PMS1: President's Forgotten Wife

CHAPTER 8 [II]

CHAPTER 8, part II: A FRIEND IN ROME

AFTER she changed her clothes, she decided to return to the bathroom where he left Eisen. Probably up until now, he hasn't moved from its position. And Jade's prediction was correct. Eisen was still there, sitting to where she left him alone.

"What the f**k is wrong with you?!" annoyed, the young man shouted as he approached its location.

"There is nothing wrong with me, but you seemed to be the one having a big problem here," she answered as she grabbed the towel and helped Eisen dried up.

"Stand up and—"

"You must be happy seeing me like this." The young man's voice sounded strange when he uttered those words. But Jade isn't the only one who did wrong here. And Eisen has no right to shout at her. If she remembered it correctly, Eisen was the first to make things turn sideways. She wanted to call back at him, but she controlled her own emotions.

"Can you please just stand up—" she nicely told him, but Eisen cut him off by nudging off of her hand that is currently drying his wet body.

"f**k you!" the young man shouted at her that caused her to stop. Jade wanted to ask Eisen, but Eisen immediately stood up and decided to walk away from her. But Jade didn't let him walk on his own, so she immediately assisted Eisen by holding his arm.

"Can you please stop acting so childish, Eisen! Stop acting like you can do it on your own! " she helped him stand up properly before he could continue walking away from the bathroom. Then Eisen suddenly pushed her away.

"I can do this by myself, goddamn it! I don't need your or anyone's help! So stop nagging me, and f*****g leave me alone!" Jade wanted to shout at the young man, but she restrained herself from criticizing him because it was so scary when she's angry. She took a deep breath and stared intensely at Eisen's eyes.

"FINE! I'm sorry if I crushed your ego, but please, stop being a hardheaded demonic man and let me help you!" she answered. She cant let Eisen go not until he's fully healed. And Jade still needs the divorce paper to be signed, but that is not his primary concern now.

She approached the young man and wrapped her arms on his waist for support, but she held on to him tightly when Eisen spoke, making her want to punch him in the face. "Bullshit! You need money. Just f*****g call my brother and ask him to pay you-"

"I won't leave just because you're offering me money, Eisen. You know better than that," Jade answered, making the young man stunned and looked in her direction.

"Then what the f**k do you want?!" the two of them stared at each other, and even though Jade wanted to be nice to him, she could no longer restrain herself from saying the words she regretted saying.

"Not without a signed divorce paper." Silence prevailed between the two of them. Sadness is written all over Eisen's face but suddenly disappeared as he pushed her again.

"Oh. Haha! No s**t. Just what I expected." Eisen continued to walk and nailed Jade's feet to where she stood.

"Eisen," she called out his name, wanting to take back her words.

"Help me get dressed and leave me alone. I don't want to see your face now, tomorrow, and forever. "

__________

RESTING in bed is nothing but helpful to Eisen. He was thinking about what had happened earlier, and he can't take his mind off of it. When the girl left him in the bathroom, he got furious because she dares to leave him alone there.

Why can't she understand that he doesn't want to be left alone?! Why is he acting weird like every time someone leaves, they're never coming back?! Why does it make him breathless, restless?! What the f**k is wrong with him!?!

But when Jade returned, an inexplicable emotion prevailed in his feelings. Eisen was relieved. And Eisen was able to breathe, just by seeing her arrive.

But because Eisen let his annoyance took him over, he began to get angry at Jade. Her leaving him behind made him scared, that's for sure because he hated the fact that Jade will never come back. But as he thought about it, the real reason why he got mad at Jade after a minute of being gone, Eisen remembered something—something he forgot. In the same scene, Eisen was blowing a woman's eye, and they were both chuckling for unknown reasons.

And as he tried to compare the scenes he remembered from what happened earlier to him and Jade, everything is not familiar to him, and it doesn't feel the same with the woman he is trying to remember. But her face was enough for him to make him angry. And up to this day, he is still confused.

Jade, who are you?

But his deep thoughts suddenly disappeared when he heard a knock on his door. "Eisen, are you awake?" Eisen was embarrassed. He admits that what he did is beyond the line, especially since he still doesn't fully remember everything.

But damn, who can blame a person who felt this way?

"What do you want?" the door opened, and the woman peeked inside his room. Note the lack of activeness in his voice.

Jade approached him, and she helped him to sit up and lean on the headboard of the bed. What confused Eisen is that Jade doesn't seem bothered by what happened earlier. And that irritated him.

"This is what we're going to do today for your recreation. Here." Jade handed him a small vintage box. Surprisingly, he did not hesitate to ask what it contained.

"But it is better if I leave you be for now. I'll prepare your lunch, and then I'll just come back when I eat. Just call me if you need anything." The maiden smiled bitterly before turning around and went straight out the door. But he was immediately stopped when Eisen called his name.

"Jade."

"Hmm?" he looked at her with astonishment on her face. He wanted to ask. Eisen wanted to question things—things he tried to understand, something he tried to recall. But as the look on Jade's pensive grey eyes began to look him over, his confidence slowly shrunk, containing his thoughts to himself.

"Nothing." And with the short answer, again, the woman said goodbye and closed the door after that. When Jade was gone, Eisen focused on the vintage box left by the girl. As soon as he opened it, the smell of an old object, such as books, started to fill his nostril, enveloping his senses.

It smells good even though it's a smell of old things.

The first thing he took inside was a color cream photo album that was almost as thick as an encyclopedia. Lucky for him, the album is relatively heavy. He touched its cover and followed with his finger the intricate letterings engraved on it.

"Life of a St. Clair. That's something tho." Eisen opened it slowly, and he saw the picture of a newborn boy. His face is very bossy, but his good looks overshadowed his stern face. The following photos were about a married couple with their chubby son in between every print. The woman is beautiful, and the man with her in the picture stands strong.

They were happy and contented. The photo album is full of photos just about the boy on various occasions with the couple until he stopped at the image where a new baby boy was born again. The picture was being followed by a one-year-old boy and his newborn brother, along with their parents. Eisen's hands were quick as he opened each page one by one, making sure he didn't miss anything.

The whole family was happy in the following photos until the kids grew up so fast. Eisen stopped grazing at the photo album and silently stared at it. The young boy closed his eyes, ready to blow the candle in front as his mom carried the younger kid.

"Oh God." and Eisen could not stop the flow of his tears as he flipped through the following photos until Eisen decided to take an old picture that caught his attention before he closed it.

Various emotions dominated his feelings as he looked at the picture in his hand. The 7-year old kid with his cute 6-year old brother beside him wore a cute party hat and a twining outfit that might've fit the occasion at that time.

"What the actual f**k!" he cursed as he stared at the photo, not sure if things were happening. He can't believe what was happening the moment he stared at the image. Faint memories of the past started to fill the gaps in Eisen's mind as it helped him regain his consciousness of his childhood. His past! Until those memories became crystal clear in his head.

He was the 7-year old kid while Lewis, his brother, was the cute kid beside him.

And there, he knew that staring at those pictures will serve as a reminder that his childhood life was a part of his life that is never to be forgotten again.

__________

JADE let the door slightly opened behind her as soon as she handed Eisen some of his things that Lewis instructed to give to him. They were supposed to do it together so she can report to the man's family if ever he was able to remember anything at all.

"Thank God he didn't get angry at me," she whispered under her breath as she took her phone out of her pocket after remembering the last time she talked to her friend, Keyaria. Jade decided to give her friend a call since they have a signal on the island because she felt guilty about leaving her alone in the bar. And besides, the past few weeks that have gone by, Keyaria has been out of reach for a while.

"Why won't you pick up your phone?" She worriedly asked herself as she redialed her number. A few more times, but Keyaria didn't pick up her phone.

Well, that isn't very reassuring.

Jade decided to visit her account in case Keyaria's online. And lucky for her, she's active! Jade wasted no time, and the video called her friend. After a couple of seconds of waiting, she finally picked up her phone.

"THANK GOD YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!" she squealed in so much happiness as soon as Keyaria accepted the call.

"YEAH! f**k YOU FOR LEAVING ME ALONE IN THE BAR!" Keyaria irritatedly answered as she continued to move, lowering her voice as she smiled at other people as if she was hiding.

"Wait, what's wrong with you? Are you hiding or something? Where are you right now?" Jade curiously asked why looking at Keyaria, who won't settle in. she continued to walk and walk, making her head spin.

"Will you please settle down, Key?! you're making me worried!"

"Lemme find a place so we could talk. I'm freaking out in here, so you better shut up first!" Jade immediately went through the kitchen to prepare for Eisen's lunch while waiting for Keyaria to look for a place to settle in so that they could talk properly. She grabbed the meal plan on top of the refrigerator before grabbing anything that she might need for her cooking.

"b***h, are you still there?!" she grabbed her phone beside the kitchen sink and positioned it somewhere where she could see Keyaria while cooking for Lunch.

"I'm here. So tell me, where are you, and why the f**k are you wearing that kind of disgusting outfit?!"

"First of all, what I'm wearing is what you called F.A.S.H.I.O.N that isn't a part of your vocabulary, and second, I'm outside the freaking country!" she saw how Keyaria panicked while looking at her surrounding. Jade bet that Keyaria is inside a cubicle, which is the most common place to hide.

"What do you mean? You traveled without even telling me?! I thought we were best friends?!" she continued to prepare the ingredients for Baked Chicken with Spinach Stuffing while taking short glances at her friend who's been acting like she's been in a haste chase.

"I didn't travel all by myself, you dumbass! Someone brought me here to Rome, and that is thanks to you for leaving me alone in the bar that night! Now, where are you, and why did you ghost me?!" she replied, still looking agitated.

"First of all, in Rome?! You're lucky you already got out of the country to move on from your skunky ex. Second, I didn't intend to leave you that night. I was even looking for you, but then a creepy dude tried to harass me, so I left. But an accident happened, so I need to help. I tried to call you, but you weren't answering my calls or even replying to my texts. And now, I have a patient to take care of."

"You need to—" the line became static as Keyaria's words became unclear. Jade thought that she had a terrible signal, so she tried to look for a place inside the house to have a better internet connection.

"Jade, you have to help—the name is P—I need you—Ja—what are—here—" Then the call ended, leaving Jade a bit confused as to what does Keyaria wanted her to know. Her words are unclear, so she called her again, but the account is already offline, and she's not picking up her phone again.

"Gosh. What just happened? It's impossible to have a bad signal in Rome. Should I call the police? But she's in Rome. I don't know anyone who lives in Rome?" as she wondered, a smell of something burning drag her back to her senses.

"Jade?! Is there something burning outside?!" she heard Eisen shouting from a distance. Only then did she realized that she's cooking something and she almost forgot about it.

"Oh s**t!"