Asher’s Incompetence (Asher)

In the past, Adelise had decorated the walls of her room with garlic because her betrothed/husband-to-be had been incredibly inconsiderate and obnoxious. But things were different now. One, she was officially married and they’d developed a playful rapport. Two, he was too powerful to be deterred by garlic.

Asher also sought out Adelise to vent as she often listened kindly to his rants, no matter how absurd… This morning, he approached as soon as he realized she was awake. Over the years, he’d developed several small, seemingly random, insecurities. They often related to his hobbies and passions. Despite appearances, Asher was a bookworm who’d published several books, even some best sellers, but nothing recently. However, he did regularly attend literary lectures at Britchester University.

It was one such lecture that set him off.

But Adelise couldn’t tell what exactly had happened. The lecturer had dared to criticize writers who lacked empathy? Who struggled with communication? Was Asher being remorseful or defensive?

Many of his early books had been family histories repurposed as fiction. He’d written about Adelise, his first-born Aster, and others. At the time, Adelise had been struck by how honest and introspective his “novels” were. Now, they still seemed surprisingly respectful, but the lack of empathy those books showed was obvious—the way he’d initially written and apparently felt about Aster… Adelise was glad their first four children together had been boys. Now, he adored Aster and Adelise tried to set him at ease because he’d changed, but perhaps because he knew he still had issues with empathy and communication, he wasn’t reassured.

Dysis entered her mother’s room looking for Adelise, but found her father instead. Perhaps on a mission to prove that he could both understand other’s feelings and communicate well, he spoke encouragingly to Dysis about her ambitions. Of course, she would become a CEO if she wanted. His earlier seemingly misunderstood comments were only because he had wanted her to do what was right for her and not compare herself to her siblings—if school wasn’t right for Dysis, she could drop out and get married or whatever, her mother would throw a fit, but he wouldn’t care.

Dysis wasn’t completely convinced, but her father was offering her something, and she didn’t want to push the issue at the moment. Whether he supposedly joked about her dropping out because he didn’t care enough about Dysis to care about her education or because he honestly felt that she should do what was right for her or some mixture of both, she felt that he had a point. She should focus on her own goals instead of comparing herself to her over-achieving sister Deli—whether Deli had perfect grades or was one of her father’s favorite children had nothing to do with what Dysis could accomplish on her own. As long as Dysis took care of herself and didn’t lose her mind over her boyfriend Rashad, she’d be fine. She was smart, had a keen understanding of finances, and could excel in business if she wanted. Her GPA was an A-, not an F.

Regardless, as a huge nerve had been struck with Asher, he continued his mission of proving himself to be a brilliant writer capable of understanding and advising others. When he caught his youngest, Dyna, writing a report, he had to sit down and give her some advice.

Even after she finished and moved away from the computer to relax on the couch, he couldn’t let the topic go and followed.

Later, when Dyna’s grades came in, he couldn’t help but give himself some credit for advising her so well. Maybe he would become a professor when they moved back to San Myshuno.