The sky was dark as could be but the street well lit by the lampposts that ran along the side as well the headlights from the dozens of cars parked in the area.
Gillian watched as Edison sped off in his black Ferrari. Nicholas must have sensed her nervousness when he gave her reassuring smile, "Don't worry, Ed will be fine."
Anxiety continued to build from within when seconds turned to minutes and there were still no signs of Edison or his opponent. The crowd was silent waiting for the victor to appear. Just then, loud zooming from the car engine, followed by screeching from the tires could be heard.
Edison's black Ferrari appeared first followed closely by a red Mustang only several feet apart.
Gillian's heart nearly skipped a beat when she saw the red Mustang try to bump the black Ferrari off the road; luckily Edison was able to avoid it and sped to the finish line.
- - - - - flashback starts - - - - -
She cheered loudly when Edison?s steel blue BMW appeared but then the yellow Jaguar suddenly lost control and started spinning, ramming into the steel blue BMW in front.
She tried to run to the steel blue BMW, only to be held back by a pair of strong arms, belonging to Nicholas.
When the two cars finally came to a halt, she broke free from Nicholas's grip and ran straight to Edison.
His head was resting on the steering wheel.
Unconscious.
Streams of blood were running down his forehead, covering half of his face.
"Ed!"
- - - - - flashback ends - - - - -
Blood. Blood. The red liquid blurred her vision.
She finally broke out of the trance when she felt a shake and saw Edison standing in front of her concern written on his face.
"Ed! Ed, are you alright?" Gillian ran her hand frantically over Edison's face.
The other's reaction changed from concern to confusion.
"Gill!" He called, pulling her hands into his, holding them close to his chest. "Gill, I'm fine."
"The car lost control and crashed into yours. Your face was covered with blood."
"I'm fine. You see? No accident," Edison took a step backwards, allowing her to see him clearly.
"You were in a blue car and a yellow car rammed into you!" Gillian recited her vision.
"You remember? You remember that accident?" Edison?s eyes danced with joy.
---------------------------------------------------------
"You carved this. Do you remember?" Edison pointed to a carving on a tree with the words "Edison loves Gillian" enclosed inside a heart; his hopeful eyes searched her face for recognition.
Gillian's shook her head slightly then walk closer, reaching out to trace the words with her fingers.
She couldn't recall carving the words. Her recollection of the past was still vague, occasionally she would recall some events and through Edison and Charlene's guidance she was able to glue pieces of her past together.
She was born and raised in New York until age of eighteen, when her father?s job brought the entire family back to Hong Kong. Mere months after their arrival, she met Edison. Their first two encounters had infuriated her to no end but all that changed the day her dog died and she ran into him on the street. Instead of provoking her like he usually did, he followed her quietly, supporting her in silence. Unfortunately, her parents did not approve of their relationship, and eventually lead to their untimely demise. Her parents? death had drowned her in guilt and remorse. She broke up with Edison and tried to commit suicide. Fortunately, she was saved in time but had lost all her memories.
Even if one day, she were to recall all her memories, deep down, she knew she was no longer the same defiant strong-willed girl that went to XXX Street to demand an apology from Edison.
She had changed.
"That's alright. You'll remember eventually." Edison grinned reassuringly, leading her away from the tree, back to their picnic table where Nicholas, Charlene, and Kenny were already setting up the food.
Despite the laughter that filled the rest of the day, Gillian felt uneasiness tug her heart.
Did Edison love her or the girl she was two years ago?
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