Remember Me? (Book 1) COMPLETED

The First Morning

NICK

Whatever crazy thoughts I had racing through my head at the airport last week had long-since evaporated. If there was one thing I didn't want, it was to give up on my marriage, hurt someone else. The closer Katherine edged into my life, the more I realized I couldn't do it again, not to her, not to Erland.

Looking at Katherine, it was painful to see what damage I had done to her.

All the ride back to my place was permeated by silence. Katherine slept in the backseat, curled into herself like a kitten in the snow. Erland sat to my right in the passenger seat, staring out the window. I had half a mind to thank him, for not saying anything about Wayward Publishing to Katherine, but I couldn't risk it then. Kat had always been a light sleeper, and there was no chance she would let her guard down around me for long.

So I kept quiet all the way back, asking Erland to wake her to enter the house while I fetched her bags.

They were surprisingly light.

In a matter of fifteen minutes, everyone was settled and I was left alone in the kitchen, same way I am now, only instead of moonlight creeping in through the living room window, it's sunlight shedding shame and clarity on my terrible thoughts.

The coffee tasted bitter on my tongue, though it was doubtful that any kind of sweetener would change that. Half of me wanted to leave something out for Katherine, but I knew she'd be incensed enough after finding out I left a note.

She hated anything that made me seem more than a demon in her eyes.

Truth be told, even I couldn't help but agree with her.

* * * 

KATHERINE

I woke to the sun shooting its blinding rays into my eyes. Groggy, I sat up, wiping the gunk from my eyes with the heel of my hand. Crap, I'd forgotten to take off my makeup. No doubt I looked like crap anyway.

Today marked the first of seven days I'd be waking up in the house of the man I swore five years ago I'd never see again. Worse yet, half of me knew I had to thank him.

Putting that nauseating thought aside, I swung my legs off the bed and got to my feet. My bag lay across the room, open and in disarray. There was no question that Erland had already come to seize his clothes. More would be making their way through the postal service in the next few days, but I brought enough for him to survive. If he would only do his laundry, that is.

Speaking of, it already caught my attention that this house was far too clean for Nicolas to have been the one cleaning it. The realization struck me almost as soon as my thoughts voice the question: he had a maid.

At least that meant the bathrooms wouldn't be infested with spiders.

As I walked across the room to grab clothes for after a shower, a yellow paper on the dresser caught my eye. It was a note. Undoubtedly from Nicolas, since Erland only ever contacted me through text, sometimes even if we were in the same room.

After debating about if it was worth shattering the peace of my morning shower, I averted my gaze and hopped into the bathroom.

The hot water felt wonderful after the previous day of traveling. I rubbed my scalp with lavender shampoo until my skin tingled and all the tension had flooded out of my system.

Getting dressed didn't take long and after a few minutes, I was climbing down the stairs, phone in hand as I checked for any messages from Erland.

8:45AM - Erland: come down theres food