Asher: A Second Chance Novel Read Online Free PDF Page B

getting home from work.
    He looked up at his son. His eyes were bloodshot and the front of his shirt was stained. As a matter of fact his clothes were wrinkled like he had slept in them. He had a red mark along the side of the face that looked like it was going to turn into a bruise, probably from hitting the wall just now.
    “Asher.”
    The sound of his name on his father’s drunken lips pissed him off more. “What the hell are you doing? Mom will be home soon. You can’t let her see you like this!”
    His father leaned forward and at first Asher wondered if he was going to pass out. He realized then that his father was trying to use his arms to push himself up off the floor. With a disgusted sigh Asher slid his arm under his father’s and pulled him to his feet. He teetered slightly and then pressed his palm to the wall to steady himself. “You reek! Why weren’t you at work?” It suddenly dawned on Asher that he hadn’t seen his father since maybe Wednesday. He had thought they were missing each other, but from the looks of it, he hadn’t showered or changed clothes in days.
    His father looked at him again like he was trying hard to focus on his son’s face. “Watch the way you talk to me,” he shot. Asher wasn’t one to disrespect his parents. As an only child he always had a close relationship with them both. He had been raised to be respectful and polite but it was hard to feel anything but contempt for his father in his current state.
    He took another deep breath and said, “You need to get in the shower before Mom gets home.” He was still holding onto his father’s arm. He jerked it away from Asher and pushed open the bedroom door. Asher stood in the doorway and watched as his father stumbled across the room towards the mini-bar. “Are you fucking kidding me? I hope you don’t think you’re going to have another drink.”
    His dad ignored him and pulled out a bottle of scotch. Asher completely lost it. All of the emotions he had been holding back since the day his mother told him she was dying pushed through all at once, ignited by his disgust for the way his father was handling things. He flew across the room in a rage and jerked the bottle out of his father’s hands.
    “What the hell are you doing?” His father bellowed.
    “I’m keeping my mother from having to come home and see the cowardly drunk she married.” His dad did something then that in nearly eighteen years of Asher’s young life had never seen him do. He took a swing at his son. His coordination was off from the alcohol and Asher easily dodged it. The intent had been real however and it only fuelled Asher’s anger. He pushed his father and he stumbled back into the wall. His dad was looking at him with shock on his face. Asher had never even considered putting his hands on his father before, but this was too much. Even knowing that the stress and the helplessness he felt over his mother’s illness was causing him to drink held little water as far as Asher was concerned. He always looked up to his father and the man he saw in front of him today was not the man he knew at all.
    “You’re the CEO of a respected company. What the hell are your employees and your customers going to think if they see you somewhere like this? If you won’t clean-up for Mom, the person you should, at least think about the business you will lose when people in this little town start figuring out you’re a damn drunk.”
    Asher stepped close to his father and this time he didn’t make any move to strike him or fight him. Putting his hand on his dad’s arm he led him into the bathroom and turned on the shower. “I’m going to make you some strong, black coffee and you’re going to drink it and sober up before mom gets home.” He turned and left him standing there. He wasn’t sure if he even had time to clean him up before his mom got home, but he was going to damned sure try.
    When the coffee was ready he took the cup of black steaming liquid