***
It’s about eight twenty in the evening. Edward went to one of the nightclubs in New York with Daniel to try to help his buddy recall just something. After finding a free place in the parking lot, MacClife places his car in it without problems, while Daniel sitting in the passenger seat of the car looks around. “Hey, it’s a good place,” Daniel notices with a slight smile. “I already like it.” “Me too,” Edward replies cheerfully with a slight smile, knocking at the steering wheel with his fingers. “A good place to drink a glass of something strong, listen to good music, dance, and just talk to friends.” “Do you come here often?” “Yup, often. Sometimes, alone, and sometimes, with my friends. And I’ve even invited my fiancée a couple of times.” “Do you mean those two, who’re helping me? What are their names? Peter and…” “Terrence.” “Yes, Terrence.” “Not just them, I have a few more friends, with whom I can also spend time.” “Do I know them?” “Yeah, but I think you can’t remember them. You spoke to them, but much rarer than with Peter, Terrence, or me.” “And what are their names? What if their names help me recall something?” “Well… That’s Christopher, Kevin, and Benjamin…” “Christopher, Kevin, and Benjamin?” Daniel thinks for two seconds, frowning slightly. “Familiar names… I think I saw them in the notebook where I found Peter’s address.” “That’s how…” “Do the other guys know them?” “Sure! Somehow, I introduced Kevin and Christopher to the men and the girls, and they quickly got on well with them.” “And the third one?” “Benjamin? That’s Terrence’s childhood friend, but the others know him, too. And I got on well with him quickly when my brother introduced us to each other.” “Good,” Daniel smiles slightly. Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Daniel looks at his hands, one of which is still bandaged. “Okay, man, why we would be sitting here,” Edward breaks the silence, clearing his throat and fixing his hair, and slightly pulls down his unbuttoned light blue denim waistcoat placed above a light t-shirt. “Let’s go. Find a more or less quiet place and talk a little.” “Yeah, let’s go…” Daniel agrees. Edward cuts the engine, puts off his seat belt, leaves the car, and locks it when Daniel gets out of the car a little lazily. Then they confidently come to the building of a large club. A few seconds later, they enter it and immediately fall into the atmosphere that tells everyone to have a lot of fun. There are not so many people here, even though this place is pretty popular. The club music is not very loud this time, and many spotlights of different colors light up the large, dark room with a dance floor, a bar, and the VIP zone, where special people are hanging out. Edward and Daniel quickly get used to the atmosphere and shake their heads along with the music, as they try to go by the people walking somewhere, dancing, or drinking something while standing or sitting. Someone can hardly stand on their feet after drinking too much alcohol. And someone tries to stand and keep dancing or sitting on the table or the bar and trying not to knock out or fall asleep. After going by all these people successfully, but with some difficulties, the friends finally come to the place where there are multiple bars, tables, and chairs. Edward looks around and sees that all the tables are now taken just by one person. So, he and Daniel sit at the bar table. Then Perkins looks around and is surprised truly by some people, who are very drunk but keep trying to stand or drink another glass. “Some people are barely standing on their feet,” Daniel notices. “I think so,” Edward pronounces quietly. “That’s a frequent thing at this type of place. If you drink too much, you’ll be shaking like this.” “How much someone should drink to act like this.” “Someone should take a sip, and someone wouldn’t get drunk after drinking a bottle.” “Yeah…” Daniel looks at all the people here again, while Edward looks for someone from the bar staff and raises his hand, asking someone to come to him. And a few seconds later, a blonde comes to the friends and smiles gently at them. “Good afternoon,” the girl says politely. “What will you order?” “Good afternoon,” Edward replies amicably. “I think I will order a Coke with ice…” “Erm…” Daniel stutters. “I think I will order the same. A glass of Coke, please…” “Alright, I will do it,” the barmaid nods with a slight smile. The girl goes to work on the order, while Edward and Daniel watch her for a few seconds. “Of course, I’d be happy to buy some alcohol, but I can’t do that,” Edward confesses. “I’m driving. I don’t wanna be deprived of my driver's license.” “But I can do this.” “Better don’t.” “Why?” “I’m not sure if you can drink.” “No, I think I can drink, but not very much.” “Aren’t you afraid of feeling bad?” “I wouldn’t drink too much!” Daniel throws his hands up. “Just a couple of sips.” “Anyway, you should take care of yourself now.” “Okay, I got you. I will be drinking the same as you.” “That’s good,” Edward smiles slightly. “Drinking alcohol is dangerous for you now. Let’s not risk.” “As you wish.” Daniel cracks a smile and moves his eyes to his hands. Silence settles in the talk, during which the men look around silently, listen to music, and watch the people being here. “Okay, you kinda said you wanted to talk to me…” Edward says thoughtfully. “I’m ready to listen to you and answer all your questions.” “Yeah, thank you again for agreeing to spend time with me,” Daniel thanks with a slight smile. “And I’m sorry for bothering you.” “Don’t worry, Daniel, you didn’t bother me. I did say I wanted to go somewhere tonight. And I’m glad you decided to accompany me.” “Thanks, Terrence.” “I’m Edward.” “Oh, sorry!” Daniel pronounces guiltily and scratches the back of his head. “Sorry, I can’t memorize everybody… Remember who is who…” “It’s okay,” Edward comforts with a slight smile. “We completely understand it.” “Okay… Erm… Edward… Erm… Correct?” “Correct.” “Hey, and Terrence…” Daniel bites his lip slightly. “He…” “He’s my brother. Older brother.” “It’s much harder to memorize you ‘cause you look too alike.” “I agree. And people often say we’re similar. And those, who barely know us, actually confuse us. They call me Terrence and think he’s me…” “I guess it irritates you.” “No, not at all. I do personally like being similar to Terrence.” “And how do you get on?” “Very good. He’s my best friend, who knows me like nobody else does. My brother always understands when he should support me, comfort me, or encourage me… I have to say nothing, ‘cause Terrence would understand it without words.” “Do you love each other so much?” “Sure. I love my bro with all my heart and don’t know what I would do without him. Of course, Terry terribly annoys me at times and makes me wish to strangle him. But without him, my life wouldn’t be so interesting.” “Okay…” Daniel smiles slightly and leans on the appearance of the bar table with his elbow. “And how did I meet you two?” “First, Peter and you met Terrence, and then my brother introduced me to you both.” “Really?” “Yes. Rose and you came to us and asked Terrence to talk to him. You had a conflict because of the girl, who turned you against my brother by saying many bad things. But you came to him, apologized, and said you weren’t right.” “My gosh…” “And…” Edward thinks for two seconds, biting his lip slightly and glancing aside. “I met you and Peter here… At this place…” “This place?” Daniel wonders. “Yup. And nothing has changed since that moment. Even if it’s been a little more than one year.” “Hm…” Daniel looks around, starting to realize that what surrounds him seems familiar, but his memories of this place are very vague. “The place is kinda familiar… I’ve kinda been here.” “Do you remember something? And what do you actually feel?” “The memories are very vague… Some sharps… But a picture is very blurry…” “Can’t you remember anything, even being in familiar places?” “Alas,” Daniel shrugs. “Nothing…” “My gosh…” “And you know… It makes me feel lousy.” Daniel moves his eyes toward Edward hesitantly. “I think I look like a crazy man at first sight…” “No, Daniel, don’t be ashamed. Your memory loss is a temporary thing. You’ll remember everything little by little and stop feeling like this.” “I would love to… I feel too terrible. As if I’m not living my life.” “Your friends and I are doing our best for you to get your memories back and become yourself again.” “I know.” Silence settles in the talk for two seconds, during which Daniel moves his eyes to the dancing people, and Edward knocks at the surface of the bar table with his fingers. “Hey, is that true you’re gonna have a wedding soon?” Daniel asks hesitantly. “Or… No?” “It’s true,” Edward replies confidently with a slight smile. “I’m gonna marry my beloved girl very soon. I’m gonna do it on the same day as my brother. And our beloved girls, who have been friends since school time, will become relatives.” “Really?” “Yes! Nobody thought it would happen. But since the beloved woman of my bro got such a wonderful friend, who stole my heart immediately, I can’t refuse the chance to make her mine.” “Are you really sure you wanna get married?” “Yes, I am,” Edward nods with a wide smile. “I love that girl madly much and can’t imagine anyone but her by my side. Natalia is my everything. And I don’t know what I would do without the one, who supports me and gives me the strength and a wish to move on.” “How long have you been together?” “A little more than one year.” “And… As I understand, did you propose to her?” “Sure! In March. I found the most beautiful ring and asked her to become my wife on one of those days. And she agreed.” “Great,” Daniel smiles slightly. “But the way to this decision was hard.” “Why?” “One day, Natalia, my fiancée, and I had to overcome something that became the reason why we almost broke up,” Edward confesses with sadness in his eyes. “I thought she lied to me and betrayed our love. But the situation was much harder and more horrible. And I left her at a hard time, even if I didn’t know it… I found out the truth too late…” “And did you reconcile?” “Yup. We realized that we couldn’t live without each other and decided to give our relationship another chance. And I’m madly happy it happened. If I didn’t have that girl in my life, I would lose the meaning of living. After that story, I realized I loved Natalia very much. And… I proposed to her, being sure that our family life would make us much happier than we are now.” “And what do you feel when you look at your fiancée?” “A wish to defend her from any bad things. Hug her and kiss her… Natalia is a very sentimental and sensitive girl. She may seem a little sassy, but she’s actually an incredibly tender creature that constantly needs love and care. Just like a child.” “And don’t you wanna step away from her? Don’t you feel coldness or something like that when she hugs or kisses you?” “C’mon, dude! I do wanna hug and press her to myself every second that I spend with her. She gives me a sense of warmth and care… I always feel peaceful next to her… I forget about all my problems and anxiety. And I don’t doubt that I’ll feel like home where I’m living with her.” “Did she change your life so much?” “She turned it upside down.” Edward glances aside. “In a good sense. For her, I’m ready for everything. She helped me change for the better and taught me to be more confident and much braver.” “Weren’t you like this before?” “I used to pretend to be the one. But now it’s otherwise. Somehow, people didn’t believe me when I said I feared nothing and nobody, and laughed at me. But now I hear it much rarely. They finally believed in me. And I realized I could be much stronger than I thought.” “I’m glad for you,” Daniel smiles slightly. “But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed. My sentimentality. Many people say I’m a too sentimental man because I don’t hide my feelings and express my emotions too wildly. And I was ashamed of that somehow. But now I understand that this is me. The real me. Even if I can cry from an offense, despair, or fear.” “That’s cool.” “Emotions and feelings will not die if you’re hiding them and keeping them inside you. They will be killing you slowly and bringing you where you will hardly come back.” “I think you’re right.” “Natalia made me understand that’s my individuality. I can show too many emotions, but I ain’t ashamed of it now. Because I feel me. And I don’t listen to those, who say a man doesn’t cry and must hold down his emotions down and be cold. Being unique doesn’t mean getting ashamed or being bad. It means going your own way and doing what you want.” “Sounds inspiring…” “I can’t be stoned. Especially, when I have my beloved fiancée by my side. I want and will show my emotions for her. And I really don’t care what people say. May the whole world know how much I love Natalia. My gorgeous blonde that makes me better every day.” Daniel says nothing and just smiles shyly, thinking about the feelings that he feels when Blanca is next to him. Understanding that it’s not what would fit the description that Edward gave. It’s all otherwise… He does not get attracted to the Spaniard. He does not want to kiss, hug, and be next to her. And while the man thinks about it, the barmaid comes to him and MacClife, Jr., a few seconds later, holding two glasses filled with a little quantity of Coke that she places against the man with a slight smile. “Thanks a lot,” Edward says gently. “Yeah, thanks,” Daniel thanks. “Erm, sorry for bothering you, guys…” the girl says hesitantly, looking at Edward and Daniel. “But your faces seem familiar to me…” “Really?” “Yes… You must be the men from ‘Against The System’, a rock band that recently released their first single.” While Daniel does not understand what the girl is talking about, Edward takes the initiative, trying to pretend that nothing happened to his friend. “Yes, yes, you’re right,” Edward confirms confidently with a slight smile. “That’s us. Edward MacClife, a lead guitarist, and Daniel Perkins, a bassist.” “I got it,” the girl replies amicably. “Not recognizing you is impossible.” “Have you listened to our single, ‘The Story About Us?’” “Of course! Many times! I downloaded it on my phone and listen to it constantly. And your song is often being played at our club and on the radio.” “We’re very glad you liked our single.” “I can’t wait to hear your album.” “One or two singles are going to be out before.” “Excellent! I will listen to them with pleasure. And I hope such talented guys like you will go far.” “Thank you so much. That’s nice to hear it.” “You know, I think you’ve already been here…” the girl notices thoughtfully. “But a long time ago… One or and a half years ago…” “Yeah,” Edward smiles slightly. “We’ve been here before.” “So, I was not wrong.” “Did you really recognize us, even if it’s been so much time?” “Of course! I have a very good memory for faces and can easily say who comes here for the first time or for the hundredth time.” “My gosh…” Daniel wonders truly. “By the way, I can say two more men were with you on the day you came here. Though, you did not come here all together.” “Right,” Edward nods. “It happened.” “You, Edward, were here with a man, who was very similar to you. He had the same black hair but had a taller height. That was Terrence MacClife.” “Truth. I came here with my brother.” “I thought he was saddened. But I think it had to do with the rumors about his breakup with the model, Raquelle Cameron.” “Yeah, but thank God, it didn’t happen. As you know, my brother is now very happy with his fiancée and is getting ready for the wedding. As well as my fiancée and me.” “I can’t wait to see the photos from the wedding ceremony,” the girl smiles shyly. “And me?” Daniel asks hesitantly. “Who was I with? Do you remember?” “Sure. You, Daniel, were with a very handsome blond.” “Blond?” “Yeah, Peter Rose… He plays drums in your band. I must confess that the guy is very cute. And he had just incredible blond hair. But you know, I have a crush on blond men… They’re so handsome.” “Our fans love not only his hair but also his body,” Edward notices with a slight smile. “When he plays with his muscles, girls start screaming with delight.” “There’s a reason,” the girl smiles mysteriously. “That guy can drive anyone crazy without saying a word.” “And what were we doing?” Daniel frowns slightly. “First, you were sitting on this bar table. But on that edge.” the girl points at the edge of the bar table, on which some men are sitting. “You were laughing at something for a long time but ordered nothing. And then you looked around, saw two black-haired men, who were sitting on one of the tables, and sat down with them.” “You mean the MacClife brothers?” “Yes. The girl, who does not work today but will come tomorrow, was serving them. She was trying to get their attention on her, but they did not care. It hurt her, and that girl was complaining to me and our colleagues that those men didn’t want to notice her.” “Yes, I remember her,” Edward smiles slightly. “She really tried to get the attention of my brother and me. But I was in love with another girl, and Terrence wanted to look at nobody because he still loved Raquelle.” “She flirts with all sympathetic men. Very amorous girl. That’s why her relationship doesn’t last for longer than two months.” “Nobody would like someone to flirt with everyone. I would also run away from this type, to be honest.” “I understand.” Although Daniel does not remember everything the girl has said, he decides to pretend that he does not have amnesia, using the fact that Edward is trying to hide this fact somehow, as well. “I must confess that you have a very good memory,” Daniel says with a slight smile. “You described everything we did them so well.” “And I believe you had fun together,” the girl assumes. “You smiled a lot and laughed… Drunk something… And even went to dance later… And I must confess that you all moved well.” “Thank you so much…” Edward thanks amicably and moves his eyes to the name tag that the girl is wearing on her uniform. “Claire…” “Oh…” Claire gets a little confused, slightly fixing her name tag. “Read my name on the card?” “Yes. I believe it’s your name?” “That’s correct. My name is Claire.” “Nice to meet you.” “Me too. And yeah, I want to advise you to keep doing what you do. Do not pay attention to haters, and do make your fans happy with your music. You only work for those, who love you.” “Thanks, Claire,” Daniel replies amicably, smiling as if nothing happened. Claire smiles shyly at Edward and Daniel and then, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, glances at her colleagues, who are servicing the clients sitting on the bar table. “Alright, guys, I have to go,” Claire says thoughtfully. “I must work. Sorry for bothering you with talking.” “It’s alright,” Edward smiles slightly. “I will pay for the order a little later.” “Alright. Call me when you are ready.” Claire turns around and goes to do her business, while Edward and Daniel watch her with slight smiles on their faces. “Honestly, I didn’t understand what she was talking about,” Daniel confesses hesitantly. “Did you recall nothing after her stories?” Edward asks, running his hand through his hair. “Nope, nothing… I mean… I think something like that happened, but I ain’t sure.” “It’s okay, you’ll remember.” Edward takes two sips of Coca-Cola from his glass. “It’s gonna be okay.” “So, is your band called ‘Against The System’?” “Yes, it’s our band.” “Against The System? And what does it mean?” “It means doing anything we love and breaking some rules,” Edward explains with a shy smile. “Cool!” “Our fans might even get a name – Rebels. Our rebels.” “My gosh…” Daniel takes two sips of Coke, the taste of which is definitely good for him. “M-m-m, I like it.” “I love it, too,” Edward confesses. “I think alcohol wouldn’t be worse.” “When you come to yourself after the head trauma, you will drink.” “Come on.” Daniel puts his glass aside after two more sips. “Of course, it’s nice to get this care, but you shouldn’t be so worried.” “You’re my friend. And I always care about my friends. Not less than my family and beloved girl.” “You know…” Daniel smiles shyly. “You seem a cool guy. I like speaking to you. And when you talk about your fiancée with such tenderness, I wanna smile.” “Everyone says Natalia and I are so cute that they wanna smile,” Edward laughs quietly and takes another sip of Coke. “That we give everybody a good mood.” “At least, talking to you is really easy for me.” “For me, it also became much easier to talk to people after I stopped being shy about my emotions.” Silence settles in the air, during which a company of young boys and girls go by Daniel and Edward, as they laugh at something quietly. And a few seconds later, MacClife, Jr., feels the vibration of his mobile phone in the pocket of his waistcoat. “Oh, someone’s calling me…” Edward says thoughtfully. “Can you wait for me to go to a quieter place and answer?” “Sure, I’ll wait,” Daniel shrugs. “Go. I’ll stay here.” “I’ll be back soon. Don’t be bored.” Edward stands up from the bar table and leaves quickly, getting through the crowd of drunk people, some of whom laugh at something loudly. While Daniel stays alone and starts to think about everything he finds out every day. “So, I met that guy here…” Daniel frowns slightly, knocking on the table with his fingers. “Erm… What’s his name… Terrence? And that girl said Peter and the brother of that guy… Hm… I wonder why did I fight with him?” Daniel slowly runs his hands over his face and looks into the distance. “Fuck, how it’s all hard! I feel so lousy, while I get surprised by everything, and people around me act quietly. That’s good that guy is trying to save the situation somehow… He didn’t tell the girl that I remember nothing…” Daniel glances aside and takes two more sips of Coke. “But the fact that too much seems familiar to me definitely gives me relief… I have a feeling that I’ve been here and know all those people… At least, I obviously know the blond… I mean, I know Peter tried to kill himself and saw him lying in blood… I don’t think someone would let a stranger into their apartment… But I was here! With someone else… So, it means the blond and I supposedly know each other…” Daniel runs his hand through his hair and rummages about it. “Damn, what should I do to finally find out if those people tell me the truth? I thought a talk with one of them would help me, but it didn’t… I can’t remember anything… Though… I only talked with Peter and that black-haired guy. There are also the girls. It would be great to talk to them. And then think about Blanca… Meet her family… Find out what they know.” Daniel glances aside for a second. “And it’s weird that I don’t feel like I know Blanca…” Daniel frowns slightly. “I don’t get attracted to her… I don’t think she’s familiar to me… I feel nothing from what Terrence said. There’s something special in his eyes when he talks about the girl that he loves… But I don’t feel it… Hm… What if I remember how to love later? What if I don’t know how to love yet? Or did I forget that? I forgot almost everything because of my head trauma… I only remember something about myself and my family. And how to serve me… And that’s good… I shake when I think someone would serve me like a child or a helpless man…” And while Daniel is reflecting on the situation, Terrence enters the nightclub, who, as he promised, came here a little later to talk to Perkins and relax with a glass in his hands. He confidently enters the room with a dancepool and bar tables, as he is talking on his mobile phone with someone and looking around. “Okay, I’m here now,” Terrence tries to shout out music. “Where’s he?” “Sitting on the bar table,” Edward replies confidently. “Wearing black jeans and a black leather jacket.” “Ah, I got it! I see him!” Terrence stops his eyes on Daniel sitting on one of the bar tables, wrapping his finger around the edge of his glass and looking into the distance. “He’s sitting there! Staring at something!” “Go to him now! I’m now in the restroom. Gonna join you in two seconds.” “Okay! Do everything we agreed about!” “Okay, I’m turning off. Or I’ll be deaf because of your shouts.” “Deal! Come to us!” Terrence ends the call, puts his phone in the pocket of his dark blue jeans, and slightly fixes his black leather jacket with lots of zippers and rivets, looking around at the same time. Raising his head up proudly, the man confidently gets through the crown and stops a few centimeters away from Daniel sitting at the bar table. “Hm, what’s he drinking there?” Terrence frowns slightly. “Did Perkins still remain an irresponsible dork, who couldn’t refuse drinks, even after losing his memory? Or did my brother stop him?” After watching Daniel for two more seconds, Terrence exhales sharply, running his hand over his hair, and comes to the bar table confidently. The man sits on a high chair, looks at the barmaid named Claire, who talked to Edward and Daniel some time ago, and makes a calling gesture, pretending that he does not see Perkins sitting next to him. “A glass of port wine, please,” Terrence asks correctly. Claire nods, quickly recognizing Terrence not only as a member of “Against The System” but also as a talented actor. Daniel also recognizes the man, who is sitting next to him, but he hesitates for two seconds, not finding the courage to call him with the thought that he might be wrong. However, two seconds later, the man exhales sharply and pronounces hesitantly: “Erm, excuse me…” Terrence moves his eyes to Daniel and smiles amicably. “Oh, Daniel!” Terrence exclaims. “What a surprise! Did you decide to come here, too?” “Yeah,” Daniel shrugs. “As you see…” “I see you have also decided to have a rest here, Terrence MacClife,” Claire says with a slight smile, takes a glass, and fills it with something from a bottle, standing not far from Terrence and Daniel. “I decided to drink something,” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “Relax a little and have fun.” “I see. Your brother and friend are also here.” “My brother?” Terrence arches his eyebrows. “He’s here?” “Yes, Edward’s here. But he went out before you came. I think someone called him.” “Wow… He didn’t say he’d come here.” “By the way, his glass is placed against you. He ordered a Coke with ice.” “This one?” Terrence glances at the glass with some quantity of Coke. “Yes.” “Okay…” Terrence pronounces thoughtfully, running his hand over his hair. “Hey, what about your drummer?” Claire smiles shyly and puts the glass of port wine against Terrence. “Will that blond-haired, pretty boy, Peter Rose, join you?” “Sadly, no. Peter is a little busy today, and he couldn’t join me.” “Sorry. Very sorry.” “Next time, we will come all together.” “I hope,” Claire smiles shyly, moving her eyes to her hands for a second. “Alright, excuse me, but I have to work. If you want to order something or pay for your order, let me know it. I will not be far.” “Alright, thanks a lot.” Claire goes somewhere quickly, coming to one of the barmen, who asks her to do something. While Daniel knocks on the glass with his fingers quietly, and Terrence looks at him questioningly. “Hey, what are you thinking?” Terrence asks anxiously. “Coke,” Daniel shrugs. “Isn’t really alcohol?” “Nope, I ordered what your brother did.” “I worry because you can’t drink alcohol for some time after the head trauma.” “Yeah, the doctor said it…” Daniel replies thoughtfully, scratching the back of his head. “But he added that if I felt good, I could drink a little. He advised me to listen to myself. And I actually feel good enough.” “I think you should take care of yourself more. You wanna recall everything as soon as possible! If it’s so, you should do what your doctor says.” “I do. I do everything he says. I’m gonna go to a doctor soon for a planned examination to know if I’m alright.” “Are you sure you feel good?” “Yes, yes, don’t worry,” Daniel smiles slightly. “Okay, as you wish…” Terrence shrugs. Silence settles in the air, during which Terrence glances at Edward’s glass. “So, did you come here with my brother?” Terrence asks. “Yeah, we came together,” Daniel nods and takes a sip of Coke. “I asked Terrence to meet me. After I found his number on my phone.” “Sorry, Daniel, but actually, I am Terrence,” Terrence laughs shyly. “And he’s Edward.” “Oops, sorry!” Daniel claps himself on the forehead. “Sorry, I’m so embarrassed… I’m really sick of confusing everybody’s names constantly.” “C’mon, dude, relax. It’s okay.” “The only people, who I remember more or less, are Peter and Natalia. They… Have blond hair… And I can’t remember the others… And it’s much harder to memorize you and your brother ‘cause you’re like twins.” “I think you just should meet us often. And you’ll memorize everybody.” “Yeah, Edward… I think you’re right…” “Terrence.” “Damn, again!” Daniel swears. “Okay, let’s not talk about it!” Terrence takes a sip of port wine from his glass. “You better say, why did you decide to call Edward?” “Well, at least because his name was the first in a contact list on my phone… I… Noticed it immediately… And… As I know it, I decided to call.” “That’s how.” “Hey, is that true this is the place where I met him?” “True. Edward met you and Peter here a little more than one and a half years ago. I went here with him, and you and Rose came to us and asked for permission to sit down. And you apologized to me.” “Did we fight?” “Yeah, one girl told you many bad things about me, and you believed it without finding out something. But you realized you were deceived when she confessed that she lied.” “And what was the girl?” “The daughter of the one to work with the band, in which Peter and you had played before we started ‘Against The System’. I tried to hook up with her for a career in the band and revenge on another girl. But at some moment, I got sick of this show. I confessed that I acted and paid for it: I was kicked outta the band, and that girl got you and the blond to fight with me.” “Okay… And your brother?” “He joined our party on the day when you sat down with us. At first, he just helped with the band’s work, but he recently became a full member of it.” “By the way, the barmaid that gave you a drink recognized us… I didn’t understand what she said, but your brother confirmed everything and said it was true.” “And you can believe. None of us would lie to you. We’re telling you what really happened and trying to help you recall everything.” “I’d like to figure it all out soon.” “Hey…” Terrence takes a few sips from his glass and puts it aside. “Haven’t you recalled anything yet?” “No, that guy says something, but nothing clicks,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “Almost all the places that I visit and almost all the people around me are familiar to me. I have a feeling that I knew it before… But I can’t remember when, how, and where. I’ve got a hole in my memory! I can remember nothing!” “Absolute hole?” “Yup…” “But you know what happened to Peter somehow.” “How do you know it?” Daniel frowns slightly. “Rose said you went to his home. Yesterday.” “Erm… Yeah, I was. I found his home address accidentally and went there… And I met his dog… Very good, just saying.” “That’s Sammy, the dog of Helene, his girlfriend.” “I liked that dog. It’s clear that he’s attracted to Peter. He always went around him.” “Sammy considers him a second owner. And Peter watches that doggy with pleasure when Helene works.” “Yeah, I know…” Daniel says thoughtfully with a slight smile. The young men fall into silence and glance aside. And a few seconds later, Edward fixing his thick, gorgeous hair on the way, comes to Daniel and Terrence confidently. “Here I am!” Edward exclaims cheerfully. “Oh, you’re back,” Daniel pronounces amicably. “I’m talking to this guy.” Edward moves his eyes to Terrence and rounds his eyes, pretending that they met here by chance. “Terrence?” Edward pronounces surprisingly. “What a surprise!” “Oh, bro, you’re here!” Terrence smiles shyly. “Hi there!” “Hiya!” Edward and Terrence greet each other by hugging and sharing a homie handshake. “So, is this glass really yours?” Terrence asks, glancing at the glass placed on the bar table. “Yup, mine,” Edward nods confidently and takes his glass, from which he takes a couple of sips. “Listen, guys…” Terrence looks at Daniel and Edward. “It happened that we came together in the place where our company spent time together for the first time?” “Right! But Peter is missing. Otherwise, we’d say we’ve really come together at the place where I met him and Daniel.” “Sorry that he couldn’t come,” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “Although I talked to the blond, it would be good to meet him again.” “Don’t worry, dude, we’ll meet many times.” “Aha,” Terrence agrees. “We’re gonna make you remember who is who. You kinda confuse all the names.” “That’s true…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly. “I don’t even wanna call someone’s names, ‘cause I don’t wanna get wrong.” “I’ve already said everything’s gonna be okay,” Edward replies confidently. “It won’t last forever.” “But who knows when it will happen…” “Soon, buddy, soon,” Terrence says quietly. “You can call that barmaid again and ask her to tell you about all of us and make you memorize our faces,” Edward laughs quietly. “Did she say something?” “Oh, yeah! Claire, that barmaid, told us everything we were doing when we were here all together. Where we were sitting, who we came with, what we ordered, when we went to dance… She did even mention the waiter, who pouted after realizing that you and I weren’t interested in her.” “Wow, what a memory!” Terrence wonders and takes a little sip from his glass. “I don’t remember that girl.” “And I recalled her after hearing that.” “So, is it all really true?” Daniel specifies. “It is!” Terrence exclaims. “I did tell you that Edward and I had come here and talked before Peter and you came to us and asked if you could sit down…” “And while you were saying something, I felt like I was one too many and dreaming of getting out,” Edward adds. “But I forgot about it quickly and got on well with your gang somehow.” “My gosh…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully. “You will understand us when you remember everything,” Terrence says confidently. “I could repeat it all, but it’s as painful for me as it is for Peter to remember why he tried to kill himself. And I don’t wanna talk about it… I’m just gonna say I paid a high cost for it.” “Your brother said you took revenge on one girl.” “Yeah… Raquelle…” “Who you’re gonna marry?” “Exactly. We were about to break up, but the crisis was gone. And now we’re getting ready for the wedding.” “This guy is gonna get married soon, too.” “Yeah, my bro and I are gonna marry our beauties very soon,” Terrence says with a slight smile. “I’m gonna get a cool sister-in-law that I already love and accepted in my family.” “Even if you disliked Natalia, I would marry her anyway,” Edward says confidently. “And I wouldn’t listen to you.” “Yes, yes, I know you’re a mean donkey and a permanent pain in the ass. Don’t continue.” “Listen…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly, pointing at Terrence. “Erm… I forgot again… Terrence…” “Yeah…” Terrence smiles amicably. “Say… Do you love your fiancée?” “Of course, I love! I can’t imagine my life without that girl. Yes, sometimes Cameron loves playing on my nerves. But it’s interesting to be with her. Not boring at all.” “And what do you feel when your fiancée is near you?” “A very strong affection,” Terrence replies confidently. “Raquelle got my attention when I just looked at her. She’s got crazy energy… Something attractive… She’s incredibly sexy and has always been freaking confident.” “You wanna kiss and hug her?” “Always. When she’s near me, it’s hard to resist. And at those moments, I understand more and more that nobody else would make me feel the drive that I feel with her. Raquelle is the only one to wake up an incredibly strong fire inside me.” “And what about a wish to help with something and take care?” “I obviously have it! Otherwise, our relationship would’ve been over a long time ago. Raquelle and I started to date when we were obsessed with a strong passion and began to get attracted to each other much later. And realized it’s important to take care of your beloved person. Now I’m always ready to take care of her, and she’s always worried when something happens to me. My fiancée is freaking attractive and super smart and caring. I’m so lucky I chose her.” “That’s how…” Daniel smiles slightly, thinking about the situation with Blanca again. “This guy also talks about his beloved girl with delight,” Daniel thinks. “His eyes are shining. Everything’s the same as in the case of his brother. Is this really love? Does the fact that I feel nothing for Blanca mean that I don’t feel love?” “Listen, Dan, why are you asking us about it?” Edward frowns slightly. “First, you asked me about my feelings for Natalia, and now you asked Terrence to tell you about his love for Raquelle.” “Indeed, Perkins!” Terrence exclaims. “Did you forget how to love?” “I think so…” Daniel replies hesitantly. “Yeah…” Terrence scratches the back of his head and strokes his hair down. “Hard case…” “C’mon, Daniel, don’t worry,” Edward encourages with a slight smile. “You’ll get your memory back little by little.” “You better say, ‘thank you’ that the consequences of the head trauma didn’t lead to something worse,” Terrence adds confidently. “I can only say ‘thank you’ for being able to serve myself,” Daniel exhales sharply and takes a sip from his glass. “That nobody has to take care of me like a child.” “Nothing in this world happens immediately. Sometimes we need a lot of time to understand something, reach for some success, and make our biggest dream come true.” Daniel says nothing and just shrugs, while Edward looks around and sees a free table. The one, at which all of them were sitting on the day they came all together for the first time. “Oh, listen, lads, let’s sit at a table?” Edward suggests and points at the table. “That table has just been freed! I can’t stand next to you forever.” “Good idea!” Terrence agrees, gets up from the bar table, and takes the glass of port wine. “Let’s sit in a much quieter place.” “It would be great,” Daniel says and gets up, as well, taking his glass of Coke. “I could lean back, after all…” Edward, Terrence, and Daniel quietly go to the free table, passing by the drunk young people. And while Perkins goes behind and looks around sometimes, the MacClife brothers go ahead and look at each other. “Nothing new,” Edward shrugs. “He always says the same. Everything seems familiar, but there are no memories. And he can’t memorize any names.” “Yeah,” Terrence replies quietly. “The case is too hard.” “And to be honest, I don’t know what to do.” “Me too. I feel it’s all gonna take a lot of time.” “At least he does know about Peter’s suicide attempt. That’s just something.” “He knows about the attempt, but he didn’t remember him.” “Yeah… Interesting…” “But knowing that he almost fainted when watching Peter’s blood, that memory is really super strong. That event did shake him up.” “Not only then. Rose said Perkins almost passed out from excitement yesterday.” “Yeah… He remembers nothing but keeps fearing blood and fainting at the sight of it.” “The brain doesn’t remember, the body does.” Edward says nothing and just nods, while Daniel, Terrence, and he come to the table. The young people sit on it the way they were sitting on the day when they spent time together: the brothers sit together, and Perkins sits in front of them. And he immediately starts to feel something weird, looking at the empty place next to him suspiciously and the MacClife brothers, who are sitting the way they did in the event of the past. “It’s weird…” Daniel frowns slightly. “It seems like something like this happened one day… Though, I think someone else is supposed to sit next to me…” “I’m ready to bet everything seems familiar to him again,” Edward says confidently, bending to Terrence so he hears him better, while music is playing here and making any sounds quieter. “It’s happening,” Terrence agrees. “Look how he looks at everything around. He definitely thinks someone’s missing.” “But I feel it wouldn’t lead to anything good. He’ll keep saying everything is familiar, but he can remember nothing.” “It’s okay, he’ll remember everything, early or late. Perkins won’t remind an idiot that looks around with dumbfounded eyes.” Edward exhales sharply and glances aside, while Daniel drinks some Coke before he gets attention on him hesitantly: “Hey, guys… Can I ask you something?” “Yes, sure,” Edward shrugs. “Speak.” “You know… Erm…” Daniel bites his lip slightly. “Yesterday, I was at the home of… Peter… The blond…” “Yeah, we know,” Terrence replies confidently. “Peter told us about it.” “And he said you recalled his suicide attempt,” Edward adds. “I could say so…” Daniel replies hesitantly. “It happened when I went to the bathroom… I thought… I saw a blond-haired guy lying on the floor in a pool of blood… And… Someone else trying to help him.” “That was you and Terrence. You tried to help Peter.” “Yeah, that guy said… He confirmed that he was him. And he said Terrence was with him, and he had called him before he committed the suicide attempt.” “That’s correct,” Terrence nods confidently. “I was really with you when Peter openly expressed a wish to die and said goodbye.” “Pete did even write a death note that he put on the door handle,” Edward adds. “Yes. He apologized for his act and said he could no longer live like that.” “I think Peter said it…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully, grabbing the glass placed in front of him with both hands. “And… I’m making sure that’s true… I was so scared at that moment… I literally felt everything that was happening to someone in my memory… I heard some pieces of phrases… I even felt bad when looking at the floor and seeing the blood that wasn’t there… I felt nausea… Felt dizziness… It was hard to stand…” “And can’t you really remember who you were with on that day?” Terrence wonders. “Peter said that was you. But I can’t remember you. Neither your face nor your voice…” “But that was really me. We tried to help Peter together.” “Honestly, I thought I was going crazy, at first… That I had hallucinations… That was really creepy… I got so excited that I could even barely breathe… I calmed down only when Peter got me out of the bathroom…” “Anyway, you can be sure that wasn’t your hallucination,” Edward replies confidently and softly. “You saw what really happened. Yes, that’s horrible, but alas… We really almost lost Peter.” “And if I know he wanted to die, I’m starting to make sure that… I know at least him.” “Peter and you have known each other for much longer than Terrence and I know you.” “He said we’re very close friends. Almost like brothers.” “That’s true,” Terrence smiles slightly. “Peter and you are really very close. You’ve been friends for a very long time.” “Anyway, he seems a good guy to me.” “Pete is a cool man,” Edward says with a shy smile. “It’s always interesting and funny with him.” “Listen, why did he actually want to kill himself?” Daniel folds his hands in front of himself. “Peter said it’s unpleasant for him to remember that. He just confessed he was refusing to have relationships for a long time.” “You’re right, the story is really bad,” Terrence says with sadness in his eyes. “Peter had a hard childhood, and some people didn’t love him…” “And somehow, he fell in love with a girl, who used it and humiliated him for many people,” Edward adds. “After that, he started to cut himself. And that’s why he wanted to date nobody.” “My gosh…” Daniel rounds his eyes. “But that’s good he trusted us and accepted our help. And Helene did very much. We’re truly grateful to her for that.” “That’s his girlfriend?” “Yup, we still say, ‘thank you’ to her for doing that,” Terrence says with a slight smile. “They were friends for a long time and were hiding the fact that they liked each other… But one beautiful day, they revealed their feelings and are dating now.” “Yeah,” Edward pronounces. “And the grandmother of that girl literally jumped from happiness, ‘cause she always wanted to see her granddaughter with that man.” “I see…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully, moving his eyes into his glass. “That’s bad you didn’t recall at least him.” “Alas… But I’m sure I might know him.” “We believe it’s a good sign,” Terrence says confidently. “Amnesia is a hard thing, and a person can’t get their memories back immediately. It will happen little by little. At first, you remember one thing, later you know something else, and then you’ll know everything.” “I can’t wait…” Daniel takes a sip from his glass, while silence settles in the talk of the men. “Listen, lads, let’s not think about amnesia,” Edward suggests cheerfully. “Let’s just sit here and talk… A little later, we could go to dance… Such a cool is playing here that my legs dance themselves.” “Yeah, I think we should relax a little and get rid of tension,” Terrence agrees confidently and runs his hand through his hair. “It’s lately been too tense, honestly.” “The important thing is not to succumb to the temptation to drink to hell.” “Exactly! You should also drive me home. Because I came here in a taxi.” “Who said I’d sit you in my baby?” “You will do anything I say.” “We will see it!” Unfortunately, Daniel has not recalled something else except Peter’s suicide attempt. But at the bottom of his heart, he starts to doubt that he really loves Blanca, not Anna, whom he forgot a little because he met her a long time ago.***
The next day. It’s about three in the afternoon. Raquelle, Helene, and Natalia came together at the home of the blonde. The girls are now drinking coffee from small cups with Natalia’s parents – Letitia, a blue-eyed blonde that is similar to her daughter and looks very good for her age, and Anthony, a tall gray-eyed brunet with a serious look. They have always treated the friends of their only daughter very well and fully approve of her relationship with Edward and the fact that she is going to get married to him. Of course, the fact that he left the girl somehow made the Rochester spouses sad and angry. However, Edward convinced them to give him another chance and became one of the wanted visitors to their home. “By the way, why is Anna not with you?” Letitia asks, holding a cup of coffee. “You always hung out together.” “Oh, you see, Mrs. Rochester…” Raquelle pronounces hesitantly with sadness in her eyes, fingering over nervously. “Something bad has happened…” “We’ve lately been so busy with our work that we didn’t have time to think about it.” “And explain why someone spread some rumors about Daniel,” Anthony says, holding a cup of coffee placed on a plate. “They say he was in the hospital, but nobody knows what happened to him. The band’s representative keeps being silent, and journalists published what got us horrified.” “It’s not the rumors, Dad,” Natalia replies with sadness in her eyes. “Daniel was really in the hospital.” “But what happened to him?” “Daniel’s been hit by a car,” Helene says with sadness in her eyes. “Or he’s been beaten… I cannot say it exactly…” “My gosh…” Letitia pronounces with horror in her eyes. “But how? How did it happen? Didn’t he look around?” “We know nothing, Mrs. Rochester. Peter and I found him lying unconscious on the desert road. Daniel was in a terrible condition and barely breathed, but he was alive, thank God.” “Oh, poor guy…” Letitia shakes her head. “And how’s he now? As I understand, was he released?” “Yes, he’s already left the hospital,” Natalia nods and takes a sip of coffee from a cup that she places on the table. “But the concussion that he was diagnosed with led to partial amnesia.” “Amnesia?” Anthony asks surprisingly. “At least, he does not remember us,” Helene adds with sadness in her eyes. “We tell him about us and call our names, but Daniel forgets everything quickly and confuses us constantly.” “Do you want to say he remembers nothing?” Anthony wonders. “Two days ago, he only managed to remember Peter’s suicide attempt,” Raquelle replies. “It seems like the memory is very strong and got him deeply shocked.” “Not surprised,” Letitia shrugs. “It happened so suddenly and got him and Terrence overwhelmed. Moreover, Peter is their close friend that they didn’t want to lose.” “Nobody wanted to lose him,” Helene sighs heavily and pets Sammy sitting next to her on the head. “I personally thought I’d go crazy when Peter was fighting for his life for a long time.” “I’m very glad he was saved. Peter is a good and shy guy. The band’s fans love him very much and treat him with great warmth.” “You’re right,” Natalia smiles slightly. “Everybody loves Peter. And when he sings, girls start screaming with happiness.” “I’d say they scream louder than they do when Terrence shows up,” Anthony replies funnily. “Don’t tell Terrence about it,” Raquelle laughs shyly. “Otherwise, he’s going to call all his dignity and reasons why everyone must admire him for the millionth time.” “Trust me, darling, all those men consider themselves irresistible and are sure everyone must admire them.” “I think they’ll forget it for a while because they got a problem that might put the existence of the band in danger,” Helene assumes. “Don’t worry, girls,” Letitia says softly. “Daniel will remember everything, early or late.” “Yeah, but now?” Natalia throws her hand up. “What do we do to help Daniel get his memories back? Yesterday, the lads tried to go to the place where Edward met him and Peter, but it gave nothing.” “Yes, Daniel still says everything seems familiar to him, but he remembers nothing,” Helene adds and takes a sip from the cup that she places on the coffee table. “He looks at everything with widely open eyes and behaves like a little scared child.” “That’s good he does!” Letitia exclaims. “Yes, girls, you don’t need to rush in this case,” Anthony says confidently. “Memory loss is an unpredictable thing. Memories might be back at any time. And anything might be the reason for getting it back.” “But how long do we have to wait?” Raquelle throws her hands up. “How long is Daniel gonna say everything is familiar, but he can remember nothing?” “Alas, we can say nothing,” Letitia shakes her head. “Nobody can say it.” “We wouldn’t rush and would give Daniel as much time as he needed. But the men are going to release the album, which they must promote. Moreover, George, the band’s manager, called the guys this morning and asked them to come together. Terrence went to the meeting when I was going to go here.” “And their manager is harsh,” Natalia notices. “He almost killed the guys when the band had problems because of Peter and his conflict with Daniel. Yes, George got softer when he learned about the suicide attempt, but still…” “I think if the guys tell him the truth, he won’t swear,” Anthony assumes. “They aren’t guilty of Daniel getting hit by a car and losing his memory. The guys are doing everything they can do, and he should understand it.” “Well, I dunno, Dad… In these situations, the band’s manager may do anything…” “You better wait for the guys to tell you something,” Letitia advises. “If they’re meeting, one of you is gonna call you soon.” “We’re waiting… With impatience…” Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which everybody looks around or drinks coffee from their cups, and Sammy sitting close to Helene whines quietly. “Yeah, but what about Anna?” Anthony asks. “The poor girl is probably, madly upset that Daniel doesn’t remember her.” “Oh, yeah, she’s so upset that she left the house and went nobody knows where and hasn’t been answering our calls for more than one week,” Raquelle says with sadness in her eyes. “Left the house?” Letitia rounds her eyes. “Did she leave the man with amnesia so easily?” “Yes, sadly…” Helene nods. “But why? Anna said she was ready to give her life to him! Why did she do that to Daniel?” “Ah, Mrs. Rochester, we can’t also find an excuse for her act…” Helene sighs heavily. “That’s unforgivable, girls,” Anthony says gloomily. “The man has amnesia and needs the help of his close people, but Anna left him at such a hard moment.” “I agree with you, Mr. Rochester,” Raquelle says confidently. “To leave someone just because they can’t remember you… I’d never do that to Terrence.” “I wouldn’t also leave Edward if he were instead of Daniel,” Natalia says with sadness in her eyes. “And I’d be ready for anything for Peter, despite nothing,” Helene says. “Listen, girls, no matter how well I treat Anna, I must admit that she did a very bad thing,” Letitia replies. “I completely understand her feelings, but she must be the first one to help him and do everything she can to help him get his memory back.” “That’s so weird…” Natalia shakes her head. “I never thought Anna could do that.” “Yeah, after swearing her love for him so many times,” Raquelle shrugs. “And saying she was afraid to lose him.” “Exactly! How many times Seymour said it! And how many times we told her that Daniel wouldn’t leave her! And how many times Perkins tried to change her mind!” “I don’t get it…” Anthony shakes his head. “To run away from home to live with a guy and then leave him when he gets in trouble… It doesn’t feel like love. There can’t be any kind of love when someone leaves you easily, knowing that they feel bad.” “Of course, we were also shocked when we heard about amnesia,” Helene notices with sadness in her eyes. “But nobody left Daniel. We braced ourselves and said he needed us. We feel hurt when we hear he doesn’t consider us his friends. But we know he will be thankful to us when he remembers us.” “Listen, didn’t you notice some weird things about their relationship before that event?” Anthony frowns slightly. “What if they had a conflict?” “No, Dad, nothing like that happened,” Natalia replies confidently. “We thought Seymour was totally in love with that man.” “And didn’t Anna complain about Daniel?” Letitia wonders. “Maybe, he told the men about his claims?” “No, it didn’t happen,” Raquelle shakes her head. “Moreover, if not for him, Anna wouldn’t have come to Sammy,” Helene adds and pets Sammy’s head. “The poor girl got attacked by a dog when she was a kid, and she has been afraid of dogs since that. But Daniel persuaded her to come to the doggy and pet him. After that, Anna calmed down.” Sammy barks quietly, listening to the talk carefully and sometimes moving his head to different sides. “No, this dog can’t hurt anyone,” Letitia says with a slight smile, petting Sammy’s head. “He’s got such kind eyes. And he listens to you, Helene. He does everything you say…” “He was so worried about Daniel when Peter and I found him,” Helene confesses. “I mean, Sammy led us to him. And he didn’t wanna separate from me when I had to go home to leave him with Grandma.” “Did he get attracted to you all so quickly?” Anthony wonders. “Come on, Mr. Rochester!” Raquelle exclaims. “Sammy is very amicable and sociable.” “Right, and he starts to feel bored when he’s alone,” Helene adds. “He needs someone. While I’m not near him, Grandma Scarlett or Peter are with him. I never leave him all alone.” “Extrovert?” Anthony specifies, letting Sammy sniff his hand when the dog starts going around him. “Something like that.” “You won’t believe it, but I liked Sammy, too,” Natalia smiles slightly. “Despite my crazy love for cats, I got a love for this doggy at first sight.” “Yes, my cat fan, it’s impossible to take this love from you,” Letitia laughs shyly. “Hey, Helene, did Natalia tell you about the kitten Missy?” Anthony asks. “Natalia persuaded us to buy a kitten, but we had to give it off one week later due to her allergic reaction to cats’ hair.” “Yes, Natalia said it,” Helene nods. “She thought about it when I brought Sammy.” “She was worried and crying for a long time…” Letitia says with sadness in her eyes, caressing Natalia’s hand softly. “Natalia wanted to have a kitten and was so happy when we got the one. She took care of it, named it, and gave it as much attention as possible.” “I still remember that girl,” Raquelle confesses with a slight smile. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take it with me… I would’ve taken care of Missy with pleasure.” “That was hard for all of us to say goodbye to that kitten,” Anthony replies with sadness in his eyes. “Missy was very pretty and nice.” “I think it was one of the saddest moments in my life,” Natalia sighs heavily. “The moment when I was saddened…” Sammy whines quietly and comes to Natalia to comfort her, being happy to accept the girl’s caress, while she pets his head and yanks his ears. Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, during which everybody looks at each other and drinks coffee from their cups. And then Letitia glances at the clock in the living room, drinks the rest of her coffee, puts her empty cup on the coffee table, and says: “Oh, okay, girls, excuse us, but Anthony and I have to go.” “Yes, girls, we have to leave you,” Anthony confirms. “Let’s talk somehow next time.” “Okay,” Natalia smiles shyly, gets up from the sofa, and takes all the empty cups from the coffee table. “Don’t worry, you can go. I’ll wash the cups.” “Thanks, sweetie.” Natalia goes to the kitchen and smiles shyly when Anthony and Letitia caress her head or kiss her on the temple after getting up from the sofa. “It was nice to talk to you, my dears,” Letitia says amicably. “Thanks, Mrs. Rochester, same for us,” Raquelle replies gently with a slight smile. “And thanks for the coffee.” “And don’t be upset because of what happened to your friend,” Anthony adds. “I’m sure everything will get better soon. He won’t be like this forever.” “We’re trying to…” Helene says thoughtfully. Letitia and Anthony say goodbye to Raquelle, Helene, and Natalia by hugging them and kissing them amicably on the cheek and show some tenderness to Sammy, who is wagging his tail energetically. Then the spouses take some things from the sofa in the living room, go to the hall door of the apartment, and leave it. By this moment, Natalia finishes washing the cups and returns to Helene and Raquelle when she locks the door. “Yeah, it’s easy to say, don’t get upset,” Raquelle exhales sharply. “Tons of problems that we can’t solve.” “At least Daniel’s case isn’t at the dead point, and he’s sure everything is familiar to him,” Natalia replies thoughtfully. “And Anna’s disappearance makes me suspicious.” “I wonder what could make her do that?” Helene frowns slightly. “I don’t know, Helene… But that’s all very weird… And it’s unlike her…” “What if your father is right to some extent that Anna doesn’t have the feelings for Daniel that she had before?” Raquelle assumes. Sammy whines quietly, listening to every single word of the girls. “What, no?” Raquelle wonders. “But there must be a reason why our friend did that!” “What if they just argued, and she is still angry at him?” Helene assumes. “What if something serious happened between them?” “We always knew Anna and Daniel could fight because of something,” Natalia says thoughtfully. “But their fights were never serious, and they quickly forgot everything.” “And I’m personally surprised what Daniel could actually do in the place where Peter and I found him. I don’t understand how he ended up there!” “That’s interesting, too… But now we can’t find out anything ‘cause the star of this story has amnesia.” “Yeah…” Raquelle sighs quietly. “We’re powerless now and can only wait and help Daniel come to himself.” “Agree,” Helene pronounces thoughtfully. “There’s no other way.” Sammy barks quietly when Natalia, Raquelle, and Helene enter the room of the blonde. And while the dog looks around with interest, Marshall, tucking a strand of hair gathered in a puffy tail behind her ear, comes to the writing table and sees some paints carefully placed in a bunch. “Wow, what is that?” Helene asks with a slight smile. “My gosh, what beautiful sketches of dresses…” “Where?” Raquelle wonders, comes to the table, and takes one of the sketches of dresses. “My gosh, what a beauty!” “Natalia, do you have sketches for a wedding dress?” “Yup,” Natalia replies shyly and comes to her friends. “I was sitting at home yesterday and trying to do sketches for the dress that I want. And this is everything I’ve done so far.” “What beautiful sketches… So awesome!” Sammy barks quietly, wagging his tail energetically. “Of course, I’m not the best painter and designer, but I think it would be good,” Natalia says thoughtfully. “That’s what I’d like to see about the dress of my dream. If I find something similar, that’s good. If I don’t, I’m gonna order it.” “No, no, friend, don’t say it,” Raquelle disagrees, shaking her head. “You paint perfectly! I also love these sketches so much! If you were a designer of dresses, I’d definitely buy your stuff.” “Me too,” Helene says confidently. “I’d be happy to wear this type of dress.” “My perfect dress is almost the same.” “I need to mix all these ideas somehow,” Natalia smiles slightly. “So, everything fits perfectly.” “Yeah, friend, it seems like your parents taught you many things. You all have amazing taste in clothes, and you also paint so amazingly.” “I don’t think I paint well,” Natalia replies shyly, looking down and bending her arms in front of herself. “Though, I love to do it.” “Seriously?” Helene wonders. “Rochester, c’mon! You’ve got a talent! I would never just start painting anything like this! You could definitely be a painter and sell your pictures for big money.” “The guys started to say the same after you helped them create the band’s logo,” Raquelle notices confidently. “Maybe…” Natalia shrugs. “I just painted something on a piece of paper after I heard some wishes from the lads. They looked at it, got delighted, and started to work on it with great pleasure. And… After making some changes, we got what was slightly changed by special people.” “You did a good job. The guys were absolutely pleased.” “So, we don’t doubt that the wedding dresses of Raquelle and you are gonna be brilliant,” Helene says confidently. “We’re gonna do our best,” Natalia smiles widely. “Because we wanna be stunning on that day. I can’t personally wait to go to a bridal store and try on some especially beautiful dresses.” “Don’t worry, Rochester!” Raquelle exclaims, twirling her engagement ring. “We’re gonna choose the best dresses! And do our best for the MacClifes to lose their minds because of our beauty.” “I’m gonna drive Edward crazy.” “And I won't let Terrence relax.” The girls laugh shyly, and Sammy barks confidently, as he is wagging his tail energetically. At some moment, Natalia smiles widely, twirling her engagement ring on her left hand and imagining how she would look in the wedding dress of her dream on the important day when she will marry Edward and become a member of the MacClifes.***
Meanwhile, Terrence, Edward, and Peter met their manager, George Smith, who called the men in the early morning and asked them to go to the agency, “Dark Side Management”, with which “Against The System” is collaborating. However, they did not get surprised and were ready that their manager would find out what happened and decide to make them explain it all. “Guys, be nice to tell me what’s going on,” George says quietly, slowly walking in circles in front of Edward, Peter, and Terrence sitting on a leather sofa. “I just left New York for a few days due to some matters. But when I was back, I found out that Daniel ended up in the hospital. How do I get it? Does your band have problems again? Because of which the existence of your band will be in danger?” “I’m afraid it’s true, George,” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes, folding his hands in front of himself. “I mean… Our band is not going to break up. One bad event happened to Daniel and became the reason why he really ended up in the hospital.” “Alright, then tell me everything in order. If your problem is serious, I must figure out how to help you and tell everything to your fans if we have to.” “It started a little more than one week ago,” Peter starts to speak. “My girlfriend and I found Daniel unconscious in the middle of the desert road. We don’t know what that place is, but nobody passed by us for the time we spent there.” “And why was he unconscious?” “We assume that he got knocked out by a car… He was lying in blood on the road and was in terrible condition. But we do not exclude the fact that he could be beaten because he looked beaten black and blue. Bruises, blood… His hand was even cut…” “Cut hand?” “Yes. I’m going to say that nobody knows how he ended up there and what he was doing.” “Oh, my God…” George closes his mouth with a hand, rounding his eyes full of horror, and sits on the sofa in front of Peter, Edward, and Terrence. “And how did you end up there? Why did you and your girlfriend go there? How did it happen that you found him at that place?” “As it turned out, we were not far from that place,” Peter replies quietly. “At first, we walked with my girlfriend’s dog, and then he sharply ran and wanted us to follow him. Before, the dog brought us Daniel’s wallet with his documents, money, and card. And then he led us to Perkins himself…” “Oh, wow…” George pronounces thoughtfully and says nothing for two seconds. “And how is he? He is alright?” “Erm… Not quite…” Terrence replies hesitantly, biting his lip. “What does it mean?” “Daniel has partial amnesia,” Edward announces. “Because of the concussion. Sadly, he does not remember us, our girls, what happened to him, and almost everything in his life.” “Amnesia?” “He was in the hospital for one week and was recently released.” “Oh, my God…” George shakes his head, running his hand from the top of his head to the nape of his neck. “My gosh… Amnesia is a very unpredictable thing… Nobody knows when and where he will remember everything. It might happen tomorrow or in one year.” “We know, George,” Terrence nods. “Listen, does he actually remember nothing?” “He only knows what he could do before the memory loss.” “And he only remembers my suicide attempt…” Peter adds confidently. “Daniel does?” George wonders. “Yeah… He… Recalled it when he visited me at home.” “You invited him?” “No, Perkins went to me by himself. He found my address in the notebook and came.” “And do you want to say that Daniel called the memories about how you tried to kill yourself after ending up in your apartment?” “Yes… When he went to the bathroom.” “But it could not help him recall Peter,” Terrence notices. “Perkins knows about that case, but he didn’t remember any one of us. And he doesn’t remember that I was with him on that day. He recalled some words of mine, but he doesn’t know who said them.” “Anyway, that’s already good,” George says confidently. “Thank God, he remembers at least that.” “And we’re surprised that it didn’t help him recall Rose. Though, they have known each other for longer than Edward and me.” “It’s alright, not everything is lost. I think Peter’s suicide attempt or what he saw became a shock to Daniel. So, he recalled it.” “We also think that memory is very strong,” Peter replies. “Daniel barely calmed down when he went to the bathroom and called the memory.” “It also might happen because of his fear of blood,” Edward adds. “When Daniel sees it, he faints. And before, he complains about dizziness and nausea. Well, as you know, there was very much blood in the bathroom where Terrence and he found Peter.” “Yeah…” George pronounces thoughtfully. “I think that’s possible.” George slowly gets up from the sofa and starts walking in front of Edward, Terrence, and Peter in a slow step. “Does he remember something else except that?” George frowns slightly. “Alas,” Terrence shrugs. “Everything we say or show him seems familiar to Daniel, but he can remember nothing. Yesterday, Edward and I drove him to the place where my brother met Perkins and Rose, but it didn’t give any results.” “Yeah… The situation is pretty hard… And it happened at the very wrong time… You are going to release the album soon. And you are supposed to appear on multiple shows, give an interview and perform the single ‘The Story About Us’.” “We know, George,” Edward nods. “And we worry about it. What do we do in this situation?” “Of course, we could go there as a trio, but ‘Against The System’ wouldn’t be the same without Daniel,” Peter notices with sadness in his eyes. “And you know that we don’t want to perform if the band is missing at least one person.” “Yes, we need him…” Terrence adds quietly. “But sadly, he doesn’t know it. He doesn’t remember…” “Yes, yes, I know, guys,” George says quietly. “But the situation wouldn’t be solved immediately. Daniel would hardly remember everything by the moment of one of your appearances… So, it means the band’s work is under threat.” “What if we cancel a performance of the single?” Edward suggests thoughtfully. “We can give interviews and go to all shootings without playing! Go there as a trio or by one. There is nothing bad about attending these shows and talking about the album without a performance.” “Edward is right,” Peter agrees. “We can just talk about the album.” “Exactly! We will not be performing without Daniel.” “Yeah, we need him, even if he has openly screwed everything up lately,” Terrence adds. “We can be ourselves only all together.” “Of course, I understand it…” George pronounces with sadness in his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s good you always covered him and pretended that it was supposed to be like that.” “But it doesn’t mean someone didn’t notice a failure when watching videos of performances. Euphoria would be gone, and the mind would get clear.” “I’ve seen nothing like that. There is no hype about it on social networks. Though, I don’t understand what could happen to Daniel if he started to play so badly. He was signing out of tune, forgetting words, playing wrongly… He was kind of replaced! That guy always did his work well, but nothing has been good for him lately.” “Maybe, Connor’s permanent insults impacted him somehow?” Peter assumes. “That boy has always loved to remind him of that.” “Oh, yeah, Blake…” George sighs slowly, running his hands over his face. “We’re getting more problems with him. At first, I didn’t pay attention to it, but now I understand we should do something.” “We must replace him, and the problem will be solved!” Edward replies confidently, crossing his arms over his chest. “I do not understand his great hatred for all of you. None of you did something bad to him, but he behaves like that’s not the truth.” “We tried to become his friends, but he started this war first,” Peter throws his hands up. “Blake acts like a terrible egoist.” “I agree,” Terrence confirms. “And although Connor does his work, he might sometimes become a stubborn sheep and do what he’s not asked about.” “That’s bad,” George says confidently. “Blake should understand that he must do his work if he got a job as your assistant.” “Why did we actually hire him? We should’ve hired someone to be more responsible and nicer.” “Do you have nobody to replace Connor with?” “No yet, but we will think about who we could give a job to,” Peter nods. “You know, I think Blake is the type of person, who can be described as ‘an energy vampire,’” Terrence notices thoughtfully, putting his finger on his lip. “After talking to him, we always feel emptiness. That’s why it’s hard for us to focus on our show, performance, and interview… Since he started to work with us, we’ve been hardly able to get ready for a show well.” “And because of him, Daniel couldn’t get rid of excitement and something else that made him fail a performance,” Peter concludes. “But why can we do this?” Edward throws his hands up. “We are all supposed to blow any performance, sing off-key and notes, and play wrongly. But we play perfectly! Only Perkins started to work badly!” “I think Daniel might overreact to what Blake says, and you try not to succumb to your emotions,” George assumes thoughtfully. “Not succumb?” Peter wonders. “We do barely hold ourselves down not to hit that little one on his pizza face! Because he does annoy us so much that we lose patience!” “And you do this right. Anger has given nothing good to anyone. You will hit him, and your conflict will get much worse. Blake will start to insult you, frame you openly, and do his best to make you bad.” “You think he can do it?” Terrence frowns slightly. “I assume.” “C’mon, George!” Edward exclaims. “Connor listens to nobody! He might easily be rude to anyone, even old people.” “Still, I advise you to keep holding down and not to provoke a greater conflict. You don’t let people know that you have a bad mood. So, try to control your anger. Do what you do when you are in public: you have a goal to give an interview and sing, and you do it.” “This mission is going to be hard in the case of that boy,” Terrence exhales slowly. “Listen, guys.” George sits on the sofas in front of Edward, Terrence, and Peter. “I completely understand your feelings. But you should know it will be worse for you. You need to hold yourself down. Especially now, when you’re worried about your friend. Who is worried about his failures deep inside. And… Maybe, he had or has some problems with his girlfriend. Who knows… I’ve always been sure there is no absolutely perfect relationship.” “We know, George,” Peter nods. “Yes, Daniel seems to be a cool guy, from whom you must keep yourself far. But after getting to know him better, you make sure that’s not the truth. He’s actually not what he seems. He can be loyal, loves his close people, and is always ready to help… He has shortcomings, but they don’t make him worse.” “No, no, Daniel is a good guy. And now, he does need your help. Your friend doesn’t know you, but you know him and must help. He can only count on you and his girlfriend.” “By the way, his girlfriend disappeared after we heard about his amnesia,” Terrence says. “Disappeared?” George wonders. “What do you mean?” “She did. She visited Daniel in the hospital two times and suddenly disappeared later. And she hasn’t reacted to our calls and messages for one week. She was kind of swallowed by the ground!” “My gosh…” “We’re sure she did a terrible thing,” Peter says confidently. “That’s stupid to leave a person with amnesia just because they do not recognize you. It proves that Daniel wasn’t so important to her.” “Maybe, she left him for a reason?” George crosses his arm over his chest. “Something could happen between them before he got hit with a car… But I do not exclude that it could happen much earlier… Maybe, that’s the reason why he wasn’t focused on his work.” “But what could happen?” Edward throws his hands up. “Who knows, guys. Anyway, don’t rush to blame the girl for the betrayal too early.” “But Daniel isn’t probably guilty,” Peter assumes confidently. “He can’t live without Anna and loves her with all his heart… And I don’t know what he’s going to do when he remembers everything and knows his girlfriend disappeared.” “And he’s going to be much more upset when he understands that Seymour doesn’t support him the way we do,” Terrence adds. “I don’t exclude that Daniel might easily doubt her love.” “Let’s not think about it now,” George suggests. “That girl will show up early or late. Maybe, she ran away just because she’s just too shocked. You can do many things in anger or in strong shock.” “But Daniel needs Anna…” Edward pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “Maybe, she’d do something to get his memories back soon.” “Give her time. May she calm down and understand what she did. I’m sure that the girl will show up later and will be helping Daniel as well as you all do.” Peter, Edward, and Terrence say nothing and just look at each other, while George glances aside and exhales sharply, rubbing his forehead with a hand. “Alright, I understood everything about Daniel,” George says quietly and confidently. “Since your fans don’t know the truth yet, we have a chance to hide it. But you can choose: either you tell them all the truth, or we can tell your fans your friend has been hit by a car and say nothing about the memory loss. Or finds a different excuse.” “And what about his absence on the stage?” Edward asks. “How do we explain that Daniel doesn’t show up with us in public?” “If you want to be silent about amnesia, we can say that the doctors banned Daniel from singing and playing or something like that due to some traumas.” “But we can’t lie forever!” Peter exclaims. “Yes, I know we can’t play time forever, and your fans would find out the truth early or late. But I hope Daniel will recall everything very soon.” “What if Daniel betrays himself?” Terrence asks. “What if he says something and lets our fans know everything? And someone would guess that he’s kind of out of his mind!” “He might… But the final word belongs to celebrities and their representatives. Now you should insist on your version and say everything is alright, and Daniel will get well soon. I will talk to your manager team later, and we will decide what to do all together.” “Someone would probably say we started it all for PR,” Peter says thoughtfully. “To promote the album…” “You shouldn’t care about it,” George replies confidently. “The most important thing is that you, your team, and your closest people know the truth. Now we need to play time as long as possible. Until Daniel remembers you and can start to do his work.” “But it might take ages!” Edward exclaims. “I want to believe it would not.” “And what about the scheduled shows?” Terrence asks. “Cancel the appearances or attend them by one or as a trio?” “Don’t worry, it will be the business of your team. I will try to talk to the sponsors about canceling them or rescheduling them.” “So, shouldn’t we attend them alone?” “I think it would be better. You wouldn’t avoid questions about Daniel. It might happen that you’d be talking only about him during the full interview. But you should only talk about your album, single, plans for a tour, and work on music.” “Yeah, I also believe we better cancel all the interviews,” Peter replies thoughtfully. “Now, your most important mission is to help your friend get a victory over amnesia. And the better you help him, the sooner Daniel recalls everything.” “We only try to think about it,” Terrence shrugs. “And try not to lose hope.” George smiles slightly. “Everything is going to be alright. Just do what you should do and don’t worry about the band’s business.” “Thanks, George. We’re glad you understood it.” “And thank you for telling me what happened. Now I will think about how to help you.” “Alright, George, thank you so much,” Peter smiles slightly. “Let me know about all the changes in Daniel’s condition. I must know everything to understand what to do. No matter if he gets better or worse!” “Sure, do not doubt it,” Edward replies correctly. “Okay, you can go. I will not hold you longer.” “Goodbye, George,” Edward, Terrence, and Peter pronounce, get up from the sofa, and shake George by the hand. “Stay happy.” Two seconds later, the men slowly turn around, leave the room in a slow step, end up in a long hall, and close the door. Then the three men step at some distance to let other people passing by them keep going on. “Okay, let’s assume George will solve the problem with interviews,” Terrence says thoughtfully. “But how long can we play time and pretend? When will Daniel finally remember everything?” “Oh, this question kills me…” Peter exhales slowly, running his hands over his face. “Anyway, we’re doing everything we can do,” Edward notices confidently. “At least, the talk with George was quiet enough, and he wasn’t throwing lightning on all sides. We worried for nothing.” “At least something makes me happy.” “By the way, his words about Anna make me think better,” Terrence confesses, putting his finger on his lip. “What if something really happened between her and Perkins some time before that accident?” “I wouldn’t exclude it…” Peter says thoughtfully. “Anna couldn’t leave Daniel so easily. There must be a reason! I don’t think she’s too bad to leave a person at a hard time.” “Moreover, she madly loves Daniel and always talks about her fear of losing him.” “Exactly! At first, Anna always said that, and later, Daniel began to be afraid of the fateful day when he’d lose her.” “But no matter how well I treat that girl, I’ve gotta admit that she didn’t do the best thing,” Terrence says thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest. “No matter what happened, Anna shouldn’t have done that.” “Or she could at least tell us the reason why she doesn’t wanna help Dan,” Edward notices. “But there is no call or message!” “The girls find it suspicious, too. They’re sure that there must be a reason.” “But Anna is the only one to know it,” Peter says, leaning on the wall with his back. “Well, or Daniel, after all…” “It’s a dark story, I must confess…” Terrence replies thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest. “Perkins got into nobody the fuck knows what… And his girlfriend didn’t say something and got out when he got into trouble…” “Hey, guys, where do you think Seymour could disappear?” Edward puts his hands on his hips. “She has no place to go,” Peter shrugs. “Except the homes of her friends and parents.” “Well…” Terrence bites his lip. “Anna didn’t ask the girl to accept her… And if it’s so, she could only go to her parents.” “So, they make her do what she doesn’t like?” Edward wonders. “I think she’s done with it and doesn’t wanna come back to that!” “But where would she go? The girl doesn’t have a home or a job! What’s she gonna do if she goes nobody knows where?” “She probably has some money from the shooting of the music video,” Peter shrugs. “It will be gone early or late,” Edward replies. “Anna won’t live on it for a long time, having to rent an apartment or room or buy everything she needs. And she’s never lived alone and worked.” “So, she’s gonna have to return to her parents.” “I don’t…” At this moment, Edward has to fall into silence because the conceited and cheerful Blake Connor shows up from nowhere and comes to the guys with his arms crossed over his chest. “Hey, hello, six-foot tail closet!” Blake addresses Terrence happily and moves his eyes to Edward and Peter. “Blond-haired clone, a little sucker…” Edward, Peter, and Terrence sharply turn on the voice of Blake chewing gum and moan quietly. “Okay, guys, if you meet Connor on your way, you won’t get rid of the problem,” Peter sighs tiredly, crossing his arms over his chest. “There’s the omen.” “It’s been a while, guys!” Blake exclaims cheerfully, starting to slurp loudly. “You kinda disappeared. I started to feel bored without work. Without a chance to laugh at you.” “Connor, we don’t have time to listen to your stupid jokes,” Terrence says quietly but coldly. “Get out of the way, please.” “C’mon, princesses, talk to me. Or is it hard to turn your head with big crowns on your heads?” “The only princess here is you!” Edward says confidently. “An insolent, non-educated, and capricious princess that we do not want to talk with.” “Don’t ya wanna talk to me about the latest rumors?” “Get out, Connor,” Terrence says tiredly. “It’s been a few seconds, but you've already annoyed us.” Terrence, Peter, and Edward try to push Blake aside and go away, but the young boy closes the way with his body with an evil sneer. “By the way, the rumors about Perkins being hit by a car have been spreading for a few days,” Blake says confidently. “What’s your fucking business?” Edward throws rudely. “That’s our business! And you don’t have to do with it!” “And they say he got amnesia. He forgot the three brainless clowns, who think they’re celebrities. One has believed he’s an idol for many years, and two others got stuck to him like a leaf and used the benefits that he gave them.” Edward, Terrence, and Peter look at each other questioningly, being surprised that Blake knows about Daniel’s amnesia. “Who told you Daniel has amnesia?” Peter asks coldly in a low voice, crossing his arms over his chest. “So, that’s not true?” Blake smiles innocently. “Aren’t you trying to help your friend remember what he forgot so hard? His friends, his girlfriend… His life…” “If you’re so interested, we can say just one thing – he’s been hit by a car,” Terrence says coldly. “And he was in the hospital.” “Yeah…” Blake laughs contemptuously. “It seems like someone hit your pal on the head so strongly that he forgot everything at all.” “Nobody said Daniel doesn’t remember anything,” Edward crosses his arms over his chest. “When someone ends up in a hospital, people start to think up tales.” “So, then may your imitable Perkins show up on the stage and perform. I mean, screw it up for his fans again.” “The doctors gave him a ban from playing for some time. He’s weak yet and must recover.” “Oh, c’mon, MacClife’s sucker, stop lying,” Blake waves his hand with a sneer. “I did hear you talking to George! You told him Perkins got partial amnesia. That Rose and his girlfriend found that loser unconscious nobody knows where. I mean, the doggy led them to him.” “First, stop insulting Edward,” Terrence says coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. “And second, we mustn’t tell you what’s happening to the band.” “Moreover, his girlfriend got scared and ran away from him, and your pal recalled how the blondie tried to kill himself.” Blake laughs evilly. “Yeah, I didn’t know Perkins could faint at the sight of blood. He does pretend to be so sassy! Oh, yeah… He can’t be sassy if he fears what’s not terrified at all.” “It's none of your business, pizza face kid,” Peter throws rudely. “Keep hiding the truth. But you will not pretend that the band’s bassist doesn’t remember you and the fact that he sings with you forever.” “Listen, don’t you have anything to do?” Terrence wonders. “Go to do something! Or go on another date! So, you’re as quiet as a mouse!” “Ah, MacClife, I don’t get…” Blake shakes his head with a sly sneer. “Why do you the fuck care about these idiots? You could work on your solo career, and some little girls would have a crush on you and drool. The one, who literally calls himself God.” “And I don’t get why you the fuck treat us like this. What did we do if you bully us and sling dirt on us? Every time we tried to give you a hand, you split on it.” “I’m just telling the truth. The truth that you don’t know want to confess. I’ve been saying that if not for you, these three talentless and brainless roosters wouldn’t have gotten this success. You three got everything so easily thanks to your fame and your fans, who would sell their souls for you. They did promote your fucking band. And started to praise these fools.” “I said, stop insulting my brother and friends!” Terrence demands a little louder and rudely, clenching his hands into fists. “Or you will regret it.” “Face it, Terrence. Accept the fact that the whole world will never praise you. Someday, your time will be gone, and nobody will need you. You will not be a sex symbol ‘till your old age. There will be many other peacocks, whose fans will be licking screens and dreaming of kissing them.” “So, Connor, do you envy us?” Peter smirks evilly. “Envy that you’ve gotten nothing at the age of nineteen and can only fuck girls? We have a band, and our fans love us, and listen to our music.” “Huh, why should I envy you?” Blake looks at Edward, Terrence, and Peter from head to foot with contempt. “Some fucking idiots that will never get anything! But who are sure their popularity is growing.” “Do you feel better when you insult us? Do you think you’d be sassier and better for your cuties, whom you press on corners? No, buddy! To make someone pay a lot of attention to you, you should at least be the sonny of rich parents. But you, little pizza-face parasite, can only dream about it.” “Ha!” Blake laughs loudly. “Hey, Rose, are you sure fans love your band? Yeah, maybe, they drool over your big biceps, perfect six-pack abs, and blond hair that is one hundred percent dyed, and dream of having slim legs like yours. Maybe, they drool over MacClife Jr.’s cute and snotty face and Perkins’ charming eyes. But remember… Eighty percent of your band’s fans are little girls, who drool over Terrence MacClife. They scream not because of you, Rose, and Perkins, who sings along to the tape, knowing that he can’t take notes. And even not because of MacClife, Jr., who is silently called the motor of the band. They scream because of MacClife, Sr., – the one, who made girls go wild when he was acting in movies. Maybe, the rest of the twenty percent of fans love you, but you three should remember that you can’t outshine MacClife, Sr., no matter how hard you show off.” “And why do you say it?” Edward asks a little rudely, having his arms crossed over his chest. “You think it would impact us? Don’t even hope! We don’t care about the opinion of a stupid shorty that can only fuck girls and insult those, who did nothing to him.” “You just don’t wanna confess that you got sucked on your famous older brother to get your piece of fame. The relatives of such a famous man as Terrence MacClife can’t work for pennies. They must live in luxury! That’s why you pull out your fists, defending yourself and insisting that your success is the result of long, hard work.” “I’m sorry that you are not a part of the MacClife family!” Edward rolls his eyes. “That you are not a brother of Terrence MacClife, whose fame you would obviously use.” “You, sucker, used this right fully. While other people work for ages to get just something, you got it for a few months.” “Listen, you, piece of shit, close your fucking mouth and don’t open it,” Terrence says rudely, coming closer to Blake. “Or you would have to regret it. I used to take your actions and tried to hold the guys down. But now I see you cross all the lines! And I’m going to react to it!” “Ah, MacClife, MacClife…” Blake shakes his head, looking at Terrence with contempt. “Stop caring about this mammy’s boy like a chicken cares about an egg. Tell him to go to hell. You can make nothing out of this talentless freak.” “Do not make me enraged, Connor. Or you will know who Terrence MacClife is.” “Calm down, guy, everybody knows it. Everyone knows you have mental health issues and get excited for any reason.” Blake scoffs quietly. “You and your brother are worth each other… The one has a too long tongue and is afraid to confess his cowardice… And the other gets wild constantly and calls himself literally God, whom everyone must bend to.” “As if I care about your opinion,” Terrence smirks with contempt. “But you know it well.” “Just close your dirty mouth and leave us alone!” “Will you keep defending your little brother? Promote him to the show business actively as well as this blondie and another freak that got a strong hit on his head?” “I am ready for anything for my close people,” Terrence throws coldly. “Friendship is the treasure that some people can’t keep safe,” Peter says confidently. “Not everyone can truly appreciate it and be able to use it and take care of it.” “Yeah, I see…” Blake laughs. “Edward is my younger brother, Connor,” Terrence recalls. “The brother that I respect. For whom I’m responsible to some extent. And who I let nobody insult.” “My gosh, how it’s touching! I’m gonna cry now!” “And Daniel and Peter are my close friends, who are like my brothers, as well. You won’t understand this love because you’re attracted to nobody. But if you had a brother, a sister, or someone to be close to you, you would probably understand me.” “Ha, I doubt he’ll protect someone with such a nasty character,” Peter says coldly in a lower voice. “If he had a brother or a sister, Connor would prefer putting them at risk just to save his precious ass.” “I hear it from the man, who wanted to break the band up,” Blake says with an evil sneer. “Who wanted to die so badly! Huh, Rose! You weren’t the one to betray your band when you were acting like a hysterical girl? When you were pretending to be a victim and made everybody kinda excited by taking a knife and cutting your hands!” “You know too much, pizza-face shorty. Even too much!” “C’mon, everyone in the studio knows how you almost ruined your band! How you and Perkins fought almost every day and almost destroyed everything here somehow! I know everything about you! And if MacClife and Perkins had let you die, you would’ve been blamed for breaking the band to the fuck! Nobody would’ve put a gorgeous grave for you and thought of you as a great hero.” “Connor, close your fucking mouth!” Edward yells, clenching his hands into fists tightly. “Or do you want one of us to beat your insolent face?” “You have enough strength?” Blake laughs evilly. “We do! Looking at you, I don’t doubt that I’d knock you out on the first attempt.” “Try then.” Blake puts his hands aside. “C’mon, mammy’s boy, hit me! We’ll see how many attempts you’d take to knock me out.” “First, go to a gym for two months, and then call us for a duel. Although you, bastard, did annoy us, I don’t plan to kill you.” “Come on! You did it one day! You killed someone! And you were even in prison for the murder of a certain man! You were on trial as a defendant… But you were found non-guilty magically.” Blake looks at Edward from head to foot with contempt. “Yeah… And how could girls admire the killer? I’m really surprised!” “Are you sure you know the full story?” Edward asks coldly, putting his hands on his hips. “Or do you know everything but lie on purpose?” “Will you say you weren’t in prison and almost got a sentence?” “I should explain nothing to you.” “Go to the fuck then! I do know everything! I know you’re a killer! That the sweet blonde doomed herself to misfortune by deciding to marry the one to be in prison along with prisoners.” “You were told to close your fucking mouth!” Terrence throws rudely. “We will not tolerate this attitude!” Peter says confidently. “And if we have to, we’re ready to beat your face!” “Ah, clones, beat or not, but the truth stays true,” Blake laughs evilly. “I believe there are no men for the blonde if she chooses this little puppy that can only bark. Though, I heard she had very many fans…” “If you do not shut up, I will show you what the puppy can do,” Edward hisses through his teeth, breathing a little heavily. “So, it’s hurt to hear the truth? Who else would tell you and your band who you are.” “We give a fuck about your opinion!” “And actually, you have a cool company!” Blake crosses his arms over his chest. “The former prisoner, who almost went to prison for the murder… The blond-haired clone that almost died at his wish… The egoistic peacock that cheated on his fiancée and beat her… And the fucking freak that faints at the sight of blood and can’t play and sing but pretends to be sassy and fearful.” “Do you really want us to beat your face?” Edward asks rudely. “Huh, fucking sucker? Haven’t you gotten hits on your head for ages? We’re gonna fix it!” “And we wouldn’t care about George, the management team, and those, who are here,” Peter says confidently. “Because a bastard like you might annoy anyone!” “Then you’ll get known as pathetic hysterical ladies that fight with anyone not to praise them,” Blake says rudely. “There are many talkative guys here that would sell the information to any magazine. For free and for money. I made absolutely sure about it.” “Okay, guys, we’ve gotta get outta here!” Terrence throws coldly, growling quietly. “If we don’t leave, I will give him a couple of lessons in good manners.” “Yeah, let’s get outta here while I hold myself down,” Edward says coldly. “Get out, men, get out,” Peter jabs. “This scumbag is gonna bring us to the edge.” Edward, Terrence, and Peter turn around quickly and go far from Blake, who watches them with jealousy, evil, and contempt. “It hurts to hear the truth, huh?” Blake asks loudly, crossing his arms over his chest. “Yes, I get it! But it’s okay, this is not our last meeting. I shall say everything I want. And soon, everyone will find out that Perkins has amnesia and does not fuck remember anything. I promise it, bastards! Though, you can stop fuming because your band will be ruined to the fuck.” Blake raises his head proudly, turns around sharply, and goes to do his business. And a few seconds later, Peter, Edward, and Terrence go outside and exhale slowly with closed eyes, barely tolerating the tension and negative emotions that they got after the talk with the young boy. “Oh, damn, I barely held myself down not to beat his face,” Terrence moans tiredly, putting a hand on his forehead. “That little bastard almost brought us to the edge!” “Me too,” Edward exhales sharply. “I was itching to put him in his place with fists.” “Fuck, I didn’t think we’d met that kid with a pizza face here,” Peter says in a lower voice. “What’s he doing at the agency?” “Talking with the workers,” Terrence throws coldly. “Decided to collect the rumors by talking with the most talkative folks.” “And that’s good we didn’t excuse ourselves for him,” Edward adds confidently. “It would be a humiliation for me if we tried to prove something to him.” “Does it make sense? Connor does meddle in what he doesn’t have to do with!” “Listen, guys, what if he betrays us and tells everyone about what happened to Daniel?” Peter expresses anxiety. “He said he heard us talking to George!” “Right!” Edward claps himself on the forehead. “That kind knows everything we told him! He stood near the door and heard everything!” “If Connor really opens his mouth, we’re in trouble,” Terrence says tiredly. “No excuses or statements from our managers will help.” “If he really heard our talk, we should warn George,” Edward says confidently. “And we shouldn't meet him up at the studio or agency. If Smith knew Connor was here, he made a great mistake by asking us to come here.” “We would’ve better met him at a café,” Peter exhales sharply. “That kid would’ve come there to listen to us and shower us with mud again.” “Fuck! If that idiot tells everyone about Perkins’ amnesia or spreads the information on the Internet, we’ll have to confess everything. And it means that journalists and fans will ask us all the same questions.” “Okay, lads, let’s not panic ahead of time!” Terrence says, putting his hands on Edward and Peter’s shoulders. “First, let’s meet Smith tomorrow or after tomorrow and tell him about Connor. He’s a smart man and will understand that we better meet on neutral territory.” “And then what?” Edward throws his hands up. “We’ll be playing time for a while. We do understand we can’t do it forever, but we have no choice… May George do something with the scheduled interviews and performances, and we’ll focus on helping Daniel recall everything.” “Oh, Perkins, you gave us problems…” Peter moans tiredly, running his hands over his face. “Yeah, the guy got into something serious…” Edward says thoughtfully. “And he went nobody the fuck knows where…” Terrence adds. Terrence, Edward, and Peter fall into silence and look at each other, thinking about how to fix the situation and avoid the bad consequences that Daniel’s amnesia might lead to. They do not know how to help their friend get the lost and forgotten memories back. Yes, the case is not at the dead point, but nobody knows how much time will be gone before Perkins recalls just something and can explain what happened to him before someone tried to get rid of him.***
If Daniel did not have amnesia, he would hardly be indifferent to the band that Edward, Peter, and Terrence are trying to save. The man always treated his business with responsibility and never betrayed the band. Until the present. And while his friends are trying to think about what to do, Perkins himself is going to meet the family of Blanca, who went to his home and said he would meet her parents and sister today. “You to be excited because of meeting with mi padres?” Blanca asks in a high voice in broken English, sitting next to Daniel in the backseat and pressing herself closer to him. “Erm…” Daniel gets confused, while his eyes are running from one side to another, and he feels tense. “Yeah, a little bit…” “Don’t worry, mi amor,” Blanca smiles shyly. “They to be excited to meet you.” “You say I’m gonna meet them for the first time?” “Si. But I to be sure that mi madre, mi padre y mi hermana to love you. I warn them that I go home with someone.” “They are good people?” “Si, mi amor,” Blanca says confidently. “They to be good and do nothing bad to you.” “And…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly and bites his lip slightly. “Your family… Approves of… Our relationship?” “¡Si, Si! Now they to be happy for me. I to be so happy when my padres to finally say they have nothing against our relationship.” “Didn’t they approve it at once?” “No… They to doubt… Mama y papa to want that I to be with a Spanish man… They… To worry… That I… Not to be able to speak to an American man…” “I think you speak well.” Daniel smiles tensely. “I am able to understand you.” “¡Gracias, mi gatito! You teach me to speak English so well and feel so confident.” “But some words get me confused… I… Don’t know what they mean… And how to react…” “You think I say something bad to you?” “No… I… Erm…” “No te preocupes, mi querida. I surely teach you to speak Spanish. You to feel confident when you met mi familia.” “I don’t know if I can remember something… But we can try.” “You can do anything, mi amor. Yo creo en ti, puedes hacerlo.” “Erm… Excuse me?” “Oh… I want to say… I believe in you and know you… Can do anything…” “Really?” “¡Si, si!” With these words, Blanca caresses Daniel’s cheek and smiles at him tenderly. But he would prefer stepping back or better running away as far as possible, because the girl makes him feel some rejection because of the strong pressure and a lack of a chance to make a choice. This pressure makes him feel too uncomfortable. Not as relaxed as he was yesterday when he spent a good time with Edward and Terrence. “By the way, we almost come,” Blanca says with a slight smile, looking around. “Espera un poco.” “Do you want to say you live in this neighborhood?” Daniel wonders. “Si. Mi familia to have an apartment here… We want to find something to pay little money for. And one familiar of mi papa, who to live here for a long time, to help us.” “It’s not like the place where I live…” “Yes, this place to be very modest. Poor people live here. But I know some people that run away from their country and live here.” “Okay…” Daniel moves his dead eyes to the window and watches everything that the taxi is going by. Blanca does not like it, grabs his face, and turns it on herself sharply, asking surprisingly: “Why do you look there? ¿Por que, Daniel? ¡Aquí estoy!” “Can’t I look through the window?” Daniel shrugs. “I’d love to look at what I’m going by.” “While I to be here, you must look only at me.” Blanca fixes the hair of Daniel sitting in the taxi with a poker face and looking at the girl with absolutely empty eyes. “I not to love when you not to pay attention to me.” “But, Blanca, what’s wrong with just looking through the window of the car?” Daniel throws his hands up. “I to be the whole world for you and want you to prove it all the time.” “I give you as much attention as you want. Why do you want me to always look only at you?” “No, Daniel, you do everything wrong. I want you to look only at me. You to think only of me when I not to be with you. Your head to be full of thoughts about me.” “I’m just trying to recall everything that happened to me and everyone I forgot. And I show interest in what surrounds me.” “You must remember only me, querida,” Blanca says, tightly grabbing Daniel’s hair on the back of his head and holding his chin. “You have only me, your fiancée that to be your wife soon.” “You know I’m trying to do this…” Daniel replies hesitantly, not being happy with how tightly Blanca grabbed him by his hair and his chin and feeling a stronger discomfort while she is near him. “Focus on it. And if you not to do it, I not to doubt you fall in love with me again. I do my best for it.” “Do you think I could fall in love with you again?” “¡Claro, mi amor!” Blanca smiles widely. “I know many cases when someone to forget that he or she to love someone but fall in love again. You also love me again if you not to remember who I am.” “Erm…” Daniel shrugs. “Yeah… Sure, sweetie… Sure…” “And to make it happen, you must always look at me.” “Okay… I will look at you…” “It to be much better.” Daniel tries to make himself put on something like a smile, feeling like his whole body is bounded with heavy chains. Blanca looks at him with a slight smile on her face for two or three seconds, then shortens the distance between him and her sharply, puts a hand on the man’s cheek covered with a slight bristle not very tenderly, grabs him by the nape of his neck tightly, and kisses him on his soft-to-touch lips. Although Perkins answers her too assertive, by far not the nicest kiss, he does not feel any pleasure and just succumbs to her, not being able to fight with this pressure. The man feels a wish either to clean out his stomach or to get rid of the nasty taste in his mouth after she gets her tongue into it and explores it not very shyly. The girl gets it in so deeply that he barely fights with a tickling in his throat and a wish to cough. Daniel feels a strong tension in every single muscle of his body that is resisting what’s happening too hard and giving him a sign that this is not what he is supposed to like. The heart insists that Blanca should not kiss him. But he does let her do it. Because he does not know that he is deceived. There is emptiness in his head. The brain just accepts what’s happening and does not try to stop the man. The strong pressing and insolence of Blanca win. She controls the situation and makes the man obey her, seriously thinking that the man belongs only to her. And this feeling gives her great pleasure. And when Blanca gives Daniel an assertive kiss that makes him feel sick in all senses and reaches for the curve of his neck, which she covers with very wet kisses and quite strong bites that make him feel pain, the taxi driver stops the car. He looks in the retrospect mirror, seeing how the Spaniard with hot blood is trying to seduce the man, who stays indifferent to this kind of love outside but feels a strong feeling of disgust and tension inside. “Hey, lovebirds, we have come!” the driver says with a kind chuckle. “You have no time to make love in the backseat.” Blanca sharply steps back from Daniel and looks at the driver questioningly, while Perkins exhales silently with the thought that this girl finally stopped licking him. “¿Perdón, que?” Blanca wonders. “Pay for the trip, young people,” the driver says confidently. “We have come!” “Yes, yes!” Blanca moves her eyes to Daniel. “Come on, mi amor, pay quick! I want to introduce you to mi padres.” “Erm, am I paying?” Daniel asks hesitantly. “¡Claro!” “I thought you'd pay for yourself, and I'd pay for myself…” “A real man must pay for his girlfriend.” “But, Blanca…” “¡Ahora, Daniel!” Blanca yells a little rudely. “And don’t dare to protest!” Daniel exhales slowly, runs his hands over his face, and, deciding not to confront Blanca, takes some money from his wallet and gives it to the driver, who counts it quickly and smiles slightly. “Thank you so much,” Daniel says correctly. “¡Gracias, señor!” Blanca says a little irritably and glances at Daniel. “Come on, querida!” Daniel shakes his head, opens the door lazily, gets out of the car, and starts looking around. However, Blanca immediately wakes him up from the thoughts he falls into. “Hey, help the girl get out!” Blanca exclaims loudly. “Give me a hand! And close the door!” Daniel gives Blanca his hand with reluctance and winces slightly when she grabs his wrist painfully, but he says nothing and closes the door of the car. When the driver leaves, the girl sharply takes the man under his arm and starts to drag him to where she needs to go, while he resents silently and starts to feel a stronger discomfort and a wish to get off her. Some time later, Blanca, let’s say, pulls Daniel to a shabby little building that she enters and comes to the door that she opens with a key. The Spaniard enters the small apartment quietly, still pulling the man after her and tightly holding him under an arm, while he moans silently and rolls his eyes. “¡Hola, mamá, papá!” Blanca says loudly. “¡Estoy en casa!” A few seconds later, a woman with blue-black hair put up in a bun shows up in the hall. She looks very similar to Blanca, but she could be called at least sympathetic, unlike her daughter, who cannot be called a beauty. This woman cannot be called skinny because she has wide thighs and by far not a thin waist. Still, she has something that makes her more or less attractive and charming. Next, a man with black luxury hair, a couple of gray hairs, a beard, and hazel eyes meets them later. By far not a pretty fellow, but quite a well-groomed man with little winced skin. And last, the young girl with dark thinning, shoulder-length hair, and hazel eyes with glasses comes to them hesitantly, holding a book and pressing it to herself. People say that someone like her is a gray mouse that cannot be memorized. This girl has nothing that could be kind of memorable and become her special feature. When all these people see Daniel, they look at him not very amicably. As if they are not happy to meet him. That’s why he feels uncomfortable and swallows up nervously, dreaming of leaving this place as soon as possible and looking at everybody hesitantly. “They all look at me so weirdly…” Daniel thinks. “But Blanca said these people would be happy to meet me. Did she lie to me?” “Blanca, who is this man?” the woman asks, who speaks with a little accent. “Who you brought?” “Family…” Blanca smiles widely and tightly takes Daniel under his arm, starting to hang onto him and press herself to him very closely. “Familia… I want to introduce my fiancé to you! Mi querida that to be mi marido very soon.” Daniel nods but says nothing, feeling terribly embarrassed and dreaming of going home where he feels much better. Or visiting the people, who try to help him remember everything he forgot… He feels much more comfortable with those people than with these, who look at him like he is a suspicious man that wants to do something bad. And a few seconds later, the man with hazel eyes and black hair also nods and smiles a little falsely. “Nice to meet you, señor,” the man says quietly without such a clear accent in English that Blanca has. “My name is Pablo Moreno. I am Blanca’s father.” “I am Beatrice Rodriguez, her mother,” the woman introduces herself gently. “Erm…” the girl with glasses stutters and presses the book much closer to herself with a scare in her eyes when Blanca looks at her disapprovingly. “M-m-mia… Mia Moreno, Blanca’s sister… Y-younger…” “Erm, nice to meet you,” Daniel pronounces hesitantly, literally not breathing. “Daniel… Daniel Perkins…” Two seconds later, Daniel slowly shakes Pablo by the hand, who is the first one to point it, and then greets Beatrice and Mia. While Blanca looks at her younger sister gloomily, as if she makes her scared and hide behind the book. “Blanca told us about you,” Pablo says quietly. “And we are glad we met you.” “Yeah, s-sure…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly. “By the way, she said you already proposed to her to marry.” “Erm…” When Daniel wants to open his mouth and say something, Blanca meddles in the talk with a wide smile, still holding the man under an arm too tightly. “¡Si, papá, es verdad! Soy la prometida de Daniel. Esta propuesta de matrimonio tan inesperado y romántico.” “Sweetie, speak English,” Beatrice says softly. “This señor doesn’t understand you.” “Si, si, sorry… I want to say… Erm… I to be Daniel’s fiancée. And… His proposal to be unexpected and romantic.” “Ah, honey, you’ve been living in the USA for so long but still speak very badly,” Pablo sighs tiredly. “You don’t want to work on your speaking English and learn rules.” “I work on it, Dad. You know that I… Not to know languages… But I start to speak much better thanks to mi querida. Mi amor that I just adore.” “Really?” “Erm, yeah…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly. “Blanca said so…” “I must confess that you look good together,” Beatrice says with a little fake smile. “T-thanks a lot…” Silence settles in the air for some time, during which Daniel does his best to keep calm and pretends that he does not feel terribly embarrassed because of being with the people, who look at him so weirdly. And that he wants to get off Blanca at least for a while… “Oh, let’s drink a cup of tea or coffee and talk,” Beatrice suggests. “We can go to my room,” Blanca suggests with a slight smile. “Well, as this is your guest, let’s go to your room,” Pablo smiles slightly. “Mia, my sunshine, make a cup of tea for us and our guest,” Beatrice says with a slight smile and moves her eyes to Daniel. “Or do you prefer coffee, senor?” “As you want,” Daniel replies quietly. “I will drink what you will give.” “Alright. My daughter will do everything. Mia…” Mia nods and, saying nothing, goes somewhere quickly, bending her head down strongly and almost burying her nose in her book. Looking at her with sadness in his eyes, Daniel feels a little sorry for this girl, who looks so scared and unhappy, and Blanca’s bad look makes her literally shake like a bunny in front of a wolf. “So, follow us, señor,” Pablo says quietly and points aside. Blanca grabs Daniel’s arm tightly again and drags him to her room, while Pablo and Beatrice look at each other and shake their heads slightly. A few seconds later, they all come to a small room with a yellow ceiling where there is a great mess and shabby wallpapers. “Oh, sorry about this little mess,” Blanca says shyly. “I want to clean it, but I not to have time… Sorry…” “And don’t get confused that our home is very modest,” Beatrice says hesitantly. “We aren’t so rich to live in a gorgeous place. The money our family earns is barely enough for everything we need.” “Do not worry, I’m not confused,” Daniel cracks a smile. “Sit down, please,” Pablo suggests, pointing at the bed that is not made. “And I will take a chair for me.” And while Pablo leaves the room, Beatrice sits on the wooden chair that she takes from the corner of the room, Blanca, who got literally stuck on Daniel’s arm and is not going to let it go in the nearest time, sits on her bed along with him. “Excuse me, Blanca, but if you knew you would take this man home, you could clean your room up,” Beatrice says carefully. “Sorry, Mom, I have time to do nothing because of my work,” Blanca replies with sadness in her eyes. “Oh, daughter, daughter… How are you going to live? I don’t get…” “Por favor, mama, don’t talk about it now. I want that we to spend a good time with Daniel. I bring him here because you and papa should meet him.” “I get it, but people get ready for this type of meeting earlier.” “Do not worry, ma’am,” Daniel meddles hesitantly. “I’m not confused.” “Forgive us, for God’s sake,” Beatrice puts a hand on her heart. “This is Blanca.” “It’s alright, do not worry.” Blanca silently moves her eyes down and puts her head on Daniel’s shoulder, still pressing herself to him tightly, while he locks his fingers tightly and does not even want to hug her. And two seconds later, Pablo returns to the room, places another wooden chair next to Beatrice, and sits in front of his daughter and the man, who feels terribly insecure. “So, while Mia is making tea for us, I’m suggesting we get to know each other better,” Pablo says confidently. “First, Beatrice and I knew that Blanca got a boyfriend. But we didn’t like the fact that she preferred an American man, not a Spanish one. Just because we were sure the language would be a barrier for them.” “Yes, señor Perkins, you see that Blanca barely speaks English with a terrible accent,” Beatrice adds. “Sometimes she adds Spanish phrases to her speech or actually pronounces some words wrongly.” “Yeah…” Daniel nods. “It gets me confused, honestly.” “But is it actually comfortable for you to talk to her like this?” “Well… Quite… I kind of understand her… And she… Speaks her mind somehow.” “And do you really want to marry?” Pablo wonders. “Well…” Daniel stutters. “As Blanca said it… That’s the truth…” “Alright, if you love each other so much, none of us has anything against your relationship. We are accepting the fact that you decided to marry.” “Yes, yes, we decide to play a wedding,” Blanca smiles widely. “Didn’t you decide to get married too early?” Beatrice frowns slightly. “You haven’t probably known each other for so long to think about marriage!” “No, Mom, come on! We to be absolutely sure about it. I cannot live without Daniel, and he cannot live without me. He to always say he to be afraid to lose me and loves me with all his heart.” “Do you really love my daughter?” Pablo addresses Daniel. “¡Si, papa, si! ¡Soy su princesa! He to call me so! To say how much he to love me. I to be upset that Daniel not to remember it. But I swear I not to leave him and to help him remember everything.” “Alright…” Beatrice pronounces thoughtfully. “And where did you meet?” “I meet him in the nightclub where I go with my friend,” Blanca says with a slight smile and delight. “And when I see him, I realize he to be my destiny. Mi vida.” “Friend?” Pablo rounds his eyes. “You never said you had a friend.” “This… That to be a girl from my work… We speak well, and she to invite me to go to the nightclub where I meet mi amor y mi vida.” “That’s how… So, I’m happy you have friends… You’ve always said nobody wanted to befriend you.” “Well, yeah, nobody…” Blanca replies with sadness in her eyes, still wrapping Daniel’s arm with her hand and pressing her cheek to his cheek. “But I get on well with her.” “So, okay…” Beatrice says with a little fake smile. “And do you want to say you started to meet this guy after that meeting?” “Yes, yes, we start to meet in our free time. When I not work at the hospital, I spend time with him. At first, we speak as friends, and then Daniel to confess his love and say he to feel sympathy for me. We date for some time, and then he to propose to me.” “Hm…” Beatrice moves her eyes to Daniel. “Señor Perkins, don’t you think you proposed to my daughter to marry too early? I understand that you love her, but you could be dating for much longer.” “Erm…” Daniel wants to say. “No, mama,” Blanca stops sharply with a wide smile and kisses Daniel on the cheek with her dry, rough lips. “He to tell me he to want to live his life with me. That he not to care about other girls. I to be the only one he to need.” “He said so?” Pablo frowns slightly. “Or do you think so?” “He to say so! I not to accept his proposal if our love not to be mutual. Not to be so strong. And soon, I make my dream to put on a wedding dress, like la princesa’s one, and go to an altar. I want the most beautiful one.” “Alright, señor Perkins, how long have you known my daughter?” “For one and a half years, and we begin to date a month later after we meet,” Blanca replies with a slight smile, not letting Daniel just open his mouth, even if he has tried to say something several times and gets a little tense because of this behavior of the girl. “When we have a date, he to accidentally say that he to like me. I to be so shocked, but that to be so nice and exciting… And then he to give me el mejor beso de mi vida. I still shake from what I feel…” “So, have you been dating for more than one and a half years?” Beatrice wonders. “I thought it’s been less time!” “¡Claro! And you really think one and a half years is a little period?” “Well… If it’s so… That’s different…” “But why didn’t you tell us you got a boyfriend before?” Pablo asks. “You were single and said you didn’t want to get married!” “We just hide our feelings from everyone,” Blanca says confidently with a slight smile. “But now you and mama know about us.” “I see,” Pablo nods. “But, honey, why did you hide it?” Beatrice wonders. “I to be afraid that you not to approve my relationship. That you and papa dislike the fact that I date an American guy. I love Daniel so much and cannot live without him. If we not to be together, I die from grief and yearning. I need nobody but mi amor.” “Gosh, Blanca, don’t say these things!” Beatrice gets horrified. “Think of Pablo and me! How bad we would feel if we lost you or Mia, our most beloved girls.” “I know, mama…” Blanca tightly locks her fingers with Daniel’s fingers with a wide smile. “But now I stop to be afraid because you and papa approve of my relationship with Daniel.” “We’ve said if you’re in love and happy, we’re glad, as well,” Pablo replies softly and confidently. “If you want it, date this man.” “¡Gracias, papa, muchas gracias!” Blanca jabs happily. “¡Te quiero! ¡Mucho! ¡Mucho!” “By the way, señor Daniel, what do you think about Blanca’s wish to move into your house?” Beatrice asks. “She somehow said she wanted to live with you, even if you were unmarried yet!” “And what?” Blanca shrugs. “I know I get married and become señora Blanca Moreno de Perkins soon. And our children to have the last name, Perkins Moreno. I want it so much! And I want to move into Daniel’s house as soon as possible.” “And when do you want to marry?” “When Daniel to feel better, we to get married. We want to do it before he to get hit by a car and forget everything.” “So, alright…” “And do you want it, señor Perkins?” Pablo asks. “Are you ready for this? A marriage is a responsible thing you must be ready for.” “Of course, ready!” Blanca exclaims, not letting Daniel speak for himself. “What kind of question!” “Blanca, maybe, your man would speak for himself?” Beatrice asks softly. “You don’t let him open his mouth!” “But he to remember nothing…” Blanca finds an excuse, rounding her eyes. “Yeah, but he’s not helpless and remembers just something from his life. This man can speak for himself. And if señor Perkins cannot say something, you will do it.” “Mom, you…” “Listen, Blanca, please, go to the kitchen and help your sister,” Pablo says thoughtfully. “She has been in the kitchen for too long.” “Yes, yes, daughter, go to Mia,” Beatrice agrees with a slight smile. “What if she got busy reading a book and forgot about us.” “But, papá, I not to want to leave Daniel alone,” Blanca says confidently, pressing herself closer to Daniel with rounded eyes. “We not to want to separate for a minute.” “Honey, go and help your sister. Just hurry her up and help her bring us a cup of coffee.” “Por favor, mama…” “Blanca, don’t be so stubborn,” Pablo says confidently. “If you weren’t pleased to clean your room for the guest, at least be nice to give him a cup of tea.” “Alright… Alright…” Blanca runs her fingertip over Daniel’s chin. “I to be back now, mi amor. Wait for me here… Talk to mi mama y mi papa…” Blanca lets Daniel’s arm go hesitantly, gets up from the bed slowly, and leaves the room with reluctance, making the man exhale with relief from the thought that he would relax for a while and stop feeling such strong pressure from the Spaniard. “Why you’re so nervous, señor,” Beatrice smiles slightly. “We aren’t going to do anything bad to you.” “Are you behaving like this because you met your fiancée’s parents?” Pablo asks quietly. “Erm…” Daniel stutters, throwing a short look at his hands. “Yeah… I’m a little nervous… It’s a meeting with my fiancée’s parents, my future relatives…” “You do not need to be afraid of us, señor Daniel,” Beatrice says confidently. “We don’t bite and will not eat you.” “I’m not afraid…” Daniel smiles a little falsely. “Don’t pay attention… And don’t think I’m rude or something like that.” “And we’re sorry about not getting ready,” Pablo apologizes. “Blanca wasn’t pleased to warn us and didn’t get ready for the meeting. I hope it wouldn’t stop you from feeling like home.” “Thanks, Mr. Moreno… It doesn’t make me confused.” “Alright.” “By the way, I must confess that you and your wife speak English very well. I do not almost feel your accent.” “Thanks a lot. Long practice and talking with those, who speak it, gave us good results.” “And how long have you lived in America?” “For a few years.” “And what made you come here if it’s not a secret?” “A wish to earn money. Alas, we got pennies where we lived before. So, we decided to move abroad. Of course, our business isn’t as good, as they promised, but we will not leave because we’re used to the USA and live here more or less. And we go to our mother city only if we need it.” “It’s weird…” Daniel frowns slightly. “I thought your daughter could learn English well, living among those, for whom it’s a mother language.” “She started to speak more or less clearly some time ago,” Beatrice confesses. “She couldn’t say a word before. She always used her sister and made her work as a translator. Of course, Blanca keeps asking Mia about it sometimes, but now she has learned to explain everything somehow.” “And in order for her to get used to English, Beatrice and I make her speak it at home,” Pablo adds. “Only practice can help you speak, so people understand you. And you can study any language better when you talk to a native speaker or someone, who is fluent in it.” “Is it hard for her to study English?” Daniel asks thoughtfully. “Quite hard. Besides, Blanca is lazy enough. If she didn’t work, she would lie on a sofa and watch TV. Alas, our daughter isn’t used to working, at least for her. Though, my wife and I educated our daughters in the same way. But it happened that only Mia met our expectations. And Blanca still hopes for others. She’s waiting for someone to pay for all her caprices.” “But she works at the hospital…” “Yeah, but we barely made her find a job, so she earns money that we need so much and talks to Americans more. Luckily, she got a job as a cleaning woman at the hospital. Of course, that’s not what we wanted, but since Blanca didn’t want to take after Mia and study well, alas… We’ll have to accept the fact that she washes the floors. And we hope that she will at least find a provided man, who will provide for her and her future children.” “Alright…” “We don’t insult our daughter,” Beatrice says confidently. “We just say the truth. Blanca is important to us as well as Mia, but the truth is true. Our older daughter didn’t meet our expectations and became terribly lazy.” “Is Blanca your older daughter?” “Yes. The girls have a three-year difference. Blanca is twenty-three, and Mia is twenty. But she’s gonna turn twenty-one soon.” “I see…” An awkward pause settles in the air for a few seconds, during which Daniel glances at his bandaged hand. And then the confident and smiling Blanca enters the room, while Mia follows her hesitantly. The girls are holding cups of tea with a nice smell, from which a slight smoke is getting. The younger of the Moreno sisters gives a cup to Pablo and Beatrice, and the older one gives it to Daniel and takes one more for herself. “Thanks, Mia,” Pablo thanks with a slight smile. “Yes, thanks,” Daniel pronounces hesitantly. “Mia, why didn’t you make tea for yourself?” “Thanks, Dad, but I’ve already drunk a cup…” Mia replies quietly, shaking her head and fixing her glasses. “Alright, then sit down with us,” Beatrice suggests with a slight smile. “Sit on the bed with Blanca and her fiancé.” “Oh, no, no… I will better go to my room… I have to study… You know that I’m getting ready to go to the university…” “Talk to our guest, sweetheart. It’s bad to hide in a room when someone comes.” “He didn’t come to me…” “Why not?” Pablo wonders. “Your sister brought her fiancée to introduce him to us.” “No, Dad, Mom… I don’t want…” “Stop, Mia. Sit down with us. You think of your studies all day. You should distract yourself at times.” “Sit down, sunshine, sit down,” Beatrice says softly. Mia says nothing, just sighs quietly, comes to the bed hesitantly, slouching slightly, and wants to sit next to Daniel. But Blanca, taking the man under his arm again and looking at her sister with hate or contempt, takes her up sharply and points at the place near her. The young girl rounds her eyes sharply and, inclining her head slightly, sits down on the bed and throws an indifferent look at her parents, whom she never argues with. “By the way, señor Perkins, what happened to your hand?” Pablo asks thoughtfully, glancing at Daniel’s bandaged hand. “Why is it bandaged?” “Ah, this…” Daniel blunts hesitantly and glances at his hand. “Well… Nothing serious… I cut it strongly…” “Blanca said you were in the hospital some time ago.” “It’s true. I… I… I was hit by a car… At least I was told so…” “And you remember nothing?” “Yeah, I was diagnosed with a mild concussion and… I forgot some things and am now trying to recall them. It’s unsuccessfully yet… I have a hole in my memory…” “Oh, I to be so scared when I know the doctors bring Daniel to the hospital,” Blanca says with sadness in her eyes, drinking tea from her cup. “Where I work… I feel pain when I know he got memory loss… But… Thank God, nothing more serious…” “And yeah…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly. “I’m sorry for… Calling you wrongly… I can’t remember anyone’s names… For example, Blanca constantly has to fix me when I call her Branca…” “Don’t worry, it happens,” Beatrice calms down softly and drinks some tea. “If you had a head trauma, you might expect anything.” “Yeah, I know. But I think nothing can be worse than amnesia. That’s a disgusting feeling when you look around and recognize nothing. And when someone tells you something, but you blink your widely open eyes and try to recall something like that…” “And do you remember my daughter?” Pablo asks. “Yeah, vaguely…” Daniel lies, biting his lip, and takes a sip of tea from his cup. “Erm… I think she’s familiar to me…” “I believe, did Blanca say something to you?” “Yeah… About us… And it seems very familiar to me… Erm… As if I experienced something like that.” “I think it’s a good sign.” “I’m doing my best to recall everything as soon as possible. I want to know who I really am, who my close people are, and why everything seems so familiar to me.” “I think my daughter will help you remember everything,” Beatrice says with a slight smile. “¡Claro, mama!” Blanca says with a slight smile, pressing herself to Daniel and caressing his cheek with her dry hand. “I to be his fiancée and future wife and to be ready to help and support him in everything. And do my best for mi querida to remember everything. Remember how we want to get ready for our wedding.” “That’s good when people support one another…” Mia says quietly and very hesitantly, glancing at everybody in the room. “Very good.” “Si…” Blanca pronounces in a low voice, throwing a bad look at Mia again as if she does not want her sister to open her mouth. “And I believe you are going to invite your friends and family to the wedding,” Pablo says with a slight smile and takes a sip from his cup. “Si, papa, I invite mi amiga that to work with me,” Blanca says with a slight smile. “I want her to be my maid of honor. And I to be sure that she to agree to help me. Help me on the most important and wonderful day in mi vida.” “But what about Mia?” Beatrice wonders. “Wouldn’t you invite your sister?” “Mia?” Blanca pronounces reluctantly and bites her lip slightly. “Mia… Well… Erm… We can also invite her… She… Sit with all the guests…” “I thought you’d make her your maid of honor. Would you prefer choosing a stranger girl over your own sibling?” “Actually, you can pick up a few bridesmaids! I can find the one to carry the hem of my dress and veil when I to be beautiful and go to an altar. When mi papa to bring me to mi amor and watch me become señora Moreno de Perkins.” “Your mother and I hope you will not forget about Mia,” Pablo expresses hope. “I think about her.” Blanca drinks tea from her cup. “I promise.” “Okay, that’s good…” Beatrice pronounces and moves her eyes to Daniel. “And what about you, señor Daniel? Who do you want to invite?” “Erm, I will probably invite someone from my familiar people…” Daniel replies a little hesitantly and takes a sip of tea. “I… I’m now communicating with some people… I feel good with them and… I think they’d be happy to have fun at my wedding.” “And what about your family? Do they approve of your relationship with Blanca? Would you invite someone?” “Erm…” Daniel stutters, not knowing how to answer this question and wishing Blanca to speak for him for the first time. “My family…” “Unfortunately, Daniel not to have family…” Blanca says with sadness in her eyes. “His parents to die a long time ago… And he to have nobody…” “They died?” Pablo pronounces with sadness in his eyes. “Oh, I’m very sorry, senor…” Daniel nods and drinks some tea, understanding that Blanca may be his fiancée because she is well aware of his life. “And when his padres die, they leave a large, gorgeous house,” Blanca confesses confidently. “I to be there and be delighted by how wonderful that to be. That to be so good I to live in such a good place with the one to be my husband soon. Where we raise our children.” “Is your house really so beautiful?” Beatrice wonders. “Yes, my house is fantastic,” Daniel says hesitantly, fingering over nervously. “If you want, you can go to my home at any time. I can show you everything and give you tea or coffee… Branca knows where I live…” “Soy Blanca, mi amor,” Blanca fixes with a slight smile. “Alright, we will visit you someday,” Beatrice promises with a slight smile. “The parents should know where their daughter would live and whether her future husband is able to provide for her.” “Yes, sure…” Daniel pronounces quietly with a little false smile. “Don’t worry… My house is large, and I have money…” Silence settles in the air for some time, during which everybody just looks around and drinks tea. “By the way, señor Perkins, did Blanca show you her childhood photos?” Pablo asks with a slight smile. “No, she did not,” Daniel replies quietly. “Oh! She was such a funny girl that made me and her mother touched.” “¡No, papá!” Blanca pronounces shyly. “I feel embarrassed when I see those photos. And I to be so clumsy and ugly and to do stupid things. I to be fat, and everyone to bully me…” “Don’t say bad words about you, honey,” Beatrice protests softly. “You’ve always been a very cute girl. And you’ve never been fat. We’ve always said you’re a girl with a healthy body. And there’s nothing bad with it.” “Si, si, mama… I know… But…” “I think your young man will agree with us that when you love, you don’t care about weight. Am I right, senior Perkins?” “Yes, Mrs. Moreno,” Daniel pronounces hesitantly with a very slight smile. “You’re absolutely right… It doesn’t make your daughter worse…” “Still, you can view childhood photos of her,” Pablo says amiably. “Do you want us to give you something?” “I’d look at them with pleasure,” Daniel shrugs. “We will find them and show you now,” Beatrice says with a slight smile. “¡Mamá, papá, no!” Blanca exclaims. “I feel terrible… Por favor…” But Beatrice and Pablo get up from the chairs, leave their cups on the writing, shabby table, on which there is a mess, and go somewhere to find what they need with slight smiles. “I not to want to let Daniel see those photos,” Blanca jabs loudly. “¡No! ¡Por favor, mi padres! ¡Por favor!” Being obsessed with a wish to stop her parents, Blanca gets up from the bed quickly, puts her cup on the table, and follows Beatrice and Pablo, who say something to her, not caring about her protests. While Daniel and Mia stay in the room. At first, they say nothing and just look around, but then the man starts to look at the girl with interest. “Hey, why are you so scared?” Daniel asks softly. “Me?” Mia pronounces quietly and hesitantly and fixes her hair and glasses. “Erm… Actually, I always am…” “Do you behave like this because of me? Do I scare you?” “No, no, you don’t scare me…” Mia cracks a smile. “Don’t pay attention… That’s… My character.” “Don’t be afraid of me, girl.” Daniel takes a couple of sips of tea and puts the cup on the small table placed near the bed. “I won’t do anything bad to you.” “I’m not afraid of you… You… You don’t look like a bad boy… Though, you seem the one at first sight.” “Do you fear my appearance?” Daniel laughs shyly. “Yeah, but… I don’t mean you’re ugly… Just… You just seem fearful… You know… Like… Erm… A leader of a gang…” “C’mon, I’m not so terrible.” “I know, Daniel… Sorry for acting like this…” “I kinda thought you feared your sister. You were very tense when you were here together…” “It’s true… I… Fear Blanca a little…” “Really? Do you fear Blanca? Your own sister?” “Erm…” Mia blunts hesitantly. “Yeah…” “But why? She’s kind of a good girl!” “Just… Just… You and I are just alone… But… Blanca is very jealous… She’s madly possessive… You know… There are men, who control everything that a girl does. And my sister is the same type…” “But what do you have to do with it? You’re her sister!” “She’s jealous of you and me. When I just looked at you, she was ready to kill me. And she would’ve done it if our parents hadn’t been near her.” “No, I don’t believe it…” Daniel shakes his head. “It’s true, Daniel. Blanca is terribly jealous. She’s always been jealous of our parents and me… She couldn’t accept the fact that I was born.” “Do you have a bad relationship?” “Me and Blanca? Not very good, I would say… No open hatred, but we dislike each other. I mean, Blanca doesn’t love me. But when my sister needs help, she runs to me and tells me to help her. No matter if I have things to do. She’s using my kindness and treats me like a servant.” “Okay…” Daniel thinks for two seconds. “Say… Did I really propose Blanca to marry? I can’t remember anything like that! Though, all of her stories seem familiar to me.” “Erm…” Mia says nothing for a few seconds, rubbing her shaking hands, while her eyes are running from one side to another, then moves her eyes down and fixes her glasses again. “Yes… Yeah… You… Promised her to marry…” “You saw it?” “Blanca said it. But it’s just her words yet. You… Haven’t proposed to her officially.” “Huh?” “You haven’t gifted her a ring and just proposed to marry verbally…” “That’s how…” “But my sister said you’re gonna gift her a ring soon… The best and most beautiful one… Blanca wants the expensive ring with a brilliant… And she literally sleeps and dreams of herself wearing a gorgeous wedding dress. She wanna feel like a princess… Watched some tales in childhood and dreamed of that type of wedding…” “I see…” Daniel thinks for two seconds, glancing aside. “And how do you treat Blanca? You’re afraid of her so much as if she constantly hurts you…” “Oh, no, I love my sister…” Mia says with a quiet voice, looking at Daniel with rounded eyes full of a scare. “I can’t say I’m ready to cut a throat for her… I just… Treat her neutrally, knowing that she’s a member of my family. Mom and Dad ask Blanca and me to love and respect each other. And I can’t make them upset.” “Does Blanca apologize when she does something bad?” “Yeah, but under our parents’ pressure. She rarely recognizes her fault. For her, saying ‘sorry’ at her wish is a hint on the abdomen, so to say.” “My gosh…” “Blanca is… Quite sly… She can make the situation good for her… But my parents see her through and know what she can do.” “I see…” Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which Daniel, frowning slightly, looks at his hands. “By the way, Blanca said you translate English phrases into Spanish if she doesn’t understand them,” Daniel says thoughtfully. “Yes, sometimes I have to be her translator,” Mia nods. “And actually, be her servant. As I’ve said, when my sister has problems, she makes me solve them.” “Is she really lazy to practice English?” “Yes, Blanca is terribly lazy. That’s good her parents explained just something, and she at least has a good vocabulary. Her biggest problem is grammar and punctuation. She doesn’t know the rules, makes lots of mistakes in words, and pronounces something wrong… And sometimes people don’t understand her.” “She never speaks in the past or future time.” “Right… And I’m not sure if my sister could speak as well as my parents and me, even if she wanted. Something goes in one ear of Blanca and out the other.” “If she didn’t say Spanish words, I would say she speaks well. But her accent is very strong. And… Honestly… It gets me a little nervous.” “Trust me, it was much worse, and she didn’t know a word. Our parents barely made her study English, but Blanca didn’t want to memorize anything. She did even go to work only under their pressure.” “By the way, when Blanca was in my room in the hospital, the doctor came to us and began to swear at her. Something like, if you’re lazy, you’ll be fired. And then he said that many people complained about her. Blanca was kinda rude and non-educated and did her work terribly.” “That’s true. Her boss has already warned Blanca about getting fired several times, but she keeps doing what she wants. Somehow, I talked to one of the staff members of the hospital and was told that Blanca did everything but work. If she wanted, she’d go to have lunch in the middle of the workday. If she wanted, she’d go to the room of some patient and annoy them by talking. And if she wanted, she wouldn’t come and would just walk somewhere all day.” “And hasn’t she gotten fired?” “I feel she’s gonna get fired soon. The patience of the staff is on edge. But even if she’s wanted to be fired, Blanca would be hiding it from her parents, who would make her find another job. And that’s good she’s an adult and not kept under control like at school. Or Mom and Dad would be shocked by what she did for a short time of work.” “Okay… And you’re working?” “I work as a pizza delivery girl in my free time. And I’m studying at the university. But I want to change it next year. Now I’m working too hard to get ready for that well.” “I got it… And how long have Blanca, your parents, and you lived in America?” “Somewhere for three-four years…” “Your parents said they moved here to earn more money but decided to stay here, even if they didn’t do it.” “It’s true. And one of the reasons is my wish to study in the USA. I always wanted to study here. I examined many universities, but eventually chose the one in New York. I’m studying here as a foreign student…” “Okay…” Mia smiles shyly, feeling that it’s easy and nice for her to talk to Daniel, who is very friendly to her. However, the man has the same opinion about this young girl and finds this talk with her very nice. Much nice than a talk with Blanca. “You know, Maya…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully with a slight smile. “I’m Mia,” Mia fixes softly. “Oh, sorry, Mia. Don’t be mad, please… I barely remember names yet… My doctor said that’s the consequence of my head trauma…” “Yeah, I understand. Don’t worry.” “I… Just wanted to say I love talking to you so much. You seem a very sweet and shy girl.” “And it’s also a pleasure for me to talk to you,” Mia smiles shyly. “I think you’re a very good man, Daniel. Really. You don’t look like you’re ready to kill someone.” “Glad to hear it,” Daniel says with a slight smile. “And I must confess that your English is very good. I’d think I speak to someone to be fluent in it if I didn’t know you’re a Spaniard.” “Thank you so much. But I still keep learning it. I can’t speak English fluently yet.” “Anyway, you do it well.” “Nice to hear it.” “And I’d say it’s much nicer and more interesting to talk to you than Blanca.” “Why?” “I don’t know… Just… She just presses on me too much, and I feel… Like I’m trapped between two walls… I can’t exhale with relief… It seems like someone strangles me…” “I get it.” “Blanca kinda seems sweet, but… She has something I don’t like… That pushes me off her… Maybe, it’s the fact that she presses on me strongly…” “Maybe, you shouldn’t have purposed to her?” “The problem is that I don’t remember how I did it,” Daniel confesses hesitantly. “As if it didn’t happen to me…” “Even… Vaguely?” “I don’t remember at all. I can say some things from what your sister told me are familiar to me. But I don’t feel that I really experienced a proposal.” “Excuse me, but what do you actually feel for Blanca?” Mia asks hesitantly. “Maybe, you don't actually love her? What if you date her not to hurt her, knowing that she loves you too much?” Mia’s words make Daniel suspicious, and he begins to suspect that this young girl might know something about the story of his relationship with Blanca. Because she speaks as if she knows about the business of her sister, who is deceiving the man insolently. “I don’t know, Mia…” Daniel shakes his head. “But sometimes I think I really don’t love that girl… I don’t get attracted to her… When Blanca kisses me, I wanna push her off. Something inside me literally screams that’s not what I’m supposed to like.” “And what stops you from telling her about it?” “A fear to hurt her… I don’t wanna give Blanca pain. She… Loves me so much…” “Do you remember what it's like to love someone?” Mia asks hesitantly, locking her fingers tightly. “Not sure… But somehow, I asked two men about what they felt when being next to those they loved. And… I don’t feel anything from what they said… I don’t get attracted to your sister… They said when you love, you wanna hug and kiss your beloved person. But I don’t want… I feel uncomfortable…” “And doesn’t your heart tremble next to my sister?” “Nope… I try to make myself love her, but… My body literally rejects any kind of Blanca’s love.” “You must not make yourself love someone, Daniel. You love, you are indifferent, or you feel disgust. You can’t force someone to love.” “I don’t know…” Daniel shrugs. “Maybe, I just forgot how to love… My head is absolutely messed up… Everybody wants to be right… Everybody wants to tell their version of events… And I don’t know who to believe… I… I’m confused, you know… Who’s right, who’s lying? I dunno!” “Early or late, everything will get better,” Mia replies hesitantly, tensing all the muscles in her body and rubbing her hands nervously. “Don’t worry.” “What do I do, Mia? I wanna remember everything so badly, but I don’t know how! How long will everything seem familiar to me? I wanna stop acting like a child, who is surprised by stupid things, and become myself. The one I had been before I lost my memory. I don’t feel like me yet. I’m kinda living in the body of another man…” “Ah, Daniel, I’d really like to help you, but I don’t know how…” Mia says hesitantly, putting her hand on Daniel’s one with sadness in her eyes. “But I think very strong memories would help you. Or what you had done before you got hit by the car.” “Yeah, but I don’t know what I was doing. I can’t remember where I was, and who I talked with… I could ask someone to find me unconscious to show me that place. But I’m not sure if it would help me. I’ve already tried to talk to some people and was at some places with them, but it didn’t give me anything.” “Still, you must not give up. Your memory may come back at any time. Anything might provoke it. Keep searching, finding out, and listening. Don’t stay in the same place. Don’t wait for everything to be solved. It will not happen. This is how you can remember something.” “Yeah, I know…” Daniel exhales slowly and runs his hands over his face. “Oh, and Blanca is pressing… She wants me to constantly give her attention.” “If you’re not attracted to Blanca, why don’t you tell her about it and break up? Or ask her to wait for some time?” “Sometimes I think she won’t let me go so easily…” Daniel replies thoughtfully. “Blanca literally sank her teeth into me and doesn’t wanna let me go… I know she’s worried about me. But… I must confess that I feel much better when she’s not near me.” “And why do you torture yourself and stay with the person you don’t love. Tell her the truth! Say you can’t remember her and feel disgust when she kisses and hugs you? Don’t lie to you and Blanca! While you have amnesia, she might say anything, and you’d believe it.” “What do you wanna say?” “Oh!” Mia sharply closes her mouth with a hand, understanding that she said something wrong. “Sorry… I didn’t mean it… No, no…” “Do you think Blanca is deceiving me?” “No, no, come on!” Mia protests in a shaking voice with a scare in her eyes. “Blanca loves you very much! She always says she’s madly afraid to lose you. I just wanna say… You should think better if you wanna be with her… Before you propose to her and buy her a ring… But if you decide to do it, please, think. If you marry her without love and let her love you, you’ll never be happy. Never do what you doubt. Because real love is when two people love.” “Maybe, you’re right…” Daniel pronounces thoughtfully. “But I’m sorry about that girl… She is so attracted to me… Worried about me… I don’t find the courage to tell her the truth… And… I really let her love me…” “Of course, it’s your business, but I advise you to better think. Or better wait until you remember everything… So, you understand yourself and your feelings… Don’t succumb to Blanca’s wish to propose to you and don’t especially marry her right now. If you… Doubt…” Daniel says nothing and just frowns slightly, while Mia softly caresses his shoulder with the hope of supporting him a little. And a few seconds, Blanca literally runs into the room and opens her eyes widely when she sees the man smiling nicely at her sister, who is more than just amicable. It makes the Spaniard enraged, and she runs to the two, shouting in a loud, squeaking voice: “Mia! Get out of my man!” Blanca runs to Mia, pushes her away rudely, sits next to Daniel, caresses his face, and squeezes it with both hands slightly, making him tense all his muscles from the strong discomfort. “How many times I tell you not to come to him!” “Don’t scream, Blanca,” Mia says quietly. “You said people weren’t allowed to scream with Daniel’s pretense because he’s too sensitive to loud sounds due to the head trauma.” “You want to steal my fiancé! YOU WANT TO STEAL MY FIANCÉ! You caress him! You talk to him! You shoot your eyes at him!” “Blanca, Blanca, c’mon,” Daniel meddles quietly, taking Blanca by the shoulders. “Calm down, please. Nobody’s gonna steal me.” “What do you mean, nobody? This insolent lady to dare to steal you from me! She to want to ruin my happiness!” “I just talked to your sissy when you weren’t here. What’s wrong with it? Mia is a very sweet girl, and I liked her. Talking with her is madly nice.” “Sweet? SWEET?” Blanca raises her voice more and more, falling into hysteria and looking at Daniel with her widely open bloodshot eyes. “I not to be sweet, right? You not to get pleasure when you talk to me?” “Of course, I do, honey. But I see nothing bad with talking to your sister.” “You cheat on me! Cheat on me with my own sister? THIS GRAY MOUSE!” “Blanca, what kind of cheating?” Mia wonders loudly, opening her eyes widely. “What are you talking about?” “WHY YOU GET ATTRACTED TO THIS HOMELY GIRL AND GET A CRUSH ON HER?” Blanca sharply grabs Daniel by the shoulders and shakes him slightly. “ANSWER, QUERIDA, WHAT?” “Are you out of your mind? Why do you scream when our parents are near us? They hear everything!” “Don’t dare to come to my man!” Blanca demands rudely, threatening Mia with her index finger. “He to be mine and nobody else! And if you come to him and talk again, you regret it very much! You get it? YOU GET IT, I ASK!” “Sorry, Blanca, but you’re acting stupidly,” Daniel says quietly. “I just talked to Mia a little – nothing more. If I talk to your sister, it doesn’t mean I want to cheat on you.” “You want to cheat on me? YOU WANT TO LEAVE ME? You not to need me anymore! You cheat on me! WITH MY SISTER! YOU NOT TO LOVE ME! NOT TO LOVE!” Blanca starts crying hysterically, grabbing her hair tightly and pulling it out very strongly, while Mia grabs her throat with horror in widely open eyes. What’s happening makes Daniel confused and wish to leave this place as soon as possible and forget the Spaniard, who started hysteria for nothing. “What did I do to her?” Daniel frowns slightly. “I just talked to her sister that seemed nice to me! Is she kinda jealous of her and me? But that’s stupid! Do I really have to give all my attention to her? Is Blanca gonna kill me if I tell her about the people, who are helping me? Damn… If she’s acting like this, Mia is absolutely right… I better wait… First, I should remember everything and then think if I need it. Though, looking at her hysteria, I’d prefer running as far as possible…” “I TO BE UNHAPPY!” Blanca keeps screaming loudly. “YOU NOT TO LOVE ME! CHEAT ON ME WITH MY SISTER!” “Blanca, calm down…” Mia moans tiredly. “Stop acting like a capricious child.” “HE NOT TO LOVE ME! NOT TO LOVE! I GIVE DANIEL EVERYTHING, BUT HE TO CHEAT ON ME! HE TO WANT TO LEAVE ME! HE TO REFUSE TO MARRY ME!” “Gosh, Blanca, stop saying stupid things,” Daniel smiles falsely. “I don’t cheat on you and am not gonna do it.” “Not true!” Blanca makes a quiet sob. “You not to give me all your attention.” “Nobody’s gonna leave and betray you.” Daniel hugs Blanca against his wish and starts caressing her head, looking absolutely indifferent and not aiming to give his soul to his words. “You hurt me by saying these things.” “I love you… Te quiero, mi amor… ¡Te amo mucho, mucho!” “I know, I know… Calm down, please. And don’t attack your sister. She’s guilty of nothing.” “You to really love me and not to want to cheat on me?” Blanca sniffs, moving her wet eyes to Daniel. “Right? Tell me, mi amor! Say you belong only to me and never cheat!” “Right… Right!” Daniel caresses Blanca’s head. “Yes, I don’t remember you, but if you say we love each other, that’s the truth.” “Swear that you to have nothing with my sister or another girl. Por favor, Daniel, júrame.” “I swear, Branca… I swear I have nobody but you.” “Gracias, mi amor. Muchas gracias… Y soy Blanca, no Branca…” Daniel sighs quietly with rolled eyes, trying to calm Blanca down, while she snuggles her face in his chest with tears in her eyes. But later, she smiles smugly and hugs, more specifically, squeezes him with both arms, relaxing quickly thanks to the warmth that the man is spreading. “Tú serás mi marido, Daniel,” Blanca thinks with closed eyes. “Haré todo lo posible para que no recordases quién eres en realidad. Tú serás diferente. Tú serás mi amor. Mi marido. Mi vida. Mi mundo. Dígale adiós tu vida, querida. Eres Daniel Christopher Perkins, mi amor. Soy Blanca Carmen Moreno Rodriquez… Y estoy a punto de ser Blanca Carmen Moreno de Perkins. Te prometo…” Daniel does not feel sorry about what happened because he thinks he did nothing bad. The man tries to get busy with other thoughts, as he comforts the Spaniard, who makes him feel rejection, emptiness, coldness, and a wish to get rid of the need to hug and kiss her as soon as possible. Speaking rudely, it’s disgusting for him to kiss her. But the fear of giving the girl pain does not let him say, “no” and reject her. And at some moment, Daniel looks at the scared Mia with sympathy, while she gets up from the bed hesitantly, shrugs, and throws her hands up with sad eyes. No matter what, some words from the younger of the Moreno sisters made the man think if what he heard from different people was true.