It was late at night when Lucian found himself heading home in Nathan's car. He was starting to find it amusing that their encounters always seemed to happen at night.
The same scent as before dominated every corner of the car. Lucian preferred this one to the one Nathan used to wear. The last time they saw each other before the accident, the scent that lingered on Nathan was nothing like it was now.
He used to wear perfumes with clean, citrusy notes like bergamot, nothing warm and soft like the one he exuded now.
Ever since they finished dinner, Nathan hadn't taken his eyes off Lucian for a second. However, mindful of the discomfort it might cause, he tried to observe him subtly, looking away whenever Lucian noticed.
As Nathan silently reflected, this time with his eyes closed, the muscles in his forehead tensed, causing him to press his fingers to his glabella.
"Doesn't it feel strange to you?" Nathan asked, breaking the silence that filled the car.
Lucian, who had been looking out the window, turned his head to give him a confused look.
"Me being different and talking to you without my memories. Doesn't that make you uncomfortable?"
Lucian understood the nature of the question and didn't want to give a completely honest answer.
Since they saw eachother again, he had to admit that Nathan's behavior towards him had changed.
If he used to ignore him, now he listened attentively. If he used to speak to him with a cold tone, now he smiled while responding.
He couldn't exactly tell Nathan that before he didn't consider him as he did now, so he decided to give a somewhat vague response.
"Well, it's obvious it's not exactly like before... but at the end, you're still you, right? So you shouldn't bother thinking about those things," he concluded, winking at him.
Seeing Lucian act so lightheartedly, Nathan couldn't help but let out a subtle chuckle.
Secretary Chen, who was driving in the front seat, looked at his boss's reaction in the rearview mirror and was dumbfounded.
His boss was laughing?
"We've arrived, Mr. Lucian," Secretary Chen announced as he parked near the apartment building where Lucian lived.
"Thank you very much, and there's no need to call me 'Mr.' Just Lucian is fine." He was getting out of the car, greeting Nathan the same way before entering the building.
Inside the car, as soon as he was sure Lucian had safely entered his apartment, Nathan gave Secretary Chen a resentful look. "You'll still call him 'Mr.', right?"
"Of course, boss, I can't possibly be casual with him. So don't worry... But it would be nice if you referred to me more casually though." Secretary Chen returned Nathan's resentful gaze, intending to annoy him.
"Have you always been this insolent working with me?" Nathan asked, incredulous at his own secretary's behavior.
"Yes, boss. Always. But come on, it's not that hard. Call me by my name. Tao."
"No." His response was brief and concise.
"As you wish, boss," Secretary Chen simply replied.
Once home, the first thing Nathan did was to carried on with the house tour. It might have always been where he lived, but now without his memories, it was nothing more than an unfamiliar place.
He had already familiarized himself with some parts in the afternoon: the kitchen, the living rooms, the patio, the terrace, even his bedroom.
The latter was spacious with different pieces of exclusive designer furniture. The bed was also large, as were the windows that covered an entire wall. But none of this interested Nathan at all.
He went directly to his bed and, without further ado, decided to rest.
Even so, the next day he woke up tired and with dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't slept well. He had too many worries to allow himself a sweet dream.
He headed to the bathroom to shower and after getting out, he approached the mirror to once again witness his appearance. Tall, with blond hair and almond-colored eyes. His body was noticeably toned, and he was even surprised to see that his abs were well-defined.
This made him think that he should continue exercising as much as possible, especially after suffering an accident that affected his entire body.
Going downstairs, heading towards the kitchen, he noticed that prepared dishes had been left for his breakfast in the refrigerator.
Secretary Chen had informed him that he actually had a housekeeper, Mrs. Betty, who was already in her 60s. However, she only worked from Monday to Saturday and almost always left the house as soon as he arrived.
It was then that Nathan realized that he used to prefer not to meet a single soul at his house. He liked everything to be clean but free of people when he arrived.
When he asked his secretary about his character towards his employees, he was told that he was always very distant and demanding with everyone, returning a cold stare no matter where or with whom he spoke, and this was especially the case with his family.
Once he finished breakfast, he started working as soon as possible. In his office, a pile of files and studies were stacked on his desk.
Looking at the workload, he couldn't help but feel pain in his head.
'Who on earth makes someone who remembers nothing work?'
In reality, what he was asked to do was not to work as he used to. What his mother requested was that he needed to try to understand how the company functioned and the type of people that work in it.
Important things like knowing how to respond in a meeting and memorizing certain speeches. After all, it seemed that what he had left for himself before the accident proved useful.
All of this seemed strange to him. He wanted to understand why he would leave information for future company plans and possible work to his secretary before being found in the bay.
Nathan already had an idea, but at the moment, he didn't dare to overthink it.
He was tired, and the first thing on his calendar was to rest in the time he had left before having to attend work again.
Leaning back in his chair, he began to think, "Healman Pharmaceutical…"
Healman Pharmaceutical was the name his grandfather had given to the medicine and pharmaceutical company that, with sweat and many sacrifices, he had elevated to become one of the most recognized on the continent.
His position as CEO of the company was soon obtained after his father's death. Another matter he pretended to investigate.
"...Well, I have to start." He began to study and memorize everything necessary at once to be able to rest in the end.
…
"And so it turns out he indeed is a new boyfriend. Ha... Seriously, Lucian, you surprise me," John commented while sipping his coffee.
"I told you it's not entirely like that!!" Lucian yelled, covering his face with both hands.
John called Lucian because in the past few days, he hadn't messaged him or Linda, which was unusual; he almost always did. And since John was the one who dropped him off late at the hospital, he felt a certain weight of responsibility, so he was uneasy.
He ended up calling him, only to be met with a frantic Lucian yelling on the phone that he didn't know how he ended up being such a stupid person and couldn't believe what he had gotten himself into.
Everything he was shouting was an exaggeration, but John, not knowing what had happened, thought that this time Lucian had truly fallen into debt or probably gotten involved with some kind of thug who was now looking for him for money. That's how they ended up meeting at a nearby cafe to talk.
And before their coffees even arrived, Lucian had already spilled the tea.
"And you had just ended a relationship. You really have a problem with staying single! You're not going to die if you don't date anyone, you know?!"
"I-I don't understand what happened to me either..." he whimpered, swearing to his friend that this time he really felt like he had done something stupid.
"More than that, how come you never told us anything about him?" John said with a disappointed tone.
After all, they shared many secrets and experiences. John told Lucian about his bad luck finding jobs, and Lucian told him about his bad luck finding partners. Although they often insulted each other because one considered more foolish the other, they always ended up apologizing and helping each other when necessary.
That's why, upon the revelation of an important person in Lucian's life whom he had never heard of in all their years of friendship, John felt a little betrayed.
"I'm sorry... it's just that before I had decided to forget about him and his family completely and..." Lucian felt guilty for keeping that secret from his friend.
But you know how it is. If one thinks that the past can be forgotten, they don't feel the need to keep telling it in the future, and that's exactly how Lucian didn't think it would change anything whether he told him or not.
"It's okay, you don't need to justify yourself. Just tell me next time about things like this and don't keep them to yourself, okay? That just makes you stupider," John replied with a mocking smile to Lucian, who had an embarrassed expression on his face.
"Okay..." Lucian calmed down a bit and also started drinking his latte.
"So... is he handsome?"
Lucian choked on his coffee and gave John a surprised look. His face perfectly described what he was thinking: 'Are you serious?'
"What?! For you to have been so foolish and lied, he must have been incredibly attractive, right?"
Lucian wanted to deny it, but it was partly true. Nathan's face still gave him butterflies, so he didn't know how to answer.
"..."
"I see, so he must be really handsome."
Lucian couldn't take their conversation anymore. His face was flushed, and he tried to cover himself with whatever he could.
"But it's not just because of that..." he tried to justify himself.
"Okay, okay, I believe you. Just finish your coffee that I want to go home," John requested, who only wanted to return home to finish his work.
"We'll talk again tomorrow with Linda."