Recover: Book 2 of the Magic Mutations Series | ✓

36: Forever Forgotten

I was doing my best to avoid bringing her up around Ben. I didn't want to make him feel worse than he did, and I also wasn't sure how great of an actor I'd be if I did mention her name.

But this didn't stop everyone else.

Jayce, Ben, Erica, and I had gathered in the media room on Thursday morning after she still hadn't contacted him. 

We decided to start a Game of Thrones marathon to cheer Ben up... He liked blood and gore apparently. Though I think the misery of their lives often helped him forget his own. 

But his eyes were vacant as they stared at the screen.

"She really hasn't called?" Erica said softly after she studied Ben's face for a while.

"No," he breathed, eyes glistening.

"Maybe you should just... go find her. Maybe she—"

"I have to respect her decision," Ben cut her off. "She evidently drank the potion. She doesn't want to be in our world. She doesn't want to be around me."

My heart throbbed with guilt knowing I was breaking him like this, but I kept my eyes on the screen, trying to not react. I'm sorry, Ben... I'll help you get with the next person. But not my Olivia...

"What if there was a miscommunication though?" Erica then offered. "Or maybe she's really busy."

"On Tuesdays she has writers' meetings in the afternoons, so yes she could have been busy. But on Wednesdays she has the whole day free. And Thursday mornings she also has free... She's chosen to forget me."

I knew the feeling... But at least it's only a couple of weeks you spent together, Ben. I'm sorry... but I promised her...

"But—" Erica tried again, though this time Ben got to his feet.

"I'll be in my room," he grumbled, leaving us alone as his footsteps echoed through the house.

"Look what you did," Jayce immediately reprimanded.

"I did it?" she snapped back at him. "I was only trying to—"

"Not everyone needs your help, Ae-Ri!"

The pair switched to Korean as they continued to row. Meanwhile, I reached for the remote, turning the volume up over their bicker, hoping the screen would now distract me enough to stop me second-guessing if I really had done the right thing.

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

As the days ticked on and Ben continued to mope around the house—too soon to be feeling the effects of a disintegrating invitation, but long enough to feel his heart crush that Ollie wasn't coming back—I struggled to stomach looking at him.

Unable to withstand my guilt, I found reasons to leave the house every day to get away from him—a visit to the gym, a movie I wanted to see, some errands I just 'had' to run.

None of us had spoken yet about what the plan was now going forward. I think most of us agreed to give Ben a bit of time to heal before discussing if we should continue searching for other solutions or if one of us should approach Olivia for her blood... 

Mentioning Olivia was evidently a touchy topic for him right now.

Most of the time when I left the house, I walked forever, all the way from our home in Hammersmith, over to Hyde Park and Soho, recalling the times I spent with Ollie here, using the memories of us to justify my reasons for doing this to Ben.

A part of me had been so relieved that he had finally moved on from me after hearing he had met someone and had a bond invitation with them. That he was happy for the first time ever.