Unable to take the sudden information as gently as possible, Ashley’s legs soon became impatient and made for the unrealising woman who was still receiving a call that caused her to release peals of laughter into the peaceful atmosphere.

“Stop, Ashley.” Dave held her back. “ Don’t be hasty.”

She threw him a glare without thinking twice. “Don’t talk to me about being hasty. You were already hasty when you looked for my parents without asking me.”

If he was affected by the harshness of her words, he did not show. Instead, Dave pulled even closer to block her approaching movement.

“Think twice about what is running through your mind right now. Say I let you leave, what are you going to tell her? Who are you going to say you are? Ashley, you need to keep a calm mind to tackle this.”

Ashley threw his words to and fro her head. While her jaws clenched furiously, she slowly acknowledged that he was sort of right. She needed to be very calm if she was going to deal with the issue which was already driving her insane.

So, she decided to do just that.

Taking one last look at the woman whom she had lots of questions for, Ashley sighed and entered the car. And she entered with a mind that was determined to make the many questions on her mind known. Sooner or later, Ashley told herself that she was going to confront her biological mother.

As Dave kicked the engine to life and got the car moving, Ashley stole a quick look at him, debating whether to make her thoughts about his actions known or not. But the thoughts of her biological mother raided that intention and she looked out of the window.

She recalled the face she saw and noted that despite the signs of growth, her mother’s beauty was still there, so much so that they looked alike. The woman appeared to be rich and classy and this aspect was the part that confused Ashley. Money didn’t appear to be a problem for her biological mother and Ashley just had to wonder if she was that unwanted by her real parents.

“Don’t overthink it, Ashley,” Dave quietly dropped as he took a quick swerve to the left.

Sparing him a side glance, she mumbled with a touch of intended clarity in her voice, “You should have told me.” As he sighed in response, Ashley finally realised that he was the one driving. With a deep frown on her face, she quickly said, “You are not meant to be driving.”

“Well, you are clearly not fit to drive either considering that you are angry and all that.”

Eyeing him, his goofy smile finding a way to chase out her anger towards him, Ashley replied, “You have one good arm. So please, do me a favour and stop the car.”

“But I am doing a great job driving you. Besides I have to think of ways to apologise for my act of inconsideration.” He patted the arch of the steering wheel. “I think this is a good start.”

“Driving me doesn’t count. I can order an Uber right now and I will get driven anyway.”

He made a huffing sound with his mouth. “I guess I have to move on to the next plan.”

“Which is?” Ashley asked out of slight curiosity.

A thoughtful look on his face was followed by a shrug which led to him saying, “Something romantic maybe. You do like something romantic right?” A huge smile was on his lips as his eyes met hers. When he saw her hard look was still maintained, he gave another huff. “How about something simpler? I could cook for you for as long as you want. It is romantic too but not as grand as a vacation.”

As much as she loved his attempts, Ashley was getting tired because of the way the day played out.

“Dave... All I need from you is a simple apology.”

“I...”

“Cooking for me doesn’t sound bad though.”

The room went silent for a while before Dave solemnly changed the atmosphere. “I should not have decided for you. Finding your parents is something you should have decided on your own. I am sorry for crossing that boundary.”

Ashley, whose anger towards him had long dissolved while he was blabbing about romantic stuff, smiled and reached for his thigh. “You did cross a boundary, but I guess it is sort of a good thing.”

“It is?”

She ran her hand through the roughness of his jean. “Yes, I finally got the answer to the hidden thoughts in my head. Besides, sooner or later I would have gone on a search myself.”

An almost inaudible croak escaped his throat. “Ashley...?”

“Yeah?”

“Please, get your hand off my thigh.” He appeared to be a bit distracted from his driving.

An unrealising Ashley had a little frown on her face as she asked, “Why?”

He motioned down and when her eyes saw the reason for his discomfort, she gasped, withdrew her hand and asked with surprise, “Did I do that?”

Clearing his throat, he re-sat to hide the swell in his middle. “You have no idea what you do to me, do you?”

Her cheeks went warm and she said nothing.

Looking out the window was all she did and the both of them did not say anything till they got home as the tension created by the little incident was one that had to be ignored otherwise they would have torn each other’s clothes off right there.

~

About three days later, while she watched a movie about whales with Dave, Ashley knew that she could no longer take it anymore. Not getting answers to her many questions was frustrating her, so she got up from Dave’s couch, grabbed her purse and made for the entrance.

“Ashley?” Dave called, concern in his soothing voice.

“I have to meet her. The questions are eating me up.”

Dave, whose sling had surprisingly come off after a brief visit to the hospital, nodded and reached for a bar of Snickers chocolate and handed it to her. “You might need this to keep calm.”

Reaching to give him a quick kiss on the lip, Ashley said, “Thanks.”

“That’s all I get?” Dave asked before killing the response on her lips with a much more hungry, determined kiss. As he slowly detached his wanting lips from hers, Dave placed his forehead on hers so he was looking right into her eyes.

“What?” Ashley, who was getting drunk on the icky moment they were having, asked.

Reaching for a loose strand of her pulled-up hair, Dave maintained a beautiful smirk that made Ashley wonder have she got so lucky. “Nothing,” he gruffly replied. “Just make sure you don’t allow whatever you find there affect you too much.”

Ashley replied with a broad smile and gave him another quick kiss before jumping out of the trailer and into the car.

After a few minutes, the forty minutes left for the ride were beginning to seem like something she was likely to regret. As she drove, she began to paint scenarios in her head and things didn’t go so well in those scenes. But, no matter how much a part of her tried or kept trying to keep her from doing what her mind had set to do, she wasn’t going to budge.

That mindset she had throughout the ride soon landed her at the doorstep of her reality.

Her feet lingered at the driver’s side as she stared at the house her supposed mother lived in. The expensive features of the house were not hidden behind huge gates like other houses around so Ashley was able to calculate how she could find her way around.

“Yes? Who are you?” Before she could move, a male voice questioned her from behind and as turned to face this person, the expression that covered his face became more important than knowing who he was. With haste and nervousness, he adjusted the ropes of his robe and asked, “Athena?”

“Uh?”

“Your mother has been looking for you.”

“Uh?”

“You are her daughter Athena, right? She was right, you look exactly like her.”

“I...” Ashley did not expect such a welcome.

“Gosh, she was afraid her father had murdered you.” Suddenly he grabbed a very confused Ashley by the wrist and dragged her past the well-trimmed lawn and into the house where a new reality awaited her.