_Chidinma_

I woke up the next day to a harsh beam of sunlight and an incessant throb in my head and my joints still felt stiff even as I lay on my soft, comfortable bed. It was so comfy that the bedcovers seemed to engulf me. The bed reminded me of something, somewhere. I didn't will my brain to remember, I just wanted to relax in bed, my sweet, comfortable bed.

I yawned and stretched in my prone position until a smell assualted my senses, the foul smell of morning breath. Cringing, I proceeded to leave the comfort my bed to do a quick toilette. Setting my two feet on the ground, I pried myself forcefully of the bed only for me to reel and fall face down on the carpeted floor. Rubbing my forearms free of any imaginary dust, a thought crossed my mind.

Carpets? I didn't have carpets in my room.

Shrugging, still in my morning haze and feeling extremely achy all over, I got up and beelined to where I thought my bathroom was, only to hit the wall head-on. Why wasn't my bathroom where it was supposed to be?. Rubbing my now pounding head and mumbling all sorts of profanities against the wall, I heard a clatter of pots from the direction of what I guessed would be the kitchen.

By now, I had woken up a little and noticed that this wasn't my apartment, or the place Rex had given to me. My thoughts were still jumbled as I couldn't even remember why someone named Rex had given me an apartment or where I was last night and why I felt like I had been run over by a bulldozer. Simply put, I didn't know where I was or why I was there. Rapid thoughts floated through my head.

What if I was at a rad party, then I got wasted on booze and then some shady dude that I had given the green light unintentionally, took me to his house and had his way with me?. Panicking at this thought, I scanned myself. I wore an oversized boy's shirt and shorts, but my underwear was still intact.

Calming my errant mind, I tiptoed silently down the stairs. In the hallway, I picked up an umbrella I saw hanging off a wall hook. My plan was to get to the kitchen and somehow clobber my captor with my weapon and then make a run for it.

When I had gotten to the kitchen entrance, I was hit by the sweet smell of stew. I would have loved to know if it tasted as good as it smelled, but I wasn't about to allow food to throw me off my mission. My captor had his back to me. He was considerably tall and looked muscular through his thin pyjama shirt and had a shock of jet black curly hair. Maybe the food wasn't the only thing that was making me salivate.

Juggling the umbrella between my hands, I inched closer to the man in front of me, my heart beating rapidly. I was about to deliver the fell blow when he whirled around and held it, an astonished yet terrified look on his face when he caught sight of the girl behind the umbrella.

Looking into his honey brown eyes, I voiced the first name that came into my head.

"Rex?."

~~~~~~

_Rex_

As I made breakfast for myself and Lillian, I couldn't help but replay yesterday's events in my head. Lillian could have woken up today heavily battered and bruised or worse, she wouldn't have woken up at all.

Stirring the stew and checking the rice, I allowed the smell to waft into my senses and let myself to relax. She was safe now. Still, I couldn't help but wonder how the officer assigned to her hadn't realized up until now that she was missing. Sighing, I was about covering the stew to let it simmer when I caught a reflection of someone on the glass pot cover, about to swing something in the direction of my head. Turning around as fast as I could, I held the incoming missile before it could reach me.

I'm sure my face was painted with astonishment and terror when I saw Lillian's frightened and confused eyes.

"Rex?"

She called out before swaying a little on her feet. Throwing the umbrella down, I caught her and led her to a seat by the counter. Steadying herself on the swivel chair, she placed her elbows on the counter and put her head in her hands. Taking a sit opposite her, I was startled when she spoke.

"What..what am I doing here? Where am I ? Who are you?, Okay no. I know you are important to me but I don't know to what extent, and lastly why can't I remember anything from last night?."

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. She had somehow lost her memory because of last night. I couldn't tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. 'So she didn't remember who I was to her but she knew my name??. No wonder she tried to knock me out with an umbrella.' I thought to myself. Taking a deep breath, I tried to answer her as calmly as I could, even though I was freaking out, and I didn't know what to tell her.

"Umm..last time I checked, I was your very close male friend who is named Rex, and this is my house. You're here because..."

"Wait don't tell me I totally got wasted at some random party that you were somehow at too, and then you saved me from some very unpleasant man with a big stomach and body odour and brought me to your house, were I had a total mental breakdown and the world's greatest hangover!!??."

Scratching the back of my neck I nodded. She had come up with a better answer than I would have given in just one sentence.

"Yupp." I said, "That's pretty much all of it. I'm sure the memory loss is as a result of the mega hangover your having, you'll get over it."

She groaned and removed her head from her hands and proceeded to look at the floor whilst biting her lips nervously. She looked so cute and tiny in my clothes, that it made me to just want to scoop her up and kiss her. I had put her in those clothes myself -as she was unconscious throughout the rest of last night- and it wasn't easy to stay focused. My hands kept skimming over private body parts unintentionally. When I was done, I remembered how I had quickly run away from the guest room.

Chasing all errant thoughts from my head, I got up to check the food on fire while she just sat and looked at the decor in the living room. I dished too plates of rice and an already burnt stew for her and myself. I brought them to the counter where we both sat down opposite each other. I didn't trust myself near her.

"Thank you," She said, "for both the food and rescuing me."

I nodded thinking of how funny it would be when she eventually gets her memories back. Sinking into a comfortable silence, only the clink of the spoons against the plates were heard. I tried to not watch the way she was eating her food.

It was useless. I think she sensed me watching her, because she kept tucking a strand of her beautiful, stubborn, curly hair behind her ear, something my fingers itched to do. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. She was really making it hard for me to concentrate on my food. I needed to start a conversation fast.

"Soo.. how's the food?." Totally awkward on different levels.

She seemed startled and disoriented at the sound of my voice, before she pulled her thoughts together and looked at me, mischief brewing in her coffee eyes and a smirk forming on her lips. She shrugged her small shoulders.

"It's okay. Not bad I guess...for a boy..."

"For a boy?." I said raising my brow at the fact that she had just called me a boy and had indirectly badmouthed my cooking.

"Yes, I mean, it's a little bit salty and the stew got burnt. A girl definitely won't do that." She said rolling her eyes.

"Oh really? You seem to have forgotten that fateful day when I almost died of food poisoning after eating something you cooked."

She looked at me blankly for a second before a flash of remembrance lit her eyes and she went back to her food, blushing her invisible blush.

"Maybe I have forgotten." She said.

"Oh really? Okay, I'd like to remind you though. It was a fateful Saturday. We were still in SS1, that day after school, since we were living not too far from each other and my dad wasn't in the country, I decided to stay over at your place for a little while. We watched Conan the Destroyer that day for the fifth time. Can you remember that?."

"Nope."

She voiced out shaking her head. I knew she did remember, but maybe she just wanted me to say it. I kept on talking, the events of that day playing in my head.

"I was hungry so you decided to make me something. I remember the concern you had in your eyes when I told you that my maid as at that time couldn't make the dishes I loved eating in Britain. Then, you decided to make scones and meringue pie for me that day, with a YouTube video. You were so excited."

A smile was already growing on her face when I looked up, her food long forgotten.

"I tried to help you but you didn't agree. I remember you saying "just go and sit down in the living room before I chase you back home." SS1 you was always very bossy and convincing. I sat myself down for almost two hours, the smell of the snacks tickling my nostrils. I was literally salivating.."

I was interrupted by her chuckles, her beautiful, soft, sexy chuckles that were doing things to me, coupled with the way her eyes lit up at the memory. Ethereal.

"Maybe not from the food alone but from the cook also. You looked so good in an apron." I added winking at her, and got an eye roll in response, a smile on her lips.

"Finally, they were ready. You brought them to the living room and they looked so good, I will give that to you, I couldn't wait to dig in. I did eventually and after eating almost half of the scones, I saw myself rolling on the ground in agony. You cared for me that day Lillian, more than anyone ever had. And after that you held my hand and talked to me until the pain stopped."

I looked up to her and couldn't decipher the emotions swirling in her intense dark coffee eyes.

"I detected the sadness in your voice as you spoke that day, the day I started falling in love with you unknowingly. You had said that you just wanted to make me happy by cooking those dishes. I just smiled and nodded and made you laugh after which I went home."

"I should have told that day that you didn't need to do anything to make me happy, that all I needed was you."

Looking into her eyes brewing with beautiful nameless emotions, I knew that I needed to act, I needed to communicate my emotions and feelings to her physically. I got up and walked around the counter to her. Standing in front of her, I took her hand and looked into her beautiful eyes.

"All I need is you."

I whispered and took her lips with mine. Extacsy, explosions upon explosions, two souls melding as one is what I felt when she responded.Guiding both her hands behind my neck, I pulled her in closer, one hand on her waist and the other at her nape. I gripped her hips as she buried her hand into my hair, her fingers massaging my scalp.

Growling, not being able to ignore the height difference, I hoisted her up on the counter and kissed her frevently, burying my hands into her soft curls, the kiss growing deeper with her moans and sighs, her hands skimming over my torso.

Abruptly she pulled away and buried her head into the crook of my neck, her breathing heavy and hot against my shoulder from what we just shared. I was startled when I heard her speak.

"I remember..I remember everything."

~~~~~~

Now that that's over,

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Sorry for not updating for like 30 years now...oh..what did you say?..you forgive me?...yaay!!!😁

Do vote.

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