by Claire Adams
Something was very wrong.
Chapter 14
Kendall
I exited the shower and stood looking into my closet. I had no idea what to wear. Should I opt for sexy or power dressing? I mean what would Elijah be expecting me to wear for our date? It was a business date I found myself thinking.
Bo was sat on the bed, he ended up being my go-to sounding board when I had hard clothing decisions to make, he had a good eye for fashion and had never let me down, so I had led myself to believe.
I opted for just normal underwear... nothing too flashy, just classy. Not that anything would go that far, and if it did I would probably be shy, I had not had much experience in that department, so I just had to rely on my womanly instincts and the help of my big lazy dog.
I dropped my towel on the floor and watched myself as I slipped into a nice pair of black silky effect panties. Bo barked from the bed, so I knew he sounded his appreciation. I stood and looked at myself in the mirror. My heaving breasts would be enough for any man I thought, as I laughed. I grabbed my black matching bra and fastened it as I received another resounding bark from Bo.
Bo had opted for a blue dress which showed my assets off a treat, not flashy by a long means but it left enough to the imagination and could warm any man. According to Cleo.
“So, what do you think?” I said to Bo.
He lifted his head and panted, and to me, that meant it was good, and I looked fine.
“You think Elijah will like it?” I added.
Bo barked which meant a resounding "yes." I had accomplished my look, my long blonde hair cascaded over my shoulders, and I had gone for minimal makeup; a bit around the eyes and a nice lipstick just to give my lips some depth. It was crystal pink in color.
I headed downstairs just in time for Elijah to knock on the door. I had a feeling of nervousness as Bo planted himself on the couch. I was sure Elijah wouldn’t remember the day with the vet, but just in case I had my fingers doubly crossed.
“Hi, come on in,” I said to Elijah.
“Thank you, wow you look stunning,” Elijah said as he entered the hallway.
“Excuse the dog, he just plops himself anywhere he wants,” I said as I led him to the living room.
“Wow big dog, I bet he takes some looking after.” Elijah smiled.
“He does, he eats like crazy and has just been a bit ill recently,” I replied.
“Who’s a big boy then?” Elijah said as he stroked Bo.
I found myself dumbfounded, the last time I mentioned him, he totally lost it and said animals were stupid, and now he was totally cool with them.
“What was wrong with him?" Elijah asked as if he'd been captured by mind wiping aliens.
“Anemia, the vet gave him some medication, and he seems to be better now. Actually, the vet mentioned she knew you from when you were a kid,” I explained.
Elijah shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe, I don’t know.” He smiled at the dog and then at me. “Well, are you ready? We don’t want to be late.” He ruffled Bo’s head.
We climbed into the car. He had chosen his Audi, it was a nice car and had plenty of performance yet it was built like a family saloon. Gosh, I thought Elijah might also be nervous.
“So, where are we going?” I asked.
“Nothing too flashy, or too loud, you like burgers?” he asked as he started the car.
“Who doesn’t like burgers?” I replied with a nervous giggle.
“Okay. I’m not sure if you know it, but we are off to Pappy Joe's Burger Shack,” he replied.
“Never heard of it, and I thought you had lost your memory?” I questioned.
“I have. I asked Peter the best place we used to go as kids, and he said this place has the best burgers you will ever taste!” We both laughed.
“Do we get fries as well? And a milkshake?” I asked in a girly voice.
“Kendall, you can have anything you like tonight, this is to show my appreciation, and before you think a burger is not much, these are the best burgers, so Peter said.”
"Mmm, very impressive!" I said, feeling more relaxed as we drove.
We arrived at Papa Joe's which was located at the end of Piapi Boulevard It was a part of town that was out of the way for many people going for a night out. The car lot was half full, and there were plenty of people inside. It didn’t look like the best building in the world, but the smell was fantastic!
We entered the diner, and the noise of chitter chatter instantly hit our ears, and a waiter walked up to us.
“Hanson, a table for two,” Elijah said.
“Ah, no problem Sir. Your regular table, follow me,” the waiter said as he guided us through the tables to the back corner.
“Here is your menu, and for you Sir,” the waiter said as he handed us each a menu and headed off.
I found myself spoilt for choice, the range of burgers was extensive and had whatever you wanted.
“So, what do you fancy?” I said to Elijah.
“Would you believe me, if I said I didn’t even know what my favorite burger was?” Elijah asked.
“Okay, I’m a burger expert. I’ll choose two, and we can share if that is okay with you?” I replied.
“I’m totally fine with that,” he said. “Order anything you want. Go wild!”
I laughed, enjoying him already. “Well, I think we’ll go healthy. Let’s get the Spicy Veggie Burger, and for the meat loving part of us, we’ll go for the High Stack Triple Cheeseburger, with sides of Cajun curly fries and a salad. Mmm, and for drinks, we’ll have Choco-Nana Shake and a Rusty Root Beer,” I read from the extensive menu.
“Well, I don’t know what it is, but it sounds good,” Elijah said as he locked his eyes onto mine. When the food arrived, the table was already crammed full of entree snacks, and glasses. I wasn’t sure we could finish all of what was before us, even the milkshake looked like a meal in itself.
“So, what do you want to know about work?” I asked Elijah.
“Just a rundown of what we do, and how we have been performing while I have been off.” His hair was nice and his light blue eyes made me feel warm.
“Well, we had the new client come on board, and they are up to speed with their containers on a daily basis, all other operations are performing as expected and sales are up 23 percent for the month, 17 of which are because of the new client,” I explained.
“Well everything sounds like it’s running as it should, enough of work, tell me about yourself,” Elijah said with a smile. I wanted to stay here with him for a long time.
“So, you had an ulterior motive all along then hmm?” I asked with a fake, stern face.
“Not at all, I just decided I didn’t want to waste a nice evening with a beautiful woman talking business," he replied as a gentleman.
Wow, the change was unbelievably good.
“Ah, there is one thing I need to ask you about the business,” he said as he ate a curly fry.
“Shoot, ask anything,” I replied.
“I got the impression when I was walking around the shipping department, that a lot of the staff felt awkward talking to me, why is that?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.
“Well, on occasions, you have been a little offish with people, and they have been on the wrong end of a temper tantrum,” I explained.
“Ah, how often did this happen?” he asked as his brow furrowed.
“Let me think, and don’t be surprised when I tell you, okay? We work five days a week, so that would make it, every day," I answered in honesty.
“You mean every day I’m a douche bag to someone?” he asked.
“Simply put, yes.”
“My God, what sort of person was I?” he asked.
“Well, to many of the staff, you were not very nice at all,” I replied.
“I’ll have to make it up to them somehow. I can’t go back to being like that.”
“So how did I treat you before my accident; shit, don’t tell me I was the same to you?
” Elijah asked as he buried his face in his hands. “I had no idea, and I’m sure even Peter doesn’t know, or at least he isn’t saying it, if he does know it.”
“It's alright, Elijah," I comforted him and held his hand.
“The thing that really scares me is, if I get my memory back, how will it affect my thoughts from now? I mean will this remain, or will they get wiped, or will I just automatically revert back to how I was? A good example would be tonight. Is it possible for me to remember this night with you, or will it dissapear from my memory? God, that is so fucking spooky,” he said.
We continued to talk about personal things and how much he could remember of his family and of Peter, growing up as a younger brother and being left with a billion-dollar company. Elijah explained he had no idea of his mom or his dad, and Peter was just a stranger. He was shocked that the company had not been split 50-50 with his brother.
Somewhere in his past, something must have happened that changed the course of events. Elijah must have thought if these came flooding back, it could be hurtful to everyone again who was involved the first time around, apart from his father. He had passed away.
I could see that Elijah was scared, not of external things, but internal stuff. The stuff he’d yet to face.
He explained he had a vague recollection of some places and that they were highly familiar and where he had been a regular. The office looked sort of familiar but only from the outside.
We had finished as much as we could of the food as we could and were totally stuffed. So, we continued to chat about my past and what it was like to grow up in the country.
Elijah seemed keen on hearing tales of my exploits when I learned how to ride horses and all the different animals we had. Wow... this really was a totally different man than the one I had known not all that long ago.
Once the food had settled, Elijah drove me home and parked the car on the street.
“I had a great night tonight, Kendall. It felt special, like it was my first date ever. I must admit, I was nervous at first, but you are just so easy to be around,” he said the words in a soft, beautiful tone.
“I enjoyed it, too, it was very different to my normal nights of TV or visiting my friend and talking to my mom on the phone, I only have Bo in my life, he’s the only man I have had for a while,” I explained.
“Well, in that case, if you are you free tomorrow evening, I would love to take you out again, and this time, not for just burgers,” he said with a cheeky grin.
“I would love to go out again,” I replied as my stomach rumbled in hunger.
“So, tomorrow. It’s a date. No claiming you have a work meeting or anything,” he said as he stood before me looking handsome. His wavy brown hair shifted in the light, summer breeze.
“So, goodnight and see you tomorrow,” I said feeling the chemistry between us as I slipped from the car and headed inside.
I entered inside and closed my door. I leaned against the door, and I stood and pondered about how Elijah actually became so charming. I wished it would stay for a long time.
"Yippee," I sounded as Bo ran to me in excitement. "I think I'm falling for him, Bo!"
Chapter 15
Elijah
I stood in the closet as I pondered what to wear, I looked in the closet and thought it must have been easy before when I appeared to be a real dirtbag, just grab anything and it would do to look cool. And if they didn’t like it, I wasn’t going to care.
I wanted to set a good impression, I had no idea how much Kendall knew of me, but since I didn’t know, I wanted to treat her as if it was the first time I had seen her, and in my mind, it actually was the first time.
I opted for black jeans and a figure hugging Rocha Jon Rocha top, it was casually styled and showed off my ripped body a treat, even if I had lost my memory, looking good was still a priority. And my clothes now had to tell a different story.
I had just gotten dressed and made my way downstairs. I could see the headlights of Peter's car as he headed up the driveway. I had so much I wanted to tell him about the previous night’s date with Kendall.
“Hi, Pete. How you are doing?” I asked as he entered the kitchen.
“Not, bad, how you been doing? How are you getting on with work?” he replied.
“Forget that, all that is okay, I had a date with Kendall last night, it was awesome,” I beamed.
“I was nervous as hell, I may have dated a lot before from what you told me, but fuck, this was scary. She’s a beautiful woman and so kind. I felt sorry for her, as her dog died a short while ago, and I might even take her to buy another one." I was excited by my own words.
“She must have been impressed with you,” Peter replied as he grinned from ear-to-ear.
“I think so. We’re going out again tonight. I might take her for Italian, a bit of wine and candlelight to set the mood. What do you think?” I asked in the hopes that he would help out.
“That’s a great idea, you will have plenty of time to talk,” he still grinned at me.
“Did you bring the photo album with you before I forget?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s in the car, I’ll just go and get it.” He walked through the garage toward his parked car.
“You gonna keep the cars?” he asked as he returned with the photo album.
“I might get rid of the McLaren, it’s a nice car, but not very practical, the others I can live with, a bit sporty but not way over the top.
“Why do you think we were never close, or should I say why weren't we this close before?” I waited.
“I don’t know. Maybe it was because Dad took you under his wing and left me to my own devices,” he replied. “You may have learned all of his good points and a few of his bad ones while you were growing up, but you have put a lot of hours in at work that’s for sure.” I could sense that he felt proud of me and it made my heart tingle.
“I don’t know either, maybe I might remember if my memory comes back enough, I just hope I don’t turn back into the person I was before,” I said.
“Well, if you get on well with Kendall, I’m sure she will help you to remain the brother you are now. She has stood by you no matter what, she’s like you say, a good woman,” Peter responded in a genuine tone. Happy for my happiness.
“Anyway, I must get off, I have a date of my own in a while,” Peter said.
“You sly old dog you, kept that quiet didn’t you?” I said in a cheeky tone.
“It’s nothing serious, just a bit of fun. You know how it is,” Peter smirked.
“Actually, I don’t know how it is,” I laughed. “But no matter what happens from this point forward, I’m glad you are my brother. You are a good brother, and I appreciate what you have done.”
“Come on then if you’re going. I’ll race you,” Peter said laughing as he ran toward his car.
***
I arrived at Kendall’s apartment and texted to her that I was waiting downstairs in the Audi. It was a hell of a car but comfortable, and it was easier for Kendall to climb in and out of that one compared to the others.
Kendall came out from her apartment wearing a figure-hugging silver dress which showed off her gorgeous curves. Her long blonde hair was blown by the light, summer wind. I opened the door for her, and she got inside. I quickly closed the door and jumped into the driver seat.
“Where we off to?” she asked as she tussled with her windswept hair.
“You hungry?” I asked as I took her in.
“I’m starving, I could eat a horse!” she said as she laughed
“I can’t get you that, will Italian do?” I replied with a wink.
“I love Italian, it’s my favorite,” she turned her head toward me, and I saw her bright eyes.
***
We arrived at Ginalo’s, and the owner had been very helpful and given us a table in the quieter part of the restaurant, I wanted to know Kendall more, and this setting was the best place to achieve it.
The waiter guided us to the ta
ble, the lights were dim, and there was a solitary candle on the table, the flame flickered and cast shadows which danced across Kendall’s face, her beautiful eyes glistened as she talked.
“Now, because I know nothing about my past life, tell me about you,” I asked. I wanted to know her, and she melted me.
“Well, I come from a small town in the Midwest and wanted to go into nursing, but when that didn’t happen I changed my vocation to business administration, which is the reason I’m working for you,” she said as she moved her hair back behind her ear.
“There must be more than that, or is that just the condensed version?” I said with a smirk.
“There is more. I just wanted you to know how I got to where I’m. Oh, and as a child, we lived on a farm and had lots of dogs and farm animals, I also had a horse named Bobby, which I was always riding every chance I had,” she said in her relaxed tone.
“So, you are a real animal lover then?” I moved my chair closer.
“Oh, yeah, I just love animals, they are so loving and caring. Just like me,” she said as she laughed.
"I see." Her face was caught so well by the flickering light.
“Although we had a farm, Mom was a vet and Dad worked the land. We had the best of both worlds until Mom died,” she said as she bowed her head. “After that, Dad was never the same. They had been together since high school, and their only love was each other.”
“It sounds nice. I wish I could find a nice woman like that. I’m getting to the age where I should be settling down a bit more,” I said as I imagined us growing old together.
“Well, you never know. It might happen one day,” she said as she winked coyly.
The dinner we had was excellent, and the service was perfect. The waiter’s choice of the wine was dead on and matched the meat perfectly. The dessert we had was a fine ice-cream, and Kendall had a lot of fun at my expense when it was running down my chin. She didn’t smile when I offered her my spoon with some ice cream on, that part of the dinner was priceless. Her mouth had opened as I slowly inserted the spoon and she sucked off the ice cream, it was very sensual and set the tone for how I felt about her.