"So.." Leland starts. He'd taken my amnesia a bit to the heart. "You don't remember anything?" "I don't."
"That's..."
"A shame."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. You seem so familiar. I don't know... It's just"
"Have you gotten your memory back?"
"No."
"A little bit?"
"I'm not sure.. I feel.... Different".
"Okay... Good different or bad different?"
"Good... I think. But for now... Can we talk about this some other time? I'm too tired to think."
"Sure. You don't have to if you don't want to. But let me tell you one thing. You were everything a girlfriend should be and more. You were it for me, Ashley."
Leland gets up from the bench we were sitting on. "I should go.. Finn wanted to see me", he smiles before turning away and walking back to the lobby. I sigh and lean back on the bench, my gaze shifting away from the man who was my boyfriend 15 years ago, walking away from me and to the cloudless night sky. My eyes wander from star to star. "Thompson", a voice says. I straighten up and look around. I see Veronica, walking towards me with two glasses of wine in her hand. Was she going to poison me? "Mills", I reply, acknowledging her presence. She takes a seat beside me and hands me a glass. "This is... Wow", she smiles, shaking her head in disbelief. "I want to thank you", she says. "You've made me the stone hearted, bossy and lonely lady I am. Without those qualities, I would have never made it to where I am. Owner of a chain of hotels, stretching across 6 continents. Rich. You would know. Money was always my thing", she saunters on. "But forget me. I also want to thank, the person who hit you. With a car." I feel my fists curl up into balls. "For making you forget everything. Everything you did to me. Because otherwise, I'm very sure... You wouldn't have been able to live with yourself. You're weak. Too weak. Emotional. Or at least, you were". That evil grin returns on her face. "Cheers to 15 years", she smiles, clinking our glasses. I gulp down my wine at one go and then drop my glass on the ground. I hear the shattered pieces of glass scrunch beneath my feet as I walk away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hear a knock on the door. "Ashley?" I hear Britney call. "It's me". I sigh and pick myself up from the bed. I open the door. "Hi", I say. "What's up?"
"Well... I heard that you and Veronica-"
"Yeah we did."
"So..."
"So what?"
"Are you okay?"
I shrug. "Yeah. Sure. Great. Fine. All good".
"Uh-huh" Britney says. Though it sounds more like: "you're a terrible liar"
"I guess... I guess I'll see you tomorrow then". Britney adds, waving lightly and walking away.
"Britney!" I call after her.
"Yeah?" She asks, stopping.
"I... Um... I just wanted to apologise for what ever happened 15 years ago. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you like that. Without warning".
Her eyes light up immediately. "That's okay. It was long ago. I'm over it". She waves again and walks off once more.
But this was different. She left me, yes. But she had given me a smile. One that patched up the broken pieces of my heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So. What's been going on with you?" I ask the next day at breakfast.
"Nothing much. My software company really took off", Leland says. "I really haven't had time for anything else, though. Friends, hanging out." He bites his lower lip. "Dating". I offer him a weak smile. "Leland. I'm so sorry. I probably wasn't thinking at all. And you didn't deserve that. Nor did Britney". I push a strand of hair behind my ear. We remain silent for a while. "So. Enough about me. We've been here for 45 minutes and we've only been talking about me." Leland leans in across the table, eagerness bubbling. "Tell me about you". "Well... There's really nothing much to say", I smile. "I work as a Lawyer. Specialise in the department of Crime. My parents live in New Jersey. And I live in Paris." "Aah", Leland admires. "The city of love!" I laugh. "But unfortunately or fortunately, I haven't had time either. Like you". "Really?" Leland asks. "How come?" I shrug in response. He leans back in his chair. "Hey guys!" Miranda says, joining us. "I see you two have caught up a bit". "Hey Mirs. Sit. Please!" Leland says, getting up and pulling her chair out. Just like he had done for me. "Why, thank you", she replies getting comfortable. Miranda looks at me and smiles. I return it. "You know, it's good that it happened", Miranda says. Leland needed to use the rest room and had left us alone. "The car accident". Urgh. Why did everybody bring this up? "I mean, it's not that I'm not sorry. I am, truly. But there are a lot of things that happened here. And a lot to not remember." "Yeah?" I ask her. "Like what?" Miranda starts to say something but Finn stops by. "Mirs, can I talk to you for a sec? Our old Chemistry teacher wants to meet us!" "Ms. Gibbons?" She asks. Finn nods. "I'll talk later", Miranda smiles. "Sure" I say. That was weird. Very weird. Why does my accident matter to people so much?
