Aphira's pov

D-D-Damian! Tears formed in my eyes and I hugged Damian. “Oh my..Damian! It’s been long. Why didn’t you come back? I miss you so much!” I sobbed in his chest. He stiffened under my touch and pushed me away. W-What? “Uhh I’m sorry I think you got the wrong guy. I’ve never met you before.” He said and I froze. No…I know this is Damian…this is my childhood best friend I just know it. He must be joking right? He’s joking.

”Hahaha stop kidding around Ian. I know it’s you.” I laughed and he still looked at me confused. No this is not real. “I really am sorry, Ms. Horris, or would you prefer to be called Aphira? I have not met or encountered anyone named Aphira before.” He said. I wanna collapse right now. He’s my childhood best friend Damian! I’m sure but how could he not remember me? I think I should leave it be…

I wiped away my tears giggling. “I-I’m sorry. You’re right I think I got the wrong person. I’m very sorry Mr. Salvator. I’d like to be called Aphira.” I said and he took out a handkerchief. He used it to wipe away my tears. I smiled missing his touch. How many years has it been? 16? Yeah, I think it has been 16 years since I felt his touch. “It’s alright. Now shall we get right on to business?” He asked sitting down on his chair. Remember Aphira, he is your boss now. Not the Ian you used to know.

“You will be stationed there *points at a desk on the corner*. All you really have to do is memorize my schedule for the day and follow every order and everywhere I go.” He said and I nodded. Go out and ask Lany for the files.” He said. I nodded and walked out.

“Hello, I’m Lany Lockheart., secretary of Mr. Salvator. I hope we’ll get close seeing as you’re the only other person here on this floor except for Mr. Salvator. Here are the files.” She gave me a stack of folders. I took it and nearly dropped from the weight. H…ea…vy. “Thank you.” I said and went back to the office.

Suddenly half of the weight was taken off and I felt relief. “I’ll help you.” Damian said. He put the files on my desk and I placed the other half on top of it. I sat on my chair and began my work.

The day wasn’t really stressful. Nothing much happened anyway. I barely spoke to Damian because I would always be flooded with memories of us when we were young. I had my lunch with Ryu as promised and we went to the same restaurant as yesterday. We talked for a bit before returning because lunch was only for an hour. The rest of the afternoon was filled with silence until it was time for all of us to go home.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Ash.” Damian said and I froze for a split second. Ash…that nickname he gave me. “I’ll see you tomorrow Sir..” I replied getting my bag.”Oh please, no need for formalities. Just call me Damian when we’re alone.” He smiled and walked out. I clutched my bag and went out with him. We went into the elevator together and went out in our own ways.

“Aphira. You’ve grown up.” A voice spoke behind me. I turned around and saw a familiar couple. My eyes widened after recognizing them. “Aunt Jessica! Uncle Ronald!” I hugged them both and they laughed hugging me back. This confirms it! That was Damian, but still…how did he forget me? I broke the hug and smiled at them both. “It’s been 16 years since we last saw each other.” I said and their faces saddened.

“Let’s have dinner together, excluding Damian.” Aunt Jessica said and I nodded. They lead m to a car and Uncle Ronald drove us to another fancy restaurant a few blocks away. He parked the car and we went into the fancy place. “Reservation under Mr. Salvator.” Uncle Ronald told the man at the counter. He tapped a few things on his tablet before looking up. “Right this way.” He led us to a table for four. The couple sat opposite of me.

“Start serving the orders. I hope you still like mac n cheese.” Aunt Jessica said and I nodded. “My love for Mac n Cheese will never fade away.” I said with a small laugh. The waiter came back placing down their meals and my Mac n Cheese. I nearly drooled at the sight. It looks so tasty. I took my fork and stabbed a piece then ate it.

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions dear. We’ll start off from when we left.” Aunt Jessica said I stayed silent preparing myself for what’s about to happen. “We moved out to find a hospital that can heal Damian and we did. They go the small piece of metal stuck in his brain but that triggered something which made him lose his memories.” Aunt Jessica paused taking a sip of her beverage. “He woke up not remembering anything. He couldn’t even remember us, his own parents. We wanted to tell you all about it but we found out that your company has been having problems so we didn’t want to add on to that stress. We decided to keep it to ourselves and soon we lost contact and we never got a chance to tell you.” She said. I sat there eating another piece of my Mac n Cheese.

So…Damian forgot me? About us? Our memories? All of them. The memories we both cherished are now gone to him. I sighed leaning back to my chair. “I’m sorry.” I couldn’t help but say. “For what? You have nothing to be sorry for. I wasn’t your fault anyway.” Uncle Ronald said.

“There’s still hope.” Aunt Jessica said and I perked up. “He’s slowly remembering bits by bit when we returned. If you get close to him again, I think he’ll remember everything.” Aunt Jessica said and I smiled. I finished the last piece and drank my iced tea. “I’ll make sure he remember Aunty. I won’t let those memories go to waste.” I said feeling determined. From now on it is my mission to make him remember.

“You still love him.” They both said and I turned red. “N-No! You got it wrong.” I exclaimed and they both laughed. We caught up for a little while longer before they took me to my condo. I thanked them for dinner and went to my room. I took a bath and changed in my pjs before flopping on the bed. I pulled the blankets up and drifted off to sleep.

“I’ll make sure you get those memories back Damian.” I whispered before falling asleep.