Till We Remember: A Reset Love Story

Chapter 2: Love's Silent Retreat

2 years later

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2 years left before Ben's Reset

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"Hi, I'm Benjamin Charles," I said, extending my hand for a handshake. Her gaze was so intense that, for a moment, I dared to hope she'd call my name like she used to.

     "Sorry, that's so rude of me for staring. Nice to meet you, I'm Adeline Clover," she replied, a hint of panic in her voice.

"It's okay, I'm used to it."

     "Used to what? People staring at you?" She added with a playful smirk. Her sarcasm was a charm that consistently caught me off guard.

     "So you do admit that you were staring?" I teased, fighting the temptation to pull her closer and touch her lips as she bit her lower lip, casting a guilty look.

     "So, how many years before you reset again?" she asked abruptly.

"Three years," I responded, trying to conceal the bitter lie. Only two years remained for me before the reset, the ticking clock of our time together.

     "Anew?" she hesitantly inquired.

"No," I replied, my gaze fixated on her hazel-brown eyes, searching for a connection that defied the looming fate of forgetting.

Suddenly, a waiter approached with a tray full of wine. Adeline took two glasses, handing one to me.

     "And now you're staring," she teased.

"Guilty as charged," I responded with confidence, taking the wine, the rich aroma swirling in the air between us.

     "Are you looking for your lover?" she questioned out of the blue, surprising me with the assumption.

     "People who are not Anew and traveled to a different region usually because they're looking for something or someone, so which are you?" she continued.

"I promised someone," I replied, glancing out the window, memories of my frantic search for her flooding back. "That I will not forget," I added, locking eyes with her.

     "But... you will forget," she responded, looking confused at her own words.

"But I remember too well, our first meeting, our initial conversation, those silly first fights, the first kiss, and the first confession," I replied, bitterness lingering in my smile as those moments played out in my mind.

     A tear dropped from Adeline's hazel-brown eyes, captivating me. I reached out, gently wiping the tear from her cheek.

I smiled as I remembered how she had always been a crybaby and warm-hearted person.

     "Sorry, it's not even about me but it pains my heart to imagine how hard it must have been because it's always hard for the one who is left behind," she abruptly explained, looking away enough to hide her face and distant my hand.

If only she knew how wrong that statement is. I wished it was easy for me to express that she was my Adeline, and it was harder for me not to see her, not to feel the void she filled in me. Even now, I'm fighting the urge to embrace her like nothing matters as long we're together.

"Not really," I replied, making her wonder. I smiled, continuing, "I remember our love, and as long as one of us remembers, our love won't be forgotten."