Free Ashleigh's Dilemma by J. D. Reid Page A

reached for Ashleigh’s hand and hadn't let go since. She had to go pee and was thirsty too, but didn't want to release his hand. She was almost holding her breath as they sat together for fear she might say something, move, or do anything that would break his hold.
    “I wish I could write like that,” Patrick sighed as he reached for the c ontroller and turned off the set. Ashleigh swiveled toward him, ready to stand. Patrick quickly kissed her. Ashleigh didn't protest but immediately turned away and began to stack the plates keeping her face averted. Patrick knew her face was bright red because her ears glowed. 
    “That was good then, d id you like that?” Ashleigh asked keeping her back to him. 
    “I liked it very much.”
    She glanced quickly back at him. “I meant the movie!” she squirmed and stood, still not facing him, balancing the armload of plates, spoons,  forks and knives, and the half-empty Chinese food containers. Patrick followed her to the kitchen carrying what she had not managed to. He stepped to the sink to rinse the plates. She immediately stepped to his side and tried to push him aside.
    “I'll do that! I'll do that!”
    “What do you want me to do?”
    “G o stand over there. Have another beer. I bought six!”
    “Why'd you pick that movie, by the way?”
    “I thought you'd like it.”
    “...Juliette reminded me of you.”
    Ashleigh was back at the sink. The water was running.
    “How's that?”
    “She'd been isolated for so long.”
    Ashleigh slipped the last plate into the dishwasher, closed the door, and programmed it for a quick rinse. The machine started up. She turned to him, leaning back against the counter. “I talk to, and interrelate with, dozens of people each day; hundreds even over the course of a week. So don't tell me I'm isolated!”
    “It's a mystery, isn't it: seemingly contradictory?”
    Ashleigh shook her head. “No...” She knew what he meant. Patrick was very perceptive. It frightened and also exhilarated her to think he knew her better than anyone else knew her; only her mother had known her as well. Gone now, though - and that's another thing she shared with Patrick: both their parents, mother and father, had passed; they were each orphans. It left her with only a brother who lived far way and he with a sister who lived just as far.
    Patrick reached for her hands. He lifted them from her side where they hung as if forgotten . She let him hold them. They would feel warm from the dishwater. This was not an advance; he was not going to kiss her, she decided.
    “Do you think your mother would have liked me?” he asked.
    Ashleigh felt her heart cinch and throat constrict; but he was holding her hands and she couldn't turn away.
    “...I know she would.”
    It was true. Ashleigh was certain her mother would have approved. In fact, if her mother could have complained about anything at all, she would have complained about her daughter. “A little tenderness goes a long way, dear. You're never going to get a man with that attitude of yours,” is what she’d say. “But I don't need a man!” would be her reply. Her mother would drop her head then look up, resigned, after hearing her daughter say the same thing over and over. “You’re right – you don’t need anybody,” she’d sigh.
     
    Patrick continued to study her. Her eyes shifted about the kitchen and then settled back on him. He smiled as their eyes met. “It's good to have you here,” he said.
    She couldn't help it; she broke his grip and turned her back to him. “It's good to have you here, too,” she said; but then could not help herself, turning back and challenging him, “But where would I be if I wasn't here? I live here!”
    “You know what I mean.”
    Ashleigh turned away from him again, her arms across her chest. She would not look at him.
    “You have to go now. The movie's over,” she said.
    “Kicking me out already?”
    “Yep.”
    Patrick nodded, “Okay, I'm going... I'm