"THAT'S a triple word point, Hanna. Now I've got seventy-eight points."
"Damn. You're so unfairly good at this, Gideon."
I closed the book in my hand when I heard the voices from outside.
They were from Gideon and Hanna. It was Saturday morning.
The weather was fine today. The two of them were playing scrabble in the garden. Gideon invited me first but of course, I refused.
Now I'm here, sitting on the wooden hanging chair on the lanai meters away from them.
"Well…" I could hear Gideon's deep chuckle. "Do you want another game, Hanna?"
I didn't know he likes playing board games. Well, what do I know about him?
It had been three weeks since he left the hospital, and until now, he still kept on surprising me with the things that he does. Him being genuinely polite and kind to Hanna surprised me.
Well, I knew the old Gideon would never mingle with an employee. He was a snob and ruthless. I remembered how he treated his secretary.
"Nah." I heard Hanna laugh. "I don't want to lose anymore."
My eyes lingered on Gideon. He was wearing a white shirt sleeve shirt and sweatshirt.
There was a small improvement from his therapy. He was still in a wheelchair, but he could already stand up on his feet. He still couldn't move his legs to walk though.
But with continuous therapy, the doctor assured me that he could finally walk again in two months.
I closed the book in my hand and sigh. Two more months.
"Excuse me."
Gideon picked up his ringing phone and rolled his wheelchair away from Hanna.
"Bianca."
My eyes were following Gideon that I hadn't noticed Hanna was already in front of me.
"I'm going to prepare some snacks. Do you want something?"
I gave her a small smile and shook my head. "No. Thank you."
I wanted to go back to the book I was reading but my eyes went back to Gideon. I noticed how his forehead creased while listening to the caller on the other line.
I wondered who it was. Was it Amelia?
The moment Gideon ended the call, his head turned in my direction. It was too late to look away so I stayed looking at him.
My forehead creased when he started heading toward me.
"You're done reading that?" His eyes went to the book on my lap.
"No. Not yet."
Gideon pursed his lips. "You wanted to play Scrabble instead? Hanna bailed on me."
I rolled my eyes. "No. I don't like Scrabble."
Of course, that was a lie. I just didn't want to play with him.
Gideon teasingly raised his brow. "Really? Or you just didn't want to lose to me?"
I scoffed. "Excuse me? What do you think of yourself? A Scrabble genius? You know what? You might have lost your memory, but you're still half as conceited as you were."
The bastard only chuckled before he grabbed the book from me. "A court of thorns and roses."
Frowning, I took back the book from him.
"What's the book all about?"
I twitched my lips. "It's a fantasy romance."
"Fantasy? Like Harry Potter?"
I frowned. "Harry Potter is not a romance book—"
I stopped when Gideon gripped hard on the table.
"Gideon!"
His other hand was clutching his head.
"Damn!" He groaned hard while gritting his teeth. His entire face was obviously in pain.
"Are you okay?" I knelt in front of him. This looked different from the occasional headache he used to experienced the past three weeks.
"Gideon…" My hand went to his face. His eyes were shut tightly. I tried to sweep away the locks of hair that fell on his forehead.
"I… I remembered something, Bianca." He opened his eyes. Those blue orbs were clouded with confusion.
I stiffened. This was the first time he remembered something.
"W-what do you remember?" I swallowed.
"I remembered a teenage me. I was sitting in a lake. And then there was this girl… she was reading a Harry Potter book beside me." His forehead creased. "It felt like a dream…"
Oh. He remembered a part of his teenage years.
"That's all you remembered?"
He sighed. "Yeah."
I nodded, then I moved back and returned to my seat.
Teenage Gideon? Lake? A girl reading Harry Potter?
I suddenly remembered the story Charlie had told me.
"I have no idea who that girl is."
I looked at Gideon, who was still frowning with confusion. "That was probably Diana."
"Diana?" He turned to me.
I cleared my throat. "I heard she was your high school sweetheart."
"High school sweetheart?"
I frowned. "Well, I'm not sure, Gideon. I just heard that from Charlie. I barely know anything about your old life, okay? If you're that curious, then go ahead and call Amelia. I'm sure your mother could satisfy your curiosity."
Gideon remained looking at me. He was no longer frowning, instead, an amused smile was playing on his lips.
"What?" I snapped.
"Why do you sound mad?" He pursed his lips, and with one eyebrow rose. "Are you jealous?"
My lips parted. It took me a moment before I could react. "Me? Jealous?" I said in my most outrageous voice.
"Why would I be jealous?"
"Because I remembered another woman and not you?"
I laughed sarcastically. "So what if you remembered another woman and not me? As if I'm in love with you!" Besides, I don't really want you to remember me!
"Really? You're not jealous?" His voice was soft, his eyes… they were directly looking at me… as if trying to pierce my soul.
I didn't know why I suddenly felt nervous. I wasn't sure if it was the way he looked at me. Those eyes… they were so deep they were trying to get into me.
"I'm not. Besides, why would I be jealous of a dead person?"
The crease on Gideon's forehead deepened.
"That woman in my memory… she's dead already?"
I bit the inside of my cheek. Why didn't I stop myself?
I cleared my throat as my eyes fell on the book on the table.
"I heard she died, Gideon."
"What happened to her?"
"I didn't know the story. But Charlie told me that she drowned in a lake. You should ask Amelia about this. Do you want me to call her?" I carefully looked at him.
Gideon shook his head. "I'll talk to her next time."
I frowned. Next time? "Aren't you curious?"
"I am. But it was already an old memory. It happened years ago, and I feel like nothing important was in there."
My lips parted. Nothing important? I wondered what would be his reaction if he found out that the girl he was talking about was the reason he wanted to destroy Charlie's life.
Gideon touched my hand. I was still too stunned to take it back from him. "Besides, I don't want my wife to get jealous," he said, the corner of his lips rising a little.
"I'm not jealous!"
He shrugged, his blue eyes dancing in amusement. "If you say so, wife."
I wanted to punch his annoying face, but I just settled with picking up my book and leaving him on the lanai.