Promise of Forever

by Jessica Wood

  “Oh.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to this man. To my surprise, I felt disappointed that I didn’t know him. I was even a little disappointed that he wasn’t stalking me. Is this what losing your memory does to you? I couldn’t explain it, but for some irrational reason I felt drawn to him and intrigued by how at ease he was around me.

  “Liv…” He reached for my arm, causing me to freeze in place. I looked at his hand and then up toward his eyes. “So this might sound forward, but as you’ve probably noticed,” he chuckled, “I’m a pretty forward person.”

  “Yeah.” That was all I could muster in response as I braced myself for what he was about to say.

  “Liv, I’d love to see you again. Maybe drinks? Dinner? Or if you’re more into the adventurous stuff, a skydiving date?” He flashed me a breathtaking smile that held promises of things I wasn’t sure I could handle.

  “I…” I felt a heavy lump develop in my throat as a mixture of excitement and fear consumed me.

  But before I could respond, I heard a familiar voice call out to me from behind.

  “Liv?”

  I turned around to see Connor sitting behind a silver Aston Martin convertible that had just pulled up to a stop in front of us.

  “Sweet car, man.” Ethan whistled as he walked toward the shiny sports car to get a better look.

  “Thanks.” Connor flashed Ethan a quick glance before looking at me. “Ready?”

  I gave him a small smile and nodded. I was riddled with guilt as I walked toward the car. I realized that for the last few minutes, I had forgotten that I was engaged to Connor. And if Connor hadn’t pulled up just now, Ethan may have been able to convince me to see him again.

  When I got to the car, to my surprise, Ethan rushed over to open the passenger door for me. I saw Connor study Ethan in silence as I slid into the seat next to him.

  “Well, it was very nice to meet you, Liv.” Ethan gently closed the door behind me. His smooth words raised every hair on my body.

  I turned to him. “Yeah,” I replied softly. I could sense both Connor’s and Ethan’s eyes glued on me. I met Ethan’s gaze and flashed him a friendly smile, trying to think about anything but those deep, captivating eyes. “Thanks for catching my fall. I appreciate it.”

  “No problem. Be careful with those killer shoes. I can’t always be around to save you.” He gave me a wink and my face grew hot as I felt Connor’s laser-like stare intensify on us.

  Connor cleared his throat and gave Ethan a polite smile. “Thanks for your help.” Then I heard the engine rev, signaling to Ethan that we were leaving.

  Ethan smiled, never taking his eyes off me. “See you around.” There was nothing casual about the way he said those words. It wasn’t a goodbye. It was a statement—a promise he intended to keep.

  I felt my body tense at his words and finally pulled my eyes away from him as Connor stepped on the gas pedal, quickly taking us away from Ethan.

  We drove in silence for a few minutes, and with each passing second, I felt the awkwardness and tension grow between us.

  “Who was that?” Connor finally asked. To my surprise, he didn’t sound angry or upset. His voice was calm, business-like, and distant, perfected from years of training.

  “No one,” I reassured him. But on the inside, I wondered if he was the only one I was trying to reassure.

  “Was he harassing you?”

  I heard an edge of concern in his voice and smiled at how protective he was over me. “No,” I answered, though I knew that wasn’t exactly the truth. “I had almost tripped right before you pulled up and he caught my fall. And then you pulled up.” That is the truth, I told myself. But as much as I tried to convince myself of this, it felt like I had just lied to him. Am I a bad person? Why am I lying to my fiancé when I haven’t done anything wrong? I tried to push away those thoughts and turned to look at Connor. “Thanks for driving me home. I really appreciate it.”

  He looked over at me and smiled. His warm, hazel eyes gleamed as I met his gaze. He reached for my hand and squeezed it. “Don’t be silly, Liv. Of course I’d pick you up and take you back home. I hope that with you being back at our house, it’ll help you with your memory.”

  “Our house?” I repeated, surprised by this revelation. I realized that during Connor’s daily visits at the hospital this past week, I hadn’t asked him a lot of questions about our relationship.

  “Yeah, we live together.” He tried to hide the frown on his face as he turned his gaze forward and looked straight ahead at the road.

  “How long have we lived together?”

  “About three months before the accident.”

  “I’m sorry, Connor,” I said softly as I realized how hard this must be for him.

  He looked over at me and pulled my hand up toward his lips and gently kissed it. “Don’t be. I know it can’t be easy to not remember anything.”

  “Yeah. Connor…can you tell me more about…us?”

  He smiled. “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything.” I felt like laughing and crying at how strange this felt, to have to ask my fiancé to tell me about everything he could about our relationship. “Let’s start at the beginning. How did we meet?”

  “We met at work.”

  “Where do we work?”

  “Brady Global, Inc.”

  I looked at him with wide-eyes. “Brady Global? You own the company?”

  He grinned and nodded. “I’m the CEO of Brady Global. We hired you on as the V.P. of Marketing about a year and a half ago.”

  I stared at him in surprise. “When did we start dating?”

  He thought about it. “So you were in the hospital for about two weeks, we were engaged for about a month before that, and we’d been dating for about eight months before that…so we started dating a little under a year ago.”

  “So I was sleeping with my boss?” I looked at him, searching for answers.

  “Well, I prefer to be called your fiancé,” he teased. “But yes, I guess you can say you were sleeping with your boss.” He flashed me a warm, inviting smile.

  I frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” His expression immediately changed when he noticed my disappointment.

  I faked a smile. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

  He smiled back and I saw his body relax.

  For the rest of the ride to the house, we were silent. I closed my eyes, pretending to have fallen asleep so that Connor wouldn’t try to talk to me. I felt tired and unsure of this life that I couldn’t remember. I had lied to Connor just now. I wasn’t fine. Something was wrong. Finding out that I was sleeping with my boss made me wonder what kind of person I was before I lost my memories. What kind of person slept with their boss after a few months at a new job? But I didn’t want to voice out my concern to Connor. I wasn’t sure how he would respond to it. After all, he had fallen in love with the woman that I once was, the one with the life that I couldn’t remember, the one whom I was now questioning.

  “Liv?” Connor’s soft voice interrupted my thoughts. “We’re home.”

  I opened my eyes and saw Connor standing over my opened passenger door. I looked around and noticed that we had pulled up in front of a building along a small pristine street lined with beautifully-aged brownstone houses.

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re in Rittenhouse Square, a neighborhood in Philly.”

  “This is where we live?”

  “Yup.” Connor held out his hand and I reached for it. When he pulled me out of the car, I gasped at what I saw. We were parked in front of a gorgeous three-story beaux arts mansion with an antique limestone façade.

  “We have a unit in this building?” I stared at the massive structure in front of me and noticed a doorman at the front door waiting for our arrival.

  “No.” He laughed.

  “Oh.” I frowned and felt a wave of disappointment and embarrassment for thinking that we had actually lived in such an extravagant building.
/>   “The entire place is ours,” he corrected.

  I turned and looked at him in disbelief. I may not have my personal memories, but I did know a few things. I knew Rittenhouse Square was one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Philly, and this mansion was easily worth over $10 million. “The entire place?”

  He nodded and beamed at me. “Now come on. Let’s get you inside.”

  When we approached the front door, the doorman’s eyes lit up as he greeted me. “Good afternoon, Ms. Stuart. It’s so good to see you home.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him and couldn’t believe he knew my name.

  “I’m Jim, the butler of the house. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Oh. Thanks.” I fidgeted uncomfortably.

  “Thanks, Jim. And if you could have Bill drive the Aston to the garage, that’d be great.”

  I stared at Connor in disbelief. “Bill?”

  “Oh yes, Bill’s my personal assistant.”

  “Right. Of course.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. How rich is this guy? The thought made me a little uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure why but when I imagined a place I’d call home, I imagined a warm, inviting apartment, not a large, cold mansion I could easily get lost in.

  But when we walked through the foyer and into the living room, I was pleasantly surprised and a smile crept onto my face. The interior was nothing like what I had expected from the outside. The decor was modern, chic, and casual with pops of color. There was something comforting and familiar about the space and I immediately knew that I had decorated it.

  “Does anything look familiar?”

  I grinned. “I don’t remember anything, but it feels familiar.” I looked at him. “Does that sound crazy?”

  “Not at all.” He flashed me a warm smile. “I just want you to be comfortable here in your own house.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Oh yeah, I think Anna’s stopping by sometime this afternoon to see you. She might be able to answer any questions you might have.”

  “Anna?”

  “Sorry, Liv. I forgot I hadn’t mentioned her to you yet. She’s your best friend.”

  “Oh. My best friend.” I felt a pang of sadness knowing there was yet another important person in my life that I couldn’t remember.

  “Are you hungry? Thirsty?” he asked as he led me to the kitchen.

  “Maybe just some water.” I looked around the massive, brightly-lit kitchen in awe. The afternoon sun was coming through the French doors that led out to the terrace, causing a warm, comforting glow to illuminate the room. I walked over to the terrace and beamed as my eyes landed on the beautiful flower garden in the backyard.

  “Who maintains the garden?”

  “You do.” Connor handed me my glass of water.

  “That sounds right.” I smiled at him and then looked back toward the garden. I didn’t know how I knew, but I knew that I enjoyed gardening.

  “Oh yeah. I also had Debra set up one of the guest rooms for me to sleep in for now. You can take our bedroom. I know you are still adjusting and I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable in any way. I…”

  I looked over at him and felt grateful for how sweet and patient he was with me. “Connor, I don’t want to have to kick you out of your own bed.”

  He laughed. “Don’t worry. I think I can manage in the king-size bed in the guest room.”

  Even though he was all smiles, I could sense something less happy behind his laughter.

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “I know this can’t be easy for you.”

  I decided not to push it. “Thank you for understanding.”

  “I’m just so glad you’re back home, Liv.”

  He reached for my hands and pulled me into his embrace. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to sink into his arms. I inhaled deeply the faint scent of his aftershave, hoping it would help trigger a memory.

  Just then I heard a bark and the sound of paws running across the hardwood floor toward us. Before I could turn to see what it was, something jumped at me and nipped at my ankle.

  “Ow!” I cried out and took a step back.

  “Scooter! Don’t be a bad boy.” Connor picked up the small Jack Russell terrier off the ground and gave it a kiss. “Liv’s home. Play nice.” He walked over toward me. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” I grinned at Scooter and reached over to scratch his head. Scooter growled at me and jumped off of Connor and ran out of the room. I frowned and looked over at Connor.

  “Sorry about that. He’s a bit territorial. Give him some time and he’ll become familiar with you again.”

  I nodded in understanding. “Sure. I guess he might be upset that I was gone for two weeks. When did we get him?”

  He smiled. “Actually I’ve had Scooter for almost eight years now. I got him when he was just a puppy.”

  “Oh.” I now understood what Connor meant when he said Scooter was territorial. He was Connor’s dog, not ours. Is that why Scooter didn’t seem to care for me?

  Before I could ask Connor more about the dog, there was a buzz and a small video screen next to the phone on the kitchen counter turned on, showing a live stream of the front door where Jim stood.

  “Mr. Brady? Ms. Peters is here to see Ms. Stuart.”

  “Thanks, Jim. Please let her in.” Connor turned to me. “Anna’s here. Do you want me to keep you company or do you want to catch up with her by yourself?”

  “I’d like to get to know her by myself, if that’s okay.”

  “Of course. I have a lot of work to catch up on. So I’ll be on my laptop in the dining room. If you need anything, just let me know.” Connor walked over and kissed me gently on the cheeks.

  “Sure. Thank you.” I smiled at him.

  Seconds later, a redhead in a bright yellow sundress walked into the kitchen.

  “Oh my gosh, Liv! It’s so good to see you awake! How are you feeling, sweetie?” The bubbly redhead ran toward me with her arms outstretched to hug me.

  “Hi.” I gave her an uncomfortable smile.

  She didn’t seem to notice my unease as she flung her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “Babe, I was so worried.”

  When she finally pulled away I saw tears developing in her eyes. “I…” I wasn’t sure what to say to this girl that I didn’t recognize.

  “Oh my God, sorry! How could I be such an airhead?” She made a face and lowered her voice. “Connor told me that you don’t remember anything yet.” She outstretched her hand. “I’m Anna, your best friend.” She beamed at me with pride as if she had just told me she was an Olympic gold medalist.

  I smiled at her, knowing that there was something about her carefree and happy personality that made me instantly feel at ease with her. I shook her hand, immediately realizing how awkward this might be for her to be shaking hands with her best friend in such a formal way.

  “So how are you feeling?” She wrapped her arms around my arm as she walked us toward the living room.

  “It’s been okay. I’m still trying to adjust.”

  She shook her head and looked at me like I was a wounded puppy. “How’s Connor been treating you?” She looked over at Conner who looked up from his laptop at the mention of his name. “He’d better not be acting like a jerk or he’ll have to answer to me.” She made her comments intentionally loud enough for Connor to hear.

  “Hey, this isn’t fair. You’ve been here for how many minutes and it’s already turning into a Connor Roast?”

  Anna snorted and rolled her eyes. “If you’ve been treating my girl right, then there won’t be a Connor Roast.”

  He laughed. “Okay. Touché. Well, I’ll let you girls catch up. I need to head into the office to grab some documents.” He closed his laptop and packed it into his briefcase. He walked over to us and leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “You okay here with Anna? I’ll be back in a few hours.”

  I smiled up at him and nodded. “Yeah, I think so
.”

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Brady. I’ll take care of your wonderful fiancée. I promise not to feed her too many negative stories about you.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “Have a fun time, ladies.” Our eyes met and his expression softened. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

  I nodded.

  After we heard the front door close behind Connor, I turned to Anna. “Does Connor not treat me well?”

  She laughed. “Girl, I was joking around. Connor treats you like a princess.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, of course!” She then frowned. “Why? Has he not been treating you well?”

  “No, no, no. He has. That’s not what I meant. I think I just took your joking earlier seriously.” I let out a sigh. “Sorry, I’m still trying to figure things out.”

  “I totally understand, Liv. I just can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

  “I…” I paused. It seemed weird to be talking to this girl who knew me so well but I had no memory of. “Can I ask you something, Anna?”

  “Of course, sweetie. Fire away.”

  “Can you tell me about my relationship with Connor?”

  “Sure.” She scrunched her face together as she seemed to think about where to start. “What would you like to know?” she finally asked.

  “Well…” There had been something that’d been nagging at me since the car ride home. “Connor had mentioned today that he’s my boss and we met at work.”

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  “Did I…What kind of person was I? How did I…did I do anything inappropriate—I mean, how did it all happen? How did I start dating my boss?” I stumbled over my words as I felt my face grow hot with shame. I may not remember anything about my life, but I knew that sleeping with your boss was not the most appropriate and ethical thing to do.

  As if a light flickered on in her head, Anna began to laugh. “Oh sweetie, relax. You did nothing inappropriate.”

  I looked at her hopefully. “How do you know?”

  “Because I work there too. That’s how we met. I’m one of the investment bankers at the company.”

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t worry, Liv. No one at work thinks you started dating Connor to get ahead. You are one of the hardest working people at Brady Global. You really don’t need any extra help to get ahead. Trust me, everyone loves you at work. In fact, everyone actually thinks you and Connor are like the perfect couple. You’re both hot, smart, and hardworking. It was actually your hard work and dedication to the company that first caught Connor’s attention.”