13 From sweet to sour

Ashley and Alan had both finished getting ready to go out for lunch. They both decided to grab something quick and light since it was already getting pretty late in the day. They settled for having wontons for lunch so they can enjoy dinner later on in a few hours. Alan's phone rang as they were leaving and he was notified that there was a problem at work. Ashley told Alan not to worry about her and to head on over. She would find something else to preoccupy her time while he was busy taking care of work. He kissed her and told her that he would call her when he was done.

Since it was a Sunday, Ashley didn't want to go home to a empty house so she opted to go browse around for new clothes for Alan. Her intentions weren't entirely pure as she did also want to go shop around for her as well. She went back to the same mall that she visited yesterday with her husband. She visited a couple of shops and decided to get both new work clothes and casual clothes for her husband as it had been a long time since she had updated his wardrobe. She sent Alan a text telling him where she was going and to pick her up there when he was finished so they could go back home together.

As she was just about finished with shopping for her significant other, she spotted Josh walking around with another guy and observing the mall's traffic and displays. She still hasn't accepted the fact that Josh was physically somewhere she could see again, somewhere she could get into contact with. She turned around to walk the opposite way but was a little too late as she heard her name being called.

Today, Josh came to observe one of his family's property again but with the assistance of his assigned personal assistant. As he was going over details of the property, he saw Ashley walking out of a shop by herself. It seems luck is on his side today as he didn't spot her husband anywhere which would make it easier to have a heart to heart with Ashley. He rushed to finish his train of thought to his assistant as he saw her walking away.

"Ashley!"

Ashley tried to pretend that she didn't hear anything but hurried footsteps approached her before she felt someone touching her shoulders. She took a deep breath before turning around.

"Ashley, didn't you hear me?"

"Oh, I was in a rush to head home and I wasn't paying attention."

"Ashley..." he started softly.

It had been so long since she had heard him calling her name and she missed it. Back then, they had a lot of good memories together. But...his long radio silent absence still made her feel bitter inside. He was someone that she wanted to rely on, someone she wanted to spend a lifetime with, someone she put so much trust in but his disappearance just made her realize that her feelings weren't reciprocated. That they were her one-sided affection and meaningless to him.

"What do you need from me Josh?"

"I need you to hear me out."

"And why do i need to do that?"

"Because you are mad at me and I want to explain everything to you."

"I'm not mad."

"You keep trying to avoid me. If you aren't mad, what are you?"

"I'm disappointed."

"Well at least you are still feeling something towards me," he joked.

"You're joking? After all this time...after not contacting me for so long, you come back and joke?! Do you think that you just left for the weekend?!"

Josh knew and understood that Ashley had a lot of things she wanted to say, to yell, at him for but all this time away, he realized that she matured. She wasn't the spoiled little princess like before who would do and say whatever she felt like. She now thought of the impact and consequences that would go with her actions and words. He didn't want her to hold it all in though and after all this time, he still knew how to ruffle her feathers.

"I know its been a long time, but Im back now." He said as he started to get closer to her.

She stepped back. "Yeah, you are. A little too late."

"Why is it late? We never broke up. We talked about having a life together. We talked about everything."

A little tear rolled down her left cheek. "Yeah, we did all that. We did talk about everything. But where were you when I needed you the most? Where were you when I tried contacting you so hard...when I started to lose all hope?"

He opened his arm out to embrace her but as he was about to move a step closer to her, he heard someone calling out for her.

"Ashley!"

Ashley heard her name being called out and knew instantly that it was Alan here to pick her up. She turned around and wiped off the tear and quickly sniffled in before turning back around with a smile.

"Hi husband. You finished with all your work already? I was shopping and I guess I lost tracked of time."

He took the shopping bags from her hands into one of his and held her hand with the other. He looked towards Josh with feigned surprise. "Oh, Josh. I am surprised to see you here. Still doing a walk around?"

Josh stepped back. "Yeah, I brought my assistant to look over a few details when I saw Ashley here." He gestured in the direction where his assistant was standing looking over papers.

"We wont keep you from your work then. We will leave first." Alan took Ashley's hand and directed her away.

"I bought some new clothes for you to switch out some of your old stuff."

"If you want someone to accompany you shopping next time, just let me know. I will come with you."

"I don't need anyone to go shopping with me. What are you talking about?" She stopped walking and stepped away from him so that they can look each other face to face.

"Did you ask to meet up with him here?"

"No. He barely came over to talk before you arrived. I didn't even want to talk to him."

"When I saw you guys, that is not how it looked like."

"Are you...are you questioning me? Because of what?"

"You look like you are getting pretty close with him. He was going to hug you had I not called your name and you were going to let him."

Ashley scoffed in disbelief. "Wow. So this is how much trust you have in me. This is what you think of me? Especially after what happened just a few hours ago?!"

Alan softened after she reminded him of how intimate they were. He reached out to touch her shoulder but she moved away. "I'm sorry. When I saw you guys, I let jealousy take over me."

She stepped further away from him. After she gave all of herself to him yesterday and him treating her like this today, she was utterly hurt and disappointed. Her eyes were watery but no tears came down yet. "Those bag are yours, take them home. I wont be leaving with you. You can go."

Alan tried approaching her again but she moved away again. "I am sorry..." He paused for a second. "Okay, I will see you at home later, right?"

She didn't reply, instead she just walked away. She was very confused right now. Less than a few hours ago, she just bared herself completely vulnerable to someone and she didn't expect things to turn out this way. For the first time in her life, she opened herself up to someone only to feel so...betrayed.