Blank Slate Kate

Chapter 7

"One second." I don't want to forget the latest thing I noticed. I get it all written down then shake out my aching hand and say, "No. Just a few things."

Jake takes my pages and flips through them. "I don't know what any of this means, but you wrote a lot. Are you sure about all this?"

"Yeah," I say, surprised. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Hannah retrieves my work from Jake and skims it, her eyes widening and her face paling as she goes. When she's finished, she lets the papers fall to her lap and breathes, "You're so right. All of it. Every last comment makes sense." She shakes her head. "I don't understand. How'd you do that?"

"I don't know," I say, as confused as she sounds. "It all came into my head as I was reading, and it just seemed right."

"Did you take business at university?"

I raise my eyebrows and she says, "Yeah, right, you don't know. In high school?"

"Definitely not. I remembering taking music and art." I smile at Jake. "We know I'm not a sculptor, though." My model of his hand now has five fingers but they're still lumpy and misshapen.

He smiles back. "I'm afraid not."

My amusement fades and I rub my forehead. "So where did all that come from?"

Jake takes hold of my wrist. "Remember yesterday? I said you were probably a CEO."

Hannah looks like she feels left out, so I tell her how Jake suggested I go on television and how horrified I was at the idea, and Jake ends the story for me with, "I thought she was going to fire me. Or have me killed. She just lit up with power somehow."

Hannah nods slowly, then says, "As a side note, the TV thing makes sense to me too."

I take a breath to reply and she says, "Don't kill me, I get that you don't want to. I just figure it can't hurt to get some exposure."

"People die of exposure," I snap back, the quick retort popping to my lips like I've said it a hundred times before, then my anger shimmers away and I shake my head. "Guys, this is nuts. It's like I've been possessed by Donald Trump."

Hannah laughs and Jake presses his palms together as if praying and says, "Please, don't let her develop his hairstyle."

We all laugh, then Hannah brings us back to my bizarre business savvy. "Even if you were a CEO, you've forgotten all that stuff. So how could you do this?"

I shrug, but Jake says, "Her procedural memory's probably intact."

Hannah and I turn in perfect unison to stare at him and she says, "Her what now?"

Jake looks sheepish. "I looked up amnesia. There are two sides to memory. Declarative is stuff like dates and stories and where you live, and Kate's obviously got issues with that. But procedural is memory for stuff you learned how to do, your skills. Some people with amnesia can still play piano if they could before even if they don't remember that they know how. Maybe Kate's like that, but with business plans."

Hannah seems skeptical but I have to agree with Jake. "It felt like I knew how to do it. Like I'd seen tons of plans and assessed them. The things that needed changing just jumped out at me. Maybe I am a CEO. But then wouldn't my company be looking for me?"

"Not if you were an obnoxious boss."

I give Jake a mock glare, and he says, "See? Like that. Bullying your underlings." Then we both laugh.

Hannah breaks in. "The CEO thing would make sense. Or you were rich or living with a rich man."

I turn to her. "Why would you say that?"

She tugs at the sleeve of the sweater I bought that afternoon. "Jake pays for everything and you just accept it. You either come from money or someone's been taking good care of you for long enough that it hardly registers with you any more."

I blush, and feel sick too. She's right. I haven't even thanked Jake for the money he's spent on me. It never crossed my mind. I thank him nearly every day for letting me stay with him but not for what he's bought.

Jake gives my shoulder a squeeze. "It's okay, Kate. I don't mind doing it."

"I do appreciate it," I mumble. "I just didn't think to thank you." I turn to face him, clear my throat, and say, "Thank you, Jake. For everything. You've been so good to me."

He wraps his arm around me and I snuggle into him as he says, "Consider it payment for your foot modeling."

We laugh, and Hannah looks like she'd rather see me spend Jake's last dollar than see him holding me.