Black coffee

Lily stood before the big steel gates of the Blackwood billionaire home. After yesterday's confrontation with Asher, she finished cleaning the large paint room late and returned home even later. She still had her assignments to get done which caused to go to bed late, only to be woken up early because her phone rang and it was Asher asking her to be at the mansion by 6 am, again.

After letting out a frustrated sigh, she rang the bell. It took a moment before Asher's voice came through the speakers. "You're late." he scolded aggressively.

Watching her from his MacBook that was connected to the camera at the gate, Asher waited for a response, but he got none. Lily was too tired to think of a response. Yes, she was late, but she didn't care. She didn't get enough sleep and was in no mood to act as Asher would expect.

After waiting for a response that never came, Asher instructed for the gates to be opened. Just as she was about to walk in, a tall, black jeep drove out of the gates. She moved to the side to let it pass, but the car stopped when it came up beside her. When the glasses wound down, Asher looked at her from the back seat.

"Get in," he instructed. "Front seat."

Lily let out another sigh before she made her way around the car, and into it, sitting into the passenger seat as instructed. When her door closed, the car continued on its journey, driving out of the gates, heading for the main road.

"I need you to run an errand for me, Lily," Asher began, a few minutes into the trip.

A confused Lily looked through the rear mirror. Asher still had his attention on the device sitting on his legs, he didn't notice Lily's puzzled stare.

"I am here to learn art." Lily murmured, keeping her gaze on the rear mirror, but Asher still didn't look up.

"No, you are here to do what I say Lily, and if I want you to do something l, whatever it is, you would do it."

Engulfed in what he was doing, Asher still didn't notice Lily's gaze. It wasn't puzzling anymore, it was now tired, defeated even. Lily looked away, fixing her eyes on the road. She silently took slow breaths to calm her worked up nerves. Fighting back the tears in her eyes, she took out her wireless earpods.

Asher finally looked up from his MacBook, looking through the rear view to notice Lily's straight face. She was neither excited nor angry. An expression one could classify as numb. It made him satisfied.

They drove in silence, but didn't drive for long. The car's first stop was a coffee shop just on a corner of town. When Lily noticed they had stopped moving, she opened her eyes and took the pods out of her ears. It was then she noticed Asher's gaze on her through the rear view mirror.

"Go in and get me a cup of coffee," he mumbled. "Tell them Asher Blackwood sent you, they'll know how I like my coffee."

Lily noticed a smirk on his face. Even when she didn't understand why he was smiling, it made her very uncomfortable. She quietly went down, taking the small amount of cash Asher handed to her before making her way into the cafe.

Lily was greeted by the strong smell of black coffee. She could almost feel herself floating in the breeze as it carried the scent around the room. She decided she was going to also get a cup to lift her spirits, but her decision was quickly dismissed when she walked up to the front desk. The first sight her eyes caught was the price list on the wall above the desk. She almost let her jaw drop. The prices were completely absurd for a small cup of coffee.

"Hello," Lily's attention was redirected to the receptionist who looked at her with a warm smile. "What can I get you?"

"Hi," Lily whispered, forcing a smile of her own. "A cup of coffee please," she glanced at the prices once again. "For Mr Asher Blackwood." Lily added quickly.

The warm receptionist nodded before proceeding with Lily's order. As she waited, she scanned across the room. Everyone who had a cup of coffee in their hands had a certain look to them, a certain aura, a bourgeoise aura. It was the type of status Lily strived to achieve. Up there, with the men and women of high class, but that dream was being latched on to a demon. One by the name of Asher Blackwood.

It took longer than the usual, but the coffee was finally ready. As Lily watched the lady walk towards her with the cup in her hand, a small smile formed on her lips. However, her smile was quick to fade away when she noticed the hot drink was in an open ended rubber cup. Her smile was immediately replaced with confusion, one she didn't hide.

"Isn't it supposed to be in a closed paper cup?" Lily didn't hesitate to ask when the lady came before her.

"You must be a new girl," the lady said with a light chuckle. Lily was about to protest when the lady continued. "Mr Asher doesn't drink from plastic cups. He also doesn't drink hot coffee, so he likes them with the lid off so it cools off faster."

Lily opened her mouth to protest again, but was interrupted by another rich looking customer. Reluctantly, Lily took the open ended, plastic cup of hot coffee, mouthed the words "thank you", and headed back to the car outside.

She stepped out of the door to meet Asher's penetrating gaze. "Are you alwas late to everything, Lily?" he blurted when she got to his window.

"I didn't make the coffee." she hissed immediately.

With a roll of his eyes, Asher wound up his glass. A confused Lily knocked on his glasses, making him to wind them down again. "Your coffee." she murmured, shoving the coffee towards the window.

"I don't drink hot coffee," Asher stated casually. "Your job is to hold that cup until the content cools off."

Lily's eyes squinted, her brows furrowed, her lips straightened. "In the car? While it's moving? With no lid?" With each question, her tone went higher and higher.

"Lily, I don't have time for this," was Asher's cold response. "I have a meeting to get to. Get in the car and let's go."

Not giving her a chance to respond, he wound up the tinted glass. Lily stood for a moment, looking around as if wanting to not be the only person witnessing the scene. Left with no choice, she opened the passenger door, gently placing herself on the seat with the hot drink in her left hand.

"Don't spill hot coffee over my car, Lily." Asher warned as he watched Lily struggle in satisfaction. "You seem to be good at spilling things." he added when she didn't respond.

With a smile on his face, he gestured for the driver to start the car when Lily closed the passenger door. Silently, she struggled to put on the seatbelt with her free hand as the car slowly increased its speed. Asher watched her without her knowledge, entertained by her desperate attempt to make sure she didn't spill the hot drink over herself. After a few tries, Lily finally fixed the belt. With a sigh of relief, she relaxed into the chair, holding the cup in front of her.

The car ride was going smoothly. Lily had gotten comfortable with the cup of coffee that was not so hot anymore, while Asher paid attention to the road. They had just pulled into the parking lot of the meeting venue.

"Stop." Asher blurted.

The car immediately jolted to a stop, abruptly shaking everyone in it, including Lily and the cup of coffee. She watched in horror as the cup slipped out of her grip, splashing all its contents over her, the seat and the floor. Almost immediately, she felt the warmth of the liquid on her legs. She looked down to see the blue colored jean she had on was stained, possibly ruined forever.

"I told you not to spill!" Asher's husky voice echoed inside car.

"Now you have black coffee all over my seat. Do you know how hard it is to get black coffee stains off anything?"

He continued to scold Lily in a stern voice while anger brewed inside of her. "You just love to spill things, don't you?"

"Who in the world buys hot coffee when he doesn't drink hot coffee!" was the first thing that came out of Lily's mouth.

"If you don't drink hot coffee then don't buy it for fucks sake!" she yelled again, her loud voice transitioned into a scream.

"You're worried about your stupid car seat while I have coffee all over my jeans!" she spat the words like thunderbolts in a storm. "You know what, fuck this." she added in a whisper.

Asher watched as she began to unbuckle her seatbelt without hesitation."Where are you going?" He asked in a deep voice.

Lily didn't respond, flinging the door open and stepping out of it. Asher's furious eyes watched as she stepped down. "I said where are you going?"

"Home!" Lily yelled as she slammed the door.

"Don't you dare go anywhere, Lily." Asher warned her after winding his glass down. "If you leave, consider the opportunity gone."

"You know what, fuck you Asher Blackwood!" Lily blurted.

Asher's eyes widened, taken aback by her statement. "Fuck whatever it is you think you are!" Lily went on, her voice shaky with tears gathering behind her eyes.

"I don't regret pouring that wine over your expensive shirt," she lifted two fingers from each hand, gesturing a quote at the word "expensive".

"You're a jerk and you deserved that!"

Those were her final words before Lily turned around to walk away. A stunned Asher watched her walk away.