In Memoriam

Chapter 3

A loud, sharp and sudden pop startled Cherizel out of sleep. She shot up in her bed and looked around, wild-haired and bleary-eyed.

Her heartbeat pounded away in her ears, too loud to hear anything but the drumming of her own heart. There was nothing she could see that caused the sound that woke her up. But not a moment later, Cher realized that she could hear a car alarm going off somewhere down the road.

A car tire popped somewhere, she figured. It was unfortunate for whoever's car it was, but she really would have preferred not to be frightened awake.

Cherizel sighed and fell back into the bed with a soft bounce. Cher had no idea what time it was, but it was absolutely too early to be up.

She closed her eyes and tried to will herself back to sleep, even with the distant car alarm providing an ambiance of the unwelcome variety.

The alarm stopped blaring. Cher smiled sleepily, mentally thanking whoever it was that took care of the annoying sound. Surrounded by the warmth of her blankets, she started to drift off again.

But an image of a pair of golden eyes flashed in her mind. Cherizel shot up again, all sleep evaporating in an instant.

Regis.

Cher scrambled out of the bed and rushed out of her bedroom, nearly tripping over a pair of jeans left out on the floor on her way out.

"Regis?" She called out. "Hello? Are you here?"

The living room was empty and quiet. The only sign of anyone having been here was the blanket tossed haphazardly on the couch and a pillow still resting against the armrest.

Cherizel walked past the couch, looking around for more signs of Regis.

"Hello?" She called out again. But as before, there was no answer. With Regis nowhere in sight, Cher had to wonder how serious he was about talking today.

She sighed and made her way to the bathroom. With the sudden appearance of the weirdo in her apartment last night, she never did have a shower like she usually did. Hell, she didn't get to wash up at all and now her skin was begging for some water.

Cherizel yawned and pushed the door open, only to end up standing in the doorway with her mouth hanging open.

She found Regis. A lot of Regis. A lot more than she expected to find.

He stood in front of the sink with only a towel hanging low around his waist.

Cher promptly closed her mouth, though she found it a little hard to tear her eyes away from the lines peeking out from the towel. As she looked up, she saw that Regis was looking right back at her. And judging by the smirk, he definitely noticed her staring.

"Enjoying the show, Ma Cherie?" He chuckled.

"Maybe," she shrugged.

"Only a maybe? What a shame," he said and turned his body to fully face her. Regis smirked and slowly slid a hand down his chest, stopping at the edge of the towel around his waist.

Cherizel gulped as her eyes followed his hand. She was completely mesmerized by his long, slender fingers trailing down his tanned, glistening skin.

"Would you prefer a more adult kind of show then?" He asked, gently tugging on the towel.

Cher snapped out of her trance at that.

"Are you here to seduce me or to help me get my memories back?!" She yelled and grabbed a towel off of the nearby rack, throwing it at Regis. It sailed through the air, landing right on his head.

"Why can't I be here for both?" Regis laughed. He pulled the towel down and left it draped over one shoulder.

"Regis! Seriously," Cher halfheartedly glared at him. That only made him laugh again.

"Alright, alright. I'll behave... until we get your memory back. After that, I make no promises," he said with a shameless grin.

"You're awfully confident, aren't you?" Cher rolled her eyes.

"I have no reason to be anything but," he shrugged and gave her a little wink. "Especially with you."

Cherizel resisted from rolling her eyes again. Despite his overconfidence or arrogance as some might call it, she felt comfortable around him. But comfortable or not, she wanted to shower and he was in the way.

"Right, you can be confident out in the living room then. I need a shower," she said. Cher didn't give him any time to reply. She walked up to him and started to push him out of the bathroom.

His skin was soft, she noticed. Soft and very warm. Her fingers twitched with the need to let her hands explore his skin, to run them all over his back and more.

The simple act of having her hands on his back seemed to ignite her whole body.

Cherizel never felt so awake and alive before.

"We're finishing yesterday's conversation after I have a shower," she said and gave him one last push outside. Regis didn't fight it, but neither did he fight the towel falling off.

The last thing Cher saw before she closed the bathroom door was his bare ass as the towel fell to the floor.

She locked the door and turned the shower on, though she didn't step inside. She stood there and stared at the falling water, her mind completely elsewhere.

Cherizel's skin tingled all over, it was almost too much to bear, though it wasn't exactly unpleasant. She could still feel his warmth on her fingertips.

"What are you to me...?" She mumbled under her breath. The sound of the shower running drowned out her voice completely. Cher felt like the answer to her question was on the tip of her tongue. But no matter how hard she tried to focus, pulling up any memories wasn't working.

She wasn't surprised that it didn't work, it hadn't worked for these past few years. But now her heart squeezed painfully at not being able to remember.

It felt important — whatever it was. He felt important.

She could always ask him, of course. But... how was she to know he wasn't lying? How was she to know that he wasn't using her for something?

Cherizel felt a drop of water fall onto her arm. She touched her face and feeling the wetness of her skin, she sighed. She started to cry and she didn't even notice it.

With a silent promise to herself to figure things out, Cher tossed her clothes off and stepped into the shower.

Regis was important to her, for reasons she couldn't remember. Whatever they were to each other... Cherizel sighed and closed her eyes, leaning forward to stick her head under the stream of steaming water.

Whatever they were to each other, she knew she couldn't just thoughtlessly jump into his arms.

That would have to wait until she remembered things.

But would she remember him?