Long time no see

~ Chapter 4 ~

After parking my car in the garage, I shut the door behind me, and turned the engine off. It had been a rough day, to say the least, but I was home. I took the keys out of the ignition, put them into my pocket, and opened the car door. "Freedom at last," I sighed, standing up. I slowly made my way to the house's garage door after locking the car, and grabbed the knob. I was still shaken up about my first impression with Mr. Baker; but somehow it was able to dig up long lost forgotten questions in my head. "Allen Richard James," "What happened to you?" Those very words stuck to the deepest part of my soul. I turned the knob to the left, and pushed in. There was no smell more comforting than that of your own home, and it brought a smile to my face. "Mary, I'm home," I called out to her. She appeared from behind a corner, holding a laundry basket, and beamed when she saw me. "Welcome home, Allen." "How was work today?" She asked, setting the basket down at her feet, and coming over to me. She spread her arms out, and wrapped them around me. "I was just finishing up the rest of our laundry for the day, dinner's on top of the stove when you're ready," she spoke. I hugged her tightly, and planted a kiss on her head. "I missed you," I whispered, laying my cheek on her hair. She hugged me tightly for a moment more, and then returned to her laundry basket. "Go ahead and eat, Allen,"  "I'll be right out," she said, disappearing behind the same wall. I walked over to the kitchen table, and set my bag beneath my chair. Those words still haunted me, but I couldn't bring myself to talk about it with Mary. How would that even conversation start? 'Honey, today I met my new boss, and I also happen to be his long lost best friend.' It would sound completely ridiculous, much less insane, so I decided that the best thing to do was to forget about it for now. But the fact that he knew things about me, that even I didn't, shocked me. What if he was really telling the truth? I walked over to the stove, and on top of it was a plate of grilled salmon; accompanied by buttered asparagus on the side. I picked up my plate, smiling, and brought it to the table. "Thank you dear, for the wonderful meal as usual," I spoke out to her. Throughout the hall, I could hear thumping footsteps, and then she appeared again. "Of course sweetie, you always try so hard at work; it's the least I could do," she said, patting my hand, and then going over to the stove. She took a spatula, while holding her plate, and cut into the salmon plank. She set a good sized piece onto her plate, and then, using the tongs, picked up some asparagus. When she was done, she set the tools back down in their respectable spot, and walked over to the table. "Was it slow today like a usual weekend?" She asked, sitting down and facing me. I nodded and picked up my fork, "It was quite slow, until the evening," I replied. I brought my fork down to the fish, and took a piece away. "The evening?" She looked surprised. I took a bite of the salmon, and nodded again. "Some men in suits randomly showed up around six-ish." "Poor Brian freaked out," I chuckled. She smirked, and brought her fork up to her lips. "How's he doing these days?" "Still single?" I just laughed. "The poor man hasn't had a girlfriend in years," "Let alone anything; makes me sad for him," I pouted. She chuckled, and grabbed her glass of wine. "Sooner or later, he'll be married to both of us," she snickered. I raised my glass to that, and proposed a toast. "The undying love of a trio," I said with a smile. "The undying love of a trio," she repeated, and tapped her glass into mine. We had been married for a year now, and it was starting to show. Mary was the only thing in my present life that mattered to me, but that caused a lot of internal conflict in my mind. What was life really like back then, and what happened to that person? A lot of things in my mind were left unanswered, and it ate at me sometimes. I was extremely lucky that Mary accepted my depression whole heartedly; she even helped me with getting the right prescriptions, and everything. She always had my back, and I was so grateful to her. Of course it wasn't easy, I was often emotionless, and I'd smoke a lot at work, but I still tried very hard for her. "Mary, dear," "where would you like to go one of these days?" "When I'm free?" I asked her, setting my fork down for a moment. She looked up, and tapped her finger across her lips. "Hmm," she pondered. On most of my days off, we went out to the park, and sat by the lake. Sometimes we'd have picnics, or sometimes we'd just talk, but whatever we did, it was relaxing. She looked over to her left, and then back at me. "Would you dread going shopping?" "I'd like to get a few things for the house," she replied. I shook my head, "Shopping may not be my thing, but that's absolutely fine," I chuckled.  "When would you like to go?" I asked. She looked down at her phone, picked it up, and then swiped her thumb a-crossed it. "Would next Saturday be fine, love?" She asked, looking back to me. In that split moment, I lost myself to my thoughts again, and completely blocked her out. "Allen?" She asked again. "Allen, are you ok?" I finally heard her, and I shook myself awake. "What did you say, Mary?" "I'm sorry," I apologized. Her eyes were full of concern, and she picked up her fork again. "I asked if next Saturday was ok," she mumbled. "You got lost in your thoughts again; have you taken your medicine today?" She asked. I nodded, and looked down at my plate. "It was just a long day today, I'm just tired is all," I lied. Well, it was true that I was tired, but the main reason that I was spacing out was because I kept thinking about Mr. Baker. Why did his words continue to haunt me? "It's alright if you want to go to bed after dinner, dear;" "Your lunch is already made in the fridge," Mary spoke, calmly. I looked up to her and smiled. "Saturday works just fine, Mary." "You take such good care of me, I love you," I replied. She blushed slightly, and covered her mouth with her hand. "I love you too, Allen," she beamed. After that, we finished the rest of our dinner, and when we were done, I took care of the dishes, and headed to the bathroom. I figured a hot steaming bath would be able to rest my nerves, but it turns out it didn't. While soaking in a steaming bathtub in a dark room, my thoughts raced ten times more. The man known as 'Andrew Baker' just couldn't get out of my head, and I was starting to get paranoid. After my bath, I'd go to the sink, take a pill of Benadryl, kiss Mary goodnight, and get some good rest for the next day. That was my plan, but that wasn't my luck. When I finished everything up in the bathtub, as soon as I got out to grab a towel, I slipped. I fell face first into the floor, and hit my head on the corner of a cabinet. I could hear Mary's running footsteps, and within a moment the door was swung open, and light poured into the dark room. "Oh my god, Allen," "Are you alright?" She asked, turning the lights on, and coming to my aid. She knelt over me, offering a hand to pick me up, and holding the side of my head, I grabbed it. When I was up again, she gently removed my hands from my head, and took a look at the wound. "Oh my gosh, Allen.." she said, turning to the cabinet, and opening it. She pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, along with a cotton ball, and set the bottle on the sink. "Is it that bad?" I asked, my head throbbing. She opened the bottle, and dabbed some of it onto the cotton, and brought it gently to my face. "It's nothing to be too concerned about," "but it isn't pretty," she replied. When the cotton touched the wound, I winced in pain, but it soon passed. "Is it bleeding?" I asked her, while looking down at my hand; there was blood on it. "What even happened?" She asked, focused on the wound. I shook my head slightly, "I tripped on something when I went to get a towel." She looked down at the floor, and then back up at me. "Allen, are you sure you're feeling well?" "Maybe it's time to rest?" She asked, a concerned look in her eyes. I nodded. "I'll prepare for bed then, could you please get me an ice pack from downstairs?" I asked. She nodded, and handed me the cotton ball. "Keep that on there for a bit, and go tuck yourself in." She walked away, and headed back downstairs to the freezer, while I walked to the bedroom, and pulled the sheets off the side of the bed. 'Could this day get any worse?" I thought to myself. At work, our old boss retired suspiciously without the groups knowing, our new boss was determined that I was his childhood friend, and on top of the stress, I trip and hit my head. I sighed, and laid down. 'I wonder if I'll see Mr. Baker tomorrow?' I thought. 'He did seem awfully tired; maybe he'll take the day off,' I spoke to myself, while pulling the covers over my torso. 'Besides, what business would he have coming to our building?' 'We hardly do anything with business meetings, or the company's big projects.' It was indeed true that I was tormented by his name, but some part of me longed to find out why. I felt that his emotions towards me were true, but something was being hidden deep down along with them. Even Mary knew that a huge part of me was missing, and I'm so very grateful that she's accepted it in me, or I'd be lost. I went to set my head gently onto the pillow, and with one touch, it ached. It was one of the worst bruising pains I have ever felt in my entire life. "Here's your ice pack, dear," I could hear Mary's voice calling from outside the doorway. She immediately appeared in our room, sat down on my side of the bed, and held the ice pack up to my forehead. "It seems to be swelling quite badly." "I hope it doesn't hurt too bad," she spoke while stroking the side of my face. I winced in pain as I moved to get more comfortable, and she shifted her weight to a different side of the bed. "Hold the ice pack there until it gets too cold, then set it on the side table; I'll take care of it tomorrow." She kissed me gently on my cheek, made sure my blankets were tidy, and turned the light off. "I'll come in around eleven; let me know if you need anything," she cooed with a smile. I gave her the best smile I could give back, and closed my eyes. It would be a rough night.