IN THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS Read Free

charm.
    “Yes; I was hoping that you would say that. I was fully prepared to come back here tomorrow and wisk you away to Italy if you would have said no.” he said with a smile. “ You would have taken me to Italy? Well in that case sir I’m going to have to decline the offer to take me out until I get my trip.” Ashley joked. Joe’s jaw dropped to the ground until he realized that she had been joking. “Just for that I’m keeping the bear. If you ever want to see him again you’ll have to see me too.” Joe said with a grin. Just then his cell phone rang and his mood seemed to change in the blink of an eye. He went from not being able to wait to see her to not being able to get away from her fast enough. “Sorry honey that was my work. I got to go. I’ll see you tomorrow night for dinner though right?” he said as he tossed the bear to her. “Sure I guess.” Ashley said and then he was gone almost as though he had never been there at all. Had that been it? Had she never really met him? Was he some part of her imagination that was desperately seeking affection? She would have believed that if she didn’t have the bear and flowers to prove otherwise.
    No matter how strange her day was turning out to be ; she had no intention of going home. After all if she went home it would just be more of the same old same old. Her dad would drink himself into oblivion while her mom would nap and complain about everything. Ashley was in way too good of mood for any of that. Instead she decided to go to the mall. Walking around by herself would be better than going home and dealing with her dysfunctional family any day. Her only intention was to pass as much time as she possibly could. With any luck she could hang out long enough for her parents to be in bed when she got home. She fumbled through some of the clothes that were in style. She didn’t see anything that was really too appealing to her ; e xcept for a beautiful black sweater. She would have loved to been able to buy it, but it was out of her price range. She couldn’t imagine spending a hundred and fifty dollars for any article of clothing let alone a sweater.
    After overpowering the compulsive urge to just buy it. She put it neatly back on the rack were it had been hanging. Sometimes she wished that she allow herself to be compulsive just one. However she knew that if she did. It would cost her and her parents there home that she had come to love. It wasn’t a mansion or anything. It was a ranch house with a white picket fence. It was red brick.
    The front of house was covered with every kind of flowers imaginable. Her mother used to love to garden. That was until her mental illness started to get the best of her.
     
    CHAPTER:7
    Her mother was a paranoid schizophrenic. She had it under control for a little while. That was until her father lost the job that had health coverage. He found another job, but he wasn’t lucky enough to find one with health care. After a while her disease got to the point that she could no longer control it. She just refused to leave the house anymore. All the things that she had once loved had no meaning anymore.
    She spent all evening wondering aimlessly through the mall. Looking at everything from clothes to music Ashley finally felt confident enough to go home.  She walked as slowly as she could the two miles that it was back to her house. She wanted to make sure that her parents would be in bed when she got home. It was a gorgeous summer night. She could feel a warm breeze blowing across her skin. It was nights like this that made her not mind that she hadn’t bought herself a car yet. She could hear the saccades humming a song off in the distance. It was a completely peaceful night except for the occasional hoot of a screech owl. She found herself wishing that she didn’t have to go home at all. If only she could just stay in that peaceful tranquil moment forever her life would have been perfect.
    When she finally made it home