Unforgettable (13 page)

 
“Do you want any breakfast?” I made sure my voice was strong and clear.

 
“Only if you want to make some, I was going to make do with coffee.”

 
“Omelet okay?” I asked as I pushed off from the counter I was leaning on and made my way over to the refrigerator.

 
“Great. Do you want any help?”
No. No. No.

 
“Sure.” I smiled and grabbed the carton of eggs and leaned back down to see if there were any mushrooms in the drawer. Bingo. I pulled out the bacon and cheese and set everything down on the counter.

 
“Bacon and mushroom omelet, your favorite,” I said triumphantly. I heard Ethan gasp from behind me.

 
“What?”

 
“You know what my favorite breakfast is.” He said it with such awe that it only took me a moment to understand what he was saying.

 
“Oh my god! How did I know that?” My heart started pounding again, but this time it wasn’t in fear. It was excitement. Maybe today
was
going to be my lucky day.

Chapter Ten

 
Ethan was beside me in a second. “What else do you remember?” he asked anxiously while latching on to my upper arms.

 
I thought hard. Hmm. Nothing really. I had no idea where the whole omelet thing had popped up from. I searched my thoughts for any tiny nugget of information. I just couldn’t bring anything to the surface. Ethan was searching my face for some kind of recognition, but I just shook my head.

 
He slowly released my arms. “That’s okay, baby. It’s in there somewhere. This is a great sign. Maybe it will happen while you aren’t even trying.” He said it while trying to put on a happy face, but the excitement I had felt just a moment ago was already starting to dissipate.

 
I stared at his face, trying to force my mind to give me just a little more. I looked down at the breakfast ingredients, and for some reason I couldn’t even remember making omelets for Ethan anymore. That momentary, fleeting thought was already buried back in my subconscious. I wanted to yell in anger and cry in frustration all at the same time. My heartbeat had slowed back down, too. My tiny victory already overshadowed by reality.

 
“I guess I’ll start the food.” I didn’t feel like eating, but cooking always made me feel better. It was soothing and I needed that desperately. I pulled my omelet pan off the rack and set it on the stove and grabbed another for the bacon. I was just going through the motions. I put the bacon on and then felt arms come around me. I stood still. Part of me wanted to lean into him, but the other part, the part still a tiny bit freaked out, wanted to elbow him in the stomach.

 
Whoa, that sounded a little violent. Am I violent now, too? My mind started racing again, just like it did in the hospital. Maybe I did something crappy to someone and this is my punishment. I don’t really know myself, do I? But then, why would Ethan want to be with me? He seems like a pretty good guy. He’s helpful in the kitchen, he’s good looking, and he is a damn good kisser. He already sounds better than anyone else I can remember dating. Oh, the irony.

 
Hmm. He smells good. He hasn’t even showered yet. He was still wearing his tee shirt and sweats. That’s something else I should add to the plus column. Nice smelling. You never really think about how important that is until you date someone with B.O., but that’s another story.

 
“Juliet, we’ll get through this. Who knows what you’ll remember next?” He released me to grab a bowl for the eggs. I took it from him without saying anything. This morning was really giving my emotions a workout. First the sex dream, then the memory, now back to square one. It was getting pretty hard to take. We stood there silently, cooking our breakfast, and when everything was done we sat at the island and ate it. All of this pretty much without talking. Strangely, it didn’t seem weird. It felt really homey, actually.

 
I stood to clean up after we were finished, but Ethan stopped me.

 
“What would you like to do today?” The question caught me off guard. I had been planning to look through my pictures and email, but now I was thinking about getting out of the house. It might relax me a little; I had had a rough couple of days.

 
“Um, I hadn’t really thought about it. What would I usually do on a Monday?” He paused as if thinking about it.

 
“Truthfully, I don’t really know. I’m usually at work.” Well, so much for that avenue of information.

 
“Maybe we could go to the fish market or something. It’s a relatively nice day.” I looked out the window as I said this and noticed the sun was actually out.

 
“Sure, we could do that.” I couldn’t be sure if he was happy about the prospect or not. I decided to test him.

 
“How about the Space Needle?” I had lived in Seattle for years, but I had only been up in the Space Needle two times.

 
“Whatever you want. Today is all about you.” He gathered up the dishes and started rinsing them off. I would have helped him, but I didn’t really feel like cleaning. I wanted to be lazy and self-indulgent. At least for today. I watched as he put everything away and I quickly occupied myself with staring at my fingernails a second before he turned around.

 
“I’m going to take a shower; you decide what you want to do.” He leaned forward like he was going to kiss me then veered to the side and walked past. What the heck? I was almost expecting contact now.

 
Lucy was hanging around my feet, waiting for her own breakfast, so I got her some food and watched her while she ate it. Dogs didn’t have these kinds of problems. How was I supposed to function in society with only a partial knowledge of my life and even less knowledge of my job?

 
I walked back into the living room and I could hear the shower running. I passed the door imagining Ethan on the other side, naked. It caused a bit of a tingle in my stomach, so I paused there, like a creepy stalker, listening for any kind of sound. Hey, it might help nudge my memory or something. After a few seconds, when I didn’t remember anything helpful, I started to feel slightly dirty, so I went along to the bedroom, straightening the covers and fluffing up my pillows.

 
By the time I had finished I heard the shower go off. I didn’t want to run into him in the hallway so I just sat on the bed, waiting for him to go back out to the kitchen. He didn’t. He came out of the bathroom in a towel. Only. I took a breath. Oh. My. God. Literally. We are talking Greek god here. My eyes locked on his chest for the second time in twelve hours.
How on earth do I not remember this?
Why would I want to forget?

 
He strolled into the bedroom like he owned the place and saw me sitting on the bed gaping at him.

 
“Sorry, I thought you were still in the kitchen.” It made me wonder if he usually walked around the house wearing next to nothing. I hoped so. For after I get my memory back, I mean. Right now I’m just a perv.

 
“No problem, let me get out of here so you can get dressed.” I hopped up and shot out of the room, closing the door behind me. I made my way back to the living room. There was nothing to do in my house. I just went from room to room without any purpose. I suddenly missed being needed at the restaurant. I hadn’t thought about it much, too many other things to worry about, but now I let the sadness in. I couldn’t remember all the stuff Carrie had told me about happening. Everything I was proud of centered on being a chef. I felt lost.

 
I sat there, thinking about things, until Ethan emerged from the bedroom looking totally put together in a brown sweater over dark wash jeans and some brown leather lace up shoes. He looked good, as usual.

 
“Are you ready to go? It’s still early.” I looked at the clock. It was just after eight. Early for me, anyway.

 
“Yeah, let’s go.” I walked out the door after grabbing my purse and stopped at the driveway. Should I offer to drive? I didn’t really want to, not to mention I really liked Ethan’s car but, I thought I should at least offer. “Would you like me to drive?”

 
Ethan shook his head. “Uh, no that’s okay. I hate your driving.”

 
I stopped walking. I was feeling totally affronted. “Excuse me?”

 
“Well, you punch the gas and mash on the brakes constantly. I can’t relax in the car with you.” I wanted to feel angry, but this was not the first time I had heard those exact words to describe my driving. I decided to be the bigger person and let it slide.

 
“Fine, you drive. Where are we going?”

 
“Pike’s. That’s the first thing you said so I figured that’s where you really wanted to go.” I nodded and waited while he unlocked the car doors.

 
“I know you probably think it’s stupid to want to go there, but hey, we can find something for dinner.” I loved the fish market, all the choices and all the people. It was world famous for a reason.

 
“Not at all. I like going there too. It’s full of happy memories.” Huh? He has happy memories of the fish market? Weirdo.

 
We sat in silence as he drove down my street and onto busier roads. Everything looked perfectly familiar to me. I felt like my old self. When we arrived at Pike’s, Ethan found a spot and we got out. I dug in my purse for change for the parking meter, feeling good about doing my part.

 
We walked closer and the smell of dead seafood hit my nostrils. Ahh, I loved that smell. My face pulled into a smile and I looked up to Ethan.

 
“Thanks. I really needed this.” I felt about the fish market like other women felt about the spa. Utter relaxation and happiness.

 
“My pleasure.” He smiled back at me and for the first time in days I felt really good. We walked in and were immediately enveloped in the bustle and noise. I went from counter to counter, looking at what was on offer. I walked beside the huge fish lying in ice. My mood was getting lighter by the minute.

 
“What would you like me to make tonight? Pick anything here.” I was feeling magnanimous as I stretched my arms out to encompass the entire market.

 
Ethan thought for a moment. “Shrimp sounds good.” I nodded and went to a counter with rows of different sized shrimp. I got two pounds of jumbos and the fish monger bagged it with ice. Ethan pulled out his wallet to pay for them before I had a chance to and took the bag.

 
“Thanks.” I remembered I only had about fourteen dollars in cash and I wasn’t sure if I had anything in the bank. That might have been an embarrassing situation just now. I needed to check out my bank account when we got home.

 
We walked a little more and made our way back around. I’m sure we reeked of fish, but I was happier than I had felt in days. I reached out for Ethan’s hand. He looked surprised but took it. I felt an electrical shock run up my arm and I also saw a picture of Ethan in my head. I could also hear myself telling him that I loved him. Oh my god. I was telling Ethan I loved him. At the fish market.

 
“Ethan. I just remembered something.” He looked at me and waited.

 
“What?” He was trying not to look excited but didn’t quite pull it off.

 
“I told you I loved you here.” His eyes got wide. He started squeezing my hand almost painfully.

 
“Yes. It was the first time you ever said it to me. Right over there.” He pointed down the sidewalk. My breathing was coming fast.

 
I told him I loved him for the first time at the fish market? Aren’t I the romantic fool? I felt slightly embarrassed, but that feeling was far outweighed by the excitement of my memory.