Chapter 11

Aaron's POV

My phone rang, it was Tayla again. She had been calling me ten times for the past hour. How the hell did she get my personal number?

"Aren't you going to answer that?" my dad, Tristan Latsis, asked. He was driving his new Rolls Royce Sweptail for a road test.

I exhaled heavily then said to him,

"Can you pull over at the side, Dad? I'll just answer this."

"Okay sure."

The moment I got out of the car, I answered my phone.

"Yes, Tayla?"

"Finally! The great motherfucker answered! What the fuck, Aaron. You said you'd call. It's been a week and I haven't heard anything from you. What do you think I am, a fucking disposable machine? You're a user!"

"Hey, as far as I remember, it was the other way around. You came to me so fast, I did not ask for it. But admit it, we had a good time. So let's cut this off. It's pretty clear that we're not compatible."

"Not too fast, asshole. You can't break up with me."

"Actually, there's nothing to break up, Tayla. We don't have a relationship."

"Fuck you, Aaron Latsis, you can't just get rid of me easily."

I hung up my phone and went back to the car.

"What's that all about?" Dad asked the moment I entered the car.

"Just a bad negotiation."

"It always turns bad when you do it inside the bedroom." He smirked and then drove the car.

Jessica's POV

After we had our breakfast, Mrs. Latsis suggested that we should go shopping.

"I don't really need clothes. I have enough already."

"No way. I instructed Kora to buy you designer clothes, instead she went to K-Mart." She eyed my outfit, then said, "Look at you, that sweater is too loose and your pants are oversized. You need proper clothes."

"I... I won't need it. I'll leave as soon as I contact the airline. I'm sure they'll compensate for what happened and shoulder my flight back to Florida."

Mrs. Latsis looked very disappointed. "You can't just leave," she paused and continued in sinking tones, "you're not fully recovered yet. Besides, you lost your memory."

My heart instantly felt so heavy seeing her unhappy with my decision. But I had to leave to find myself.

I forced a smile, to relieve her of her worries, "Yeah, but I can still read and write. I'm young and strong, there are so many jobs that I can do. I will survive."

She nodded then said, "You're so brave, Jessica. No wonder Troy fell so madly in love with you. But dear, we're your family. You belong here with us. You don't have to go back to Florida and work for a living, you can work here in our family business."

"I need to find some answers, and I can do that only by going back to where I came from. I can't just keep on waiting for my memories to come back. What if it takes years?"

"You have a point. But please give us time to bond with you. Stay with us for a month, then after that, you're free to go back to Florida if you still want."

"But..."

"Please, Jessica. That's all I'll ask from you. I miss Troy so badly and having you here with us, I feel like part of him is here too."

She suddenly looked so weary and fragile. Her misery of losing her son showed on her face. It would be so heartless of me not to consider her request.

I touched her hand and nodded. "Okay, I'll stay for a month."

Her face lit up and she hugged me briefly.

"So, let's go shopping?"

"I don't have money. I have to wait for the airlines to give me compensation. I'm sure they'll give some to all the victims of the plane crash."

"Of course they will. Aaron already took care of that. But for now, I'm going to take you shopping. Don't worry about money when you're with me. I'll take care of everything."

"I can't."

She looked at me with a confused expression. "Why not?"

"I'm sure Aaron won't like that."

I could already imagine what that bastard would think once he saw me dressed in finer brands, that I had brainwashed his mother into buying me things. That was what he thought I was good at, brainwashing people, like I did to Troy.

"Aaron won't mind. In fact, he'll be happy to see you all made up and pretty tonight."

I bet for a million dollars that his reaction would be the opposite.

Two hours later, we were at Auckland Central. We went to Queen Street and explored the many luxury brand stores. I was dazed looking at the prices, they cost a fortune.

"No, I can't shop here. Please, let's go somewhere else. They're so expensive," I whispered softly to Mrs. Latsis so that the salesman, wearing a dark elegant suit, could not hear us.

She waved her hand, a gesture of dismissal, then said, "Don't worry about money, dear. I'll take care of it." She turned to the salesman and pointed to five bags. "We'll take them all."

"But Aaron will be mad at me."

She turned to me, her eyebrows rose. "He won't. Stop thinking of Aaron and let's just enjoy the day."

I'm not thinking of him all the time, I wanted to tell her, but I would sound defensive. The last thing I wanted was to give her the misconception that I had my eye on my husband's brother. That would be so awkward.

We continued to shop for clothes, underwear, swimsuits, sandals, shoes and accessories in different luxury stores. I got dizzy just looking at the price tags, they were so expensive, so I stopped looking at them. Mrs. Latsis ignored the prices. Her only concern was if the items looked good on me.

Trying too many clothes was tiring, and yet enjoyable. The look on Mrs. Latsis' face every time I went out of the dressing room was entertaining enough. Her eyes would light up if she liked the dress. If not, her lips would twist in the corner and she would click her tongue. She also laughed aloud when I did wacky faces and silly robot dances.

Last night, I was longing for my mother and I cried because I could not remember her. And now, Mrs. Latsis is showing me affection like she was my very own. She instantly filled my lonely heart.

As we bonded, I became more relaxed with her. We talked easily about anything, and never once did she make me feel intimidated. I learned that she loved anything funny and silly. I guessed we were the same. She laughed easily, so did I.

"You're very beautiful, Jessica. Much more radiant and beautiful in person. You even look so young at twenty eight." Her eyes were in tears due to her frequent laughing. "I never thought that you were a bubbly person. You made me laugh so hard today with your funny faces and silly dance."

Too many times, she hugged and kissed me. She was so sweet and treated me so well. It was hard not to get too attached to her, because I felt the love of a real mother from her.

After our shopping, we had lunch in a fine dining restaurant. We ordered steak, pasta and salad. She told me about her family, their businesses and the charitable fundraising events that kept them busy.

"Tomorrow, Edward will join us for dinner. He's a very busy man, running his own production company. Skylar will also arrive tomorrow. She lives in Australia. So it will be fun that the family will be complete."

The thought of meeting Troy's other siblings made me anxious. What if they were just like Aaron, who treated me like I was a gold digger?

"After this, we'll go to Michael's. He's a very famous hair stylist and makeup artist here in Auckland. We'll pamper ourselves, with hair spa, eyebrow trimming, mani-pedi, facial and body massage. Are you excited?"

"Um... yeah." I agreed, then touched my long blonde hair. I realized it felt so dry.

Thirty minutes later, we were at Michael's Beauty Salon. Mrs. Latsis had her hair dyed while chatting with a friend she met there. I had body waxing, manicure and pedicure, eyebrow trimming and hair spa. Afterwards, Michael trimmed my hair.

"Now, your hair looks better after the hair spa. Feel the difference, it's silkier, right?"

"Yeah." I touched the tips, it was soft to touch.

"Next time you bleach your hair, use a good product."

I was surprised that I looked up at him. "I bleached my hair? What do you mean?"

"Honey, your hair growth showed your true color. You're not born blonde, you're a brunette."