Chapter 41: Regretful Memories

I’ve always wondered why food tastes better when you eat with someone you care about.

I wondered this again as I ate the breakfast that Clara cooked for us. It was just scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes - something I would usually cook for myself at home, but there was something about it that made it taste like a 5 star meal. Maybe it was Clara’s amazing cooking, or the fact that I was eating it with Arthur. I sighed dreamily as I stared at Arthur, who sat across me. He flashed me a small smile, making my heart skip a beat. There was just a natural soothing quality to his eyes and to see me is to feel my body relax and my brain begin to blossom once more. I knew it was his very presence that somehow made food taste better - it was the feeling of love and happiness that seemed to affect my sense of taste.

“Sorry it’s just eggs, bacon, and pancakes.” He said apologetically, making me scowl in confusion. I was just thinking about how amazing the food is! “I was too lazy to pass by the grocery, so this is all we have left.” I frowned as I waved my hands in the hair, crossing it with each other to make an ‘x’.

“It’s delicious.” I said sincerely as happiness swelled within me. I took another bite as I released a satisfied humm. “I love it a lot.” A quiet contentment spread through him as he nodded in acknowledgement, his grin widening a little bit.

“You hear that Clara?” He said, raising his voice a little bit for Clara to hear. She popped her head out from the other room, there was a broom in one hand and a dustpan in the other.

“What?” She asked in confusion as she placed the broom and dustpan down and approached us.

“They’re delicious, Clara.” I said genuinely as her eyes lit up with happiness. The expression on her face was immediately replaced though with one of confusion as she realized that she just cooked eggs bacon and pancakes for us.


“You’re flattering me.” She giggled as she turned her back on us to get the dustpan and broom again. “Anyone can cook that.” She said nonchalantly with a shrug as she returned back to her duties. “Thank you though!” She yelled from the other room, making me chuckle.

My smile quickly faded as I started to recall all the times I’ve messed up cooking simple things like eggs. I would accidentally put too much pepper and salt or oil. I grimace in disgust, remembering the taste of it. I really couldn’t do anything right.

“So, Sandra…” He trailed off playfully as he propped his elbows on the table and held his face with both of my hands. I arched an eyebrow as I eyed him in confusion. What does he want this time?

“When will I get my dessert?” He asked teasingly with a wink. I could feel the heat growing in my cheeks as my eyes fell to the floor in embarrassment. By now they must be beyond an attractive rosiness.

I opened my mouth to speak but stopped myself when I heard my phone ping, notifying me that someone has sent me a message. I opened my phone to check who the message came from. It was from Ellie.

From: Ellie

You are not gonna believe this!

I raised my brows at her message. She even had a link attached to it. Curiosity immediately got the best of me as I clicked the link. It redirected me to a video footage. It was a bit blurry so I moved my face closer to my phone.

Arthur already finished his meal. “Hey what’s that?” He asked as wiped his mouth with a napkin.

I paused the video first before replying to him. “It’s just a video sent by Ellie.” I responded nonchalantly. He stood up from his seat to sit beside me to also watch the video. “It’s a bit blurry.” I warned him but he gestured that it’s fine so I pressed play.

At the beginning of the video not much has happened. A couple of minutes into it I started to feel bored. I felt like Ellie was just pulling a prank on me. I expected that there would be some kind of jumpscare. I glanced at Arthur to see him still focused on the video. I wanted to turn off the video but since Arthur was still watching I just sat there and turned my attention to the footage again.

It was then that I noticed something familiar.

I narrowed my eyes at it. “What is tha--” I cut myself short when I finally saw the date that was located at the top left portion of the video.

My eyes widened as it dawned on me the contents of the video. I felt as if a bucket full of ice cold water had been poured down on my head. I stayed silent as I saw the video unfold. All thoughts flew out of my head and only three words remained.

What the hell?

I dropped my phone in surprise. Shock was such an understatement as to what I’m feeling right now. I wanted to speak but no words came out. I didn’t even know where to begin. It felt like all the color had drained from my face.

Arthur picked up my phone and set it down on the table. “Is that-” He turned to me but I just cut him off.

“Yes.” I murmured in response to him. I didn’t dare look at him. I’m too afraid to look at his reaction. Maybe he’s angry at me because of what we both saw.

I wanted to curse and scream but I didn’t seem to have the strength to do all those things. It felt as if the energy in me was sucked out. I recalled Ellie’s message earlier. She was right. I too couldn’t believe what I saw. What am I gonna do now?

I don’t want to go through this again.