Chapter Fourteen - The coffee date

“I have so many questions, and I’m guessing so do you” Ariel had convinced Talia to join her for a cup of coffee. “If one of your questions is how or why, I cannot answer that. I don’t understand much of it myself. Half of the truth has been hidden away for the past ten years, and I’m trying to find the other half while navigating through new and old memories”

Talia took a sip of her coffee. It felt nice to be around someone who hadn’t been a part of the last ten years of her life. Someone who could answer questions others wanted to avoid. Someone who wanted to hear, see and understand her side of the story, not make it fit into some sort of jigsaw puzzle.

“I’ll try to avoid those questions, though I’m really curious. From what I was told you were in, let’s just say bad shape when they found you. Your mother and father, I can still remember their screams” Ariel shuddered, and Talia couldn’t help but feel sad. She hadn’t seen her mother or father in a decade, and she couldn’t help but wonder how they were doing. Did they still miss her, or had they found a new purpose in life? “I’m sorry – I shouldn’t have said that” Ariel looked down, focusing on her coffee instead. “It’s okay” Talia put a hand on top of hers, giving it a small squeeze.

“It must have been hard – for you I mean. Not knowing anything about the past. Not knowing who to turn to when you needed a friend or a hug” Ariel locked eyes with Talia’s, the clear blue now swimming with tears threatening to escape and slide down her cheeks. “It was – strange. I didn’t remember anything, but when I woke up, I felt safe. Like I could trust the person who was looking after me. It’s hard to describe – but it was like my body knew he didn’t want to hurt me – even though my mind couldn’t remember who he was” Talia blushed a little. It was difficult to explain – she was still trying to remember why. Though her memory was recovered it felt like something was missing. Something was still lingering in the dark waiting to surprise her.

“He? Who did you stay with? If you don’t mind me asking!” Ariel blushed again. She was curious, maybe a little nosy, but it felt refreshing. “Ask and I shall answer” Talia answered with as much authority as she could muster. “I stayed with Adam. He took me in, cared for me. I was there for two years before I started to travel. With my mind blank I felt the need to create new memories – find myself in a way, find out what made me tick”
She looked into her coffee, twirling the spoon between her fingers, a wide smile spreading across her face. Even though she tried to be mad she couldn’t keep herself from smiling whenever she thought about Adam. He had been so kind to her, so understanding. He’d understood why she wanted to make new memories, and even encouraged her. Adam had been nothing but supportive, and she was truly grateful, even though she had a horrible way of showing.

“Adam? As in Adam Andvari?” Ariel’s surprised voice drew Talia back to the present and the coffee shop. “Yes, why? You know him?” Talia arched a brow. She hadn’t seen Ariel around or heard mentions of her name. “No, not really. But from what I know, he had only moved to town maybe a month before it happened. Just makes me wonder why” Ariel said with a shrug, and Talia couldn’t help but wonder why herself now. From what she could remember Adam hadn’t been in her life before the accident, but he had taken her in and treated her like family ever since. Now she wondered, why? Why had he been so kind to her?

“I’ll have to ask him” Talia said after a short pause, both women nodded before falling into another pause, focusing on the coffee instead of talking. Talia tried to find questions she wanted answered, tried to scan her brain for clues, bits and pieces to the puzzle that was her brain and memory. But some links were missing. Maybe Ariel could give her answers? Give her some insight on the girl she had been before. But was she ready to ask those questions? And more importantly, was she ready for the answers?

“I can tell that you’re thinking about something. Do you want to share?” Ariel had set her empty coffee cup down, eyes now lingering on Talia. The tears were gone, there was a hint of something else in those blue eyes. Ariel wanted to help her, and Talia appreciated it.

“I have many questions, but my memory feels like scrambled eggs. The content is there but mixed together. I see faces, people I knew back then, people I feel was important to me. But my mind isn’t healed, there are still links missing. I remember faces, but not names. I remember places, but not who lived there” Talia explained. ‘And I remember the pain’ She said to herself.

“Whenever you’re ready, I can be your guide. I want to help you. We weren’t really close, but we were on friendly terms. I remember one of your best friends, Keyla, she didn’t like me at all. And you always had my back, I’ll never forget that” Ariel put her hand over Talia’s and have it a squeeze while a smile spread across her face.

“Keyla. Oh! I think I might remember her – she was a cheerleader to, right? And hell bent on bedding, oh who was it again?” Talia bit her lip, trying to pull up the names and images. “Kieran” Arial answered with a chuckle. “Right, he was the silent one with the dark, spiky hair?” Talia continued, feeling some sort of joy over the entire memory. Like it gave her some sort of meaning to be gossiping with someone from the past. It was an odd, indescribable feeling.

“That’s Kieran yeah. Keyla had a thing for him, and every other man with a straight nose and dark hair” Ariel chuckled some more, remembering of Keyla was pining after attention. “What happened to him, and Keyla, and everyone else?” Talia felt a sudden rush to know everything that had happened to everyone she had known back then. Was anyone still living in town? How had they all reacted to her death? What was her funeral like? No, she didn’t want answers to the latter.

“Oh – that would take about the entire day to answer” Ariel answered with a small laugh. Though they didn’t live in a big town their school had been surprisingly populated. “I have all day” Talia answered with a smile, leaning back against the chair.

“Well – when you put it like that” Ariel smiled, leaning forward to tell Talia all about the last decade of the life of their near and dear friends.