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“Good Morning.” Richard smiled up at her with a strange look in his eyes and she turned her head away. This was her punishment for sleeping with a man in a relationship. No matter what type of relationship it was, she had no right to think it would become more. He had already told her where he stood.
“Morning.” She smiled weakly at him and blanched at the look of superiority that Monique gave her.
“Sleep well?” Richard’s eyes sparkled at his own words and Louise felt like slapping him.
“Not particularly. There was something hard and irritating in my bed.” She spat back at him. He squinted his eyes and frowned.
“We’ll have to talk later and see if we can sort it out.”
“That’s fine. I’ve already taken care of it.” She looked away from him and reached for the teapot so that she could drink something.
“I see.” He looked at her questioningly, like he didn’t have a clue what she was talking about and she ignored his look. She knew she was the fool who had fallen in love with someone who had promised nothing more than sex.
“Good.” She spoke sharply and noticed that both Monique and David were looking at her curiously. “So breakfast looks yummy.” She spoke lightly attempting to change the subject.
“It is delicious. I love English breakfasts.” David answered her eagerly while cutting into his sausage. “They eat soo heartily here.”
“Yes, they do.” She smiled at him, happy that it wasn’t just Monique who had come to London.
“So did Richard tell you the good news?” David spoke casually as he ate.
“No. What good news?” She looked over at Richard who was glaring at David.
“Nothing.” Richard’s voice was deep and he looked at her pleadingly as if begging her to change the subject.
“Go on Richard. Don’t be embarrassed.” David laughed.
“Leave it David.” Richard’s voice was harsh and he attempted a smile to soften his words.
“But honey, I think she should know.” Monique’s voice was sweet as syrup as she reached over and grabbed his hand. She turned to look at Louise and gave her a superior look. “The jeweler called me yesterday morning to say that my ring was ready.”
“Ring?” Louise’s voice reflected her confusion.
“Well, he called me by mistake.” Monique’s laugh tinkled. “He was meant to call Richard and not me but he got confused. You see Richard had my name engraved in the engagement ring he got me. They didn’t realize he hadn’t proposed as yet.” She laughed again.
Louise felt the color drain from her face as she heard the words. “Engagement ring?”
“Of course, he hadn’t proposed as yet but I rushed here to tell him yes right away.” Monique laughed happily. “I didn’t have it in me to pretend that I didn’t know of his intentions.”
Louise looked at Richard and his gaze was dark. She didn’t know what she was thinking or feeling but she knew that her heart was literally breaking inside of her.
“Well congrats.” She sputtered out. “I’ll be right back.” She jumped up and ran away from the table. She wasn’t sure where to go, she knew that she couldn’t go back to the bed where she had just spent the night with him, so she ran out of the hotel. She heard Richard’s voice behind her and she looked behind her.
“Louise, wait.” He was running behind her and she rushed into the street looking the wrong way before she ran across. She remembered too late that she was in England and not the States and that she should have looked the other way for traffic. She felt the car hit her before she screamed and saw Richard’s face filled with horror before she fell crashing to the ground.
Chapter 15
The doctors were milling around her as she lay there in semi-consciousness. She heard them talking about transient global amnesia with a man but she wasn’t sure who they were talking about. She faded in and out for the next couple of days until she woke up and saw two men in the room with her.
“Doctor?” She smiled weakly as she spoke to let the doctor know she was awake.
“Louise,” the talk dark doctor came rushing towards her. “Thank God, you are awake.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and she frowned. Why would a doctor kiss her?
“Yes, doctor.”
“Louise,” the man frowned. “I’m not a doctor. It’s me Richard.”
She looked at the man blankly. The name meant nothing to her. She looked to the other blond doctor for help. He walked towards her slowly with a worried look on his face.
“Hi Louise.” The blond guy smiled.
“Hi doctor.” She looked at him hopefully and he frowned.
“It’s me Louise. It’s David.” He looked into her eyes, hoping his name would ring a bell and Louise felt a bubble of panic fill her.
“Where’s the doctor?” She tried to sound calm but she couldn’t stop the sharp tone from her voice.
“Let me get him.” The man named David rushed out of the room and the other man, Richard just stood there staring at her.
“I’m sorry Louise.” He looked at her with pain in his eyes and Louise felt sorry for him. She had no idea what he was sorry about but she didn’t want to see anyone looking so hurt. She closed her eyes so that she could block out the strange man who affected her so much. She fell asleep and awoke to hear the two men whispering to each other.
“I had no idea Richard. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay David. It’s my own fault. I should have broken up with Monique a long time ago.”
“I really thought you guys were engaged.”
“I had thought about it a long time ago, before I met Louise, but I knew that I could never remain with Monique after our day together.”
“You really love her huh?”
“Yeah, I really love her.”
For some reason, this made Louise smile and she fell back asleep again.
***
About two weeks later, Louise was awake and alert and she immediately knew whom Richard was when she spied him sleeping in a chair. She lay there and remembered being in the hotel and hearing about him being engaged to Monique and she felt a sharp jab of pain run through her. She groaned out loud and immediately saw Richard open his eyes.
“Hey.” He looked at her hopefully.
“Hi.” She answered him briefly and turned her face away from him. “Is the doctor near?”
He looked disappointed at her words and went to the door to call the doctor. “She’s awake again doc, but I don’t think she remembers anything.” He sighed. “I’m going to go and get a coffee.” He walked out of the door and left Louise with the doctor.
“How are you feeling today Louise?”
“I’m okay.” She frowned at him. “Will I be able to leave here soon?”
“I think so.” He smiled gently at her. “You were hit pretty badly. We want to make sure that all the internal bleeding has completely stopped before we release you.”
“Oh okay.” She frowned. “I guess I did get hit by a taxi.”
“You remember?” The doctor looked at her carefully.
“Yeah.” She spoke slowly, not sure if she should admit that she could remember everything. She knew that Richard was engaged to Monique and she knew that her heart was broken. She didn’t want to relive that pain. She could also kind of remember Richard telling David how much he loved Monique and she knew that she didn’t want him to gush to her about that love. It may be easier for her to pretend for a bit that she couldn’t remember much, just so she could get away from Richard with as little pain as possible.
