The Beauty Of The Beast// AN SOA AU

Chapter Four

Aziel sighed as he looked at the time on his phone, his ex-wife Jessica running late with their daughter Jasmine once again. He had only two days with her, and those few minutes lost he could never get back. He stood up as he saw Jessica's car racing down the street, his jaw clenching as he hated that she would drive too fast with their daughter in the car.

"Sorry, she couldn't find her shoes."

"It's fine, just please don't be like two hours early on Sunday like you were last weekend. I mean it Jessica this is my time with her, and I deserve it." He said as Jasmine ran to him, her little arms wrapping around his neck as he finally felt whole again. He never imagined that he could love someone so unconditionally, but his daughter was his entire life.

"I will get her at the normal time on Sunday. Any plans for this weekend?' Jessica asked as Aziel told Jasmine to run inside, his expression stoic as he crossed his arms, closing himself off from Jessica. At one point in his life, he had been madly in love with her until the day he came home to find her naked in bed with someone he thought was a friend. From that moment on, he had been very eager to give his heart away, but it was always given back to him in small pieces.

"Just to be with my daughter, anything else?"

"You are so cold to me when all I want is to get along." Jessica huffed as Aziel rolled his eyes at her fake sadness, the bad memories of their final days as husband and wife rushing back to him as if a dam at broken.

"I want to get along with you Jessica, but I don't want you anymore! When I signed those papers, I was done with our marriage. We can be friends but that's it, we aren't anything else. I thought you were engaged to that pool guy, Taylor." He smirked as he said the name, knowing full well that they had broken up because he had cheated on her.

"You know he left me, why would you bring that up?"

"I'm sorry, I guess after all these years I am still a little bitter towards you, Jessica. Look just pick her up on Sunday." He said as he turned and walked inside, his body tensing as Jessica threw her arms around him, Aziel wiggling from her as he gently placed his hand on her shoulder. 

"Stop! I am seeing someone, and I don't appreciate you trying to snake your way back into my life." He hissed as Jessica turned and stomped back to her car. Every few months she would try to rekindle their old flame, but he had died out long ago.

"Daddy, Can I watch SpongeBob?" Jasmine asked as she jumped on the couch with the blanket and favorite unicorn toy, his heart soaring as he sat on the couch and watched cartoons with his daughter.

Aziel yawned as he gently moved off the couch, his daughter fast asleep as the sun was starting to set. He had wanted Madison to meet his daughter but, he also didn't want Jasmine to get too attached to her just yet, since their relationship was still very fresh.

He took out his phone and dialed her number, his heart calm as she picked up after two rings. "Hey Madi, I miss you." He said as he heard something fall in the background. "Are you okay?"

"I dropped my flatiron and tried to catch it." She said as he could tell she was in pain, his heart fluttering as he found her clumsiness endearing. "That's going to hurt tomorrow."

"Be careful baby, I don't want to come over and find you passed out."

"Funny. Did Jasmine get to your house okay?" She asked he peaked from the stairs to see her still sleeping peacefully with her stuffed animal.

"Yeah, she is sleeping on the couch. I wish you were here."

"Me too but I think we both needed a break, we spent nearly all our time together with you inside me." She teased as Aziel bit his lip, his body aching to hold her again. He liked her a lot and knew that he could see himself falling for her, but he was also keeping an arm's length for fear of getting hurt.