Hearts Will Remember

Chapter 4

He was jerked awake from his deep sleep, his heart pounding in his chest. 

He had a dream, but he could not remember what it was. The only thing he could remember was a feeling of desperation so intense he thought his heart would explode.  That woke him up.  It was first time he had ever had this kind of dream.  And he had a feeling  it had something to do with his accident. 

His doctors had told him he had dissociative amnesia.  The kind that is usually caused by the brain rejecting thoughts or memories related to traumatic events. A battery of tests had been done on his brain but they did not show any structural damage or lesions.  His brain is physically fine and he did not have any lasting neurological effects from his fall. But for him, the loss of more than a year of his life was a more devastating and lasting effect than anything else.  The hope that "reminder treatments" could help bring back his memories did not get the desired effect.  The emotional stress he experienced when his friends tried to recount the events leading to his accident instead shut his system down into a coma.  

Five years ago, he thought he could finally handle another chance to remember.  But hearing Mrs. Yue's recount of his last visit to her restaurant with a girl that she thought he was in love with was a psychological trigger that literally turned his world upside down.  When he woke up, he learned he was in a coma for a week.  The doctors insisted that any attempt to "bring back" his memory should not happen again.  They said any more attacks of that magnitude might cause more permanent damage.   They still could not explain why Si always had extreme reactions to these incidents but they explained that brain-related injuries were unpredictable.  Their advise was to let his memory come back on its own accord. 

That was when Ximen suggested that a fresh start in a new place might be good for him. He reminded Si that he had always been good in stock trading and had always thought about starting an investment firm. So why not go for it and do it in the stock market capital in the world, New York?  Liking the idea, Si spent some time thinking about Ximen's advise and became more excited the more he thought about it.  When he finally decided to move to New York, his mother was predictably against the idea as it meant Si w nwould need to leave DMG.  But Si could not be deterred.  He convinced her that Lung was doing a great job managing the company and that he could do it on his own. His sister supported his decision since she was hoping that a fresh start in a new place would finally start her brother's real healing process.

He wondered if yesterday's events had triggered something that resulted to the mysterious dream.  It was the first time he had shown this level of  interest in a woman and he wondered if it somehow triggered a memory in the past about the girl Mrs. Yue mentioned. 

He sat up on his bed and saw that it was still 6 in the morning. He knew he would not be able to get back to sleep, so he got out of bed and headed to the kitchen.  Turning on his espresso machine, he prepared his morning shot of caffeine. Living in New York has been a far cry from his servant-filled life in Shanghai and London.  He could have hired help if be wanted to but when he left DMG and London to start anew in New York, he had resolved to stay away from his old lifestyle as much possible and live independently.  He still liked his creature comforts of course.  A lifetime of high maintenance living could not be erased overnight nor did he want to.  

Taking his espresso to the living room, he went to the window and enjoyed his view of Central Park.  The leaves are starting to change into its fall colors.  Although he could have afforded it 4 years ago, he didn't buy this penthouse until 2 years ago when he made enough money to buy it himself.  The trust fund from his grandfather was released to him when he turned 25 which he used as seed money to start his business.  He started small, but he's always had a knack for stock trading.  After 2 years, his reputation grew as one of the best young minds in wealth management and his clients increased, both in numbers and in investment funds.  His firm now manages multi-million accounts and employs a group of sharp-minded financial advisors working under him.

He wanted to be in the office by 8am so he went up to his bedroom suite to take a shower and prepare for work.  He was standing in front of his mirror putting on his tie when an unfamiliar memory flashed to his mind.  He was standing in front of the mirror in his bedroom in Shanghai, admiring himself in a black suit with a white shirt sans tie.  His heartbeat accelerated.  That was a breakthrough!  He has never had a single memory of that year until now.

He quickly finished dressing then called Xian.  He felt more excited about today because of the memory and looked forward to his scheduled meeting with Ms. Dong at 11.   As promised, her assistant called Mark to set up the meeting. He told Mark to make a reservation at Tavern on the Green in Central Park because he had every intenion of inviting her to have lunch with him after their meeting.

His morning went by quickly with calls from his major clients and before he knew it, it was already 5 minutes to 11. 

His desk phone rang.   It was Mark telling him Ms. Dong has arrived for their meeting. He told him to show her to his office.  After a few minutes, a knock sounded on his door before it opened to reveal Mark. He stood up from his chair just as Mark led a woman inside his office.  She had not seen him yet because she turned to Mark to thank him. But Si saw enough of her face and he came crashing back to his chair with a loud thud.  Startled, she turned towards the sound, saw him and gasped.