Quote of the day: Running away doesn't solve everything, sometimes you have to face every issue head on. It is for yourself as much as it is for anyone.

Dedicated to : Glownator

  The first thing Greg noticed as he got to work that day was that Ashley hadn't arrived, did she forget to set her alarm again? He fervently wished that was the reason why she wasn't at work yet.

   What if she has decided to leave work even without resignation letter?  He tried to take his mind off her, but as the clock struck noon he knew she hadn't plan on coming in today. To say he was angry was an understatement, he was furious, most of his important work had dragged on without his ever efficient secretary. He hadn't even realized how important her work was, but she definitely knew this.

    "Hello, can you ask Miss Anderson to come see me in my office, now!" he said placing a call through to  the reception. He dropped the receiver and waited for Miss Anderson, he should have just called Ashley himself but then that wouldn't be so professional, would it?

  He heard a knock on the door and the door opened gently welcoming in Miss Anderson, she looked scared like he had called her to eat her up. He chuckled lightly at that thought.

  "Mr Marshall, you asked of me," Miss Anderson said as she got to his desk.

"Its nothing much, Is Ashley ok?" he asked, concern evident in his voice. There was no use hiding it, he was concerned about her.

   "Ahhh..." She gave him a knowing smile before replying him, "she is fine, she said she took leave from you for the day."

  "Oh she did... Ok you l can go," he dismissed her. He wanted to ask her why Ashley wanted to resign but  decided not to.

  "She seemed a little sick to me, she was acting unusual and dismissed it whenever I brought up the topic," Miss Anderson suddenly said bringing him out of his thought, he didn't even realize that she hadn't left.

  "Ok... " he said, not knowing how he was to reply to that. She left afterward. He just sat at his desk staring at his computer, his mind drifted off to Ashley again, what was wrong with her? He just couldn't figure her out, and what the heck was she so guilty about? Maybe he should just let her go, he  can get another secretary, she looked like she would do anything not to work for him again.

  After several minutes of unproductive sitting in his office, and staring at his computer he decided he might just leave the office altogether.
Within minutes of making that decision, he got to his car and dismissed  his driver, his intention was to go home but it seemed like his hands had other intentions.

______________________________________

   Ashley stepped out of the church feeling a little bit lighter, like a heavy weight had been lifted off her chest. She had confessed everything to the priest. She wasn't really a believer neither was she an atheist, but she won't deny the fact that God did exist, neither would she question him about his whereabout all those times when things were unbearable for her. She felt better after confiding in someone, she knew she needed to talk to someone, Chloe was out of the question because she doesn't even know how Chloe would react and again she was afraid of been judged, but talking to a priest whom she doesn't know in turn doesn't even know her was better. She remembered what the priest had told her.

   "Do you think running away again will solve this? It will continue to haunt your memory and I'm sorry to say, your life may turn out more miserable than ever. I know telling you to confess and take up the blame for what you did is a little bit hard  for now, but it is something you will have to do eventually as that is the best option. In the mean time, while you are still deciding, why  don't you stay longer working for him, helping him the best way you can. It is like you are asking for forgiveness silently before you will be able to do it openly."

  Ashley didn't know if she could survive that with the guilt eating her up, but she would try her best. She was also tired of running, and the priest had been right, her life had been miserable since that night. She decided that she was going to stay and ask for forgiveness however way she can, first of all she needed to let him know that she was everything but a...
 
    "Is that Greg?" she asked herself seeing her boss opposite her in front of her house. He must have been pressing the doorbell for long because he looked impatient and was about turning back to his car when she called out to him, "Greg."

  Greg turned back to her as she walked up to him on her front porch, he looked kinda surprised and she wondered why. He was in a grey suit and black shirt, his tie was loose around the neck clearly from pulling it, she noticed that was a habit he was fond of every now and then. His black hair was a little rumpled, but still he was looking really hot. He reminded her of a model she once had a crush on when she was in highschool, then she looked into his eyes, it was the one thing she loves about him,and the one thing that scares her.

    Greg cleared his throat obviously to get her attention, she blushed realizing that she must have looked really stupid just standing there staring at him. He had a coy smile on his face like he was dying to tease her.

   "Did you just call me Greg?" He asked with amusement, instead of mocking her like she had expected.

   "Yes, since you said it was okay to," Ashley said shrugging, her voice clear to her own surprise, "Why are you here?"

   "Why didn't you inform me that you were going to be absent from work today?" he queried with a light frown on his face.

   "Why don't we go in first, I really don't enjoy talking outside," she said smiling.

  "Oh," he said like he didn't realize they were still outside. She opened the door and walked in with Greg closely behind her. She couldn't help but feel his presence, he closed the door behind them, and sat down even before she could invite him to. She sat down across him, "why don't you answer my question now, why didn't you come in to work today?"

   "If memory serves that wasn't the question you asked me." Greg looked at her confused, then she decided to clarify it for him, "your question was 'why didn't you inform me that you were going to be absent from work today?' not 'why didn't you come in to work today?'" This of course sounded stupid.

    "Will you just answer the question and don't get me more confused than I already am," he said with a scowl.

   "I wasn't feeling too well," she lied.

   "Really?" he asked. He sounded like he didn't believe her, which she wouldn't blame him for, "you weren't feeling well and you were walking about."

   "I was coming from the pharmacy," she lied again.

  "Ohh... They seem to be closed." He said with a cynical smile.

   "Closed?"

   "Seeing as there are no medications in your hands, so I guess they are close."

   "Ohh.. Yes" she said. Why did she lie about the pharmacy again?  

  "You still haven't answered my other question."

   "I didn't inform you because I thought you wouldn't mind," Ashley said which sounded way more stupid than anything she has ever said. And the look on Greg 's face showed that he thought the same too, "I'm sorry it won't happen again."

  He smiled. "I thought you had decided to leave work even without resignation."

   "About the resignation..."

   "I will grant it," he suddenly said interrupting her.

   "No, you can't," she blurted out.

  "Ashley!" He said raising an eyebrow.

   "I thought about it and realized I was been foolish, I really take it back, I don't want to resign again"

  To say Greg looked shocked was an understatement, he looked at her like she had grown two heads.

   "You don't want to resign again, just yesterday you looked like you would  rather die than work for me."

  "As I said, I was been foolish."

  "What can I do? I kind of already gave the job to someone else."

  Oh no, her heart sank, how did he do it that fast? She felt stupid and sad, because it seemed like her only chance at retribution had been taken away.

Chapter nine, hope you loved it. Vote if you did.
Lots of love from Mary Aden.