by A. M. Myers
He meets my gaze, his blue eyes blazing. “I’m not going to leave you by yourself.”
“Knock, knock.”
We both turn to the door as it swings open and Nico stomps in, a perfect contradiction in her floral knee length dress that hugs her curves and black combat boots. Her purple streaked hair is pulled back into two poofy buns on either side of her head and her makeup is dramatic with a cat eye and a bold lip. I’m slowly realizing her signature style is taking things no one else would ever think of putting together and making it work. She’s effortlessly cool; she doesn’t give a damn what anyone thinks about her.
Her eyes land on me and she flashes me a smile as she struts into the room. “How you feeling, babe?”
“I’m good,” I answer with a smile. “Just trying to convince Gavin to feed himself.”
She turns to him and nods. “Go eat. I’ll keep her company for a while.”
He peeks over at me and I can tell he’s almost convinced so I offer him a smile. I suppose it really is sweet the way he looks after me and I know I haven’t been exactly warm and welcoming to him in the past few days but I just hope he understands how weird this is for me. Finally, he sighs and nods.
“How long can you hang out?” he asks Nico. “I’d love to run home and grab a shower, too.”
“Take all the time you need. She’s stuck with me all night,” she quips, flashing me a grin as she winks and I stifle a laugh. There’s something so infectious about Nico’s personality that doesn’t make me feel weird and out of place like I have since I woke up and realized I was missing a huge chunk of information. Being around her is just easy and it doesn’t matter that I don’t remember her because it feels like I’ve known her for years.
Gavin lets out a sigh of relief and I fight back a grimace. I knew staying by my side was wearing on him but what I am supposed to do if he refuses to leave me alone? At least he’s taking care of himself now, I guess. He stands and throws his arms over his head in a stretch. His dark t-shirt rides up, revealing taunt muscles and a line of dark hair leading into his jeans.
Damn.
God, the man is too hot for my own good. All this time, I’ve been picturing him in a suit and that image alone is enough to intrigue a girl but to see what he’s working with under his clothes, I don’t stand a freaking chance. A blush creeps up my cheeks and I bite my lip as I turn away from him. Nico meets my eye and flashes me a little grin as she nods as if to say, “I know, right?” My blush deepens and she laughs.
“All right,” Gavin says, drawing my gaze back to him as he leans over the bed and presses a kiss to the top of my head. Thankfully, the jerking away from his touch has calmed down some because I know it was taking a toll on him and it made me feel terrible each time it happened. When he pulls back, he grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’ll try to hurry back.”
“Take whatever time you need. I’ll be okay.”
Nico nods. “Yeah, get out of here. We need some girl time.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he answers with a hint of a grin on his face and I suck in a breath.
Jesus.
The man is too handsome for my own good.
“Love you, baby,” he calls to me as he heads for the door and I nod, watching him until he closes the door behind him. When Nico and I are finally alone, I release a breath.
“Okay, so how is it really going?” she asks after a second and I shrug.
“As well as can be expected, I think.”
Rolling her eyes, she grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “I know you don’t remember this but we’re like best friends and I know when you’re bullshitting me so how about you be real with me, chick.”
“I don’t know. It’s all so weird. He seems very sweet and devoted to me since he hasn’t left my side since I woke up except to shower but I don’t know him. I can’t remember how we met, our first kiss, or our first date. I have no idea how he likes his coffee or which side of the bed he sleeps on and it’s just a lot to take it all at once.”
She nods as she grabs her bag off the floor. “I get that. Which is why I brought pictures for you and I happen to know all the answers to your questions because when you met Gavin, you could not stop talking about him.”
“Really?”
“Oh, absolutely,” she says as she sets a folder down on my lap. “I spent hours last night putting together as much of the last five years as I could get my hands on to maybe help you remember.”
Tears sting my eyes as I glance up from the folder and meet her eyes. “You did that for me?”
“Of course.” She points to herself before pointing to me. “Best friends, remember?”
“How did we meet?”
She grins. “We met in a coffee shop, actually. It was about two years after you started your company and you were getting a little overwhelmed with the business side of things because you just wanted to design and make jewelry.”
“Why do I feel like there’s more to that story?”
“Because there is,” she answers with a laugh. “You walked in to get a drink and I was right in the middle of chewing out the barista for screwing up my order for a second time that day. By the time I got around to instructing him on how to better organize his workspace and make himself more efficient, you said you knew I was perfect for the job.”
I drop my head back on the pillow as I laugh. “I have no trouble at all seeing that.”
“What can I say? I see a problem and I just have to fix it.”
“How is the company doing now?”
She beams. “Phenomenal.”
“Really?” I ask, my heart feeling lighter than it has in days. She nods.
“Absolutely.” Leaning forward, she opens the folder and points to a stack of papers on the left side. “Articles, features, designs, and photos about the company are all on this side.”
I pull out a stack of papers and start leafing through them. There are a few articles that mention the start of my company and a few more that talk about its growth before I find one that names me on a hot businesses on the rise list. After the articles, I find a few of my designs and tears well up in my eyes as I study them. When I was in college, I always dreamed of starting a jewelry line and I would spend hours drawing up designs and dreaming about the day that I could walk down the street and see someone wearing one of my pieces. It’s just a shame I can’t remember any of that now. The first tear drips down my cheek followed by a few more and I set the papers down before clamping my hand over my mouth. I’ve cried so much in the past few days, over my situation and missing my father which led to thoughts of my mother and that always leads to more tears.
“Whoa, what’s wrong?” Nico asks, her brows knitted together in concern and I shake my head.
“I’m so sorry, Nico. I really appreciate all this but it’s just… a lot. This business was my dream for so long and I just wish I could remember it.”
She shakes her head as she stands up and wraps me up in her arms. “Hey, don’t apologize to me. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through right now and I just want to help however I can. We’ll just go as slow as you want and we’ll have you remembering in no time.”
“Thank you,” I whisper as she pulls away. “I can tell what a great friend you are even if I don’t remember you.”
Shaking her head, she sinks back into her chair. “Aw, babe. Honestly, I always think about how lucky I am that you found me and decided to take a chance on me. I absolutely love working with you and I’m even happier to have you as a friend.”
“Oh, God!” I shriek, wiping the tears from my face as I shake my head. “Enough with the sappy stuff.”
Nico laughs. “You may not remember her but you’re still the same girl you were before the accident.”
“You don’t know how much it means to hear you say that. I feel so out of place, all the time. It’s like I want to just go home and feel safe and comfortable but it doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Sure, it does. I
t would just be home from five years ago.”
I study her as I remember my apartment in Baton Rouge and my chest aches so fiercely that I almost cry out again. Oh, God, what I wouldn’t give to be back there… Nico is absolutely right. Nothing feels right here because Miami isn’t home but just the thought of Baton Rouge is enough to put me at ease.
“Well, should we get back to this?” I ask as I swallow back my desire to go home and pick up the folder again. “Tell me about Gavin.”
She smiles. “What do you want to know?”
“Did he really take me to Fiji on our first date?” I ask, remembering my conversation with him. Nico laughs.
“Oh, yeah, he did. The day after the charity event, you were floating in the dang clouds and so happy after spending the entire evening with him but when you got back from that trip, I could tell that you were pissed.”
“So how did he win me over?”
Shaking her head, she crosses her arms over her chest and rolls her eyes. “Showed up at the office every day with a new bouquet of flowers for you until you agreed to one more date.”
I resist the urge to purse my lips. From the outside, it doesn’t seem like something that would win me over but who knows how I really felt back then when I was really living it.
“Tell me I put up a good fight, at least?”
“Two weeks,” she answers with a laugh and I smile as I give myself a little nod of approval. “And even then, you only agreed to a lunch date. When you got back, everything was back on track between the two of you.”
I pick up the first paper on the right side of the folder, a newspaper clipping of our engagement announcement. It’s dated two months ago with a gorgeous picture of Gavin and me featured front and center.
“How did he propose?”
“Oh, he took you to one of the fanciest restaurants in town and dropped down on his knee in front of a dining room full of people.”
I fight the urge to scrunch my nose up. When I was a little girl, I always imagined I’d find a boy I loved and he’d take me somewhere romantic with just the two of us before asking me to marry him. It would have been private and intimate, not in a crowded restaurant with a room full of people looking on but that’s just one more thing that I can’t judge since I don’t remember a second of it. Before I can ask her anything else, someone knocks on the door and my head jerks up as two men in suits walk into the room.
“Miss Shaw?” the shorter one asks and I nod as they both stop at the end of my bed and flash shiny gold badges at me.
“I’m Detective Bennett,” the tall one says before motioning to the other man. “And this is my partner, Detective Mason. We’re here to ask you a few questions about the accident.”
I glance over at Nico before meeting Detective Bennett’s gaze. “I’m not sure I can help. I don’t remember anything.”
“A lot of folks think that, Ma’am,” Detective Mason answers. “But you might have seen something you didn’t even realize at the time.”
“No, you don’t understand…”
“Don’t you want to find the person responsible for killing your father?” Detective Bennett asks, cutting me off and I arch a brow as I cross my arms over my chest. “Think of all the other people he could hurt if you don’t tell us what you know.”
“Am I allowed to speak now?”
They both nod.
“As I was trying to say, I cannot help you because I don’t remember anything from the last five goddamn years of my life so yes, maybe I saw something but I can’t remember what it is.”
“You have amnesia? Seriously?”
“Yes, she has amnesia,” Nico snaps, standing up from her chair. “She woke up three days ago and didn’t recognize me or her fiancé but hey, here’s an idea, why don’t you two do your damn jobs and tell us what you know about the accident?”
They share a look before Detective Mason steps forward. “Please forgive us, Ma’am. We didn’t get a chance to speak to the doctor before we came in here and we didn’t realize that your memory is gone.”
“It’s fine,” I answer with a nod as Nico flashes me a look that I ignore. “Can you tell me what you know?”
“Honestly, Ma’am… not much. We were really counting on your account of what happened. We did find white paint on the driver’s side door but there were no witnesses and no surveillance cameras caught the accident.”
I nod, my mind racing with new information. “Where did it happen?”
“About a mile and a half from your father’s estate. The other driver ran a stop sign and t-boned your father’s car. He was behind the wheel and took the brunt of the impact.”
“Are you thinking it was a drunk driver?” I ask and Detective Bennett shakes his head.
“It’s possible but there is just no way to be sure at the moment.”
“This is my card,” Detective Mason says, stepping forward and handing me a business card. “We’ll leave you be but if you think of anything or your memory returns, please give me a call.”
I nod. “I will. Thank you.”
We watch them leave before Nico turns back to me and plucks the card from my hand before setting it on the table.
“Don’t worry, Jules. I’m sure they’ll find him.”
Not feeling as confident as her, I give her a half-hearted nod and lie back into the pillows with a sigh. Someone knocks on the door and I turn as Dr. Wilson walks into the room. He flashes me a kind smile and I force myself to return it.
“Good news, Miss Shaw. You just might get to go home tomorrow.”
My cheeks ache as I force an even bigger smile to my face and my heart thunders in my chest, fear creeping up my spine. Here in the hospital, it’s so easy to pretend like everything is okay, like my life isn’t completely falling apart but what happens when I leave here? What happens when I have to go back to being a Juliette that I’m not sure exists anymore?
Chapter Four
Juliette
Sunlight beams down on me through the car window as we race down the interstate toward an apartment that everyone keeps telling me will help me get pieces of my life back but my stomach is in knots. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and feel the heat seeping into my skin. There was a park in Baton Rouge that was about a block from the apartment I shared with Mercedes all through college. I loved to go there and just sit by the river while I soaked up some sun. It always made me feel so peaceful and grounded, something I’m desperate for right now. When Dr. Wilson walked into my room right after breakfast this morning and told me that I was going home today like it was the greatest news I’d hear all week, I had to force a smile to my face and pretend like the thought of going home excited me but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I wish I was truly going home right now but the more I think about it, the more home feels like that amazing apartment in the heart of downtown Baton Rouge.
Mercedes and I first met when we were paired up as roommates freshman year and with our similar backgrounds, we hit it off right away. She quickly became the sister I’d never had and I was the same for her so when she went through a really bad breakup right before our sophomore year, we made the decision to live together again. I guess it’s no surprise that I can still see our place so clearly in my mind. For me, it was just the other day that I was living there and I miss its exposed brick walls, dark wood floors, and high ceilings. Living with Mercedes was the very best years of my life and I’m almost certain that I’m not just saying that because I can’t remember anything else.
“Here we are,” Gavin says, pulling me out of my thoughts and I open my eyes as he slows down and pulls into an underground parking garage.
Oh, fuck.
My belly does a little flip as my heart thunders so loudly in my chest that I’m surprised Gavin can’t hear it in the confined space of the car. We drive past a line of very nice cars, each one with a number painted on the concrete wall in front of it, before he slows again and pulls the car into a spot marked “penthouse”.
I watch him as he climbs out of the car and rounds the back before opening my door and holding his hand out to me. Sucking in a breath, I take it and swing my legs around before letting him gently pull me up out of the car. My body aches with each little movement but I push through it as I suck in a breath through clenched teeth. A bout of dizziness sets in and I wobble for a second before righting myself and forcing a smile to my face. Gavin beams at me and as he wraps a firm arm around my waist and pulls me into his side, I can feel his body vibrating with his excitement.
“I’ll come back down after I get you settled upstairs and get your things.”
I nod. “Okay.”
He closes the door with his free hand and we begin our trek from the car to what I assume is our private elevator twenty feet away. It’s slow going but Gavin is patient as he holds me up safely in his arms and guides me to the elevator. It opens right away when he pushes the button and he ushers me inside before hitting the only button on the panel. It prompts him for a code and I watch him as he punches it in.
0503 - my birthday.
I commit the code to memory as the door closes and the elevator starts going up. The closer we get to the penthouse, the faster my heart races and the more my belly flips. As I suck in a quiet breath, I squeeze my eyes shut and count to ten in an effort to calm my erratic nerves.
It’s going to be okay.
No matter how many times I silently repeat the mantra to myself, it doesn’t seem to do any good. I have no idea what is waiting for me once those elevator doors open and I barely know the man at my side but what other option did I have? I could have gone to my father’s house but just the thought of walking in there and knowing that I’d never hear his voice again or see his smile was too much to bear. So that left me with only one option since the place I truly want to be is damn near one thousand miles away.
