Unconditional (Book Two)

4. Forgotten

I stand up from my bed in my house in L.A, both of my dogs jumping from it and following me; they're small, fluffy paws sounding silently in the carpet of the room as they walk.

I shiver, as the cool air from the air conditioner touches my skin, and walk to the bathroom, turning the water of the sink on. It runs and runs, and I place my hands to take some, and then wash my face gently to fully wake up.

I take a towel and dry my face, then my hands when...there is something shining on my left hand...a wedding band.

"What the hell?" I whisper in a puzzled way.

I remove the silver ring from my finger, and take a careful look at it.

"Where is this from?"

I look at it from all angles, and then see it has something written inside... 'December 23' it says.

I try to recall what this date could be about, digging and digging inside my mind, since I kind of have a feeling it is something really special and important for me, but I just can't remember what it is.

"This is weird," I whisper once more.

I finally give up, since I can't come to any conclusions, and simply place the ring inside a wooden box I have.

I change from my pajamas to jeans and a t-shirt, and finally walk downstairs to have a cup of coffee.

For some reason, I feel weird this morning, like if something in my life wasn't right, like if there was something missing, but I just don't know what...or why I'm feeling this way.

I take a sip of coffee, savoring the delicious, bittersweet taste of it, as white smoke elevates from the mug and diffuses in the air around me, then taking today's newspaper in my hands. I take a look at today's news, all filled with tragedies in car accidents, buildings catching on fire, politics, rumors, etc., etc.

I keep reading an article about a new law in China, and then get interrupted by the annoying sound of my alarm, the one I forgot to cancel...but as I grab my phone and look at the screen, I realize that this isn't my wake up alarm, but a reminder to call...Amelie???? But who the hell is Amelie? I don't know anyone named Amelie.

I make a sound of confusion, and then turn the alarm off. I guess it might've been a mistake...maybe Siri thought I said this instead of something else I demanded her earlier.

There is silence in the room once again, and the only thing heard is the sound of my own thoughts, thoughts about why I'm feeling this strange today...I just don't get it.

I take one more sip of my cup of coffee, swallowing slowly to avoid getting my throat burned. The white smoke runs from the mug to the air, and I just stare down at the table, thinking. I feel like there are several thoughts and memories that are stuck, trapped really really deep inside my busy brain, and can't manage to get out. All this entire mornings been strange, and there is no doubt about that at all. It is one of those days in which you just don't find any sense in the things that lay and live around you, like if they were incomplete, like a colorful work of art that has no color.

I sigh in fatigue, and stand up from the kitchen chair I was resting in, interrupting my thoughts.

I can listen to my dogs' paws clicking gently on the hard floor of the kitchen, just waiting anxiously to receive some human food instead of the dog food they're supposed to be eating for breakfast.

I open the door of the fridge and look around. I see a piece of ham that I take with my hand and throw it to Otis, then another and toss it to Rufus, both of them taking the piece of cold meat to their mouths from the air, like professionals.