Memories of Autumn

Chapter 4

Nate and Anne were at the nursery of Nate's so-called-son. It was a very large room filled with large toys. Anne was sitting on a small sofa looking at the blond boy. She was looking at him with a calmer expression than earlier. Nate was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed as he also observes the boy. Until she caught his attention by asking "Nate,...what was his name again?" with a blank expression on her face. "His name is experiment 4206KDR or some might say "the Gaviston project"..uhm..I just call him Arthur." he replied. "Does anyone know about this? Why haven't I heard it in the news?" she continued. "At first, I was convinced to have a press conference with this scientific breakthrough yet...it didn't feel right. I was bothered by my conscience because I knew that the boy would be examined, tested, manipulated and I know it is just too much to bear for his unstable health; I can't do that to a little boy, especially one that looks like my bestfriend. So I made another experiment, this time it was on lab rats and it worked." "Oh yeah, I remember that on the news a few years ago." He looks at the boy who was playing with a toy plane. "Yeah. So I adopted him as my own. I paid my colleagues to keep it a secret." "Why didn't you tell me?" Anne asked. "Well to be honest, I never thought the boy will survive or if it will look exactly like John. You know, he has very rare illnesses, I mean his heart could stop at any moment so I decided to keep it from you until his health could be in a more stable condition. I don't want you to experience.." Nate's conversation was stopped as he saw the boy collapsing onto the carpet. "Arthur!" Nate ran towards the unconscious boy and pressed a button on the table which was a few meters from him as he carried the boy to the bed. "Anne, I don't want you to see this. Please, go with the butler, he will escort you home." Nate said calmly as nurses started to flood through the door towards the convulsing child. The buttler tapped her shoulder "My master had ordered me to send you home safely, madam." Anne was both concerened and confused about the commotion. The butler lead her out of the room. "It is best for you not to see it. It is quite a disturbing sight to the one who is not used to it." The butler said calmly.

Nate watched from his large window in his study lounge as the car which was used to drive Anne back home enetered the large gates. Nate gave a sigh and walked a few steps towards his dark brown ivory desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a box, about a foot wide. I was a wooden box, encrusted with fine carvings and had a lock. AT first sight, anyone would think that it would be filled with jewels or any important treasure. He opened it and saw a picture of Anne, John and him. He smiled to himself as he read the note at the back of the picture "It was a fun day. You rule! <3 XD –Anne-"

' I had always loved Anne's tender smile. I loved seeing her happy and hear he dorky laugh. It was when I was in highschool that I encountered one of the most painful things in life. I was in love with a girl who was in love with my best friend. I will always regret the times when I was too much of a coward to approach her. I lost to my best friend. All I can do was watch as they fell in love with each other but I felt happy because both of them were happy. I just couldn't bear to see Anne cry and it were because of me then it would cause my death. I loved her that much. I love her as much as I would destroy anyone who would hurt her.'

Anne was at her bedroom, curled up and looking at the window. "Should I be happy? Should I be mad at him? Why did he do it?" One of the many questions that lingered in her mind. She couldn't fathom the amount of shock she had experienced that day. Suddenly her phone rang "Hello?" she said as she picks it up. "Anne, it's me, Nate. I greatly apologize for my inhospitality. It was just a very bad situation. But I just called to assure you that Arthur is fine. We stablelised him and he should be fine in the morning. Would you mind coming over tomorrow? I feel like I still have a lot of things to confess and questions to answer." Nate said calmly. "Alright, I would come by at noon after my classes." she replied. "Good. Goodnight then. " Nate replied as he hang up. Again, Anne was left pondering and absorbing everything that happened that day. She was lost in her own thoughts and fell asleep in the process.