The Clock Begins Again Pt 3

Elaine

"We had a funeral and grieved for you. We have been moving on from that tragedy. So please excuse me, I'm just a little confused and upset that you showed up now after all these years. All grown up, dining under the stars with the stars in our hometown at our aunt's restaurant like we will just welcome you back seamlessly. You are still the selfish girl you have always been. It seems not even memory loss could cure you of that. Did you even try looking for us when you got older? Were things so good that you felt you didn't need to let us know you were okay? We grieved you!"

'Wow, just wow. Oh this girl is definitely related to that woman. They are triggering me hard and now my head is pounding again with fragmented memories. I don't think I can continue this reunion if they are going to keep attacking me like this.' I rub my temples.

 A glass of water is presented to me from the older woman who approached me earlier. I give her a nod before turning my attention to the woman with a hostile gaze across the table from me.

"I don't owe you or anyone anything. Just like you grieved for me and moved on so did I. I had to move on and let go otherwise I got no sleep. For the first two years, I had to be medicated to sleep without nightmares. It wasn't until I stopped trying to remember and just lived in the present did the nightmares stop. So no, I didn't come looking for you. For all I knew, you guys were dead and I didn't need that knowledge on top of everything else I was going through mentally, emotionally and physically. So stuff your ugly attitude in your pocket like a nasty tissue and shut up if you have nothing worth hearing to say." I asserted. 

'I have a feeling she is used to speaking any way she pleases and I'm not the one. I might have been in the past with her but that isn't who I am now.'

I look into her eyes steadily until she looks away with folded arms. 

'Now that, the twat is silent for the moment. I was hoping I could get an introduction of everyone but honestly I feel wrung out right now.' I accept that I'm going to have to end this reunion before I pass out or get sick.

"So, I'm going to bid you all a good night. It is late and I'm personally feeling exhausted. I'm going to go home and get some rest. I'm sure you are all wishing to do the same. I'll be in town for another day or two. I'll leave my number with one of you so you can contact me if you want to meet up officially or if we will just wish each other well and move on with our separate lives." I go to stand up when Hazel-eyes places a hand on my arm stopping me.

"We are going to head out too so if you can just wait a few moments, we can all walk out together." He gives me a soft smile as he gazes up into my eyes.

I nod my head. We all quickly stack the chairs and head downstairs. It looks like we are the only ones here. We walk out the front door after they check that everything is off and put away as it should be.

We are all standing in front of the restaurant when Cinnamon-eyes steps forward. "My brothers and I can walk you to where you are staying. The town is safe but it never hurts to be cautious."

I narrow my eyes at them with a smile before giving them a nod. I bid the others good night and then start walking to my cottage with the trio following me. I can hear them whispering and they stop every time I look over my shoulder at them only to start back up when I continue walking.

'Maybe I can at least get their names before we part. It might trigger another headache but maybe I'll regain some memories of them as well.'

Once we reached the gate to the cottage, I stopped and turned around to fully face them. The sight of seeing them all lined up in front of me was breath-taking. The way they moved, looked and seemed to breathe in sync gave the impression they could be triplets. 

"Are you three triplets?" I quickly covered my mouth in surprise that the question escaped my mouth so thoughtlessly.

There was silence for a moment before all three burst out laughing and even that sounded musical to my ears.

'My goodness. I'm sinking deeper into this attraction. This is the first time, I've felt this way about three people at the same time. To make everything even more crazy, they are brothers and were my family in my childhood.'

I can feel my cheeks getting warm and I start fidgeting with my fingers while I wait for them to finish their laughter.

"We apologize for laughing at your question. You are the first person to ask us. Though we have surmised that a lot of people have wondered before they found out who we were. Once they figured out we were the Samuels brothers. they knew that we are just a very tight-knit trio of brothers. Also I guess this does confirm any doubts we may have had about if you remembered us from our younger days." Cider-eyes explained with a dazzling smile that just lit up his face.

"Yes, apologies Sundara for our laughter. We also had a small bet that someone would eventually ask us this question. So thank you for winning me some coin this night." Cinnamon- eyes winked at me and the street lights reflected off of his designer glasses. The glasses seem to enhance not obscured the beauty of his eyes. I had to look away so as not to be caught looking too long into them.

"You are welcome. I'm glad I could be of assistance." I mockingly bow which makes them chuckle.

 "Gentlemen, as much as this is and isn't how I was hoping my night would go, I think it's best we separate here and meet up again before I leave town. I think either way this all plays out, I would love to get official closure to an arc of my life I never got before. So, before you go I have one request and a piece of information you guys should be aware of before we meet again. The request is will you guys remind me of your names?" I ask hoping they won't think me strange for asking.

"A reasonable request and one that can benefit you in our next meeting. I will tell you ours and the names of the family who were there today. The man and woman who approached you and knew you were alive are our Uncle Hartley Samuels and Aunt Undina Knox-Samuels. The other couple and woman were our dad, Zavier Samuels, mom Avena Samuels and our sister Selina Samuels." 

Each name from Cider-eyes caused a spike and the release of more fragmented memories in my head. I became disoriented and started to fall over until someone caught me. 

"It seems reminding her of our names is pushing her already fragile mind to the limit. Let's quickly get her inside." I don't know for sure but I think that was Cinnamon-eyes' voice but he isn't the one carrying me. 

My purse is taken from me then I hear the front door unlock. Eventually I feel myself being placed on the bed sitting up. That both did and didn't help my condition. Through narrowed eyes I see pain medication and a glass of water placed in my line of sight. I take the pills and use the water to swallow them down. Someone then takes off my shoes and pulls a thick blanket over me.

"Starlight, what is your code so I can put our numbers in your phone. We will call you later in the day and let you know when we would like to meet up." I can sort of see Hazel-eyes crouched down in front of me talking softly. I sense the other two in the room but I can't see them from my position.

"Hold the phone up to my face then I can unlock it." I mutter as the pounding of my head begins to subside.

He holds the phone up to my face and the first verification is satisfied then I press my thumb to the screen and it unlocks. Hazel-eyes starts navigating my phone but I can't see all he is doing from this angle.

My gut tells me I can trust them so I let go of any momentary worry he will look at anything confidential on my phone. I have a lot of information about various clients on my phone so I hope my instincts are right.

"While he is doing that, why don't you tell us what that piece of information you wanted to share was." Cider-eyes requested from somewhere in the room.

"Hmmm, oh yes. I'm not sure if the family knows that I may not be blood-related to you all. I found that out soon after the accident. I don't know if this changes anything for you all or not." I closed my eyes not wanting to see any potential negative reactions from these men.

"It's good to know we won't have to break that news to you. Yes, we knew and can confirm that you aren't related to us. We won't go into the details right now but we found out when we were looking for you. You were legally adopted so if that was a worry you can lay that one to rest."

" I can't speak for the rest of our family but for us we still want to get to know you so nothing has changed for us." Cider-eyes came into my line of sight and the look he had in his eyes confirmed he was still interested in me even if we did have a past of being legally related. 

Hazel-eyes plugs my phone up before setting it down on the nightstand. "We are all connected now. I hope you feel better and that we will get the chance to see you soon. Night, starlight." He placed a gentle hand on my head before walking out of sight.

Next Cinnamon-eyes is in front of my face and he just seems to be trying to memorize it. "You are a puzzle I will enjoy unraveling, sundara. Until next we meet, good night." He too touched my head before stepping back. 

Lastly Cider-eyes, "Rest well, queen. It is a joy to know you live. We will speak soon." He pulled the blanket up some more before standing up and walking out the door. I hear the bedroom door be pulled up but not fully closed so the nightlight in the hallway still showed some light in the room.

I soon heard the front door close and lock. I finally completely relaxed now that I was alone. I could feel my mind being pulled into unconscious-ness so I quickly grabbed my phone and told everyone I needed to that I was safe and would update them after I rested. I silenced my phone so that only emergency calls could come through then I let myself drift off into darkness.