“Oh, hey there, Heather.” Victoria was looking at Heather with an evil smile on her face.
When I looked back, Heather had tears in her eyes.
Motherfucker. “No, wait! Heather, wait…before you go jumping to conclusions, this is not what it looks like!”
I spun back around to Victoria. “Tori, what the fuck are you doing?”
When I turned back to Heather, she was gone. Oh Jesus. This is not happening.
I looked back at Victoria. “Put your fucking clothes back on, and get the hell out of my apartment now!”
I took off after Heather. She was just about to get into a car.
“Heather! Please wait!” Wait…whose car is that?
She started the car and locked the doors.
“Heather, please wait! You have to let me talk to you. You have this all wrong! Heather, I was just calling you!”
I was banging on the window as she put the car in reverse and started backing up. As she began driving off, I ran after the car, yelling for her to stop. After she pulled out into traffic, I turned and ran back to my apartment. I am going to kill Victoria.
When I walked into my apartment, Victoria was sitting on a bar stool, still dressed in only my white shirt.
“Get the fuck out! Now!”
I ran into the laundry room and took her shirt out of the dryer. Where the hell are her pants? I went into my bedroom, and when I saw them on the bed, it all became clear to me. She must have heard Heather at the front door. She did this on purpose. Fucking bitch!
I came back into the living room, and she was still sitting at the bar.
I threw her clothes at her. “Leave.”
“Josh, wait! Don’t you remember what it was like? We were so good together, baby. Let me give you something to relax a bit, and then I’ll take care of you like I used to.”
I just looked at her. Just the sight of her turned my stomach. “Get the fuck out of my apartment, or I’ll call the police and have them remove you.”
“Josh, we’re meant to be together. You don’t love Heather. She’s a fucking elementary school teacher. You want someone who’s fun. You want me, Josh. You need me.”
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. An image of another girl standing in front of me, saying the same damn thing, popped into my head. Fuck!
“You need me, Josh. You don’t love Heather. You need me.”
Just then, the night of the accident came back to me. Lynda had shown up at my mother’s Christmas party. She had begged me to come back to her. She’d kept repeating how I needed her and how I couldn’t possibly love Heather. I’d turned and left the party to head out to Mason to ask Heather to marry me.
Heather is the only one I need. She’s the only one I want.
Then, it all came flooding back—every memory, every tear, every laughter, every fight, and every time Heather and I had ever made love.
“I remember everything.”
Victoria stood up, looking confused. “What?”
I walked over, picked up her clothes, and grabbed her by the arm.
“Let go of me, Josh!”
“If you just caused me to lose the only girl I’ve ever loved, I’ll make sure Ari gives you a matching black eye.”
I opened the door and pushed her out before I slammed the door in her face. I locked the door and pulled my cell out of my back pocket. I called Jeff and Ari’s home number.
“Hello?”
“Ari!”
“Hey! What’s up, asswipe?”
“I need your help,” I said.
“What’s wrong? Is Heather okay?”
“I remember you saying that Heather has a special spot that was just her and her dad’s. You said she would go there whenever she was upset. I need to know where that is, Ari.”
“What did you do to her? I’ll fucking kill you if you hurt her. Wait…how do you remember me telling you that?”
I shook my head, not wanting to waste any more time. “I remember everything, Ari. Victoria said something that triggered a memory from the night of my accident, and then it all came back to me.”
“Oh my god, Josh! That’s great! But why is Heather upset? Victoria…what did the douche twat do?”
I quickly told Ari everything that had happened. “Then, Victoria started talking shit about how we belonged together and how I needed her. That sparked the memory of Lynda.”
“Oh holy hell. Have you tried calling Heather?”
“No! I called you ’cause I figured that spot might be where she’s going. She doesn’t know I remember everything, so she won’t think of me asking you. Please, Ari…please tell me where she could have gone.”
“Um…okay, you know the gazebo down at Zilker Park? The one that looks out to the river?”
“Yep, I know it.”
“That’s probably where she went.”
Yes! “I knew I could count on you, Ari.”
“What happened with the bitch?”
I ran and grabbed my wallet and truck keys. “I threw her ass out, dressed in nothing but my white shirt.”
“Ah shit. I always did like you, Josh.”
I laughed as I ran out to my truck. “Ari, can you do me another favor?”
“Will it make my girl happy?”
“I’m praying to God it will.” I took a deep breath and told her my plan.
I pulled up and parked right in front of the gazebo. I looked around the parking lot and saw Heather’s dad’s Lexus. I rolled down all the windows in my truck, hit play on my stereo, and turned up the volume before I jumped out of the truck and made my way over to the gazebo. I saw her standing there, staring out over the water.
When Ed Sheeran’s “Kiss Me” started playing, she spun around. She just stared at me as she started to slowly shake her head.
“Nothing happened between us. I swear to God. She stopped by and spilled water on her shirt. She asked me if she could dry it ’cause she was meeting her mom. She must have heard you at the door, so she put on that shirt with nothing else. I swear, I didn’t ask her to come over. She said she’d been waiting for me all morning. I promise you, princess, I would never hurt you. I love you and only you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Heather. I need you more than the air I breathe.”
Tears were rolling down her face as she walked up to me. “Why are you playing this song?”
I smiled as I wiped away her tears. “Because it’s your favorite song, princess…and it reminds me of one of the most amazing moments of my life…making love to you in the rain.”
She began crying even harder. “Do you remember?” she asked in between sobs.
I placed my hands on the sides of her face and leaned down to kiss her tear-soaked lips. “I could never forget a love as strong as ours.”
She looked so confused. “How much do you remember?”
I kissed her again and poured every ounce of my love into the kiss. I slowly pulled away and rested my forehead on hers. “Everything.”
She reached her arms around my neck, and I lifted her up as she cried. She wrapped her legs around me and held on to me so tightly I could hardly breathe. It was as if she were afraid I would leave her again.
Never. I will never leave this girl.
“Oh my god, Josh! I’ve missed you so much. I’ve needed you so badly!”
I walked over to the bench, and she slowly started to slide her body down against mine. I sat down and pulled her onto my lap. She buried her face into my chest and cried.
“Shh, baby. I’m here. I’ll always be here for you.”
“I was so scared, Josh. You have no idea how scared I was.”
Why the hell was she scared? Scared I would never remember her? Scared I wouldn’t want to be with her?
“Shh…breathe, princess…just breathe.”
She pulled away and looked at me. I wiped away her tears and pushed her blonde hair behind her ears.
“I was coming to your apartment to tell you something. I, um…I was so afraid to tell you. I wanted to wait until you got your memory back, but no one was sure when that would happen. I was going to tell you this morning, but then Amanda called. So, I rushed after you—”