Her Stolen Memories

"She is returning today." Someone whispered excitedly. "Are you sure, Rooney?" the other one said worriedly, "Don't spread rumours. People will kill you. And I am not saying that just metaphorically." "Shut up." Rooney whispered, inching to hide behind the marble pillar, out of the other workers' path in the giant hallway, "I heard this from Mrs. Reed when I went to serve her coffee in the main office early morning. She was with Mr. Reed, cluttering around, fixing things in the office for some reason. Michael, do you think she will lie about her daughter?" The big, beefy man was almost jumping in joy. The large mustache on his face was huffing with each heavy breath that he took, his large belly shaking slightly. The blue uniform- scrubs-like pants and shirt that he wore were the official clothing for the servers and kitchen staff of the company. The other man, Michael was thin, blond with an unusually wide chest. He had been the personal assistant of Aana for seven years, guiding her since the moment she decided to take over the small company of her grandfather, 'Reed Cementation'. It took her two years to learn everything about the business and plan the strategies. And in the next five years, she turned a local cement business to 'Reed Cementation USA', an international brand with a turnover of millions each year. "It is her twenty-eighth birthday today!" Rooney grinned, "Imagine her happiness when she steps here again. It has been what, a whole year since her accident, right?" "Rooney," Michael warned. "Oh, I know." Rooney's face fell, "I will just shut up. I also don't want Mrs. or Mr. Reed hearing the mention of that accident." "Exactly!" Michael said stiffly. A girl bumped into Rooney while walking in the hallway, almost knocking the short man down on his knees. "Watch out!" she snapped while walking away on her six-inch heels, then suddenly stopped, turned around and snapped again, "And bring green tea to my office right now!" The slender girl's skin-tight, grey skirt hugged her long, creamy white legs perfectly. Her head of full, curly hair bounced as she turned her face and walked away with her nose up high in the air. "There are days like this when I want to smash her face in the toilet of my home after a day of healthy treat of extra spicy ramen noodles." Rooney huffed angrily. Then without waiting for Michael to say anything else, he stepped sideways and bobbled down to the lift to go to the cafeteria on the third floor to get that damn green tea. ***** "Aana, stop, baby." Amelia, Aana's mother exclaimed, stopping her from stepping out of the car. Aana turned around to look at her mom who bent down and worriedly checked Aana's heels by touching and pulling at the straps around her ankles and the heels under the feet. The spotless, square face of her mother had now formed a deep frown in worry as she inspected Aana's heels, "We don't want them breaking or you stumbling and falling down. I told you not to wear heels! When will you start listening to me?" Aana knew it did not have anything to do with her reputation of the company's CEO. Her mother did not care about people's laughter or snide snickers or nasty comments. Her mother worried about Aana falling down on the ground and hurting herself. Since Aana had opened her eyes in the bed of her home six months ago, surrounded by the machines and the beeps of the heart monitor, she had seen this look in Amelia's eyes constantly. "It barely has three inches of height, mom." Aana sighed with an exasperated, but sweet smile on her round face, "And these are platform heels, not pencil! I don't understand why you get so worried." Amelia guiltily smiled at Aana while caressing the top of her head lovingly, making sure to not ruin Aana's perfectly straight, dirty blond hair that touched the tips of her shoulders, "Just don't want anything happening to you, my darling." Aana stared at Amelia's face for a while, the dark strands, dyed with a lighter shade of brown in an expensive salon where the appointment probably took at least six month of early booking for averagely rich people were falling down on the side of her shoulders and cascading down to her breasts. As much as Aana had come to understand Amelia, she loved the lavish lifestyle. People would come to meet at four a.m. in the morning and find her dressed in at least a thousand dollars night gown. Anything cheaper than that was not Amelia's style. An appearance and beauty that could probably put movie stars to shame is all Aana saw in her mother. Aana was unable to help but think if her mom had always been like this, always so worried, always cautious of Aana's well-being or if she had changed after the accident that took place a year ago.  "Nothing will happen to me." Aana assured and squeezed Amelia's hand that was on her head before letting it drop in her lap, "I will make sure nothing happens, not even a bite of an insect, alright?" Amelia nodded her head in acceptance and let her daughter's hand go. It was time for Aana to finally step out. Turning towards the sleek black door of the Mercedez Benz, Aana inhaled a deep breath before letting it out slowly to calm her raging heart. It felt amazing after waiting for so long to finally see what she was made of and what she had made of herself. Making sure her hair and clothes were in perfect place, she pushed open the car door to step out. So here it starts.