Rewind

by Mariam Alaa

  “Excuse me, do you know where Seth is?” The hope in finding Seth started to slowly dissipate as I have been asking for the past hour about this ‘Seth’ guy only to find people replying with questions like ‘We have a Seth working at the hospital?’

  “Yes, I’m Seth,” The short guy with black hair, who is wearing glasses right in front of me, replies.

  “Oh thank God! Where were you? I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” I huff out a breath, glad that I finally found him.

  “Uhh, right here?” He motions to his office before he looks at me in puzzlement. “How can I help you ma’am?”

  “I need to ask you a few questions about a friend of mine who was admitted into this hospital a few years ago, please.”

  “Alright then, show me your batch.” He crosses his arms over his chest as he waits eagerly.

  “Excuse me?” I ask confused.

  “Is this police work? Are you a detective?”

  “No?” I hesitate as I finally understand where he’s going on with this conversation.

  “Then you have no right to barge into my office, asking me for a private file. Please leave otherwise I’ll be forced to call security.” He opens the drawer right in front of him and my eyes widen when I catch the cellphone he was pulling out.

  “Wait!”

  He freezes in his place, probably surprised by my sudden outburst. “Adela sent me- the receptionist? She said you would help me.”

  He slams the cellphone back into the drawer, which causes me to jump in my place, and stands up from his seat as he silently curses. “I swear this crazy bitch is going to get me fired one day.”

  My eyes widen a tiny fraction before I blurt, “I’m sorry; I thought she said you guys were friends.”

  He slams the drawer shut before rushing over to where the millions of locker drawers were placed as he clarifies, “We are friends. Now, what is the name of that friend of yours?”

  A wide smile finds its way to my face as I head over to where Seth is standing. “Evelyn.”

  “Evelyn what?” He questions for further information that I was suddenly aware I was lacking.

  “Ugh, I don’t know, but all I know is that she had a car accident and was admitted into the hospital a few years ago ranging from three to six years. Can you please help me? I’m sorry I don’t know much.” A guilty look decorates my features as I eye the frustrated man in front of me who probably hates his job more than ever now.

  “It’s okay. Just sit down and give me a few minutes.” He gestures with his hand towards the leather black chair in front of his wooden desk.

  After a few minutes of sitting down, patiently waiting for him to grab all the files with the name ‘Evelyn’, he finally approaches me with a few U-shaped files in his hands.

  “These are all the files we have on people named ‘Evelyn’, but this file is the only file that has an Evelyn with a car accident.”

  Just as the words leave his mouth, my hand reaches out to take the file from his grasp, but he pulls away.

  “These are private; I’m sorry. Just ask whatever you want, and I’ll try and answer your questions.”

  “Okay, when was she admitted into the hospital?” I ask curiously.

  “Between four to five years ago- summer of 2015.” He raises his eyebrows in amazement as he continues, “Wow! That was one weird night when the thunderstorm hit the grounds of London right at the beginning of summer.”

  “Were there any serious injuries?” I press my palm to my cheek waiting patiently for him to answer.

  “Private matters cannot be answered. Next question.”

  Damn it.

  “Can I take a look at her picture?”

  He takes a look back to the file then back at me before his eyes widen in astonishment. “What the hell? She looks like you!”

  “I know! That’s why I’m curious to find out who she is,” I blurt out in frustration.

  “Well, why don’t you ask her? Why waste your time and come here?”

  “She passed away?” I reply with a ‘duh’ tone.

  He looks back at the file in front of him before looking back at me. “No, she didn’t.”

  My breath hitches in my throat and my heart starts pounding so hard, for I was incredibly surprised by the news.

  “W-what?”

  “She was admitted out of the hospital four years ago in January 2016.”

  Evelyn’s alive? Then why the hell did Adam, my parents and brother claim that she’s dead? What more is there to hide than what I already unraveled?

  Maybe I should’ve just stayed in the dark because the more you find out and the more you dig in deep, the more you fight to know the truth whether you like it or not.

  Chapter 8

  I woke up to the high-pitched screams of Lexi, who was lying next to me on her pale pink bed sheets just a few seconds ago. At first, I –literally- jumped out of my sleeping position thinking she was having some sickening nightmare but when I caught on what she was screaming, I resisted the urge to groan and push her back under the covers to sleep.

  This has to be a nightmare.

  To be more specific my nightmare.

  Today is the day that I’ve been excited and forced to wait for patiently for the past couple of months yet been dreading for the past couple of days. Other than the surprising news I’ve learned from the hospital four days ago, today’s plans have no other effect than raising up my anxiety to a level I didn’t even know it could reach.

  Ever since Lexi’s words registered into my mind, a painful headache made an appearance in my forehead and nausea hit me. While Lexi’s currently jumping on the spongy mattress with unmistakable excitement that I weirdly lacked, I felt like disappearing from the face of the earth. Not forever though- at least for today.

  My wedding day.

  “Wake up!” Lexi pulls the covers away from my face and pulls me out of bed as she forces me to stand.

  Four days ago, after Seth told me that Evelyn is still alive, I searched on google about a ‘dead Evelyn’ since I remember how my mom mentioned that she read it somewhere in the news, but nothing came up, so I attempted to search on a ‘recovering Evelyn from a car crash’, and disappointment rushed through me when nothing came up either.

  No Evelyn.

  No car crash.

  Nada.

  Ever since I made it back to Lexi’s house really late that night, I’ve been sleeping over at her house. I was so grateful that she stayed up until two am, on the day I went to the hospital, just so she could open up the front door and let me in. She was so hesitant between staying up all night so that she could force me to spill the beans and pushing me to sleep so that I’d be able to recover some beauty which, according to her, I’ve been losing lately.

  Being the good friend she is, she made up her mind on the latter one but not before asking me to tell her briefly what happened. Then, she made me pinky swear that I’ll tell her everything in detail when I wake up. She made it clear for me that she’s just letting it slide this one time because my extremely important once in a life time event was near.

  Even though I would never admit it, her decision didn’t really matter because I couldn’t catch much of a sleep anyways. With my mind held captive in the myriad of swirling different thoughts, I wasn’t surprised when I had a dream that night which consisted of me walking down the aisle next to my father while Adrien was standing at the end looking more handsome than ever with a wide smile on his face. I wasn’t surprised when I saw someone else standing in front of him, wearing an identical wedding dress to the one I was wearing who was not me. I wasn’t surprised that it was Evelyn.

  I wasn’t even surprised that he kissed her.

  With my train of thoughts, I learned that everything is possible. Maybe the thought that there’s someone out there who looks exactly like me bothers me now more than ever whether they’re a stranger or an identical twin. The thought that someone could so easily be presumed you makes it feel like you someh
ow have got no control over your own life. Despite not truly knowing her at all, Evelyn doesn’t seem the type of person that would steal your identity or take advantage of a strange situation like ours, but it still doesn’t make it feel any better knowing that she could roam around pretending to be Elena anytime she wants and still be Katherine Pierce.

  God! I watch too many TV shows for my own good.

  “Lexi! What the hell?”

  My eyes instantly open at the sudden sting in my right cheek. Lexi slapped me, and her excuse was that I was a walking dead woman, thus she had to really wake me up.

  “Even though I’d love for us to sit here in my beloved room and stay asleep all day on my very dear bed, you’ve got a hair dresser and a makeup artist waiting for you at your own room and if you really want to make it there on time because these people run on pretty tight schedules, I suggest you change quickly and run downstairs to make things right with your poor fiancé who’s been waiting for you to wake up for the past hour and a half.” Lexi’s words suddenly alert my mind that I haven’t talked to Adrien since the unexplainable restaurant incident, and she’s right: we should talk.

  “Okay, what should I wear?”

  Apparently, this wasn’t the right question to ask because the next thing I know is that Lexi’s eyebrows hit the ceiling as she gives me the ‘are you kidding’ look before she pushes me towards the bathroom. “Just go brush your teeth, comb your hair and go downstairs now. Enjoy your comfy pyjamas and slippers as much as you can because for the rest of the day, you’re stuck in a tight dress and a pair of heels.”

  I’ve got to say that she’s got a point.

  I take in a deep breath, try to keep a straight face and start heading downstairs slowly. On my way down the stairs, a series of laughter echoes in my ears. One of them belongs to Mr. Graham- Lexi’s father- while the other belongs to Adrien.

  “Good morning Mr. Graham.” I smile at the fat the old man who’s always resembled a second father to me.

  “Here comes the girl with the big day. Haven’t I told you more times that I can count that it’s Leonardo for you? You think it would’ve registered sooner in that tiny, little brain of yours with all those years passing by.” He pulls me into a fatherly hug.

  “Leonardo, don’t offend the girl like that! The girl has a brain with the size of a saucer; otherwise, she wouldn’t have had the acceptance letter from Medicine school in Oxford handed to her on a silver platter.” Mrs. Martha makes an entrance with a smile on her face as she enters the living room with a tray, which was occupied by three tea cups and brownies, in her hand.

  “Morning Mrs. Martha.” I return her smile with a genuine one.

  “Hey Evangeline, can I have a word with you please?” Adrien speaks for the first time since I’ve gotten downstairs.

  “Sure,” I reply with a calm stance once my eyes caught his pleading ones, so I start to move further away from Mr. Graham as I make my way next to Adrien on the couch.

  “Alone?” His green eyes flicker to the rest of the room, so I look around to see Lexi’s parents eyeing us closely from their spots and instantly get the message.

  “Leonardo, come. Let’s give these two lovebirds some space.” Mrs. Martha gestures to Mr. Graham just before I got the chance to tell Adrien that we’ll head out so that we can talk privately.

  “No, it’s okay Mrs. Martha! You guys can stay here; we’ll lea—”

  “Honey.” She interrupts me and turns back to look at me with a genuinely soft expression, which I’ve never seen her eye me with, before as she states, “This is your home too.”

  I try my best to show her the gratitude and love on my face because I really am grateful. Mrs. Martha always have and always will play a lot of roles in my life: a mother, a friend, an advisor and even an older sister. You can always count on her to save the day. After telling me that she’ll make me some hot chocolate, Mr. Graham and her start heading to the kitchen, leaving Adrien and I all alone.

  “So, what is it?” I cross my arms over my chest and patiently wait for him to answer.

  “Why didn’t you answer any of my calls? It’s been four days, and I called you like fifty times, and you didn’t pick up once. I’ve been worried sick!” His obvious distraught caused nothing but make me feel extremely guilty but then I remember that it’s been four days and my guilt immediately vanishes.

  If it has been four days, why didn’t you stop by earlier?

  “I’m sorry; I was just so mad at you because you left me stranded somewhere I’m totally not familiar with even though you very well knew that you were my only ride home. Not to mention that I’m confused as hell, so I really hope you have a damn good explanation for your sudden outburst at the restaurant.” I start rambling that I forget to breathe.

  “Look, I didn’t know what to do when you brought Evelyn up, okay? Your parents made it clear that it’s a topic we all should avoid for like forever. All we thought it’s going to do for you is just mess up your life, so we thought it’s better to leave you in the dark about the fact that there is some stranger out there who looks like you since we all knew it would do nothing but consume your thoughts.” He runs a hand through his blond locks as he slowly explains.

  He didn’t say was; he said is.

  Does that mean he knows she’s alive too?

  “But she’s dead isn’t she?” I test him.

  “Y-yeah, she passed away a few years ago.”

  “But how do you know about this?” I ask confused.

  “Your parents told me a while ago.” He averts his gaze away from me, and I feel his sudden will to avoid this conversation.

  He looks disturbed by my questions- almost uncomfortable, but I continue anyways.

  “Yeah, but why would they tell you in the first place if she is already dead? Are you sure that she died?” I press further more trying to pry for answers as the need to know the truth started to feel like a heavy burden in my chest.

  Why would my parents tell Adrien something that wouldn’t even matter? That’s supposedly no longer a problem, since they claimed that she ‘died’, so we’d never meet. What drove them to tell him?

  He gritted his teeth, “Yes, she did. I don’t know why your parents told me, and I honestly don’t care. Would you stop with the sudden questions; it feels like I’m in an interrogation room with a detective for God’s sake!”

  There it is: he lied to me. Other than the fact that Adrien is a terrible liar and that I’m very well capable of reading him like an open book, I feel like if my parents really told him like he claims they did, they wouldn’t have lied to him about her death like they did to me, but what I don’t understand- the missing piece of the puzzle- is ‘what good will claiming her dead do?’

  More importantly: what’s wrong with her being alive?

  “You know what?” He inhales slowly. “I’m sorry I left you in our date like that. I hate when we fight since we almost never do, and I’m sorry I messed things up in the worst time, but we both need to go get ready, so why don’t I drop you off at your house? Come on, let’s go.” He puts on his perfect little smile which I know is a hundred percent fake one and offers me his hand.

  My heart squeezes tightly in pain at the act he’s pulling in front of me, but I place my hand in his and force a smile on my face as well.

  There are many things I don’t really know, but two things I now know for sure is that if there’s one thing I hate, it’s lying, and I’m no longer positive I want this wedding to happen today- at least not when we’re not on our best terms.

  Apparently, a wedding wouldn’t be a wedding without gushing. Other than the gushing I received from my mom, my cousins and aunts, the minute Lexi stepped foot into the bride’s room, my ears were pierced. She kept on gushing on how beautiful I look with my blond hair tucked in a neat bun, my makeup being applied in a way that makes me look pretty- not too little so that I don’t look like my natural self, and not too much so that my face doesn’t look like a plastic Barbie dol
l- and my wedding gown.

  The most beautiful dress a woman will wear in her life.

  When I turn my head to face Lexi, I then notice what she’s wearing: the nude dress my mom picked for her a few days ago. Back then, it was only the dress but now as I look at her entire attire with the simple makeup applied to her face, she looks flawless. The black eyeshadow, mascara and eyeliner caused her smoky hazel eyes to look brighter due to the contrast.

  “Lexi, you look amazing!” I tell her honestly with a smile.

  “I know, but look who’s talking! You’re the bride- literally- can you believe it?” Even though she’s smiling a little, I can glimpse the sadness coating her words.

  “No, I can’t.” My smile dims a little, and I stand up from my seat to approach her. “Are you okay? You seem a little down. If this is about the promise I made to you a few years ago that we’ll both get married on the same day, I’m sorry, but you can pick a hot guy from Adrien’s friends. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find your one and only today.”

  I nudge her shoulder with mine and do a little happy dance in my mind when her smile widens.

  “Yeah, I remember that, but, no, that’s not the reason.” She chuckles lightly at the memory.

  “Then what is it?” I look at her with pleading eyes.

  If she doesn’t tell me what’s wrong, and I feel like she’s not happy then I can’t be happy for the rest of the day, and I kind of need to.

  “Did you and Adrien make up?” Her sudden question catches me off guard since I wasn’t expecting her mood to have to do with us.

  “Not really, but I’m sure we will. I just don’t want to mess things up even more now if you get what I mean. If we can’t resolve fights as stupid as the one we’re having right now then what will we do when we fight -may God forbid- over something way bigger?”

  “Yeah, but it isn’t something stupid, Evie! He’s lying to you about something big. You told me yourself: Evelyn is alive, so why would he lie to you about it then try pulling himself out of the conversation like that? You shouldn’t let it slide, Evangeline; it just doesn’t feel right,” she whisper yells at me accusingly.