“Kindof” Jade admitted as she heaved a deep sigh.
“You don’t have to be, you’ll do great” Sara encouraged her.
“Sure she will” Julius said from behind them. “Coffee for the road?” Julius stretched out a cup of coffee towards Jade. She heaved another sigh as she received. “Thanks, I wonder what I’ll do without you” Jade said appreciatively, as she took a quick sip from the coffee.
“Nothing, and that’s why you should stay with me forever” He said with a boyish smile.
“Oh please not now. This isn’t a time to flirt with her. Just get lost” Sara said rolling her eyes at him. Jade smiled at them before turning back to her desk, she was used to this. She took out the flash from her drawer, and turned back to face the bickering duo. Her eyes met her boss who was walking towards her with a smile on his face.
“Ready to go?” Simon asked.
“Yes sir”
“Then let’s hit the road” Simon said in a jocular manner. He was quite fond of Jade, as a matter of fact he was fond of all his team members, that was his sweet nature.
Sara flashed Jade an encouraging smile before waving her off, same as the rest of her team members.
“You don’t have to be so nervous. It’s just a mere presentation. See it as one of those seminars you did in school. Just tell them what you know and why they’ll lose out if they change their mind and leave this game. You got that?” Simon said as they walked towards the elevator.
“Yes sir” She nodded.
Julius and Jade waited at the elevator lobby for the elevator to arrive, and when it did Jade frowned at the specie standing inside of it. She just had to show her ill-looking face every.
“Goodmorning Mr Simon” Stephanie greeted when she saw Simon standing with Jade.
“Morning, Ms Stephanie” Simon greeted back, stepping into the elevator. Stephanie took a step to the side, her eyes locked on Jade who was about to board the elevator too.
Jade locked gaze with Stephanie who cocked a brow at her in a way that showed she was expecting Jade to say her greetings too, but Jade tore her gaze away from her and stepped into the elevator, completely ignoring her.
Simon noticed the tension between both ladies, must especially Jade. He had seen the way her eyes had changed for a moment there. He didn’t say anything and simply shrugged it off his mind.
Women!
Soon the elevator stopped at Stephanie’s floor. She took a step closer to Jade and surprisingly leaned closer to Jade’s ear.
“Good luck on that presentation, I hope you have fun” She said smilingly.
Jade snapped her head towards her, her eyes narrowed at her as she walked out of the elevator.
“See you around Mr Simon” Stephanie said in a sweet voice as she waved at them. It was a shame she wouldn’t be able to attend the meeting.
“Sure” Simon returned her smile. He turned to Jade and he was surprised to see the tight frown sitting between her brows.
“Jade are you okay?” He asked with concern.
Jade nodded her head, “Yes I am” but in reality, she wasn’t. Stephanie’s attitude had given a sense of foreboding which she didn’t like. What was that bi*ch up to now?
Jade tried to calm herself and shrug the unwanted feeling off.
…
Jake impatiently waited for Kyle to start talking. Maybe this was what he needed to figure everything out.
“That morning on our way to the office, Hillary asked to ride with us asking to be dropped off at the spa, can’t recall her reason. When we arrived the spa, she persuaded him to walk her in something about flaunting her husband,” He paused and sighed.
“I waited in the car, I thought he was supposed to walk her in and return, but then he took longer than expected. He returned in about half an hour, but there was something off about him”
“Something like what?” Jake anxiously asked.
“I can’t really say, but he looked disorganized, and there was an earbud on his ear which wasn’t there before he entered the spa. I spoke to him but he was a bit unresponsive. He asked me to wait on Hillary and left” Kyle stopped talking and looked at Jake who had an undescribable look on his face.
“That’s all? You didn’t see him after that?” Jake asked.
“No I didn’t. Next time I saw him was…was..when–”
“He caught you fucking his wife” Jake completed his sentence for him. Kyle looked away from Jake’s face not wanting see the disgusted look he was shooting at him.
Jake sighed and lolled back on the seat, as he thought about all Kyle had said. If his Father looked out of order when he returned from the spa, then what the hell could have happened to him inside the building?
And did Kyle just mention something about an earpod?
“The earbud you spoke about, what kind was it?” Jake asked suspiciously. His father wasn’t the type to use such devices. He has always been against them using earphones while they were younger, complaining about future hearing problems that might result from their usage. So how does a man who hates using such things suddenly have one in his possession in the twinkle of an eye?
“The wireless ones” Kyle replied. A frown appeared between Jake’s brows, his father has never been in possession of anything like that. He would know, so would Kyle and Blake, but from what Kyle had said he only had it after returning from the spa. That meant he must have gotten it from inside there.
But why? Why would he have that?
He looked up at Kyle again, “What happened after he left?” He inquired.
“Someone called me in, that my boss’ wife was asking for me….it was a staff I think. I followed her to the private room where Hillary was having a massage from a mausses. She asked me to get one too but I refused. She pressed alot about it and I finally agreed. I was directed into another room with another maussess who was already by the door, he sort of looked strange, with weird glasses and hair. He asked me to lie down and he burnt some relaxing incense and began giving me a massage” Kyle explained.
“And what else?” Jake asked irritably. He wasn’t interested in all the boring details Kyle had just told him, he wanted something more concrete….something more resolute.
Kyle looked at him directly in the eyes and said, “I don’t remember”
Jake looked at Kyle confusedly, what did he mean by he doesn’t remember?
“What do you mean by you don’t remember?” Jake asked, his expression was inscrutable and his eyes were deadpan.
Kyle looked up at him and sighed, “I actually don’t remember anything after that. It’s the truth” He told him.
Jake was still at a loss. Kyle wasn’t making much sense at him.
“I still don’t understand you. How can you say you don’t remember? What happened to you after the massage?” He paused and sighed irritably. “Fine, how did you get home? Tell me anything you do remember” Jake demanded in an annoyed tone. He didn’t know what game Kyle was up to by spewing such nonsense about not remembering anything. At least there must be something, anything at all. Anything that could help.
Kyle didn’t miss the disbelieving look Jake was shooting at him. He wouldn’t believe it either had someone else been telling him this. But what was he going to do? This was the actual truth, he didn’t really remember what had happened after he laid on that massaging table, until that very moment he woke up to seem himself and Hillary on the bed and Henry barging him on them at the same time.
“I only remember waking up nak….with Hillary on the bed and dad walking in. But I don’t remember anything other than that. There has been a huge gap in my mind and I can’t seem to fill it, this is the truth” He said, desperately hoping for Jake to believe him, but deep down he knew his dream was far fetched.
Jake sat quietly as he continued to look at Kyle stoicly. There was no form of expression on his face as he tried to analyze and assimilate all that Kyle had just said, or rather what he was trying to imply.
After few moments of silence elapsed, Jake finally spoke up.
“So you’re trying to say your brain was hacked? You suddenly had selective amnesia which was targeted at those few moments, is that what you’re trying to say? Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?” Jake asked lividly. He didn’t believe any of the rubbish Kyle had just vomited from his mouth. No matter how he thought of it, it didn’t make sense.
“I know it’s hard to believe me, but I’m not lying. I can’t remember and that’s what I have been trying to say all these years but you won’t listen, no one would” He wasn’t complaining or blaming anyone. He understood why they had acted that way. He wouldn’t listen too had he been in Jake’s shoes. Even he didn’t know what happened to him, atleast until now.
“I really don’t remember anything. I don’t remember leaving that spa, and I equally don’t remember how I got home or into father’s room in the first place or….” sleeping with Hillary he wanted to add but he couldn’t. From the look Jake was giving him, it looked like Jake was about to rip his head off or something. His eyes had suddenly turned deadpan and his countenance was grim.
“Kyle this isn’t some game right? How do you say you don’t remember being in the house? Are you trying to say you weren’t caught in bed with the wife of the man you called father?” Jake demanded in an angry tone. He looked at him in a way that dared him to deny it or say otherwise. To deny that he hadn’t be caught having sex with Hillary. Was that what he was planning to do? Was that what this all thing had been about?
Kyle looked away from Jake’s angry face, he could see the anger in his eyes, “I’m not saying that, but what I’m saying I can’t remember doing anything like that. I’ve thought hard about it, but I can’t remember, and I’ve been looking for answers since then. Intially i thought i was drugged so I could be found in such a position. I went for multiple drug tests to prove it, but the results were clean, it wasn’t until recently i found out the truth”
“Which is?” He asked skeptically, as he shot Kyle a scrutinizing gaze.
“That I have post hypnotic recall amnesia” He announced.
Jake suddenly narrowed his eyes at him, and asked, “What is that?”
“It’s a situation when an individual doesn’t recall the events that happened during hypnosis” He explained.
“Let me get this right, you’re trying to say you were hypnotised?” Jake asked with incredulity. “Because I think that’s what you’re trying to say. Is that it?” He tilted his brows at him.
“You don’t believe me”
Kyle could guess what was going through Jake’s mind, he didn’t believe him. This was what he had been trying to explain to Jake and the others on the day of the incident, but no one heard him out. And Jake had suddenly asked him to leave the country and never show his face in front of them. And he had only returned when he finally had proof of what happened, but Jake had been so angry and had beaten him up.
“No like hell I don’t!” He snapped at him. “Give me one reason why I should believe you. No, tell me why anyone would hypnotise you?” Jake demanded angrily.
“I dont know” Kyle equally snapped back. ” I don’t have a reason, I don’t know why she would do that to me” And by he meant Hillary, because it was clear it was her handy work.
“Haven’t you ever wondered why dad returned back from the office so early? It was unlike him, everything about that day was entirely unusual. From Dad’s awkward behavior, leaving me with Hillary when we had a meeting, Hillary suddenly being nice to me and offering me a spa treatment, waking up on Dad’s bed with her….nothing felt right.
Nothing makes sense till now. I wished I could tell why I was hypnotised but I can’t. I still don’t know. But one thing I know is something happened on that day. Hillary did something to me, but why and what she did I’m yet to find out” He paused and sighed.
“I don’t know how else to convince you and I can’t simply get the truth from her.. But that’s all I know” Kyle told him.
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 22
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