Quote of the day : Running away doesn't solve anything, when will you learn Ashley.

 
   Ashley picked up the only suitcase she intended to leave with, and stepped out of her room to see Chloe. She had taken the day off today, although she made it known to her that she would like to go to the airport alone.

     She stared at Chloe's face longingly, not wanting to leave her, but Chloe in turn collected her suitcase, taking it out of the house.

   When she got out, she saw that the cab she had hired was already waiting for her, the driver got down to place her luggage in the trunk of the car, and got back in. She turned to face Chloe who looked too sad to comprehend, and she also felt the same. She was going to a place where she knew no one, and her Chloe wouldn't be there also.

     "Call me once you land."

     "No, I won't," Ashley said sadly. She hadn't told Chloe that her leaving also meant she was cutting off all connections with the people she knew, she needed to start anew. Stupid, she knew.

     Chloe's face got scared at first, but she soon replaced it with a smile. "Okay,  I will let you off because you might be tired when you land, so call me everyday after that."

     "No, I won't."

     "Twice a week?" Chloe asked with a grave voice now.

     "No."

   "Once a week?"

    "No."

    "Then, once a month?" Chloe asked with teary eyes now, and her heart cried also to see her friend this hurt.

    "No."

    "How about, once a year?" Chloe asked, tears fully streaming down her eyes. Ashley's heart tightened as she saw this.

    "No," she said, trying hard to stop the tears that threatened to spill out.

    "So this is it, goodbye?"

    "I'm afraid so." She answered sadly, and went over to hug Chloe's shaking body. "I'm sorry Chloe."

    "If after a year you don't call me to let me know where you are, I will get my parents to find you out." Chloe said sobbing into her clothes.

     "I'm glad you plan on reconciling with your parents," she said instead with a smile.

    "Won't you atleast let Greg know you are leaving," Chloe said, pulling out of the hug.

    Her heart clenched at the mention of Greg's name, a name she was not fit to mention. "He doesn't want to see me Chloe."

    "Atleast he sho..."

   "Chloe, I will miss you." Ashley interrupted Chloe, not wanting to hear anymore of Greg. She had hurt him enough, and didn't deserve to be around him. So he had no need to know she was going.
    
     "If you miss me too much, call me. Its your choice Ashley, you will always have my number. But if I miss you too much, I will just seat, and cry myself out in your room."

   She hugged Chloe one last time, holding her longer, She knew the cab driver must be getting impatient, but she needed to hug her one last time.

    "Take care of yourself, and your wrist," Chloe said lovingly like a mother hen. "Eat well, sleep on time, and look after your health."

    "Yes, mother Chloe."

   "Promise me you will be happy, come on promise me."

      "I promise you Chloe." She said. She had at this point gotten emotionally drained, she knew she had to leave fast to prevent herself from staying with Chloe. "Bye."

   "Bye." Chloe waved with tear filled eyes, while she made her way into the cab.
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   "She's leaving."

    Greg stared at the enraged woman before him who had evaded all his temp pleas and barged into his office all the same, and at that moment he would really like to relive her of her duties. He had no need to ask who was leaving, he knew it was Ashley, and he couldn't say how he felt about her leaving. His hand unconsciously went to the ring in his pocket, as if to feel its presence.

     "How is that a concern of mine, Miss Anderson?"

    "Well," she said, looking at her fingers before continuing. "I just thought I would let you know, since she didn't have the courtesy of saying her goodbyes."

     "Now that you've done that, would you leave?" He dismissed her.

    "She is currently at JFK international airport, leaving for Spain." His attention sprang back to life as he heard Chloe mention Spain. "Apparently  a certain guy by the name Luciano, whom she met on your business trip to Spain invited her. Would you believe it, they plan on traveling the world together." There was a wishful look on her face as she said this, but he was greatly pissed. "I would have really loved to go with her, but I have work."

      "You can go, I won't mind relieving you of your duties," he deadpanned.

      "No, thanks," she said, dashing him a smile. "I kinda love New York."

     "Why are you telling me all this, Miss Anderson?" He asked, trying hard to stop anger from seeping into his tone.

       "I just needed someone to rant to, as I said, Ashley is leaving." She said, pouting.

     "Now that you are done ranting, can you please leave?" He said, pointing to the door that was right behind her.

       "Gladly," she said with a triumphant smile, and turned on her heels.

      "And Miss Anderson, I will on no account become your personal rant bag. So refrain from coming to my office to rant." He said in a warning voice.

     "I will try, but if I miss her too much, I will come over here to rant again." She said, running out of his office before he could give a reply.

  His mind drifted to Ashley again, the thought of her going to Spain angered him to no end. The truth of whom she was going to meet almost had him exploding with anger, he couldn't believe she would run to him so fast. And then she claimed that her love for him was true, he can't believe he actually believed her.

  And why the hell was he bothered about her leaving, he didn't want to see her, so it was better that she was leaving. But a part of him also long to see her, and her going to Luciano was really infuriating, like how could she. He soon found that he had begun to squeeze the ring in his hand. He left the ring in his pocket and pulled frustratingly at his tie.

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    Seated on one of the seats at the transit lounge, she awaited her flight, waiting patiently. A part of her felt that she was leaving something behind, but she had no courage to think of it. She thought of Chloe's sad face, then she thought of Nora, she hadn't even seen the girl before leaving. This also left her thinking of her brother, she wanted to badly see him, but she knew she couldn't, she wouldn't be able to bear it if he still had that look of hatred, and disgust for her.

       She wished so much that he would forgive her, but she was also aware that it wasn't an easy fit to acquire. She had done bad, and he had even been kind enough to let her go scot-free, but that only left her with a deeper feeling of guilt. She stared at her ticket and boarding pass in hand, looking at it with hope, hope of a new life. Maybe, just maybe, she would be able to live freely now.

     She rested her back on the chair, staring at the people who were all leaving like her, she wondered if some of them too was thinking of starting anew just like her. She was jerked out of her thoughts when she heard her name been called, she twitched her ear to see if she heard correctly, why? Because the voice sounded like Greg's voice, but that was impossible.

      "Ashley." She heard the name more firmly now, and was sure as hell she heard right, could she be daydreaming. That would be the case, because one, Greg doesn't know of her departure, and two, he hated her too much to come see her.

       "Ashley." She heard the name loudly now and was sure she wasn't daydreaming, she wanted to turn back, but didn't need to because the person she wanted to look out for was now standing at her front. She stood up immediately staring at him in awe, he was in a black suit, and his tie was loose, clearly from pulling it. He was breathing hard, as tough he had been running, he had definitely been running.

      "What are you doing here?" She asked quietly, not wanting to get ahead of herself. She was happy that he was there, although she didn't know how he knew, but she was glad. Maybe he wanted to stop her from going, and if he did, she wasn't sure she would stay, unless he had forgiven her.

      "Your ticket," he demanded.

      "What?"

      "Let me have your ticket."

   She foolishly adhered to him, and stretched it towards him. He snatched it from her hand immediately and stared at it, she wondered what he intended to do with her ticket.

      "Egypt?" He said with questions in his tone. "You are going to Egypt?"

      "Yes." She shifted on her foot as she said this. She heard him mutter something under his breath, but she couldn't make out what it was. "Any problem with Egypt?"

     "No, not at all." He answered with relief.

     "Why are you here?" She asked.

    "I just...I wanted to tell you not to feel guilty about my mum's death anymore."

      "Why shouldn't I, I killed her, didn't I?" She said, pain washing through her as pictures of Cassandra flowed through her.

      "You shot her, but technically speaking, she didn't die from your bullet." He had shocked her with what he said, it sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than her to believe what he had just said. And she was glad that he still cared enough to try to ease off her guilt, but that wasn't what she needed, she needed his forgiveness.

      "She did Greg, stop lying to yourself, I know she did."

    "Dr. Bryant had said that she wouldn't have died if it wasn't for her sickness, so..." He trailed off.

      "It doesn't justify anything Greg, does it make you want to forgive me?" She asked him. She saw the look that flashed across his face, and she knew that he still couldn't bring himself to forgive her. "It is what it is Greg, you still can't bear the sight of me, and I still can't stop feeling guilty."

      "That will be goodbye then," he said after a long silence.

      "Yes." Tears stung her eyes again, she couldn't bear the thought of leaving, but there was no use in staying.

    "Bye, Ashley," he said.

    "Bye."

    He turned on his heels, without giving her a hug, or even a handshake. The tears fell freely from her eyes at this point, she stood there crying for a long time before the announcement of her flight departure brought her back to life.

  As she left for the gate, she knew that a new life she was going to start, but that feeling of guilt that had been burdening her would not leave.

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     He drove out of JFK, finding it hard to get his mind of Ashley leaving, he wanted her to stay badly, but he still couldn't see her without seeing the girl who had a gun over his mum that night. He hadn't even dared hug her, because he knew that he definitely would have asked her to stay, and asking her to stay when he hadn't dealt with every issue in his mind was only going to be torture for both him and her.

   Two emotions are constantly at wars in his heart when it came to her, love, and hatred. One thing he hadn't been able to rid himself of, was her constant feeling of guilt, she had dealt with it for two years, and he wanted to ease it off.

     He needed to let go of every feeling of hatred in his heart, maybe then he could see her in the same light as before. Her leaving was the best for the both of them, maybe, just maybe, one day he might be able to forgive her, and let love rule his heart once again.
    

   
  Chapter fifty five.
   
  I want us to understand something, forgiveness is easy for some people, while to some it takes time. You might want to say, 'his father and sister forgave Ashley quickly, but why him?' Remember that he was present at the scene, taking that image off his mind won't be easy. And we are talking of murder here let's all understand. How many of you would forgive a person who kills any of your parent, or pet even?

    A guy tried to poison my dog, I still get angry when I see him, now imagine in Greg's case.

Love from Mary Aden.