Thanks for the review!!!! Sorry it took so long to get it ready, it's just I can't seem to make it work. That's why I cut this part short. I have rewritten it a few times, but it doesn't seem to click like the first part. I'm planning on another part, some closure, but I'm not sure when I'm gonna update that one.
It's one thing to say you're going to tell your wife that you don't want a divorce; it's another thing doing it. Arriving at the hotel she was staying, Chase was faced with the first problem. He had no idea what name Ashley used these days.
'Hi, Can I help you?' The receptionist asked him as he stopped near the desk.
'Hey, I'm here for Ashley Chase' He said.
'And you are?' The woman asked.
'I'm Robert Chase.' He said.
'Right, Miss Chase told me you would be coming. She's staying in room 468. Shall I inform her you're coming?'
'No, I want to surprise her.' He said and made his way over to the elevator.
There he got faced with the second problem of the day. How do you tell someone you don't want a divorce? Some would say: just say it, but Chase felt like he had to do it with a bit more tact. But the elevator stopped way before he had the chance to come up with a good way of tackling this one. Ashley's hotel room door doomed up way sooner that he had anticipated but there was no way back. He knocked and hoped that he would find the right words on the right time.
'Robert?' He looked up when he heard his name.
'Hey, can I come in?' no need to do this on the hall way. She opened the door and stepped aside so he could enter.
'So what brings you here?' Ashley asked.
'I, eum, I…' was the only thing that came out his mouth. Ashley just looked at him, she didn't look annoyed but then they had spend quite a lot of time together and she knew him and his behaviour. She just waited till he found the words.
'I'm not going to sign the papers'. Right it wasn't the tact he was hoping for, but it just told what he wanted to say.
'You're not?' There was something in Ashley's voice he couldn't place. It was no disappointment, but something else.
'No. Since you brought them over I have been thinking.' He said. No reply came from the other side.
'And I think it would be bad if we gave up like this.'
'Give up?' Now he could detect some annoyance in her voice. 'You flew over the ocean not me.'
'I know that and perhaps I shouldn't have done that, not alone at least. But I was thinking maybe we could try again.' Chase said. He was almost at his pleading voice; he was just a weakling on that point, almost going straight for the pleading part.
'Try again?'
'Or going on, what I want to say is: we have been apart for 3 years now. Perhaps we should try to get together again, see if we can work it out.' He said. She looked at him; he could see she was going over the options in her head. She hadn't start to yell or something, so that was a good thing.
Suddenly she moved to the other side of the room and grabbed something from the mini bar.
'You want some?' she asked as she held up a bottle of water. He nodded and she handed him one.
'You want to try again?' Ashley said after a silence.
'Yes, I still love you, I never stopped to be honest and …' he started
'I waited for three years just in case you came back, suppose it says a great deal about me.' Ashley said. He looked at her, not understanding what she meant.
'In Perth people called me stupid for waiting for you. You weren't coming back, you still won't come back. I'm not stupid about that. Colleagues, friends said I was an idiot hoping for the impossible to happen. I fly over to the states for a conference, I decide to drop off the papers and here you are telling me you want to try again.'
'What do you want to say?' Chase asked.
'It's just, it's been three years and here you are. I'm sorry, but how can I know you're serious?' It cut right trough his heart. Ashley doubting his feelings, his actions.
'The only thing I can tell you is that I'm serious.' He said.
It'll involve some moving on my part.' Ashley stated. 'Like I said, you're not coming back to Australia. I'm the only thing that still binds you to that country.'
That was the biggest thing, it would indeed mean that Ashley would have to move to the States and he wasn't sure she was ready to leave everything behind like he had done. She still had some family over there and he wasn't sure she was ready to cut part of those strings to Australia. Laura was other part, they both reminded each other, but Laura was never far away from his thoughts, being in the States or Australia it wouldn't matter a thing. Losing a child isn't something you'll ever forget.
'Maybe I should try it.' It caught him by surprise. She actually agreed to it, agreed to at least try it, just to see where they would end up.
'You sure?' He asked. He closed the gap between them and put his arms around him. She was a tad shorted then him, making her have to look up to look him into his eyes.
'Not really, but I have been waiting for three years for you. I think moving will not be that bad. But there is only one thing.' She said.
'Yes?' he asked, he was ready to do anything.
'You'll have to find me a job.' She smiled. 'I'm not coming over to become a housewife.'
'Done' He smiled and took her closer in a hug.
The next morning Robert Chase found himself knocking on Dr's Cuddy's office door.
'Come on in' he heard her yell.
'Dr Chase, how can I help you?' Dr Cuddy asked when he entered.
'I was kinda wondering if the hospital is hiring at the moment.' He asked.
'Mm'
'Ashley Chase is a …' He started.
'Chase like in your surname?' Dr Cuddy asked.
'Yes, she's my wife.' He said, it felt great calling her like that.
'Chase, listen, I want to help but the hospital cannot hire everyone's wife or husband or any other part of the family.' Dr Cuddy said.
'I know but I thought that we could use a neurosurgeon but if not I'll go looking somewhere else.' Chase said and he was almost planning on turning around.
'Wait. A neurosurgeon. Are you sure?' That was a stupid question, of course he was sure!!
'Forget what I said. Tell her to come over. We need another neurosurgeon.' Dr Cuddy said.
'I'll, thanks' He said
'No problem' was the answer.
Robert Chase made his way to the diagnostic room feeling rather happy. Okay things weren't perfect, Ashley and he would have to clear out quite a lot, but they were ready to at least try it.
