by Maggie Way
“No, of course not,” Gretchen said. She spent the next few minutes telling the woman their story as they waited for their keys and the packet of information the Today show had sent over for them. They left the woman behind with a dreamy look on her face.
Carrying their bags to the elevator, John watched Gretchen excitedly pore over the papers and wished he could cast off the nagging sense that he knew this place. Ever since stepping onto the first plane, John kept getting the feeling they should turn around and go home. Feeling as though he had been in this hotel before, or at least that he was familiar with this type of hotel, was only compounding his unease.
“There are reservations for us at the restaurant downstairs at eight o’clock,” Gretchen said. She glanced at her watch to check the time and nodded. They had plenty of time. She went back to her reading and groaned.
“What?” John asked.
“We have to be at the studio by four o’clock in the morning,” she whined.
“See, I told you we should have stayed home.” John smiled as he said it, but he hoped for a miracle. No such luck.
“For this, I can get up early,” Gretchen said. “Aren’t you excited?”
The complete opposite, actually, but he didn’t say that. “Uh, sure. Just nervous, I guess.”
The elevator opened at their floor and he followed Gretchen to their room. Pushing open the door, Gretchen bounded in and flopped onto the plush, king-sized bed. “I’ve always wanted to stay in a hotel like this,” she said.
Lying on the bed with her golden hair fanned out around her, she smiled and stole away all John’s apprehension. Nothing could take him away from her. Crawling onto the bed, he hovered over her, leaning down to kiss her forehead. Even if by some bizarre chance the memory woman found him because of this interview, he couldn’t go back to her. Married or not, Gretchen was his life now. Nothing could change that.
Lowering himself to press against Gretchen, he kissed her passionately, almost forgetting the boundaries he had put on himself. For a brief second, nothing else mattered except that she was in his arms. John kissed her again. Her hands wound through his hair, pulling him closer.
A sharp rap on the door halted everything. Groaning, John rolled off Gretchen and went to the door to pull it open. A whole crew of people stood waiting.
“Uh, can I help you?” John asked.
“Lana Goodman, from the Today show. We need to get a few pictures for the promos,” she said. John just stared at her. “You are John, right? The amnesia guy?”
“Yeah, sorry, come in. I just wasn’t expecting anyone,” he said.
“Well normally we do this a lot earlier, but apparently this whole thing was only set up yesterday, so here we are,” she said. “Can we come in?”
John moved aside to let her through, and ten people piled into the room after her. It was a good thing they had such a big room. One of the makeup artists grabbed Gretchen and plopped her into a chair so she could begin her work. John was about to ask Lana a question when another makeup artist latched onto him and started smearing something all over his face. It felt greasy and weird, but the guy was working too quickly for John to have any time for questions or complaints.
While he was working, another woman held up pieces of clothing next to John and Gretchen. Based on reasons John didn’t understand, she eventually chose one shirt for each of them and as soon as the makeup artists were done they sent John and Gretchen into the bathroom to change with a warning not to mess up their makeup.
“How on earth am I supposed to get this on without messing up my makeup,” Gretchen asked. She held up a silky blouse with a questioning eye. “They should have picked a button-up shirt if they wanted me to keep from touching my face.”
Turning away from John, Gretchen took off her t-shirt and tossed it aside. Putting on the new shirt was forgotten as John stepped up behind her and slid his arms around her bare waist. Leaning down, John kissed her shoulder, making her shiver. She sighed as she looked at the bathroom door.
“I know,” he said. “They’re waiting for us.”
John forced himself to back off, but he watched as Gretchen carefully brought the blouse over her head and let it drop down, covering her sweet-tasting skin once again. Now it was his turn to sigh. Why did the crew have to show up right then? Rushing through the motions, John stripped off his own t-shirt and buttoned up the dress shirt he’d been given. Gretchen watched him hungrily, making John want to lock the door and let the crew outside wonder what had happened to them.
Unfortunately, Gretchen opened the door, and the crowd of people grabbed them again. “Okay,” Lana said, “we’re going to get some photos of you so we can run some promos before your interview to get people excited about your story, which is amazing by the way. You’re going to have every single woman in America looking for her own battered soul to save by tomorrow.”
“I know I will be,” mumbled Lana’s assistant.
“One of the hosts heard a couple of segment producers talking about you guys and she loved the story so much she said she wanted you guys on the show,” Lana said. “And what Anne wants, Anne gets.” Lana nodded to somebody and then looked back at us. “Okay, Andrew here is going to do the photos, and it looks like he’s ready, so just do what he says.”
An hour later, the crew had apparently gotten enough photos of them to work with and began packing up their supplies. John and Gretchen changed back into their regular clothes and went out to get final instructions from Lana.
“You need to be at the studio by four a.m. tomorrow,” Lana reminded us. “There will be a car waiting for you downstairs at three-thirty. Gretchen, don’t worry about doing your hair or makeup. We’ll do it for you. And wear whatever you want because we’ll have you change when you get there. One of the producers will be there to explain how the interview will work and when you’ll go on. Any questions?”
Gretchen and John just looked at each other.
“No? Good.” Lana motioned for her crew to head out. “Get to bed early tonight. You don’t want to have bags under your eyes in front of a couple hundred million people.”
That was when the fear came rushing back full force.
Chapter Fifty
Him
“Yeah, we got in to New York last night with no problems. The kids slept through most of the flight. Thanks for the suggestion to take the red-eye, by the way.”
“You bet, Corey. I’ve flown with little kids before. It’s a nightmare if they’re not asleep.”
Pressing the phone between her ear and shoulder, Corey poured sugar into her cup of tea. Hazelnut and chai floated up to her, lifting her tired spirit. She was exhausted, but she was determined to make the trip amazing enough to take hers and the kids’ minds off everything.
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “It’s just been a long year, you know?”
Sarah sighed. “I know, honey, but you’re doing the right thing. The kids didn’t need to be hanging around the house right now. A couple weeks on vacation will be good for them. They need something to distract them.”
“I know. They’re excited to go to the museum and see the Lion King on Broadway later today. I think I’m the one having the hardest time with this. Part of me wants to be home. I feel like I’m hiding here in New York,” Corey said.
Looking out of the kitchen, she saw Michael and Sasha playing on the floor in the sitting room. Sasha played with her favorite baby doll, caring for it like only a two-year-old little girl could. She smiled and rocked the baby back and forth as she sang it the lullaby Corey sang to her every night. Michael smashed his toy cars together a few feet away, completely oblivious to his singing sister. Four year olds were amazingly good at that.
Sometimes they still cried, but for the most part they were adjusting much better than Corey. They were too little to really understand. Maybe that was better. It was better they didn’t hear the whispers and gossip she couldn’t avoid. Core
y didn’t want them to forget, though. That seemed like a betrayal.
“Part of me thinks I should have stayed.”
“You need to move on. You know that.”
“But, I don’t know if I can. I keep hoping,” she said as a tear fell down her cheek.
“This is exactly why you need to be away from home for the next couple weeks,” Sarah said. “Just have some fun with the kids. Show them that you’re doing okay.”
She was right. Corey knew she was, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept. “Thanks for making me do this, Sarah.”
“That’s what I’m here for, honey. Call me as often as you need to,” she said. “I wish I could have come with you for support, but we were already committed to taking Alan to visit colleges over spring break.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just because I can’t move on doesn’t mean everyone else has to put their lives on hold,” she said. Sarah had already done so much for her over the last year. She felt so indebted to her she knew there was no way to ever repay all her help and support. The least Corey could do was take her kids on vacation without dragging her friend along to coddle her.
“You can do this, Corey,” Sarah said.
Wiping away her tears, Corey stood up taller, trying to convince herself she was strong enough. “I can do this,” she said. “It’s time to move on.”
“Good for you, honey. Just keep thinking that,” Sarah said. “Oh, and if you go to Ellis Island, Gracie wants you to bring her back a replica of the Statue of Liberty.”
Laughing at her precocious little friend, Corey was glad she had her around to keep her laughing. “And what about Alan,” she asked, “does he have any souvenir requests?”
Sarah snorted. “Alan said he’s too old for souvenirs, but if you happened to go to the Hard Rock Café, he wouldn’t object to you bringing him back a pair of drumsticks.”
“I’ll remember that.” Alan was trying so hard to be all grown up, but they all knew he was going to miss his parents and little sister when he left for college.
“Michael,” Sasha yelled, “no! Stop! Bad!”
Michael laughed at his sister and rammed his car into her doll again.
“Michael,” Corey warned, “leave your sister alone.”
Sticking his tongue out at Sasha, he moved a few feet away and continued to bug her by almost hitting her doll with his car. Corey sighed at his obnoxious behavior, but even that was a good thing after everything they had been through. It showed they were adjusting to the way things were.
“Well, it sounds like you need to go wrangle some kids,” Sarah said. “I’ll let you go, but call whenever you need to.”
“I will, Sarah. And thanks for everything,” Corey said. She was about to end the call when she remembered she needed to tell her where the dog’s treats were. “Oh, Sarah, when Gracie goes over to pick up the dog—”
That was as far as she got before the kids starting yelling.
“Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! It’s Daddy! He’s on TV!”
Her heart stopped and she couldn’t breathe.
“Corey? What’s going on?” Sarah asked.
She couldn’t answer. Walking into the room, Corey felt as if she were moving through honey. It couldn’t be true. The kids had made the mistake before, but they kept yelling it over and over again. “It’s Daddy! It’s Daddy!”
Daring herself to hope, Corey looked at the TV. There was his picture. The host was babbling about something, but all she could do was stare at the screen.
“Sarah,” Corey whispered, “it’s Alex. He’s here in New York.”
Sarah didn’t say anything for a moment. “Corey, are you sure?”
“Turn on the TV to NBC. They just showed his picture on the Today show,” she said, her voice trembling so badly she wasn't sure Sarah could understand her.
“The Today show? Why would Alex be on the Today Show?” Sarah asked.
“I don’t know,” Corey snapped, “just turn it on. It’s him, Sarah, it’s him.”
“It went to commercial,” Sarah said even though Corey was staring at the screen already.
“Mommy, where’d Daddy go?” Michael asked.
“I don’t know, baby,” she said. Kneeling in front of the TV, Corey held her breath and waited. Was she crazy? It couldn’t be him. Not after a year. Why would he show up on the Today show suddenly? Maybe it wasn’t really him. The kids thought it was him, too. The commercials dragged by so slowly.
Finally, the Today show logo reappeared and the host sat on the couch telling all the viewers what stories were coming up in the next few hours. As she named them off, pictures of the people or products involved popped up at the bottom of the screen.
“And a last minute addition to today’s show is a man whose story of triumph over adversity to find love again will amaze you. We’ll meet John and Gretchen at the end of this half hour,” Anne said. She went on to say something else, but Corey was transfixed by the photo of her Alex sitting next to a blonde woman.
“I can’t believe it,” Sarah whispered, “it is him.”
Chapter Fifty-One
The Last Whole Piece
“John. Gretchen. You’ll be going on in about ten minutes,” the page said. “If you would both follow me, I’ll take you to the set.”
Gretchen took John’s hand and they left the green room. Even Gretchen looked a little nervous by that point. John wanted to sprint down the hall and escape. The death grip Gretchen had on his hand kept him from getting too far ahead of her. He wasn't sure whether she was holding him so tightly because of her own nerves or because she was afraid he would run, but John appreciated it either way.
“Okay,” the page said, “you two wait right here. Someone will come get you as soon as they’re ready to seat you on set. Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Gretchen said.
Turning to look at John, Gretchen hugged him. She was trembling despite her smile. “I can’t stop shaking,” she said. “I’m so nervous. I don’t think it hit me until we got here just how many people will be watching us. If I goof this up my students will never let me live it down.”
“You’ll be fine,” John said. He wished she would stop bringing up just how many people would be watching them. He didn’t mind speaking in front of people and he wasn’t worried about answering the host’s questions. All of that felt oddly natural to him. He could stand in front of all of America and not care at all. It was just one person he was worried about.
Where was his dark haired memory woman? Even if she never wanted to see John again for some reason, would she be watching? Would she recognize him? John hadn’t taken the time to investigate any religions yet, but he prayed as they walked. He prayed whoever the woman he kept seeing was, she wouldn’t see him today. Be out hiking or boating, he pleaded. Anything that kept her away from a TV.
“John and Gretchen?” a man asked. They both nodded. “Great, I’m Howie. Let’s get you two into position for the interview.”
They followed him to a set containing a loveseat and a single overstuffed chair. He positioned Gretchen and John on the loveseat so John was facing the other chair directly and Gretchen was between them. Two other crew members came up to them to touch up their makeup and brush their clothes free of any lint. The lights above came on and the two aides scampered off the stage.
Anne LaSalle, with a trail of people behind her, approached the set. She shook their hands as her crew fussed over her. She ignored the crew completely, and said, “How are you both doing this morning?”
“Fine,” they both said.
“Nervous?” she asked.
“Very,” Gretchen admitted.
“Don’t worry, this will be painless,” Anne said. “I’ll ask Gretchen first to tell me about how she found you, and then I’ll ask John about waking up with no memory. After that we’ll talk about how Gretchen took you in and you two ultimately fell in love. It will be over before you know it.”
I hope so, John thought.
&nb
sp; “Tell me what’s happening,” Corey begged Sarah as she hurried the kids out of the taxi.
Her kids sprinted ahead of her to the lobby, yelling, “We’re going to see Daddy!”
“Okay, they just started the interview,” Sarah said. “The woman he’s with is named Gretchen Gesner. Apparently she found Alex in the middle of the road in New Mexico.”
“New Mexico? How did Alex end up in New Mexico? We live in Chicago,” Corey said. New Mexico? It had to be him. It had to be.
“He’d been attacked or something so they took him to the hospital,” Sarah said.
Corey finally caught up to the kids just as they tried to duck under a security checkpoint. “Just a minute, Sarah, I have to go through a metal detector.” She tossed the still live phone into the bin with her keys and purse and impatiently waited to make it through the security check. Someone asked her what she was doing at the studio and whatever answer Corey gave the man prompted him to pin “Visitor” badges on her and the kids. Corey snatched her belongings back as soon as she saw them and headed in the direction the guard had pointed her in.
“Okay, Sarah, what’s happening now?” she asked desperately.
“Alex was in a coma for a week before he woke up,” she said.
“And?” Corey demanded. “Why didn’t he come home after he woke up?”
Sarah hesitated. “He couldn’t remember anything, Corey. He woke up with full amnesia of everything that happened before he got attacked. He says he still can’t remember anything.”
“What?” Corey cried. The kids kept yanking her down a hall, or she didn’t think she would have been able to walk on her own.
Everyone told Corey that Alex just took the cash and ran off with someone, that he must have been tired of her and the kids and bailed, but she never believed him capable of such a thing. Alex loved them. He would never have abandoned his family. Corey guessed forgetting who he was would be a great reason for not coming home, but she still didn’t know why he had left in the first place.
