88. Home

After stopping by his parents' house to pick up the gift that his mother had prepared, Josh returned to his house. He was quite thankful that his mom was taking care of a charity so he didn't have to meet her. 

Tonight he needed to repair his reputation in front of Ashley's parents. And that would take up a lot of his energy and mind. Therefore, not meeting his own mother was a huge blessing for him. Because Josh could eliminate one cause of his confusion, and make his burden a little lighter.

Josh was waiting for the elevator when Ashley walked up from behind him with the same destination.

The girl looked a little surprised when Josh turned his head and made their eyes meet each other accidentally. It seems like Ashley didn't realize before that the figure standing in front of the elevator was Josh.

Awkwardness suddenly ambushed the empty space between Ashley and Josh. Ashley looked away, and Josh still turned to look at her but with a confused feeling.

Ashley didn't expect that she would run into Josh in the lobby, even though she thought she wouldn't see him forever. It had been so long since she had seen him after that annoying incident, and Ashley was really at the point of no longer expecting him to come back again to their apartment. 

Aside from being too tired and fed up with Josh’s insanity—she didn’t take his word for it when Josh doesn't come home for a long time with the excuse of going out of town for work—Ashley can't forget the last moment before the man disappeared without any words. Josh might think that when he breaks a promise, it's nothing more than a trivial matter. But his actions had put Ashley into a very difficult situation that caused her relationship with her parents to deteriorate even further.

Meanwhile, Josh, at that time, was only confused because he didn't expect to meet Ashley there. He didn't prepare himself for this kind of situation.

The elevator doors in front of them also somehow didn't open. 

Ashley even thought about turning around and canceling her intention to go home by going anywhere—just for her to not be near that jerk. Because if she remembered, her feelings were never good whenever she was with him.

But in the midst of Ashley’s indecision and a situation that felt very awkward, Josh finally tried to break the silence that ambushed them both. Josh himself didn't know what he was thinking until he was able to get out of his confusion and regain control of himself in a very calm demeanor.

Perhaps it was Ashley's silence and the way the girl ignored him that finally made Josh realize that things could have been worse if he had done the same.

That's why he tried to restrain himself and show a little relenting attitude.

After the elevator doors finally opened and the two of them went inside, Josh reached out his hand to pull the large bag that Ashley was carrying.

“Let me carry it.”

There were a few strands of vegetables sticking up so it was enough to answer in general where Ashley was from and what the bag might contain.

Ashley actually wanted to prevent Josh from taking her groceries. Her forehead was already filled with frowns as Josh pulled it along. But Ashley quickly corrected her response and just let go of the bag of groceries until it passed to Josh. Aside from the fact that the groceries were heavy enough to work in her favor, her quick thinking made her realize not to get into an argument with Josh.

Her feelings of annoyance hadn't gone away, she just forced them to be buried deep. Which meant, with just a small trigger, Ashley could probably spew out all of her unexpressed anger. But if she did that, the situation between the two of them would only get more complicated and worse.

So she chose to avoid much interaction with Josh as much as possible rather than satisfying her ego by showing his frustration.

After all, this long period of time where she didn't meet and communicate with Josh at all, actually gave her time to think very carefully. About what she should do, and what she should avoid. She had also been able to carve out her goals very clearly. Therefore, she felt as if she could see her life in a bigger picture.

“Why are you shopping so much?” Josh only took a small peek at the contents of the bag he was carrying and judged by the weight he felt. “Aunty Gong didn't buy any ingredients?”

Ashley intended to keep her mouth shut and ignore whatever the man said or did.

“Ash?”

But Josh kept talking, and even worse, he did not turn his head.

“Why? Ash?”

From the reflection of the elevator wall, Ashley could clearly see the shadow of the man who spoke by constantly turning his head towards her.

“You don't like her cooking? I thought it was pretty good. Do you want to order delivery today?”

Ashley sighed. At first she didn't feel that upset and felt fine while ignoring him. But Josh's words really didn't sound pleasant to her ears.

“You've only eaten it a few times. You haven't even had Aunty Gong's cooking in a long time,” Ashley held back her annoyance. Her words may have been sharp, but her tone of voice sounded very stiff and emotionless. She seemed to have managed to restrain herself well so far. “I don't think it's appropriate for you to judge her work. Or to judge my taste.”

“Sorry,” Josh said lightly and briefly. “I didn't mean that.”

Josh, amongst the complexity of his thoughts, was only trying to improve the situation between the two of them by dispelling any awkwardness and breaking the ice. Ashley's silence forced him to say many nonsensical things that he didn't realize were bothering the girl.

“Aunty Gong has been on leave for three days due to illness. I wanted to try cooking some food, but I didn't have the ingredients I needed at home. So I bought them.” Ashley explained as clearly as possible in the shortest way possible.

“I didn't know you could cook. It would be nice to taste your cooking.”

Ashley suddenly turned to Josh with a very sharp look. “Are you even going to stay after I finish cooking? I thought you'd just drop by for a while and then leave again.”