Myra sat silently watching her father in his paralysed state while a middle-aged maid patiently fed him his lunch. Hours had passed since Jake had spoken to her, but she was still unable to accept the fact that it was three years past.
Her father had aged quickly, but at least, his face looked a lot more peaceful than before. She wondered what had happened during this time. Had he suffered? Was she a dutiful daughter?
The more she tried to rack her brains, the more her mind appeared a total blank.
“Myra?” Jake’s deep voice surprised her, waking her from her thoughts. The maid greeted him before resuming feeding the aged man.
“Uh…”
“Let’s go for a walk,” he ges
Love?Myra remembered how she had rejected Jake the night at the old house, but she couldn’t absorb how he readily told her that he loved her. It was like she was dreaming. How was it possible he was in love with her?Especially with the missing three years from her memory, it made her question what was the truth. Putting one and one together, yes, they were married, but there were just too many puzzle pieces that confused her.Jake stopped the car just outside a serene-looking park. She didn’t recollect anything in her mind about this place, though the ambience stole her attention. J&M Park. Jake and Myra. A cheesy enough name indeed. So, Jake owned this place, she thought.She walked with him to the swings. It had been a long time since she rememb
“Hart, is that really you?”Her eyes widened with terror as she came close to the stranger whom she believed to be who she was waiting for so long. Please, she begged, let this be true. Let this stranger be Hart. She didn’t know what to expect, after having lost three years of memories.She just needed answers. And Hart was the one who held the key to her finding out what she needed to know.The stranger continued flicking on the lighter but to no avail as the cigarette wasn’t lighting up. She stopped just in front of him, trying to find out for herself if he was indeed the man she was waiting for.Jake mentioned Hart had left her for three long years. In her memories, she and Hart had been intimate. He couldn’t have lied to her. Why would h
Myra saw Jake hesitate.It was now or never. She had to have answers to her doubts about the marriage with Jake. If she and Jake didn’t have that chemistry together, that proved one thing: she wasn’t truly in love with Jake.Even when she owned those memories of cheating on Hart with Jake, and she knew she loved him at one point.But those three years that she had lost; had she loved him?She only wished that she had written down the memories somewhere, like a diary of some sorts, to ascertain her feelings for him during those three years.She saw Jake come near. That’s right, she said in her mind. Come closer. I just want to feel if we have that chemistry between us.
No matter what, she wouldn’t go back to that party, she decided. Be strong, Myra, she told herself, compelling herself to take a few steps forward.It was the sixth of September and marked the seventh day she was on the island of Bali. She had spent six days with Jake, the man she had fawned after since her teenage years, well, basically when she learned to like someone. Their parents had been drinking partners and old friends. Then one day, Jake went overseas for his studies and she and her father had moved to another city 1,000 miles away.They had reunited after five years of not seeing each other through a plan carefully carried out by her stepsister to be, Sierra. After hooking up with Jake unexpectedly, six days and seven nights of bliss turned into the worse nightmare for Myra.One hour ago
Hart attempted to focus on the road, ignoring the swelling feeling in his pants. She was arousing him just by being herself and he couldn’t hold back. Shifting the gear in place, he raged all the way to his secret nest, a place even his father didn’t know of.The house was a secret location that only he and Milla knew. Following her death three years ago, he had fallen into deep misery. Tonight had been her death anniversary, and he had visited her grave that afternoon. One year ago on the same night, he had decided that was time that he let her go. But the house would always remain, to preserve the sweetest memories they had spent together.To his surprise, he had chanced upon a person so similar to her.Myra alighted cautiously, taking a step at a time as she followed Hart into the vacant house,
Back at the Hotel Top One, Sierra and the others were in a serious dilemma.The girl with auburn hair pointed towards Jake. “You… You’re the cause of it,” she shrieked. “How can I answer to Uncle Fred now?”Jake looked at Sierra and then at the scantily-dressed girl beside him, unable to utter a word. Sierra continued to address her blame on Jake.“We came here because Myra wanted to see you! How could you betray her for…” she turned towards the girl beside Jake. “For that witch!”Yuna hissed at Sierra. “Say that again, and you’ll regret it!”Unknown to them, Yuna Kim was a renowned Korean actress in China where Jake had been living for the
Myra was astounded by the eccentric old lady who was standing before them with a basket of fruits.“Bibik Ina,” Hart pronounced, approaching the elderly woman slowly. Myra observed the guilt written over his face.Right, the name the old lady had called was Milla, not Myra… she vaguely remembered that Hart had even called her Milla unconsciously.“You have aged,” Hart said in a foreign language. He sounded more solemn than ever, his eyes looking downcast. Myra assumed this old lady was someone he knew, watching them slowly while maintaining her distance. The old woman was still staring at her as they spoke.After a few exchanges of sentences, Ina gradually appeared more agitated. Myra noticed how Hart attempted to console her, offering her
She took a deep breath and listened to the sound of the sea to calm her feelings.“Myra, you just got to know him… you don’t know his background or who he actually is, he’s a local from an island you went to for your vacation. He could be after something else…”“You don’t want to be a replacement for someone of his past, do you?”“And you just got betrayed by Jake… are you out of your mind for accepting someone else so quickly?”“When your social visit pass expires, you have to leave anyway…”Her inner voices were screaming inside her. She bit hard on her lips and turned to face him as he released her from his warm hug.