Ashley just cried for several minutes. She didn't trust herself to be coherent and she wasn't sure that what came out of her mouth wouldn't be hurtful. It wasn't his fault. She had to tell herself that. There was no way he could have known what would happen. She suddenly got the intense feeling that she didn't deserve him. That maybe all this was happening because he was far too good for her. Nobody ever got to actually be with their fantasy man, right?
She finally got to a point where she wasn't crying so hard she was shaking. Ashley walked over and picked up the note, holding it for a moment.
"Every time I'm genuinely happy...." She wiped at her eyes again with one hand while holding the note out to him with the other.