See no evil - The awakening

I remember you

At 23 I had my first boyfriend, Nico. We met at college, we both wanted to become writers, he was all about sci-fi and had already written a series of short stories which had won several awards. An overachiever, a charming beautiful overachiever.

He had come to me one day after classes and invited me to a reading of his stories, I had said no. But as it turned out he had a way with words and I finally said yes. After the reading we went to a pub for a beer and we stayed till the bar closed. He later walked me to a taxi and kissed me goodbye. We had been together for two years by the time I turned 25.

–I have plans for this weekend. – Nico said.

–What's this weekend? – Of course I knew.

–The girl I'm dating turns 25, so I made some plans.

–She must be an amazing girl.

–She 's alright...

Turns out I am alright, quite a catch I would say, I was always smart, that was my thing but with time I also turned out to be quite beautiful in my own way. I don't care much about how people look, but that's also my privilege talking as I know I look good naturally. That Saturday I turned 25. Nico came over with his car to pick me up from home and I made a small effort to look a bit more elegant than my normal self. I wore a little black dress and a pair of Nikes. That was about it. I had my long black hair up on a pony tail which made my green eyes pop a bit more.

–Happy b-day love. – he said and kissed me slowly. I kissed him back and for me that was enough, I didn't want or need any big gestures, but knowing him, I knew they were coming. Economically speaking, my family stood on stronger ground than his, and he always felt as if I was compromising for being with him, as if we didn't go to nice or expensive places because of that and not because I really didn't want to, which was the truth. He drove to a parking lot near a 5 star hotel so I had a pretty good idea what the plan was for that night. We walked the two blocks that separated the parking lot from the hotel and walked in.

–Fancy. – I said and kissed him on the cheek. I didn't need to say anything at that moment, he had tried to make that night special for me and I wouldn't say anything that would spoil it to make it special for him too.

Nico had booked a room that was as big as his apartment, I really didn't know how he could pay for that but was not going to ask, I just said it was amazing and that I loved it.

He had made dinner reservations at the hotel's restaurant so we went straight down to eat. It was gorgeous. The hotel was a restored palace from the golden ages of Argentina and oh my god you felt like royalty. Huge gardens filled with flowers and candles. Live music by a string quartet and the most amazing architecture I've seen in a long time. It felt like one of the castles I used to describe in my stores whenever I wrote about love stories from other times.

We ate and drank too much wine and talked and laughed. It was a night to remember.

When we finished eating Nico went to the bathroom before returning to our room, when he stood up the man sat in his place.

–No ice cream Today?

I couldn't answer, I started breathing with difficulty, looking directly at his eyes, his hollow honey coloured eyes. I thought about screaming, I should have screamed but I just couldn't. He didn't look as old as I remembered. He looked about 30 or 40 years old, I couldn't tell. His flawless skin was hypnotizing. He looked at me as if I was a prey, or something he could own.

– You remember me. – he stated as a truth and I knew I should lie.

– I don't know who you are, but I'm here with my boyfriend, so please leave my table.

– You remember me. – what the fuck yes of course I remembered him, but for some reason I also was sure I shouldn't.

– Look, I don't know you, I won't say it again, leave me alone.

I just have finished saying that when Nico appeared, clearly confused he looked at me and then at the man sitting with me.

– Hi? – he said to him and paused as waiting for an explanation.

– Hello. – The man answered and looked straight into Nico's eyes.

– What is going on? – Nico now directed at me.

Before I could say anything the man stood up – You both saw nothing tonight, you were alone and are having a great time.

I saw Nico's body reaction, as if he was hypnotized so I just tried to act the same way. The man looked straight into my eyes and I held the stare trying to look as hollow as possible. A couple of seconds later, he walked outside the door and disappeared.

–Sorry it took me so long, love, I got lost trying to find the bathroom. – It was happening again, same as with Tom all those years ago, he couldn't remember what had just happened. But I did, I remembered him.