Define: BITTERSWEET (Define #1) ✓

Bittersweet: Two

"Hey,
I knew I'd run into you somewhere.
It's been a while
I didn't mean to stare."
- "Don't You (Taylor's Version)," Taylor Swift

~*~

"DO you remember him?"

My breath hitched. My mind processed what his response said over and over. More than I could count. So many buried memories were dug up. So many forgotten conversations were suddenly remembered. His face, his voice, his humor. The day I first met him with invisible sparks flying in the air to the night I finally lost him with obvious yet silent cries echoing back to me and never to him.

How could I forget him? How could I forget the catalyst who turned my life around the moment our paths crossed and once again when our paths separated?

How could I forget him?

With shaking hands, I instantly typed a reply to this person who introduced himself as Theo. I vaguely remembered who he was. My brain searched him up from my past memories. He was one of Charles' close friends along with two other women. I couldn't remember their names, but Theo was now familiar to me.

"I remember him," I responded to him. Again, he instantly responded. It was as if he never left the conversation. I felt fluttering inside of my chest. It was very uncomfortable. Something seemed iffy.

"May I call you? This is urgent," the message said which increased my heart rate from its already anxious rate. What's happening? Why did he want to call?

I typed a short "yes" to him and immediately, my phone screen changed to his caller ID and the song playing from my phone stopped. The ringtone from my phone was the only one sounding inside of my apartment. I took a deep breath before answering.

"H-Hello?" I stuttered. "What happened?"

"Thank you for responding," I heard Theo say. This was the first time I heard him speak. I really couldn't remember his voice since I only spoke to Charles and not to his friends. I just knew their names and how close they were.

"How did you know me?" I asked out of curiosity. "And what's happening?"

"I knew you because of Charles, he spoke about you before," Theo explained. "Not just to me, but to the rest of us. I'm pretty sure you know about Angeli and Joy."

So those were their names, I thought, as the memory of Charles telling me about their names came into mind, vividly this time. Among the three of them, Joy was the closest to Charles. But why was Theo calling me now?

"I called because they asked me to call you," Theo continued. "We need you. You're the only one we can ask for help."

"Why me?" I question. "I've been out of his life for four years now, I know nothing of his whereabouts now and what he's up to."

"Wrong," he said. "You know where he is. Just let me-"

"No," I cut him off. "I really don't know where he is. I'm not hiding him or anything. I really don't know."

"Iris," he called my name with a tinge of authority in his tone. "He's within your city. That's why I said you would know where he is."

My eyes widened. I went mute when Theo said that he's here. How could that happen? How could he be here?

"Why?" I finally questioned. "Why is he here?"

Theo heaved a sigh from the other end of the call, "It's a long story. I just want to ask a favor. Can you find him and take him in for the meantime?"

"But why me?" I questioned again. "Doesn't he have other relatives? And why won't you guys get him instead?"

"We couldn't," he answered patiently despite my continuous questioning. "We only knew that he's there. He doesn't have any relatives there either. He didn't want us to find him where he's exactly at."