Thankfully, I'm not the only one that's itching to be told the truth. Ash looks like he is dying to tell me Colin's motives, as if it's the only way that he can make up for his lack of involvement in my life during my marriage.

I'm just staring at Ash, as I'm waiting for him to open his mouth and tell me the tale of Colin's life. I put my hands on the table, and look at him. Right when Ash opens his mouth, the smell of hot, Middle Eastern food wafts throughout the work place, and into our nostrils. I relax a little bit at the comforting smell, while Ash sighs.

"Well, that interrupts this whole process. I'll tell you it as we get some food," Ash promises as we get up. I nod, as we walk towards the smell of hot, spicy, welcoming food that is just calling my name.

As we walk, Ash starts to tell me the story like a grandmother telling her young granddaughter a cute little fairy tale. "Okay, we'll go back to when Colin and I were kids. We were best friends, and literally attached to each other since day 1, which makes sense, because Colin's my twin," Ash starts off, and already, I'm surprised. I didn't expect for Colin and Ash to be so close as kids, considering that Colin always treated him like the murderer of his child.

"You guys were close?" I ask, and he nods.

"Yeah. We were attached to the hip as kids. But anyways, we always did everything together. We were so close, especially with our two sisters." We reach the table with the food laid out. This time, I'm really surprised. Colin has sisters? Since when?

I've never even heard the mention of a sister from either Colin, Ash, or Mark, as a matter of fact. Plus, considering Colin's misogynistic tendencies, how did he even treat his sisters? I don't want to even know. They're probably hiding from the monster I used to call my husband.

"Wait, hold it. You have sisters? Since when? I've never heard about a sister from you, Colin, or his friends. You never brought them up in our conversations. This is all news to me." I put a few pieces of manakeesh on my plate.

Ash chuckles a little bit, as he spoons some ful meddamas on his plate. "Yeah, I know it's a shock, considering everything you told me about him being incredibly sexist. But yes, I do have sisters. I have two sisters, Emily and Isabella, but we call her Isa at home. Colin is incredibly estranged from them, however. I think the last time they spoke was when Colin was 16, and he's 24 now. Mind you, that wasn't even a full fledged conversation. It was just some small talk. If I brought them up during our conversations, my dad or Colin would've overheard, and it would've gotten messy either way, because of their relationship."

I serve myself some tabbouleh and kofta. Ash serves himself some tabbouleh and quwarma al dajaj. "But anyways, back to the story. We were all really close, until our parents divorced. My dad took the custody of my sisters, and my mom took custody of us. Colin and I just turned 11, and Emily and Isa were 8 and 6, respectively. Not even one and a half years after that, my mom died from glioblastoma multiforme, which is a really aggressive form of brain cancer. Three months before she died, she found out it was too far gone to do anything, and we all knew she was going to die. The divorce drove the first crack in the family relationship, and her death was the final crack that changed Colin forever. My parents barely spoke to each other after the divorce, and Colin was angry at my dad because he did nothing to try and help our mom when she was dying of cancer. He hated my sisters a little bit because of the fact that my dad took custody of them. Colin was absolutely devoted to our mother. We loved her a lot, and after her death, Colin became angry and bitter. He hated everyone in the family, but he made a small exception for me. It was a hard blow on the family. Everyone was affected deeply by my mom's death," Ash tells me, and slowly, my heart breaks.

My mom was a really bad parent to me, but I know the fear of losing a parent that you're incredibly close to. That fear constantly lingered in my teenage years when my dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. When I look into Ash's eyes, they start to sparkle with fresh tears. He sniffles a little bit, and wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

My heart officially breaks completely, and I put my hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Ash. I hope she's resting in peace right now," I tell him, and pat his shoulder a little bit. We're both looking down at the baklava we're serving ourselves, and when we get a few pieces, we look back at each other.

Ash sighs, and he smiles at me. "Thank you, Nicole. That means a lot. I hope so too. She was a really great person. But anyways, my dad gained custody of Colin and I when our mom died. By the time we moved in, my dad had found another girlfriend, whom he was really in love with. He loved her, but we didn't. She was extremely abusive to all of us growing up. It was the worst around Colin and I. She didn't target the girls much. She hated me because according to her, 'I was too good looking, and I was bad because of that.' She was just a nutcase. Colin and her always fought, day and night. He hated her with every bone in his body. He just couldn't stand her at all. She'd always abuse him verbally, and he really couldn't do anything about it, because of the fact that she'd tell our dad about it, twisting it into pure lies, and he'd get scolded pretty bad. We all hated Tina," Ash says, and when he says "Tina," it's like all the bells go ringing.

A drunken Colin was calling me, "Tina," in a somewhat angry tirade a few days ago. It all made sense. He thought I was Tina, and he was angry at her, which led to him yelling at her. But why did he think I was Tina? I know drunk people sometimes imagine things, but that was just weird.

"Oh man, that really sucks. But Tina? Ash, a while back, Colin came home drunk, and started calling me "Tina," in a really angry tirade. Does this have to do with your old step-mom?" We head back to the table.

Ash nods. "Absolutely. Colin hated her, and he still brings her up from time to time. He never forgot how much torment Tina put him through. Thankfully, my dad divorced Tina a long time back, and he married Lauren, but we can never forget everything she put us through. And I hate to say it, Nicole, but you look very similar to her," Ash says, and my mouth falls open as we sit back down at the table.

I look like Tina? Oh man, if I look like Colin's ex-stepmom, then that's probably the reason that he was so abusive to me throughout the marriage. Another thought hits my mind. If I bear a striking resemblance to his old stepmom, then that was probably the reason why he made me dye my hair. It was one thing he could change about me so that he wouldn't have to be reminded of her.

All those thoughts cause nausea to grate against the insides of my stomach. "Wait, do you think that's why he hated me so much and abused me?" I ask, as Ash scoops a spoonful of tabbouleh into his mouth.

He nods, as he chews his food. "I'm 100% sure that's the reason. Colin's always been someone who gets revenge when someone has wronged him. I'm sure that he could only see Tina in you, and nothing else. He's always said that if he could, he wouldn't let her go scot free. He would give her a taste of her own medicine. I think that because of your resemblance to Tina, he said all the horrible things to you, and he just couldn't realize that you were nothing like her," Ash explains, and I set my fork and spoon down on the table.

Everything makes sense, from the beginning to the end. Now I know why Colin had always hated me throughout our marriage. That's why he always looked like I was Lucifer's spawn. It's why he couldn't stop calling me "Tina," on that night when he got drunk. It's why on the first day of our marriage, he looked at me with such contempt, yet such attraction.

Everything comes together like pieces in a puzzle. A puzzle of confusing emotions, motives, memories, and hatred. Thinking about that puzzle makes nausea whirl down in the depths of my stomach. I didn't want to revisit the unfortunate memories that Colin made during those three years in an attempt to study his body language a little bit more.

I look back at Ash, who's finishing up his food, while still looking at me, like he's waiting on me to say something. After chewing his food thoroughly, he sets his fork down and looks at me. "So, you have your answer, Nicole. Now you know why he was so inclined to hurt you," Ash says.

My lips purse together, and my teeth clench together in a small action of slight irritation. "That is no excuse for him to do such things to me, Ash. He beat me, abused me, degraded me, and caused my PTSD and panic attacks. He caused all these scars on my body, and most of my mental scars. Do you really think I'm going to sympathize with him over this? He deserves no sympathy. He's a monster, and I hate him," I say, gritting my teeth for the last couple of words.

Ash's look turns into a sympathetic one, filled with even more guilt than the last. He looks into my eyes, with his beautiful brown eyes calming me down from the slight anger that I'm feeling right now. "I know that's no excuse to forgive him, Nicole. He doesn't deserve your forgiveness after everything he's done. I just thought I owed you an explanation, because it's the least I can do after my brother put you through all that emotional distress. Think of it as kind of an apology gift from my behalf," Ash says even more guiltily.

With that, it's like a vacuum sucks all the possible anger that I had before out of my body. Seeing Ash, who is a cinnamon roll, truly apologetic for something that he couldn't do anything about hits a soft spot in me. Seeing his handsomely guilty face makes me soften up a little bit on the inside. "I appreciate your effort, Ash. It really means a lot that you care. It makes me happy that you want to do anything to help me whatsoever in this case. You're a sweet guy," I say.

Ash looks at me with a happy look on his face. Pleasure sweeps his face, which causes his infectious smile to bloom on his face again. He fiddles around with his fork a little bit, and then leans in a little bit. "You know, Nicole, I overheard a little bit of what Dom said to you back at his work space, because I had to deliver another file over there in that area. I do agree with him. You really deserve someone who will make you happy in life. You are seriously one of the most compassionate people I've ever met. You're a really nice girl," Ash compliments.

Blush dusts my cheek at that compliment, and I bite my bottom lip a little bit. Ash chuckles a little bit at my obvious reaction to the admiration. "Thank you, Ash. That's one of the sweetest things anybody has ever told me. Say, this sounds kind of weird. Can I have your number?" I ask.

Ash smiles at me, like he's pleasantly surprised by my question. "Of course! Don't think it's a weird question. I actually was about to ask you, believe it or not. I do want to keep in touch with you, for sure," Ash tells me.

He grabs a napkin, and a pen that's in his shirt pocket. He writes his number on the napkin, folds it in half, and hands it to me. I take it, with the smile on my face never leaving me. "Thank you, Ash. I'll be sure to call you for sure. We should meet up for coffee one day. I really enjoyed our little meeting today," I say, and Ash returns my compliment.

"I loved it too, Nicole. I'm down for coffee one day. I want to get to know you better. You're a really sweet person," Ash says, and the blush on my cheeks intensifies a little bit more. I'm going to be as red as a tomato if he keeps on being such a gentleman. Why does Ash have to be so nice? Why didn't my mom marry me off to him? I would've appreciated that a lot more.

Our little moment is cut when Dom yells, "Nicole, can you come here, please?" I turn around, and Dom is some distance away, with several men with him. I sigh, and I get up out of my chair.

"I'll see you around, Ash," I tell him.

He smiles, and waves slightly. "I'll see you later, Nicole," he tells me, as I turn around to go see what Dom needs.

I go over to where Dom is, and there are at least 6 guys surrounding a large table. I come over to the table, with my plate and food. Dom looks back at the guys, with a smile on his face. "Guys, this is my little sister, Nicole. Nicole, this is Bahram, Kabir, Lucas, Paul, Mike, Farhan, and Hamza. Bahram is Iranian, Kabir is from Bangladesh, Farhan is Indonesian, and Hamza is Egyptian," Dom points out, from left to right.

I wave to everyone, with a smile on my face. "It's nice to meet you all," I say, and they all smile.

"You too, Nicole. We've heard a lot about you," Kabir says, and the smile stays on my face. I then spend the next few minutes talking to everyone and getting to know all of them.

However, throughout that little meeting, my mind is fixed on only one thing. Ash. I can't get him out of my mind. There's this invisible charisma within him that makes me want to go back for more.

That charisma was like the magnet that pulled me in. His pure heart was something that I can't get enough of, and even though we talked only once, I feel the need to go back for more. Something about his gentle face, his soothing voice, and his infectious smile keeps me thinking about him.

Do I like him? Even I don't know at this point.

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I heard a LOT of conspiracy theories on why Colin is such a douche. Someone said an abusive ex, and to be fair, you're not wrong. They also said that Isaac's not a good person. Welp, that's true as well. So, are you surprised Colin turned out to be a really awful person after everything? Let me know.

Hey everyone! How's it going? Also, how cold is it where you live? I can't even open the door without immediately shutting it and shivering, haha. Man, winter is bitter.

That's pretty much it. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/ comment/ follow/ message/ share if you like my work! See you all next Sunday with a new chapter of Phoenix! Have a great week!

Love you guys;

Shree