Memories We Lost

"If you think that bitch is better than me then you can take your drunk ass back to her!"

Jane chuckled from her window. The Fletchers surely had a way of entertaining the neighbourhood's morning. Yesterday it had been Mr. Fletcher failing to get breakfast for the family, and today was him again getting drunk and calling Mrs. Fletcher thinking she was his side chick. Jane made sure she never missed those fights and was this was among the many who tuned in to watch what they had nicknamed 'Keeping Up With The Fletchers.'

She was still enjoying the fight when a knock from the door interrupted her. She put down the cup of coffee she was holding and went to open the door. A frown formed on her face when she opened to find Stewart standing before her, a bouquet of flowers in his hand. She rolled her eyes when Stewart flashed him a smile and looked at her innocently like a dog waiting for its food.

"If you are here because of Marcus you can go back. He isn't here," Jane started, eager to get him off her neck.

"Bonkers! I had planned for us to go swimming now that he's actually closed school. Might he have told you where he was going?" asked Stewart.

"Good thing is I don't, although he mentioned something like he was taking someone to say goodbye to Sheila, I think," Jane answered.

Stewart's expression changed to a concerned one for about a second before he was back again, showing Jane his thirty-two whitened teeth.

"Do you know when he will be back?" he asked her.

"No, I don't. He'll call you when he gets back. Goodbye," Jane brushed him off and had started closing the door before Stewart blocked the door. He struggled against Jane to open and stuck his head inside.

"Now that no one's home, how about we stop acting like immature children and actually talk like adults, " He spoke as he strained to open the door. Damn! The woman was strong.

Jane stopped closing the door on him and faced him. "There is nothing to talk about actually, you are just here wasting your time."

Stewart stepped inside and looked at the bouquet of flowers in his hand, crushed and it's petals falling. Shamelessly, he extended them to Jane, who looked at them confused and disgusted.

"These were for you, but you spoiled them trying to lock your child's father out," he told her.

"So you're going to play the father-of-my-child card, huh?!" Jane asked, getting fed up.

"As long as it gets me near you lollipop," Stewart winked at her seductively. Jane rolled her eyes.

"Not a chance douchebag. Our relationship was like one of those free trials that usually end up with the user deleting the app after completing them," she explained to him.

"Except that the app can't be uninstalled. Our son Marcus caused the app to become in-built, so you just can't get rid of it whenever you want to," Stewart countered.

"What do you want Branwen?" Jane faced him.

"I just wanted us to talk. You know, like two mature adults," Stewart answered.

Jane picked up her coffee. "Good. It'll be like a million years before you decide to mature."

"C'mon lollipop. Don't you remember the good times we had those days? You sneaking out of the orphanage so we could go to the movies. Me faking an illness so that I could skip school to come to see you," Stewart spoke. He hoped reminding her would at least give him some points in his quest for forgiveness.

Jane recalled those days. Puberty had certainly taken control of her. She remembered how she used to sneak out at night just to go and meet Stewart. How one day Sister Lillian spared her after she caught her sneaking back. She smiled at remembering Sister Lillian. She was different from all the other bored-to-hell nuns. She was a gleeful nun, and her love for Christian hip-hop often got her on the wrong side of Mother Superior. She made a mental note to visit the orphanage soon to pay her a visit.

Her mind went back to her and Stewart. Back then, she was really convinced that Stewart was the one; and their six-year relationship from high school till college had made her believe that. She was still in college when Stewart made her pregnant. Her heart raced as she went back to that night- the night at the motel. Stewart had paid for the room, and she arrived to find all kinds of romantic showered in there. He had promised her the night would be special. But perhaps in his list of promises he forgot that they would both get carried away and fail to use protection. Jane's face frowned as it hit her that it was the last time she ever saw Stewart.

"Those days are past us Branwen. It's time to move on, " she said, casting a serious face.

"It was not my intention to leave you, believe me," Stewart tried to plead.

"What we're your intentions then? Use me and then go run away to some other bitch?" Jane wanted to scream at him. The tears were coming back to her eyes; tears she should have probably shed some sixteen years ago when she realised that she was never going to see the love of her life again.

Stewart moved towards her. "I couldn't get back to you. My father suddenly made me in charge of his company. It was either you or the family business, and you do not want to get on the bad side of my father."

"Well, you can go back to your family business. No one wants you here," Jane managed to say.

"Please lollipop. Believe me. I never had another one after you. It was part of my job description, I was supposed to be cut off from the outside world, " Stewart spoke.

"Oh really? What kind of job is that?" Jane questioned him.

Stewart wanted to tell her that he was in charge of a criminal gang that terrorised people and which was currently looking for funds to pull its biggest stunt, but instead, he managed to say, "I can't reveal much, but it's about the tech company my family owns."

Miller Technologies was one of the topmost technological labs in the country. Their groundbreaking designs had earned them a spot among the global leaders in technology. Stewart's family owned the company, although it acted as a mask for The Shadow's criminal activities.

Jane drank the last of her coffee and marched to the kitchen, not caring about Stewart's presence. Stewart persistently followed her, determination in his eyes. Jane noticed him and turned back to face him.

"Look here, Stewart. I might believe you, but don't expect me to tell you that things will ever be the same with us again. You hurt me, and I don't think I'll ever forgive you for that," she told him, the tone of her voice carrying the weight of the emotions she was feeling. Stewart stood in front of her and took her hand.

"I know we will never get to be the same again. I just want us to be cool with each other. I don't want to meet your ugly sulking face whenever I come to visit Marcus," Stewart replied.

Jane's mouth dropped. She pressed her lips and punched Stewart's chest.

"Did you just say that I have an ugly sulking face?!"

"It is pretty most of the times but when you get mad it gets all old and ugly like a plastic surgery gone wrong," Stewart joked, lightening up the tense mood that reigned before.

"I was going to forgive you, but this did it, " Jane feigned a mad face at him and looked away from him.

"Maybe this will, " Stewart spoke and Jane turned back hurriedly to see what he was up to. To her dismay, Stewart went over to the sink, turned the water tap on and started eating the dirty utensils that were stocked up. Jane eyed him with disbelief for a moment, but then her face turned into a smirk.

"You should know that washing those dishes only won't earn you my forgiveness," she told him playfully. Stewart turned to look at her.

"What else do I need to do?" he asked her.

"Um…let me see. Mop the house. Set the clothes onto the washing machine, press the dry clothes and cook supper," Jane listed them.

"Consider them done," Stewart responded before going back to the dishes. Jane was surprised.

"Wait. You are serious?"

Stewart nodded and started whistling as he rinsed the dishes.

"Well this should be fun, " Jane muttered to herself and grabbed herself a stool as she poured more coffee into the cup. She sat down and watched as Stewart continued to splash water all over the kitchen in the name of doing dishes.

"Hey Jane, do you remember the day I tried to lie to Mother Superior that I was your biological brother so that I could take you out?"

"Don't even remind me. How were you able to even…"

And so the stories began, both laughing as they recalled the silly adventures they had in their past. The tales went on, and the laughs and shouts became more and more as the day progressed.

However, they had forgotten the tale of the person who was standing outside their window at that moment, watching them; and that person was not happy.