Chapter 12 Breakfast with Asher
The campus café sat on the corner of the main yard, its windows fogged from the steam of early-morning coffee. Students shuffled in and out, faces buried in scarves, laughter muffled by the drizzle outside.
Lila sat by the window, her spoon tracing lazy circles in her untouched coffee. Her reflection in the glass looked pale and distant like someone she almost recognized but didn’t fully know anymore. She hadn’t slept. Every sound in her dorm last night had made her flinch.
The chair across from her scraped back.
“Detective Rowan,” Asher said as he dropped into the seat, his smile bright enough to look out of place in the gray morning. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
“I might’ve,” Lila muttered, pushing a strand of hair from her face.
Asher leaned forward, eyes wide. “Please tell me it was at least a cool ghost. You know, like the kind that rattles chains and says your name in a creepy whisper.”
She shot him a look. “Not helping.”
He sighed, raising both hands. “Fine. Serious face.” He tilted his head. “You gonna tell me what happened or just stare at that poor coffee until it evaporates?”
Lila hesitated. Saying it out loud made it sound impossible.
“There were cameras in the greenhouse,” she said finally, voice low. “Hidden ones, they were pointed at the benches.”
He blinked. “Cameras?”
“They started recording when I got close.”
Asher leaned back, his grin fading. “Wait, like someone was watching you?”
“Yes. And a voice.”
“What kind of voice?”
“Male. Calm. Like he already knew me.” Her hand tightened around the cup. “He said, ‘You shouldn’t be here, Red.’”
Asher stared at her. Then he gave a shaky laugh. “Well. That’s comforting.”
Lila didn’t smile. “When I got back to my dorm, there was a rose taped to my door.”
The humor left his face completely. “You’re kidding.”
She shook her head. “And when I pulled it off, someone whispered behind me.”
He leaned forward again. “What did they say?”
She met his eyes. “You forgot this.”
Asher’s hand froze on the table. He didn’t look away for a long moment.
Finally, he said softly, “I don’t like this, Lila.”
“Neither do I.”
They sat in silence for a moment, the hum of the café filling the space between them.
Then, trying to break it, he said, “You know, there’s this legend about Halden. They say the ghosts of the old art building still follow the red-haired girls who don’t finish their projects.”
She frowned. “Really?”
He smirked. “No. But I figured if I said something stupid, you’d stop looking like someone stole your soul.”
She almost laughed.
He grinned. “There it is. The world’s tiniest smile.”
She shook her head. “You’re impossible.”
“That’s what keeps me alive.”
The door jingled then, and a familiar voice called, “Lila!”
Roy waved, striding toward them, his bookstore nametag still pinned crookedly to his jacket. “Didn’t expect to see you two this early.”
“You know me,” Lila said, “i can’t resist burnt coffee.”
Roy chuckled and sat beside her. “You look tired, Rowan.”
“She’s been getting surprise gifts,” Asher said lightly. “From our friendly neighborhood stalker.”
Roy shot him a glare. “That’s not funny.”
Asher raised a brow. “Neither is the situation.”
Roy ignored him and turned back to Lila. “You okay?”
She nodded, though her fingers tightened around the cup. “Trying to be.”
Roy reached over and touched her wrist briefly, his hand warm. “You’ve got people looking out for you.”
His tone made her chest ache. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I know.”
He smiled faintly. “Good. Then I can worry less.”
Asher’s phone buzzed, and he glanced at it before tucking it away.
Roy looked between them. “You’re Asher, right? Beckett’s new part-time worker?”
Asher nodded. “Yeah. He mentored my elder brother two years ago. Brilliant guy, though he makes you feel like you’re about three IQ points short of being human.”
Roy smirked. “I’ve heard stories.”
“He’s not as bad as people say,” Asher said. “He’s just misunderstood. Intense, sure, but not cruel.”
Lila raised a brow. “You sound like you owe him something.”
Asher shrugged. “Maybe I do. He helped me out when I first got here.”
“People change,” Roy said, voice low. “Or hide what they really are.”
The tension between them was quick but sharp.
Lila stood, stretching her legs. “Okay, the testosterone break is over. I need air.”
Roy smiled, rising too. “I’ve got to get to work anyway.” He leaned in and kissed the top of her head, a gesture so sudden it froze her. “Be safe, yeah?”
Lila blinked. “Yeah. Sure.”
Roy glanced at Asher. “Keep her out of trouble.”
Asher gave a half-salute. “No promises.”
Roy chuckled and left, the door’s little bell chiming behind him.
Lila and Asher sat back down.
“You and Roy seem close,” Asher said, stirring his coffee.
“He was friends with Serena,” she replied. “He reminds me of her sometimes.”
He nodded, watching her carefully. “You ever think maybe chasing her killer’s gonna get you killed too?”
Lila stared at her reflection in the coffee’s dark surface. “Every day.”
He didn’t laugh this time.
A small silence settled, heavy but not uncomfortable.
Her phone buzzed again. A message from an unknown number. “ He’s watching him too.”
Her stomach turned. She looked up at Asher. “I think someone’s”
His phone vibrated loudly against the table, cutting her off. He frowned, flipping it over to read the text.
Lila caught the words before he angled the screen away.
“Stop digging. What’s happening is not your business.”
The color drained from his face. He locked the screen quickly, forcing a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Spam,” he said. “Some phishing crap.”
Lila didn’t believe him.
He tried to keep his tone light. “You should eat something before your next class.”
But his hand stayed pressed against his phone, tight, as though he were hiding something beneath it.
Rain began to fall harder outside, tapping the window in slow, even beats.
Lila stared at the drops sliding down the glass, her chest tight with a feeling she couldn’t name fear, maybe, or doubt.
And then her phone lit up again.
Same unknown number.
She opened it. “You know he’s lying.”
Lila looks up sharply. Asher’s watching her, with an unreadable expression. His phone buzzes again, but he doesn’t reach for it.
The screen lights up just long enough for her to see one new message appear from the same number as hers.
She didn't bother to ask him, or try to know what the text said, she was just scared she'd get him killed too.