9 A chance encounter

It was finally the weekend and Alan and Ashley would finally be able to rest up for the week. They both work nonstop during the weekdays and recently have started being able to relax together on weekends. They would normally go out for a nice little breakfast date in the morning and head to the grocery store to pick up things needed for Ashley to cook dinner as well as Sunday's breakfast. Ashley thought that part of a wife's duties is being able to cook for her family a warm meal. Since she was busy during the weeks, she fulfilled that part of her duty with two meals - Saturday night dinner and Sunday mornings breakfast. Breakfast on Saturdays and lunch and dinner on Sundays were for them to go out and enjoy dates.

Since they slept in a little longer because of the outing yesterday night, they got dressed and ready to go out for brunch.

"Is there something that you want to eat for brunch?" Alan asked Ashley as he was getting dressed in the closet.

Ashley was sitting at the vanity table getting ready. "No, I am okay with whatever you want. Remember to think about what you want me to cook as well so we can pick up groceries on the way home. Oh, I also do want to go pick up some twillys for my handbags so can we eat somewhere near a mall or at the mall?"

"I still don't understand your love for your handbags. You spend so much time on work but handbags take up so much of your time too. You have to dress them up with their charm bracelets and tie them up with twillys to give them color. They are like your babies...if you really want to care for a little one, we can make that happen."

"Alan, stop teasing me. The handbags make me happy, they are something I cannot live without. Unfortunately, it's my vice. My weakness. I do want to be a mother though. Kids, we will have eventually when I am ready."

They have never had the talk about children yet so Alan was quite pleased to hear that she did want some eventually and she was thinking about having them with him. Divorce when she is able to pay him back might not be in the question after all.

They finished getting ready and went downstairs to get the car. As they got into the car, Ashley told Alan to just go straight to the mall and they would just be eating at Neiman Marcus's cafe. After brunch, they would stroll the mall for a bit and get what Ashley needed for her precious bags.

They walked over to Hermes for Ashley's twilly, Alan walked over to look at shoes while a sales representative brought out a few trays of silk twillys for Ashley to choose from. Ashley held up a few straps to look at the design and colors to see which would go well with the bags she had at home as well as a pair to switch out on her current bag. Since she was carrying her forest green lady Dior bag, she opted for a multi-colored design to switch out her current blue and white print. She handed her bag to the sales associate to make the switch for her and continued browsing the trays.

"The handle on this bag makes it a little hard to tie these on nice and strong."

"Yeah, the flat handles are a little more difficult."

"Still into your handbag fetish?" A voice from behind Ashley spoke.

Ashley didn't need to turn around to recognize the owner of the voice as they had once spent so much time conversing together but out of politeness she turned anyway. "Some things don't change, while others aren't ever able to stay the same."

Josh gave a nod to acknowledge her statement. "It has been a long while. I would love to hear how you have been and what you have been up to these years."

"Is there a need now to know? Nothing much happened, everything is pretty much the same with me."

"Nothing much happened? Your dad passed away, you got married, you have a whole company to be responsible for now. How can you say thats nothing? A lot of significant milestones happened to you."

"Yeah and you weren't there through any of it."

"I know I wasn't there for you when you really needed it but I am back now."

"Frankly if I didn't need you to survive through those times before then I really don't need you now. Besides, I already have someone else. He was there when I needed him, he has been my support through all these years when I had no one to rely on. I don't think i would have been able to survive if it weren't for him."

Ashley turned to look over at the sales associate who was finishing up tying the silk cloth to the handle of her bag. She was handed her bag and walked over to the register before Josh could respond.

Alan finished looking at the shoes as he spotted Josh walking over behind his wife and started to talk to her. He wanted to go right over but he knew that he had to give her space to accept that Josh had come back and to let her fairly make a decision. As he heard there conversation though, his heart felt warm. He wasn't sure if she said all these words out of anger or betrayal but the way she said that she relied on him really made him feel good. He didn't feel like she relied on him for anything since she took very good care of herself. The only time that she came to him for help was when she needed the capital and support to retain her position as CEO of the company when her father wasn't doing well. But, he would like it if she really did try to rely on him. That way, they would become a real couple - one that faced all their problems together.

At the rate her company has been improving, she would be able to pay him back by the end of next year. Five years. It was faster than he had predicted she would be able to make up the capital. It would soon be time to face the music. Would she stay with him after all this time or would she split off and start a new life? He couldn't help but feel a little sad as there was a possibility that the life he currently had, the life he was comfortable with, could all go away soon.

Alan saw that Ashley walked over to the register and he went over to join her. The associate rang up her purchase and put the little oval boxes into a bag for her. Alan handed over his card to the associate as Ashley began reaching into her purse. As she saw this gesture, she smiled to him. Alan turned over to Josh who was still standing by the glass display and nodded in greeting.

"Josh, right? What a nice surprise. What brings you here today."

Josh nodded in response, "Just surveying our properties and getting use to things before I start work in a week."

Alan smiled, "Hard worker. We wont disturb you then. We were just about to leave to go grocery shopping anyways. Ready, hon?"

"Yeah, all finished here. Lets go. I am pretty sure you have a few dishes you want me to cook for you tonight."

Ashley smiled over at Alan and took the receipt and Alan's card and put it in her purse. She interlaced her fingers with his and they walked out of the store as Josh watched on.