"No, you stay there in case she comes home... and if she does, call me." Harrison grabbed his keys and took off in search of his daughter.
Anxiously he pulled out of the parking lot with no idea where to look or who she could be with; all he knew was he couldn't sit around and do nothing. Who knows, he thought, I might just get lucky and find her in a restaurant somewhere.
Harrison drove aimlessly around, checking one restaurant after another. In one he saw some kids who looked about Ashley's age. He pulled out a picture and asked if they knew her. One boy said she was in one of his classes but he had no idea where she would be.
Becoming more worried by the minute, Harrison continued his hunt until Twelve-thirty when his phone rang. He immediately pulled over to the side of the road.
"Hello," he nervously answered.
"Harrison, it me; she's okay, she just got home." He could tell his wife had been crying.
"This stops here and now," he said angrily. "Don't let her go to bed yet, I'm on my way over there right now."
"I... okay," she said weakly. "She's already upstairs but I'll tell her you're on your way."
By the time he reached the house Harrison was fuming. He was no psychologist but he knew adolescent self-destructive behavior when he saw it. If he couldn't get through to his daughter he was afraid she'd set out on a path that would mean nothing but trouble. He turned off the engine and just sat there for a minute. He didn't want to go in screaming. He had to think. He had to calm down. He took a deep breath and headed for the front door.
Laura heard the car and was waiting for him. She had the door open by the time he reached the porch.
"Where is she," he grumbled wasting no time.
"She's in her room. Maybe you can get her to come out; she won't for me."
Harrison took the steps two at a time. He stopped outside her door and took another deep breath before knocking.
"Ashley, come on out here, please. I want to talk to you," he calmly said through the door. There was no answer. "Ashley, open this door, now, and come out here." There was still no answer. He knocked a little harder. His voice was much firmer this time. "Ashley, open this door or I'm going to remove it from the hinges and throw the damn thing away. Then we won't have this problem again because you won't have a door."
Ashley knew her dad, he didn't bluff. He meant exactly what he said. Apprehensively she opened the door to face her father.
Harrison could see she also had been crying. "Good choice," he told her sternly. "Go wash your face and come on down stairs; we're going to Denny's for a talk."
He went down and told Laura. "Denny's?" she asked. "Can't you just talk to her here? It's a school night, Harrison, and it's already so late."
"I'm hoping the neutral atmosphere will help her relax and I can get to the bottom of this," he stated.
When Ashley was ready she and her dad road silently to the Denny's a couple miles away. They found a booth. Harrison ordered coffee and Ashley, ice tea.
"Now," started Harrison after the waitress brought their drinks, "what's going on, Ashley. Your mother tells me you've been sassing her and the other night you were out with some boy till midnight."
"I should have figured she'd come running to you. Don't worry, dad, Danny and I didn't do anything; I'm not a slut like her."
"Hey!" Harrison didn't yell but spoke very firmly. "First of all you're your mother didn't come running to me. When you didn't come home she called to see if you were with me, and second, she is not a slut and I don't ever want to hear you call her that again, do you hear me young lady."
"Fine," she said defiantly, "then what do you call it. She had sex with another man and now you're going to divorce her." His daughter's eyes were starting to glisten again. "I miss you, dad, and it's all moms' fault. I hate her."
Ashley was fifteen years old, but in his eyes, still his little girl. The situation was obviously having a negative impact on her. She always listened to her dad before; he prayed she'd listen this time.
"I see, so you're going to punish her by disrespecting yourself. Is that right?"
"Ah, no... I" she looked at her dad knowing he was disappointed in her. Now a couple tears broke free and ran down her cheeks. He always had a way of putting things in perspective.
"Tell me, how do you feel after sassing your mother?"
"What do you mean?"
"How do you feel about yourself? Does it make you feel good?"
"It's not about that, dad, it's about what she did," she whimpered.
"It's exactly about that, Ashley. First of all, I don't believe you hate your mother and if you do, your hate is badly misplaced. Your mother did a terrible thing. Sometimes good people do bad things, it happens. People are not perfect, not even parents. It's our flaws that make us human. From what you've told me and from what I see for myself, not a day has gone by when your mom hasn't regretted what she did. Her pain is as deep as yours and mine but she also has to deal with the guilt."
"Well... she deserves it, doesn't she? If you can be mad at her I don't see why I shouldn't be mad at her too," Ashley snarled. "Dad, because of what she did, we're no longer a family," she said in a voice cracking with emotion.
"Some kids at school have divorced parents and I always felt sorry for them, now I'm going to be one of them. I never thought it would happen to me. I used to think I was so lucky because my mom and dad loved each other, but now all that's ruined and she's the blame."
"Ashley, I understand you being angry, but we can be angry with people and still love them. Honey, your behavior is only making a bad situation worse. Both your mom and I are worried about you. Be angry but don't lose yourself in it. Don't let that anger destroy who you are. Don't lose your own self-respect by disrespecting your mother.
"But dad, you always said respect had to be earned."
"You don't think fifteen years of loving and caring for you should earn her your respect?" he shot back.
"But, dad... "
"Listen Ashley, she's the same person who stayed up nights caring for you when you were sick; the same person who was there for you whenever you needed her, and the same person who always made sure you had whatever you needed. There isn't anything she wouldn't do for you and you know it. If the roles were reversed she'd be the first one in your corner, wouldn't she."
Ashley picked a napkin up from the table and dabbed her eyes dry. "Yeah," she sobbed.
"Honey, sometimes people do terrible things but that doesn't make them terrible people and it sure doesn't mean you simply stop loving them, not if you truly loved them to begin with."
Ashley wiped more tears from her eyes while she thought about what her dad said.
Ashley, It's okay to be angry but we both raised you to be kind, loving, and compassionate. Don't let your anger change that; don't let it harden you or you'll wind up paying for her mistake for the rest of your life.
"Do you love your mother?" he asked her point blank.
"I guess." She hesitated for only a second. Yes, of course I do."
"Then go ahead and let her know you're angry over what she did, but also let her know that you still love her, honey.
"Okay, I'm sorry, dad."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, pumpkin."
Ashley nodded her head and wiped her eyes again. "I know. I'll tell mom I'm sorry."
"That's my girl," he said with a smile. "And no more back talk or staying out late," he told her.
She shook her head. "No, no more, I promise."
"Good, now are you hungry; you want some pie or something?"
She shook her head no as she took a sip of her iced tea.
Harris could see there was a question behind that beautiful face. "What is it, honey?"
"Dad, why can't you stand by mom? You told me you still love her."
The question caught him off-guard.
"Honey, my relationship with your mother is different than yours. When two people get married they make promises and commitments to one another. Love is important but it's not the only thing. Fidelity, loyalty, trust, they're the foundation of a successful marriage and when those things are lost the foundation crumbles. It doesn't mean they don't love each other anymore, it just means that maybe they shouldn't be married anymore."
"You're never coming back, are you, dad?"
He could see the moisture still glistening in her eyes. "Baby, I don't mean to put you off but I honestly don't know."
It was one-thirty in the morning by the time they got back. Laura heard them pull in and was out on the porch by the time Ashley kissed her dad good night and got out of the car. Harrison watched as she apologized, then hugged her mother. He was praying it would be the last of Ashley's rebellion.
Later in the week Harrison was still having a hard time sleeping. With everything else churning around in his head, he was still worried about Ashley. By Friday morning he was barely able to drag himself out of bed. Dana took one look at her boss and hated to have to tell him he was wanted in Mr. Prichert's office. Ken Prichert was founder and CEO of Marketing Specialist, Inc. He was also one of the three guys Harrison answered to.
He was busy looking at something on his computer when Harrison approached so he gently knocked on the floor to ceiling glass window of his boss' office. Mr. Prichert looked up with a smile and motioned for him to come in.
