Amnesiac

Forty Fourth

"Ate Andy!" Colleen screamed then ran to me, colliding on me then hugging my legs, "I missed you!"

This has been the situation every Friday. "I missed you too, Colleen!" I screamed then hugged her back, only it was awkward because I have to reach down to her head that was actually pressed to my groin.

I guess she doesn't mind.

When she pulled away from the embrace, I smiled down at her once more before reaching for my bag and fishing something out. I handed it to her. "This is for me?" she gaped.

"Yeah," the smile on my face won't come off. Seeing Colleen happy just lifts my mood up as well, "Merry Christmas, little curls,"

She hugged her present, the cheek pressed to the box getting stuffed and that makes her look way cuter. "Thank you, Ate Andy!"

I mumbled you're welcome to her before I noticed that she was dressed. "Hey, you're going somewhere?" I asked her and looked at her outfit. She wore her favourite Toy Story shirt and her jeans shorts. Her hair was pulled to pigtails, and I know that Karlos was the one who did that for her.

As if on cue, Marj stepped out of the front door equally dressed. I smiled at her and gave her the present I got for her as well. "Merry Christmas, Marj."

She took the gift. "Whoa, you got me a present?" she giggles before taking the gift from me. "Merry Christmas too, Andromeda. By the way, we're going to the arcade coz Colleen's been bugging me for it."

"Is Karlos coming too?" I asked. If he will come with them, maybe I could just get back to the apartment and spend the night with Liz. I don't want to interrupt their family bonding, especially when it's almost Christmas.

She shook her head. "He said he has something to finish," then she grins, "And besides, he knew that you are going here." She winks.

My eyes lit up the same time my cheeks burnt, "Okay, well, you two have fun,"

She nods and then grabs Colleen's hand. The kid was full of energy, as usual and she started to hop down the steps from the porch of their house. I watched as they went inside Marj's car and waited for them to disappear as they roll through the streets. When I closed the door, I went straight to Karlos' bedroom.

He sat on the swivel chair in front of his study desk, a pen in hand and eyes trained on the manuscript. He even wore his reading glasses that made him look too cute. When he sensed that someone was watching him, his eyes snapped to my direction. "Hey,"

I smiled at him and leaned on the door frame, "Hey,"

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked, a smile gracing his looks.

"In my estimation: twenty seconds ago," I grinned, "So, you busy?"

He shrugged then took the glasses off. "A little," he says, "Say, you look like you enjoyed the coffee in your work," he chuckled, eyes on my clothes. "Why won't you take a shower before we eat dinner? I cooked chicken."

I looked down on my shirt and noticed that there was indeed a stain of coffee on the fabric. I was serving a table in the café earlier when someone tackled me, his or her (I didn't really pay attention to the gender) coffee spilled on me. It was the classic you weren't looking where you're going type of thing.

I blushed in embarrassment. "Can I borrow a shirt and a towel?"

Karlos looked back on the document he was working on but I can still see the smile on his lips. It was honestly more like a silly grin. "Sure,"