50. She's Coming

”Well, um, yeah,“ Ashley glanced at Josh again, thinking of an excuse that sounded plausible as soon as possible, ”It was office business. Something urgent. That's why he said he'd only be gone for a while."

“Alright,” came a short sigh from the sound of her mother's breathing, "And you, you better have a pretty good reason for refusing to meet me outside. I won't tolerate it if you get into mischief. Nor will I defend you if your father gets angry."

"No, mom. It's not about something bad like what you think."

“Okay.”

As soon as Ashley hung up, Josh started asking questions. Because the girl's words that she said to her mother made his curiosity multiply into even more.

Starting from what made Mrs. Ashley sound so eager to meet the girl. Why did she insist on meeting today. And why Ashley lied that he was going out for office business.

“Your mom wants to see you? She's coming here?” His sentence came quickly—reflecting his curiosity that also wanted to be answered quickly.

Ashley nodded. 

Then when she saw the cell phone in her hand, she immediately remembered moments before that Josh had brought her cell phone in from outside. Why was her cell phone outside? She remembered clearly that she had put it in this room last time—or was she mistaken?

“Wait, why do you have my cell phone? Why did you bring it from outside?” Ashley asked curiously.

Josh shrugged his shoulders. “I think I accidentally took it out last night, when I tried to call you and found out you left your cell phone at home.”

Her eyes narrowed at the unbelievable answer, “You didn't open it and check my phone, did you?”

Josh let out a long breath. "You locked it! There's no way I could have opened it. And why would I check your phone anyway?"

Ashley did not ask further. It was true that Josh wouldn't be able to open it.

“Why does your mom want to see you?” Josh's eyebrows raised.

“I don't know,” Ashley answered honestly, “just wanted to have some chit chat maybe.”

"But why did she insist on meeting you today, even when you already rejected it? Did something happen?“

”Why? Are you afraid something might happen?" Ashley teased Josh by putting emphasis on Josh's words that she repeated. She was quite amused because she knew exactly what the man was afraid of.

Unfortunately, Ashley didn't know that Josh had pocketed his ace card last night. That made her a little bit confused, because now, what she got from Josh's was only a grin full of mystery.

"What could possibly happen, anyway? Maybe you're the one who's scared if something doesn't happen the way you want it to be," Now it was Josh's turn to tease the girl.

Ashley frowned while looking at Josh with an annoyed look because she didn't understand what he had just said. Meanwhile, Josh looked complacent and very happy to be in a more favorable position that could potentially control Ashley's move.

"Finish your food. I'll help you get ready before your mom comes."

“No need,” Ashley refused, "You just go quickly. Your girlfriend might go berserk if she doesn't see you soon."

Josh's face turned uncomfortable, “Watch your language while I'm still being nice.” He said with a tone of voice that clearly sounded intimidating.

“You're being nice to me because you're afraid of me revealing your secret,” Ashley actually only said it in a low tone that almost sounded like a mumble. But the meaning of the sentence still bothered Josh.

"I'm being nice to you because I'm a moral human being. Not because I want to bribe you. Besides, I'm not as scared of you as you think I am," Josh grinned again, this time more faintly than before. He pulled out a piece of tissue from a nearby nightstand and leaned over until his eyes were level with Ashley's. “What's the point of me being scared of you? You should know, whatever you're thinking or trying to do,” Josh lifted his hand and gently wiped the corner of Ashley's porridge-stained lips with the tissue, “isn't going to work.”

Ashley suddenly backed her face away. Meanwhile, Josh regained his posture and sat on the edge of the bed casually. He gestured for her to continue eating with a look that seemed to pierce Ashley's eyes.

It somehow invited an atmosphere that made Ashley become very silent. She realized there was no point in provoking him too much at this point. Moreover, yesterday she had also thought quite a lot about getting back to her controlled self without being easily swayed by emotions. So instead of arguing further, she picked up her spoon again and continued eating her porridge.

After Ashley finished all the porridge and a glass of water—without realizing that her stomach was so hungry—Josh cleaned up nicely. He picked up the mini folding table and carried it out to the kitchen.

For some reason, there was an inexplicable feeling that filled Ashley's chest right now.

The relationship between the two of them was clearly not good. There were many reasons that should have kept the two of them from dealing with each other before coming to an agreement on yesterday's matter. And the fact that it was revealed that Josh had another girl that he loved very much, made Josh no longer need to pretend to be nice to her anymore. Because even if the man intended to do it just to get Ashley to shut up and do what he wanted, he must have known the result would still not be much different.

But Josh was still being nice to her. He was even willing to help her get this and that, and waited for her all night by sleeping on the couch. Why would he do that much?

The situation made it hard for Ashley to deny that a part of her heart that still held feelings for the man was touched again. But, then what? The man's heart was already filled by another girl. Seeing how Josh fought for his relationship to the point of lying to everyone like this, there was clearly no room for Ashley there.

Ashley sighed. She tried to get rid of her thoughts that were softened by Josh's kindness—regardless of whether it was true or not, or even if he did it without any intention of taking any advantage of her. She couldn't let herself get lost in her own feelings again like before.

Her current energy was already quite well replenished. So Ashley started trying to move her body slowly so that she could sit on the edge of the bed and then get down to clean herself up.

The pain wasn't as horrible as before she took the medicine, but it was still strong enough to make her grimace and stop moving a few times. However, the medicine could not completely eradicate the sensation that tormented her.

Ashley carefully walked by holding on to the wall. Making her go around almost half of the room. When passing by her closet, she grabbed a set of clothes and resumed her efforts to get to the bathroom.

When finally she got to the bathroom, she was faced with another difficulty in getting her shirt off. It was true what the nurse who helped her yesterday had said. She might need the help of another person to minimize the possibility of her wound being scratched by the cloth. But she couldn't do what the nurse had suggested.

There was no one she could ask for help here. Even if she had to ask Mrs. Go—the woman assigned to take care of her, accompany her, and provide her with everything she needed during her stay in New Zealand—that would only worsen the already chaotic situation. That woman would have immediately wondered why Ashley would ask her for such a favor instead of her husband. And then, without waiting too long, the matter would definitely reach her parents' ears.