from mine, he hissed, “Stop showing up where you aren’t welcome and stop causing problems for me!”

“Or what?” I countered, glaring at him, as I tried to yank my arm out of his grasp, but he only tightened his fingers even more, causing me to wince from the new pain.

“What is your f*****g problem? Get your grimey hands off my friend,” I heard Asralyn demand from behind Seth.

“Or what?” he teased, but that only pissed Asralyn off.

Without another word, she reached up and grabbed hold of his right shoulder, then she did something that made that asshole instantly drop to his knees.

“I told you to get your f*****g grimey ass hands off my friend! Didn’t your mother teach you any damn manners! You don’t touch a woman like that! EVER!” she snarled, bending down so her nose was nearly touching his.

I had to admit, this little lady looked like a force to be reckoned with at that moment. The way her face was twisted in total anger mixed with disgust, along with the way she held him down by putting pressure in just the right spot. Needless to say, I had an ear-to-ear grin, watching Asralyn bring him to his knees and put him in his place.

“If you so much as look in Tiselle’s direction again, much less speak a word to her, I will have you castrated. Understand?” she growled at him.

“Yeah, now let go of me, you f*****g psycho,” he pleaded, clearly in pain.

“Fine, but don’t let me see your ugly mug again,” she hissed, releasing her grip on his shoulder, but she didn’t stop there. Before he had a chance to move, she used her foot to knock him over on his side, then she cackled at him, saying he got exactly what he deserved.

It turned out to be a dinner for the books. One that I will never forget.