Help Me Remember (COMPLETED)

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jealousy

Heart pounding, I hid beside the door to quietly steal a glance into the next room.

Zach was slightly angled in my direction. His body hugged in a tailored three-piece navy blue suit, a platinum timepiece on his left wrist with his hand in the pocket of his slacks and his feet in expensive Italian loafers. His dark hair looked slightly messed from the day's work and it would have been endearing if not for the dangerous glint in his electric blue eyes as he looked down at his companion.

A dark angel. Beautiful but terrifying. Which still begs the question, why did I marry such a man?

Shaking off the thought, I turned my attention to the other person and immediately froze.

There was a sudden clawing feeling behind my head at seeing her back profile. A woman?

The woman, whoever she was, was wearing a mid-thigh red dress that outlined all her curves in the right places and four-inched stilettoes that were not practical if she was a corporate woman. Her ginger hair was stick straight, slightly swaying just above her shoulders.

"Zachary, just attend the party!" she whined.

That voice.

Inexplicable white-hot anger suddenly filled my chest, the irrational feeling catching me off-guard. You know her, my mind whispered.

"You left the company for half a month to stand vigil at your wife's hospital bed while contracts have been piling up at the company! Now that she's out, can the two of us focus on work again?"

The two of them? The tone of her voice at mentioning the word 'wife' wasn't lost on me and it only stirred the emotions now filling my chest.

Who is she?

Even her body language irked me. My gaze shifted to Zach, needing to see how he'd react.

"I intend to finish all the contracts by Friday if that's all you're worried about."

"And you'll attend the party tonight," the woman insisted, stepping a little closer to Zachary.

Too close, I surprised myself with my own thoughts. I still wasn't sure how I felt about Zach but the idea of this woman touching him was nothing short of repulsive.

"I told you about Scarlett's condition. I'm not tossing her into a sea of strangers."

She knew of my amnesia? He told her? That thought irritated me.

The woman scoffed, "You don't have to bring her. The party will be filled with business associates and God knows how much scandal she's dragged your name into already. The last two weeks alone after her accident have been bad enough."

Zach looked into her face, loosening his tie.

Bile filled my mouth. Why wasn't he saying something to defend me?

The woman saw this as a cue to help him, and stepped even closer to my husband. Half of her face became visible to me. Zach let go of the tie as she put her hands on it. I saw the woman bite her lip as she stared into his eyes, "You can go with me instead."

At her words, it was as if something in my head snapped.

Before I knew it, I was coming out of my hiding spot. Zach immediately noticed the movement and lifted his head.

Our eyes met and I could feel the fury coming off my body in waves. And at the back of me, I admitted the hurt too.

But I schooled my expression even as that woman continued to paw at him in front of me. And he let her. Why that doubled the fire inside me, I would never know.

"What do you think about going with me to the party, hm? Zach?" She looked to Zach, noticing his attention elsewhere and glanced in my direction.

Finally, the witch realized there was someone else in the room.

The first thing I noticed was her full bangs above her eyebrows. A small face, blood red pouty lips, a small pointed nose and grey eyes that for a moment registered shock before becoming a professional smile. My mind went wild at registering her face... and the cleavage visible due to the deep V of her dress.

How nice, my mind hissed.

I matched her smile with my own.

"I see we have a guest."

I couldn't recognize my own voice, and maybe Zach didn't too.

Because he took a step in my direction.

"Scarlett," he started.

I watched the woman's reaction as my dear husband broke away from her. The annoyance that she tried to hide gave me some satisfaction but it wasn't enough. It was when she gave my whole body an appraising look and her eyes widened that I smiled even wider.

Zach's shirt ended mid-thigh. I also wore shorts beneath but she didn't have to know that.

I sashayed to my husband's side and wrapped an arm around his middle—beneath the jacket of course. Where this confidence was coming from was a mystery even to me.

Plastering my front to Zach's side, I turned my attention to the woman.

"And who is this? Do we know each other?" I gave her the same appraisal she gave me before lifting my eyes to Zach.

On a normal day, I would've flinched at the fire beneath his blue eyes but today I refused to back down. Not after what I just saw. He knew what I was doing but I willed him to answer my question.

"This is Valerie Jones, my secretary. I don't believe you were well acquainted before."

A year married and I hadn't met this...I turned to the woman again. Secretary?  

I smirked, "Have we met before? As my husband already told you I have amnesia."

There was a flicker in her eyes but Valerie was good at this.

She smiled brightly, "Not properly but we've met a couple of times and I do know you are Mr. Harrington's wife."

And you were still flirting with him in our house?

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Why don't I believe you."

"Scarlett," Zach slid a hand to my waist in warning.

I brushed off his tone, "So what is this party I'm hearing about? Am I not invited?"

I didn't care if they knew I was eavesdropping. Zach's hold tightened on me.

"We are. But there will be too many people there and you'll just get bored of men talking about business."

He was being reasonable but I still felt like he was trying to appease me because that Valerie was in front of us. I didn't want to be appeased and I didn't want him going anywhere with her.

"Is that really your reason?"

Zachary carefully watched my face before answering, "I'm not even going, Scarlett. I'm staying here with you."

I glared at him, "Why? Do I embarrass you, Zachary?"

"Why would you ever think that," there was a dangerous lilt to his voice.

You should stop now, Scarlett. Don't provoke him.

Zach continued to stare me down, "Do you want to go to the party? Is that where this is going?"

"It just seems to me you don't want me there with you."

Everything in me was a mess at this point but I could not help the bitter emotions. My fake smile had slipped off my face long ago and I raised my eyebrows, challenging him.

I didn't even care that I was acting like this in front of a visitor and embarrassing myself. But his face was carefully blanked as he looked back.

"Be ready in two hours then. We'll be attending a party."

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