Chapter 318 - You Need To Court Me First...

When Tanaga could not answer, she was disappointed. The truth of the matter was that she hoped that Tanaga would say 'yes'; she wanted them to be together again as a family. The only issue was that Tanaga did not reply at all.

"I think it would be better if we continue this conversation another day. I still have a lot of work to do." She then turned around and swiftly made her way to her desk to begin working.

Tanaga – who was speechless earlier – had thought of an answer. He stood up from his seat and approached Ashley. "Ash, I'm sorry! You astounded me with your question, that's why I didn't answer quickly. To be honest, I didn't answer you immediately because… I was planning on knowing you again and then we can take it slow. We can go from there. You know my feelings right now when it comes to love and loving someone. If we would get back together now and I can't give you the love you desire, what will happen? Do you understand me?" Tanaga explained, worry drawn on his face. 

Ashley stopped what she was doing and looked straight into Tanaga's eyes to see if he was sincere about what he said. 

"Sir Jones – let me call you that. Don't worry, I'm not expecting you to say that you want to get back together. I just asked because the truth is, I don't have time to think about such stuff right now. It's for the kids' sake too. For me, for the past six months, all I thought was that you're already dead." She breathed heavily before continuing. 

"My he – no I mean – I, myself already learned to accept the fact that you're already gone and will never be back." Ashley was about to say the word 'heart' but stopped herself from saying it. 

"Hmm, is… that so?" Tanaga said plainly. But deep inside, his heart was stabbed by her words. It hurt him to know that Ashley accepted that he was already gone. 

Still, Tanaga didn't make it obvious that he was hurt by that. He put on a stern façade and acted as CEO Jones again. 

"Well, that's settled then. We can discuss what we need to do later over lunch. So, what are you doing right now? Let me see if I can help you." He then went behind Ashley to see what she was doing on her computer. 

"Oh! You're studying sales forecasting? I know that. How about I help you? Let's see what trends are in the market now. This is what we need to do…" He held the computer's mouse the same time Ashley held it; her hands were covered by her husband's hands. 

Ashley was about to withdraw her hand, but Tanaga gripped it tightly without hurting her. His head was on her shoulder almost touching Ashley's face. He then started switching tabs. 

Ashley, who was almost being hugged by Tanaga, felt from behind how fast his heart was beating. One thing that made her happy was that his heart was screaming, even though his mouth wasn't. 

Ashley secretly smiled. Her heart was so happy. She just let her husband do the job and pretended as though she were listening to him. The fact was, her mind was wandering.

Their posture was like that when Sato knocked and entered suddenly with Manager Hoshi and his wife – the office manager of the Operations Department. 

"Oh… Sorry boss! We'll just come back later." Then Sato pushed the couple to go out. 

Ashley was about to object when Tanaga hugged her from behind to stop her. He then stole a kiss from behind her while whispering, "It's better for them to see this so that they don't notice our situation. You know that only a few people know what's really happening." Ashley felt his warm breath tickling her ears. 

She just nodded and let her husband do what he wanted to do. She would just go with the flow, hoping his memories, his trust, and his feelings would fully come back, 

The three were about to leave when they were called by Tanaga. "About to leave? Manager Hoshi, Mrs. Hoshi, how are both of you?" he asked while smiling beautifully. 

He then helped Ashley to stand up and held her by the shoulder to approach the couple. Ashley was just following. She also smiled so that they wouldn't suspect anything. 

"Manager Hoshi, Sister Celia, how was your vacation in the Philippines?" Ashley happily greeted them before escaping from Tanaga's arm to hug Celia. 

While the two were hugging, Celia whispered to her, "Madam Ashley, it's embarrassing calling me 'sister' – Celia is just fine! It feels like I'm getting older!" She was joking but she also didn't want an issue between her colleagues. 

For Celia, Ashley was her boss and she had to respect her even though she was older than her. "If you want, you can call me like that without people around. It's fine with me. It will be my pleasure to be your sister. Hahaha!" Celia said before letting go of the hug. 

"Come sit!" Ashley invited them before Tanaga held her hand and pulled her to sit on the sofa. 

This was seen by the three and they just smiled secretly. 'They've been married for one year yet they're still sweet! If Sir Jones could give my husband a bit of his cheesiness, I would be the happiest woman alive!' thought Celia.

If Celia knew it was just an act to fool them, she wouldn't think like that. She might even think that she was already the luckiest person alive because her Japanese husband loves her very much! 

Once they all sat down, the room become eerie silence. Tanaga was sitting comfortably while his arms were leaning on the back of the sofa, waiting for the couple to begin talking. 

Ashley on the other hand, minds were preoccupied and running wild. She's wondering if Tanaga now remembers everything? Therefore, she didn't hear when Celia and her husband Hoshi were congratulating her...