Cover Up (Cover #2) (9 page)

I watched as her gaze fell to the sm
all piece of jewelry that fell onto her lap. Her mouth dropped when she realized what it was, and brought the engagement ring up in front of her.

“What’s this?” she whispered, never taking her eyes off the
two-carat solitaire.

Unable to contain my smile, I
rose off my seat, rounded the table, and knelt before her. My heart thumped loudly in my ears. I was beyond nervous, but managed to project an outward confidence.

“Ms. Edwards… Diana. You are the reason I am alive today. My joy, my heart, and my soul belong to you. I love you with everything I have and I will spend the rest of my life showing you just how much you mean to me. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Instead of happily accepting my proposal, she gently placed the ring on the table with a trembling hand and walked away, heading for the bedroom. I was shocked at first and remained kneeling for a few minutes, before finally standing up and mustering enough courage to see what I had done wrong.

When I walked into that room, everything changed. She told me all she had done, all she had felt through tears and sobs as I stood across from her.

“I never meant to hurt you or Emily,” she cried out to me as I walked away, slamming the door behind me after telling her to stay the fuck away from me.

That had been a little less than three months ago. Did I still love Diana? I couldn’t really say. A
part of me missed our relationship, for sure, but a greater part of me knew it was all a lie; and for that, I hated her fucking guts!

As I walked through the hospital entrance, I told myself that I needed to let Diana
, and all that happened, go – at least for the time being. I needed to focus on Emily today. Yesterday, Suzie called and told me about Emily’s meeting with a therapist. She knew the truth now, at least some of the truth. Dr. Avery had informed Suzie that Emily would be going home today, and that she thought it was best that she was in a familiar setting. Dr. Avery hoped that being home would help her remember the last year. She would still be meeting with the therapist three times a week as an outpatient, but she was going to need the support of all of us.

Walking into Emily’s room
, she looked at me nervously.
Was she scared about going home?

I pushed
the thought out of my head, and strutted towards her. “How are you feeling today baby girl? Ready to blow this joint?”

EMILY

I was still in shock. A whole year had somehow vanished and I couldn’t make sense of it. I'd awoken from this coma to find a black hole in my life. Dr. Avery brought in the hospital’s therapist to help break the news to me. They tried their best to explain everything, but it was as if I was living someone else’s life.
This can’t be happening to me.

I tried not to cry
, but the flood began; and once it started, I couldn’t stop. Questions bombarded my mind as the women tried to keep me calm.
Was I married? Was it to Adam? Did we live together? Was I still an interning chef?
No answers came to mind, which only brought on more tears.

The doctors reassured me
, and Suzie, that my memory loss was a common side effect of serious head injuries, and that it likely would return - in time. By the time they left, I was numb. I couldn’t cry anymore and I just wanted to be alone.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay the night with you?” Suzie asked as she
sat beside me and stroked my hair.

I was sure. I needed time to process. I needed to di
gest everything I’d been told, and I couldn’t do that with her worrying about me, trying to console me.

“Yeah, I just need some time,” I whispered back at her.

After she left, I cried myself to sleep. I felt like I had lost a piece of who I was. What had I been up to this past year? Had I changed in anyway? The questions came nonstop, until finally, I couldn’t cry anymore and blessed sleep pulled me away from my overwhelming thoughts.

When morning came
, I had, for a split second, forgotten about the amnesia. But just as I sat up on the hospital bed, it all came rushing back and filled me with complete despair. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I tried to will my brain to remember all that it had forgotten, but had no luck.

I hadn’t been sleeping well since my dream man, whom I now called The Frenchman, consumed my dreams. I didn’t know where the nickname came from
, but the other night it just came to me and felt right. It suited him. It was weird really. Each dream I had of the Frenchman seem so real, so familiar. It was as if we were lovers in another life.

I tossed and turned most of last night, drifting from one erotic scene to the next.
Me on his bed. Him on my bed. And me in an office? Everything seemed too familiar. I still could make out his face in the dreams, the edges around him blurred, but I knew he was gorgeous. There was something about him that just exuded sex, and it drove me crazy.
Did I know this man? Was he a part of my life? And, if he had been, where was he now?

When Adam walked into the hospital
, I was flushed with embarrassment. It wasn’t right to fantasize about another man. In fact, I couldn’t recall a time I had dreamt of Adam, not even in an innocent way.
Shit, I’m a horrible girlfriend.

“How are you feeling today
, baby girl? Ready to blow this joint?” he asked as he strutted over to my bed, leaning in to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. His sandalwood cologne, which normally turned me on, filled my nose; but, oddly, I felt nothing. I chalked that up to the guilt I felt for my secret rendezvous with a certain Frenchman every night. I pushed the thought aside. ‘The Frenchman’ was nothing but a fantasy I had conjured up, Adam was real. He was the best boyfriend I had ever had. Well, he was the
only
boyfriend I had ever had. Mister tall, dark, and seductive, was just my subconscious begging for attention.
Some French attention, you whore!

I suddenly realized that
, since waking up from the coma, Adam hadn’t really kissed me. Not even once!
Was he afraid I would break if he did?

“I’m doing ok,” I offered shyly
. He pulled up a chair and sat beside my bed. He looked very cute today. He wore his dark blue fitted jeans, a blue and yellow collared shirt that he left open at the throat, which revealed a crisp white t-shirt. And, of course, he had on his signature flip fops. The man had a thing for them, having a variety of them in his closet in almost every shade. Thankfully, he was blessed with adorable looking feet, so I didn’t mind the odd obsession.

“Suzie said she would meet you at the house. I assume that goes the same for Diana. She told me about the meeting you had with the doctor yesterday. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you when you woke up. It’s just … we
all hoped that your memory would improve on its own,” he mumbled as he took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I know,” I said as I looked away from him. I had so many questions. Were we still together? I assume
d we were, since he’s been here almost every day; but things seemed different with him, not like before.

I turned and looked at him
, and he gave me a small smile. I smiled back him, but then felt the tears welling up in my eyes, threatening to fall. I needed to know. I had to ask. I could sense his discomfort and wondered what he thought.

Curious about his sudden mood change, I asked “Everything ok?”
and I reached for his soft, warm, hand. He looked up at me and I could tell that there was something brewing in that head of his, but he simply nodded his head.

“Yup, everything’s fine.”

Unconvinced, I continued searching his eyes. Something was definitely wrong.

“Adam … I need to know … if …” I began
and tears fell from my eyes onto my cheeks.

He shook his head, “No
, baby girl, we’re not,” he said, knowing just what I was asking. We had always known what the other was thinking. It was something we loved and called special.

My h
eart sank. Everything had changed and I couldn’t remember any of it. Still holding his hand, I felt him grow rigid. He didn’t look at me. Instead, he looked at everything in the room – except me.

“Tell me
…What happened?” I asked. I tugged on his hand, forcing him to look me in the eye. I saw his inner struggle brew within him. A part of him wanted to tell me, but something seemed to be holding him back. “I can take it, Adam, I promise,” I begged.

He nodded his head and brought my hand to his lips, “Ok, I’ll tell you,” he responded.

JULIEN

“Sylvie, please meet me in my office as soon as you can!” I ordered over the intercom. It was my first day back
to work since Emily’s accident and I needed updates on all of our projects – most importantly, the new hotel that was supposed to open in a little over a week . My father would have my head if things did not go as planned. That Shane had been handling matters in my absence made me extremely nervous.

With everything going on, I needed things to run as smoothly as possible. It was bad enough I
had become a depressed, worthless, excuse of a man the last few days. I slept the guest room because I couldn’t stomach to go into my own bedroom or home office. Memories of Emily tormented me day and night. No matter how much I tried to push her out of my mind, she still haunted me.

“Yes
, Mr. Belmont, I’ll be right in,” Sylvie responded and was at my desk with pen and paper at hand a few moments later.
Always the ever-ready assistant.

“Bring me up to date on the Downtown Project,” I
demanded and poured myself a scotch at the bar to the far side of my office.

“Well sir, Mr. Belmont…” she paused and then continued,
“Mr. Shane Belmont made sure that all the staff was hired during his time here, and the building passed all inspections thankfully. So, there are no major issues to worry about, other than the organizing the grand opening, which I am already working on. I hope you don’t mind, but with Ms. Roberts’s accident and you having to take care of her, I thought it best to get started on the planning,” she declared, before shifting over in my direction. “How is Emily, by the way?” she asked sincerely, concern evident in her face.

Inwardly I cringed and
sighed softly. She as a kind woman, so I knew Sylvie would ask about Emily at some point. Hearing her name made my heart ache and I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. The walls were closing in on me and I needed to escape. I brought the glass of scotch to my lips; finished the contents in one long gulp, and set the glass down hard on the mirrored bar top. After breathing in deeply in an attempt to steady my breathing, I glanced at Sylvie, who now stood beside me. It was obvious that she had detected the shift in my mood and quirked her brow in confusion and worry.

“She is just fine! That’ll be all Sylvie,” I grumbled at her, flinching when she placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Did I say something wrong?”

She hadn’t. I knew she was truly concerned
, given the severity of Emily’s condition after the accident, but I couldn’t help the aggravated tone in my voice. I wanted to forget Emily’s existence, to go back to the life I had before she turned everything upside down.
On the other hand, had she turned everything right side up?
I shook the thought from my head and poured myself another drink, also gulped it down in one long pull.