thought aside. ‘The Frenchman’ was nothing but a fantasy I had conjured up, Adam was real. He was the best boyfriend I had ever had. Well, he was the only boyfriend I had ever had. Mister tall, dark, and seductive, was just my subconscious begging for attention. Some French attention, you whore!
I suddenly realized that , since waking up from the coma, Adam hadn’t really kissed me. Not even once! Was he afraid I would break if he did?
“I’m doing ok,” I offered shyly . He pulled up a chair and sat beside my bed. He looked very cute today. He wore his dark blue fitted jeans, a blue and yellow collared shirt that he left open at the throat, which revealed a crisp white t-shirt. And, of course, he had on his signature flip fops. The man had a thing for them, having a variety of them in his closet in almost every shade. Thankfully, he was blessed with adorable looking feet, so I didn’t mind the odd obsession.
“Suzie said she would meet you at the house. I assume that goes the same for Diana. She told me about the meeting you had with the doctor yesterday. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when you woke up. It’s just … we all hoped that your memory would improve on its own,” he mumbled as he took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“I know,” I said as I looked away from him. I had so many questions. Were we still together? I assume d we were, since he’s been here almost every day; but things seemed different with him, not like before.
I turned and looked at him , and he gave me a small smile. I smiled back him, but then felt the tears welling up in my eyes, threatening to fall. I needed to know. I had to ask. I could sense his discomfort and wondered what he thought.
Curious about his sudden mood change, I asked “Everything ok?” and I reached for his soft, warm, hand. He looked up at me and I could tell that there was something brewing in that head of his, but he simply nodded his head.
“Yup, everything’s fine.”
Unconvinced, I continued searching his eyes. Something was definitely wrong.
“Adam … I need to know … if …” I began and tears fell from my eyes onto my cheeks.
He shook his head, “No , baby girl, we’re not,” he said, knowing just what I was asking. We had always known what the other was thinking. It was something we loved and called special.
My h eart sank. Everything had changed and I couldn’t remember any of it. Still holding his hand, I felt him grow rigid. He didn’t look at me. Instead, he looked at everything in the room – except me.
“Tell me …What happened?” I asked. I tugged on his hand, forcing him to look me in the eye. I saw his inner struggle brew within him. A part of him wanted to tell me, but something seemed to be holding him back. “I can take it, Adam, I promise,” I begged.
He nodded his head and brought my hand to his lips, “Ok, I’ll tell you,” he responded.
JULIEN
“Sylvie, please meet me in my office as soon as you can!” I ordered over the intercom. It was my first day back to work since Emily’s accident and I needed updates on all of our projects – most importantly, the new hotel that was supposed to open in a little over a week . My father would have my head if things did not go as planned. That Shane had been handling matters in my absence made me extremely nervous.
With everything going on, I needed things to run as smoothly as possible. It was bad enough I had become a depressed, worthless, excuse of a man the last few days. I slept the guest room because I couldn’t stomach to go into my own bedroom or home office. Memories of Emily tormented me day and night. No matter how much I tried to push her out of my mind, she still haunted me.
“Yes , Mr. Belmont, I’ll be right in,” Sylvie responded and was at my desk with pen and paper at hand a few moments later. Always the ever-ready assistant.
“Bring me up to date on the Downtown Project,” I demanded and poured myself a scotch at the bar to the