"Gill," the voice was soft and full of yearning.
Gillian's heart froze, at the same time an odd sensation ran through her body.
The voice. When had she heard that voice before?
And her name. He knew her name.
Taking a good look at him for the first time, she noticed how handsome he was. Thick dark eyebrows, intense eyes, straight nose, high cheekbones, and alluring lips; furthermore he looked so familiar. When had she seen him before?
- - - - - flashback starts - - - - -
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
- - - - - flashback ends - - - - -
- - - - - flashback starts - - - - -
"Why do you have so many jars of marbles?"
"I drop a marble into the jar each time I think of you."
- - - - - flashback ends - - - - -
- - - - - flashback starts - - - - -
"Gill!"
"I don't ever want to see you again."
- - - - - flashback ends - - - - -
She thought her heart would jump right out of her chest.
It was him. The man she had dreamt of every night for the past week.
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"Amnesia?" he repeated disbelievingly as they sat side by side at the beach. "That means you don't remember me? Or anything about us?"
Her heart wretched to see the agony that was so clearly written all over his face, how she wish she could tell him otherwise. "Well, not exactly. Lately, I've recalled some memories when I dream at night. My psychiatrist said the dreams were probably manifestations of my memories and that I would eventually remember more if learn more about my past." She phrased her words as gently as possible, hoping to ease his pain.
"But what about Char, she must have told you about your life before the accident?" he asked, desperately wanting to know more.
She observed his face, looking for possible signs of deceit but only found sincerity and concern. "She has but she's always very vague. And she clearly said I've never had a boyfriend before."
"What? How can that be? That's a lie. We were together for over a year until..." he trailed off.
"Until what?" she asked anxiously, knowing somehow whatever he had left off was extremely crucial.
Edison hesitated, wondering if it was wise to tell her what happened to cause their separation. He didn't want to lose her again. He loved her too much. But he couldn't lie either, not to her. "Your parents disapproved of our relationship but you being ever so rebellious disregarded their warnings. One day, I went to pick you up at the same time your parents were coming home. They immediately chased after us in their car. I thought if I just made a few turns that I could shake them off our trail but," he paused, afraid of recalling the horrid event, "it turned out they tried to chase after us anyway and collided with another car. They died within minutes of arriving at the hospital. You were extremely upset. You blamed yourself for their deaths. You said you couldn't face me anymore and just left. I tried looking everywhere for you but you just simply disappeared."
Gillian was stunned by Edison's words.
She had inadvertently caused her parent's deaths.
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"Gill! Where were you?" Gillian heard Charlene's anxious voice as she dragged her feet through the door. Her face, ghostly pale and still streaked with tears.
Immediately by her side were Charlene and Kenny, both looked like they hadn't had a wink of sleep all night.
"Do you know how worried I was? Where did you go? I got so worried that I called Kenny over," Charlene rambled anxiously.
"Gill? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Kenny asked, observing Gillian intently.
"I was at XXX street," Gillian said quietly.
Immediately Charlene looked as if she had been struck while Kenny just listened patiently.
"I ran into Edison. You remember Ed, right Char?" her eyes focusing on her younger sister.
"So you know everything?" Charlene asked weakly, afraid of the answer.
"Yes, Ed told me exactly how Mom and Dad died. Why did you lie to me? Why didn't you tell me that they died because of me?" Gillian screamed, breaking into tears, unsure if she was upset at Charlene or herself.
"I'm sorry, Gill. I am so sorry," Charlene cried, dropping to the floor like a ragged doll.
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Edison sat next to the bartender, gulping down another cup of beer. He drank so many that even the bartender had lost count. Shaking his head, the bartender turned away to attend to other customers.
Life was so ironic, Edison thought, all this time he had been thinking about her, missing her, meanwhile she remembered nothing about him or their past together. Fate was playing a cruel joke he concluded.
From across the room, two people sat, observing his self-destructive behavior.
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