Amnesia

Chapter Five - Broken hearts, beating hearts

"Good morning, sweetheart. How was your night?” her mother asked as she took a seat at the giant table.

She nodded without saying anything. Eric stood next to her mother, a smile on his face. With him there, she didn’t dare tell her mother the truth. Instead, she lowered her head and lied. “I slept very well, thank you.” It took all she had to look like she meant it.

All she wanted was to lay her head down on the table and sleep. Once Eric had left, she had fallen asleep, only to dream nightmares. It had been a long night.

The dreams were of a car crash, and faces she had never seen before. She could recall a red convertible, and a black Volvo. Guilt weighed heavy on her chest. If it was like she thought, she had crashed the Volvo.

She glanced at her mother. The older woman smiled at her. Not a warm smile, but the kind of smile you smiled at a stranger. Maybe that was what she was to her mother now that she couldn’t remember anything.

“Excuse me, miss”, a voice said above her head. Startled, she looked up. A woman with black hair in a long braid smiled kindly at her. In her hands was a plate of food. “Here you go. Your favorite breakfast.” The woman put down the plate and left. If she wasn’t mistaken, she had heard a sarcastic note in the woman’s voice.

Looking down at the plate, she wrinkled her nose. The salad didn’t look the least bit appetizing. “Um…” she began, looking at her mother. She noticed that her mother had the same thing. What was this? “Do you mind if I order something else?” Her words were quiet, but she knew her mother heard her.

You could hear needle fall to the floor. The enormous dining hall was almost empty, save her mother, her, and two butlers. Her mother looked like she had slapped her.

“What are you talking about? You always eat this!”

“Well, today I would like something different”, she murmured. Her stomach growled. “Maybe bacon and egg?” she added hopefully.

Her mother sucked in her breath. She looked like someone had taken her favorite toy. “Natalie”, she called, her voice wobbly. Marley lowered her head. Guilt pressed once again on her chest. She didn’t want to bring trouble to the staff. But before she could tell her mother to never mind, the same dark haired woman stood beside her mother. “Isabella would like bacon and eggs. That’s all.”

Natalie nodded. “As you wish.” She sent a confused look in Marley’s direction. Marley forced a smile. The woman didn’t return it, her face blank. But when she left the room, she winked at her.

“So, what’s this about?” her mother asked, gaining Marley’s attention. “And don’t even think about blaming it on your amnesia. I would know.”

“I just didn’t want the salad.” She shrugged, smiling at her mother. Her mother looked so shocked it was almost painful to watch. Still, Marley couldn’t bring herself to feel guilty about it. What did it matter if she ate a salad or bacon and egg? “Mother… is it not alright for me to eat that?” she asked, making her voice as small as possible, and touched her yellow eye.

Her mother narrowed her eyes. “Don’t think that I don’t know what you’re trying to do.” She flicked her long, blond hair over her shoulder and stabbed her fork into the salad. “If you want to ruin everything we have worked so hard to archive, then be my guest.”

To show that the conversation was over, she put lettuce in her mouth. She couldn’t help but giggle at her mother’s expression.

“Thank you, mother." Her mother ignored her, chewing frantically. Probably a sign that she was irritated.