The red pearl & lost memories

1

" You are there???"  I yelled from the back of his garden.  With feet now tired and swollen, I sat on the brick steps of his house. He said he would show me something, and I really hope it's useful as he says.  My eyes wandered around, admiring the beautiful peony bushes.  Like the beautiful flowers in my dream. Something looked familiar in that garden.

Nature blended in perfectly with the rest.  The large artificial pond covered most of the space, as in my dream, and was surrounded by beautiful cherry trees. I wonder why there are cherry trees.  This detail did not match my dream.  Instead of cherry trees, there were simple trees with fallen leaves and immersed in crystal clear water.  It was different from my dream.

"Gàosù wǒ gèng duō guānyú nǐ mèngxiǎng de shì. Ma-I."  I almost winced, hearing his voice.  He looked at me seriously, holding a peony flower.  My eyes widened like disks, noting that the flower was of fabric.  A fake flower, as in my dream.  I looked at him confusedly, as I pointed to the flower in his hand  "This...was one of the flowers I always wore."  I don't know if it was just my impression, but Zao seemed really nostalgic.

" Clara. You really don't remember?"  He immediately looked up at me.  His voice seemed appealing to me as his gaze.  "Tell me Zao. Is I Ma-I?"  I asked, looking straight at his eyes.  I didn't want other words, I wanted an answer.  He looked at me for a moment before he looked at me with a grin on his face.  "If you don't remember who you are, how do you know it's you?"  He answered, returning home slowly.

He was right.

                            *************

The meeting took place normally. Normal in the sense that Luciano explained what the problems were, and tried to solve them. And sometimes even hitting his older brother. Poor Kuya. I looked around bored, looking for someone to talk to, until my eyes fell on the sleeping figure of Brunei. My ex-husband. My eyes softened at the sight of his sweet sleepy features, and his hair usually matted.

"So adorable ..." I whispered, continuing to look at her serene face. "Filippine." My name thundered throughout the conference room. Usual voice, usually accent and name in Italian. I turned to Luciano, who was looking at me with a raised eyebrow and his arms crossed over his chest "Your presentation, Clara?" He almost growled. "I've been calling you since before." He said in a harsh tone. I always wonder why this is so. I got up from my seat, almost rolling my eyes and onto the podium.

I had no presentation. I glanced at him as he looked at me confused. "Luciano..." I whispered loud enough to make myself heard. He raised an eyebrow in irritation as he grunted: "what happens now ????". I looked around as other countries gave me confused looks. "I don't have a presentation..." I whispered, looking down at the floor. At least I'll avoid his gaze.

I already knew how it would end...

Instead of his screams, i heard a sigh. I looked up only to meet his eyes that seemed to have softened. "Come back to your place, bring me a presentation about your main problem next week." He said simply, putting his hands on my hips and gently moving me to the side.

And I did as I was told, so I went back to my place. At that point Brunei had woken up and was looking at me. There was something familiar about his eyes. Tawalisi. My eyes softened, to the memory of Brunei and our marriage. It was fuzzy and missing pieces, but I clearly remembered his smile. It was the only thing I remember of our marriage...her smile. Indeed...it's the only thing I remember from my past.

                               ************

Luciano announced lunch break, and I approached South Korea.  In his mouth, he had a cigarette, and he was re-reading some documents.  "Hello Korea."  I greeted him, sitting beside him.  He looked at me, almost immediately hugged me "Clara!"  He tenderly stroked my head.  " What are you doing?"  To my question, his eyes became serious and he looked back at the documents in his hands.  He can become serious when needed.  "Presentation. Delay. Luciano pissed off. You're lucky he didn't yell at you before."  He said as a sardonic smile formed on his lips.  I nodded in reply.

"Clara...kita perlu bercakap."

I'm planning to make a playlist with songs for this story.