Chapter 75 - A Memory

Alice sat in the business lounge of the airport reading a file but the words seemed to be invisible. Her thoughts seemed to be stuck on what Adam had told her and her lips were still tingling from when he had kissed her. She didn't understand why she felt an affinity to him. As if she had known him for a long while. It had almost been a year since she had known him, she knew that but it felt longer.

Picking up her coffee, she watched someone walk in from the corner of her eye and somehow felt that it was K. A feeling of extreme disappointment invaded her senses as she realized that it wasn't. But it felt like an extreme sense of deja-vu as if she had seen him in the past. She sipped at the coffee and tried to erase the man's face from her mind. Finally, giving up on accomplishing any work, Alice placed the file in her bag and closed it with a sigh. Just then her flight was announced, and she walked towards the gate.

As Alice walked to her seat, her thoughts were pre occupied with him. At this time, she wished that she was the sixteen year old girl who was in love with the idea of love. Adam would have been her ideal partner, if she had been that girl. But now, she no longer believed in love or relationships. 

Just as she was about to sit down, she heard her name being called out. Turning around, her eyes widened as she glanced at the smiling face of the person on the other seat. "Lana?"

Seeing that the woman was indeed her friend, Lana jumped up from her seat and hugged Alice, throwing her arms around her. Alice, patted the woman awkwardly. Why was she being hugged by everyone today? First it was the boys from SKY, then Adam and now Lana. Had she missed a memo regarding hugging her.

But Lana, was already talking after moving back," Alice! How are you? It has been so long since we have met! I saw you recently on news! You are such a big shot CEO these days! You have no idea how proud I am of you! I recently saw you on news because of that boy band SKY! And do you know when I told all my colleagues that I knew you in school, they just don't believe me! How is Aunt doing? Is she still the same about nagging you to get a boyfriend? No! You already have a boyfriend, right? 'K' from SKY? Is he the same guy, you met on your vacation when we last met?"

"My mother passed away that year.."

This gave Lana a pause and the warm person she was, she gripped her hand and said sympathetically," I am so sorry for your loss! Is that why you disappeared that year and refused to contact us ? I made so many calls to you but you never replied! When you messaged me that you are not well, I thought you were upset about the guy who you had met but then. It was only when your father intervened and said that you wanted a break that I realized.. But I never knew..."

Lana realized that there was no point in continuing about the sadness of the past and how hurt and rejected she had been when she had realized that her friend did not want her anymore, she  changed the topics," Let's not talk about the past. I am going back to visit my parents this time. Will you be able to make time in the newt two weeks? I don't know if it is fate, but do you remember that you promised to be a bridesmaid for me when I married Jeff? And see, now that me and Jeff are really ready to tie the knot after so many years, I met you! I am not going to expect you to be a bridesmaid, don't worry but I would love to catch up with my friend."

Alice nodded absent mindedly and exchanged numbers with Lana as the flight attendants urged them to take their seats. Her head started to ache as she thought about the past. The memories of the past were now mingling in with the confusion of the present. Lana had just been proposed to by Jeff during their trip with school friends and it was during that trip that she had received her father's call about her mother's sickness. There was a time when she had hated Lana for being selfish and immersed in a relationship when she had been struggling with losing her mother. For leaving her alone when she needed her most. It was also one of the reasons that she had not believed in friends but these words made her realize that there was something fishy about this. 

Her memories from that time were hazy and this snippet combined with her recurrent dreams of a man left her even more confused! Letting the drone of the engines soothe her nerves, Alice closed her eyes and tried to sleep. She needed to be at the office directly from the airport and work the entire day so this was the only time she could catch on sleep.

The darkness surrounded her and her own grouchy voice echoed as she complained," Dam* it! Is nothing going to go right in this time?" As she tried to move, the man's beautiful voice replied," Well, I think I should be the one saying that, since I am the one who has been punched."

Standing up, Alice looked down in the general direction of the voice and apologized with a giggle," I am sorry. I didn't mean to punch you."

"Why do I don't believe that."

"Hehee.." 

Alice walked away tentatively as she counted her steps and then reached the outer room. Soon, she found the button for the generator and a few lights were switched back on. As she walked back to the living room, she planned to let the guy know that it would be next to impossible to go to a hotel now and she prepare a room for him. But when she walked out, the couch was empty...Just as she was about to call out his name, a figure covered with a white cloth tapped her on the back, making her frightened as she screamed loudly. You! I will kill you for scaring me so badly.

Alice woke up with a jerk. This time the dream was different from regular but it was the same voice. She rubbed her eyes and wondered at the voice. Somehow the voice seemed familiar but she had still failed to see the face of the person. But this time she was not as restless as in the past. Because this time she had a lead to confirm that this person was not a figment of her imagination.

Her eyes looked at the woman and she thought back to the girl who had once been her friend. So, it seems her father had interfered more than she had imagined or found out. He had been instrumental in alienating her from her friend as well. But now, she had someone who could tell her everything. 

Alice wanted to hit her head at her own stupidity. Why had she never doubted her father when he told her that Lana had decided to move out of the country to study and did not want to be disturbed. Why, later when she had found her father's duplicity in other matters had she not doubted that he had been involved in this also?

So, it seemed that she really had met someone at the seaside resort when she had gone for the trip. So, had her father interfered with that relationship also? At this point, her brows furrowed. It made no difference even if she had fallen for someone and the relationship had been nipped in the bud. She was not the same person now anyway.

Turning away her head, she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, only for Adam to then invade her dream, overlapping the other one,"Ahh! How can you scare me like this? What if I had a heart failure?"

"Ha! If you had a heart failure, I would have given you mouth to mouth and resuscitated you."

Covering her lips with both her palms , she protested, "Don't you dare!"

But Adam just laughed and said," Hey! I am just teasing you! I am a one woman man! Anyways, I went to get my phone to see if it had been charged a bit and I contacted the local taxi service. They said that it is going to be impossible to send anyone here until the roads are cleared. So I am going to have to beg you to be kind and let me stay."

"Scaring someone is not the way to ask for help!"

"Well! I wasn't trying to scare you! This is just to let you know that should a ghost come to scare you then I will protect you!"