After the Storm (Chapter-9)

Carissa arrived back at Paul’s house with the photos on her phone. Paul told her the window had been repaired and he had cleaned up some of the mess left by whoever had broken into the house. Carissa thumbed through the images from the accounting company which included a few members of the staff.

Paul looked closely at the images and said, “I can feel some familiarity with the images, perhaps it will come to me in a dream.”

Carissa asked Paul if he wanted to go to the accounting firm to see if any memory was set loose but he thought that the staff might be concerned if he showed up with no memory. They decided to wait until closing time and then go down there to check things out. The decision was made to have dinner first and then go back to the company he apparently owned. He assumed one of the keys on his key ring would open the company's front door.

Paul said, “I am just hoping there isn’t an alarm, I wouldn’t know the passcode if there was.”

Carissa replied, “I looked around pretty close and I never saw an alarm keypad.”

They found an Italian food restaurant nearby and decided it would be a change from steak. When they pulled into the parking lot, Paul said, “I have been here before. I think I ate here a lot.”

Carissa replied, “Good maybe this is just what you needed.”

When they walked into the waiting area of the restaurant, the hostess said, “Good evening, Mr. Daniels, do you want your usual table?”

Paul replied, “Yes, that will be great.”

The hostess asked, “Will it just be you and your guest?”

Paul replied, “Yes, just the two of us.”

The hostess led them to a table next to a fireplace that had a roaring fire. After she left the menus and walked away,

Carissa said, “I guess you did eat here a lot. Did that girl look familiar?”

Paul replied, “Yes, it is like when you meet someone but can’t remember their name, even though you know you should remember them.”

A waitress walked over with two glasses and a bottle of wine. She said as she set it down, “The management sends a complimentary bottle of your regular wine.”

Paul thanked the girl and said, “Can you bring us some mozzarella sticks while we look over the menus?”

She replied, “Of course, Mr. Daniels.”

Carissa looked at Paul with a smile and said, “It sounds like you are a fixture here.”

Paul chose a spicy Italian seafood pasta and Carissa ordered eggplant Parmesan.

Paul poured the wine into the glasses and said, “I guess I will see what kind of taste I have since this is my usual.”

Carissa picked up her glass and took a sip. She said, “It is good, I would say your taste was and still is pretty good.”

The cheese sticks were delivered next and the two sat casually eating and talking. Carissa was getting a more complete picture of who Paul was and she was really confused as to why he wound up left for dead on the highway. He seemed to be a nice guy, she couldn’t figure out how he got involved with someone with such a violent nature.

Paul said, “How about a toast?” He lifted his glass and Carissa lifted hers to clank with his. He said, “To lasting memories.”

She halfway chuckled as she repeated, “To lasting memories.”

They were both relaxed, partly because of the wine and partly because they were comfortable with each other. With dinner finished, they left the restaurant and made their way to the accounting office that Carissa had already been to.

They parked in the corner of the parking lot and walked together to the front door. Paul took out his set of keys and tried several before he found one that slipped in and worked. Carissa slowly pushed the door open and they heard no alarm sounding.

Paul said, “I guess I am too cheap to put in an alarm system.”

Carissa replied, “Maybe it is a good neighborhood and you haven’t needed one.”

Paul replied, “We have a couple of people breaking in now.”

When they got inside the offices, Paul reached behind a door and flipped on the light switch.

Carissa looked at him and said, “You remembered where the light switch was at.”

Paul replied, “Yeah, I guess I did.”

Carissa said, “Let’s look around and get out of here before someone gets suspicious about the lights being on.”

Paul stood in place and looked around, trying to figure out if his memory of the place was still intact.

He stopped at the front desk and said, “This is our receptionist, Evelyn, and she is a barracuda at keeping people out.”

Carissa responded, “Did you remember that?”

Paul replied, “It was just there, like the light switches I guess.”

Paul walked toward an office and opened the door. The nameplate on the desk said “Paul Daniels”.

Carissa asked, “Did you remember that was your office?”

Paul replied, “I remembered I had been in it before.”

Paul took a seat at his desk and began going through a file cabinet. He noticed file folders between the letters L and N were missing. He booted up the computer and remembered his password to log in. He went to their client database and also found everything between L and N deleted.

Paul and Carissa were getting answers, but they were also getting more questions. He didn’t know what the missing data had to do with anything and he still had a load of fog in his memory. He was going over all of the questions in his mind, trying to make some sense of them. “Why did someone leave him for dead; why was he in the car that crashed and burst into flames; who was in the driver’s seat that actually died and how did he know him; why did someone break into his apartment and what were they looking for; What data is missing from his files and why is it important.”

Carissa looked at the list Paul wrote down and said, “That all looks about right. Do you think anyone who works here has any of these answers?”

Paul replied, “I don’t really think they do, but I may come in tomorrow and see if anyone is disturbed by my still being alive.”

Carissa responded, “That’s a good idea. Just look at the responses you get from everyone and see if there is any shock on anyone’s face.”

Carissa and Paul headed back to his house. It had been a long day and the rest they needed waiting for them there. The plan was formulated however for Paul to go back to the accounting company in the morning to see if that stirred anyone up. When they entered Paul’s house, Paul showed Carissa the repaired window before taking her to the guest room.

He said, “That room has its own bathroom and there are towels in the cabinets there. I think I am going to shower and go to bed. Goodnight and thank you again for being such a good friend.”

Paul went into the master bedroom. He hoped that sleeping in familiar surroundings would trigger some more memory gains. At the very least, he would be able to wear his own clothes. He went through and picked out a pair of slacks, a dress shirt, and a sports jacket. He went in to take a shower and let the tension of the day wash its way down the shower drain.

Paul came out and dried off and put on a pair of jogging shorts and a tee shirt. He hung up the clothes he had chosen on a clothes rack by his closet. He had a pair of shoes from the closet under the clothes. His own shoes were destroyed by blood and it felt good to have his own stuff again.

Paul remembered all of the clothes he went through, but couldn’t remember anything about the life he had led there. It was as if it was someone else. It was so hard to imagine that he even had a life prior to waking up in the care of the nurse that brought him back from the brink of death. He saw a few books on the nightstand by his bed. He picked them up and thumbed through them, just to get a feel for who he was before.

He was having a hard time imagining who he was before. He knew what kind of clothes he wore and he knew what kind of house he owned and what he did for a living, but he had no idea what kind of personality he had in his past life. He needed to talk with people who knew him in his past, who could tell him stories about their interactions and give him some insight into what he was like as a person.