Memories (Jella)

Chapter 6

[A/N: sorry po for late update, super busy po sa study and internship. anyway I need to make this story short and planning to finish it on Chapter 7. Sa lahat po nag basa super thank you so much po]

It's been a month since Ella left the hospital and it's almost Christmas, two years since Ella had her memory stolen from her. She hasn't dealt well with what happened to her; she's mostly angry and somewhat resigned. She gets a message from the Hospital with a reminder notice of her follow-up appointment, and its tomorrow.

Ella actually smiles when she realizes Alyssa had made the appointment for Christmas Eve. Probably just to make sure she didn't do anything stupid, or stay in bed all day, or drink her brain cells into mush. Like a good friend would do. When Ella's done smiling, she puts down her glass of wine and walks out from her condo.

Night falls, and she decides to visit the old man who'd made the ring. The ring, which she kept, tucked in her secret pocket. She waits until closing time, hoping to avoid... people, in general.

When she thinks the time is right, Ella bundles up for the walk she's about to take. It's almost half-past ten, and she hopes that maybe, just maybe, the old man got a last-minute request from some other unfortunate fellow and would be hunched over his workbench. She will be surely asked how the young person liked his handiwork, and Ella realizes she worries the answer to that question.

With one last check, Ella makes sure she has everything – ring, jacket, and a hat.

She arrives in the east side of City were she walks to the ring shop and finds to her dismay that it's now a coffee shop. The old man must have finally died, Ella thinks. She stares in the window, trying to replace the bookshelves with glass counters, the cozy environment with a dusty workshop. She can almost see the ghost of the old man, working behind the counter, bent over.

Ella had arrived a little early, and the ring was not quite finished.

They had sat and chatted while the old man worked, and the man told her about how he met his wife. They had a similar story to Ella and Jema's, though not as distinct. They were enemies in their school and thoroughly hated each other until in their final year they were paired in their English subject for a final project. Their fighting and hatred quickly turned into flirting and stolen glances, and they never looked back. The woman in the discussion then entered the work room, bringing Ella and her husband a tea, which she shared with them.

She told Ella stories of their famous fights, which sometimes resulted in broken walls, broken pictures, and broken chairs. Among other things. Then she asked about the person for whom the ring was intended.

Ella told the old couple her story, and of course they knew about her, and her family, and their affiliation with all things about the Organization. They also knew that she'd been involved in the defeat of the said group. Ella told them that she and Jema were a lot like them, they were also enemies, constantly bickering, or at least, whenever Jema felt like starting it. They truly hated each other, and that continued all through high school, and after. When Ella made the decision to defect, they picked up right where they left off, only now their fights were mean, and vicious.

Jema hated her for being the cause of deaths for many people, and nothing would ever change that. Until Ella did something completely out-of-character in Jema's mind. Something only for her.

It's the time when Jema's birthday was approaching and no one seemed to remember. Ella could see that it was going to go completely forgotten—that she seemed to be the only person who remembered it. So, for some unknown reason to her, she didn't want to see Jema as hurt as she knew she would be at her friends' memory lapse. After all she deserved this one day to feel special.