Welcome back! Hope all is well with you. This chapter was actually the first one I conjured up when I was thinking of the plot of the story. I was listening to "Jericho Rose", and thought of the plot for this story when I heard the line "Blame it on the Bourbon". Pretty good, eh? Anyway, not much to say as an intro other than that. See you at the bottom.
Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light.
Helen Keller
The next few days came and went. The weather was getting colder with each passing day, and snow was even forecasted for the weekend. Winter was creeping closer with every day, it seemed. For Restaurant Le Yeah, business usually slowed down when the frigid chill of winter blew into Kalos. People were content with staying in their own homes and drinking hot chocolate or coffee with their families and Pokémon instead of going out to eat.
For Aaron, who seemingly had neither of those things, he usually spent the winter working as many hours as Yannick would allow him. In the past, he spent his evenings after work hanging out with Talia, going to skating parks, chatting over coffee, walking the streets of Lumiose, and anything else that the couple decided to do in the spur of the moment. Aaron was very much a "spur of the moment" man, and Talia was a woman who was perfectly content to follow him on whatever journey he took her on. That all was in the past now. Since they had broken up, Aaron would spend this winter by himself, it seemed.
After the events of last weekend and the first few days of the week, Aaron was thankful that life was beginning to return to normal. It was Thursday now, and he was in the pantry going through the inventory. Since it was a slower day, Albern could handle all of the cooking himself, and Yannick wanted Aaron to see what materials they had on hand so they could order more. It was a task he had done a thousand times before, and he mindlessly counted and wrote numbers on his inventory sheet, humming a song to himself that he had heard that morning.
He had spent the last two hours counting silverware, vegetables, spices, and anything else that Yannick had thought needed recorded. While he did that, he thought over the events of the past few days. Since his last appointment with Dr. Carter on Monday, Aaron had tried his best to avoid stressful situations as much as he could. When work was over, he walked straight home, and had declined several invitations to hang out with his work-friends. It was too risky, he thought. He didn't want to experience the dreaded brain fog again that plagued him over the past weekend that culminated in the shame of Jack replacing him for a day.
As for his headaches, they came and went. Starting Monday night, after his appointment with Dr. Carter, Aaron started having odd dreams. His dreams were filled with adventures with people he didn't recognize, and he and these people did outlandish things. They were chased by two people wearing matching clothes and a talking Meowth, and those three always tried to steal his Pikachu for some reason. He saw legendary pokemon of all kinds, and even saved several regions from total destruction. He was with many groups of people, ranging from a brown-haired girl and her little brother, to two blonde siblings and a teenage-looking version of the Kalos Queen, of all people. Aaron always awoke after odd dreams like these wondering if the therapy treatment was starting to have other side effects, like scenarios brewing in his head. His only other explanation for seeing these events in his dreams was that he was going crazy. He preferred not to think that he was going crazy.
Sighing as he moved a pepper shaker out of the way to continue his count, Aaron jumped in fright as he suddenly heard a sharp yell and the door to the pantry being slammed shut. Looking to his right, he saw a stunned Talia, who looked just as shocked as he was, and they both heard the lock to the pantry clicking from the other side.
Both Aaron and Talia stared at each for a few seconds as the situation they were in dawned on them. They were just locked in the pantry. Together. The only light was a dim lightbulb that provided just enough illumination to read the numbers on Aaron's paper, if you brought it close enough to your face. Talia visibly gulped and turned around, banging sharply on the wooden door with her fist.
"Albern! Let me out of here! This isn't funny!"
"No!" Came Al's muffled reply. "It's a slow day, and you two have needed to talk for a long time!"
Silence for a few more seconds. Aaron dropped his pen onto the ground, unable to come up with a suitable response in time. Talia didn't seem to have the same problem, as she banged on the door again.
"What about my job!? George is going to be by himself!"
"He can handle it! It's a slow day today, and you've been moping around for far too long as is."
"Yeah, I can handle it!" Came George's reply. A few light taps were heard on the other end of the door, presumably from George himself. "You two need to talk about whatever confusing stuff is going on in your lives. I'm tired of treading on eggshells when I come to work, guys!"
Aaron pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit he no doubt inherited from Albern, who likely did it a hundred times a day. "I should have known they would pull something like this…" He grumbled.
"Aaron has been getting bad headaches for days, and Talia has been depressed for weeks!" Albern added. "I'm certain that both of those two issues have to do with the fact that you two haven't talked! Now, I'm not letting you out until you solve whatever is going on between you two! Now come out as friends, or in a relationship again! I don't care at this point; I just need good employees again!"
Neither Talia nor Aaron replied to that final statement, and muffled footsteps from George and Albern going back to work slowly dwindled away until they couldn't hear them anymore. Then, the only noise in the dim pantry was that of their breathing.
Aaron didn't know what to say. While he suspected that his friends might pull a stunt like this, he didn't think that they'd actually do it. He was quite content with staring at the floor awkwardly, leaning back to sit down on an empty crate. Talia faced the door, breathing heavily with an unknown emotion, and banged on the door a few more times.
"They're not going to let us out, you know…" Aaron said quietly. In a normal setting, he would have been hard to hear. But the silence in the room meant that Talia definitely heard him, no matter how much she didn't like it.
She hit the door one more time with her fist, before deflating her shoulders and sighing. Turning around reluctantly, she and Aaron met eyes before both awkwardly looked away again. Talia leaned against the door and crossed her arms, blowing some of her hair out of her face. Some blonde strands had come out of her bun at some point during her struggle, apparently.
The awkward silence that existed in the pantry was almost unbearable. Neither wanted to look at each other, and both seemed to be waiting for the other to make the first move. Say the first words. Open up. After almost a minute of choking silence, Aaron leaned forward, still keeping his eyes on the ground as he opened his mouth to speak. Talia beat him to it though.
"I'm sorry about your headaches." She said, barely speaking above a whisper.
Aaron closed his eyes. "Contrary to what George has said, they have nothing to do with you. Don't feel bad for something you have nothing to do with."
"I know."
Aaron risked looking up and they locked gazes again. A few seconds of silence returned before she continued.
"After seeing what you were like over the weekend and having to listen to George rant about how you were hurt and disappeared during the showcase, I was pretty worried about you." She scoffed mockingly then. "I know that I shouldn't have been, but I couldn't help it. So, on Monday, I wanted to make sure you made it home safely, despite you obviously looking and feeling better than you had on a Saturday." She paused then for a moment. "I followed you home to make sure you got there, but once I was about to leave, I saw you leaving again. I was curious, so I followed again. This time though, you went to Dr. Carter's office. That therapist I told you to see for years…"
At first, Aaron did not respond. He had been caught, and he didn't know how to reply. Talia was the one person he really did not want to talk about his therapy with, but it seemed that his hand was forced.
Aaron took a deep breath. "Guess there's no use hiding it any more. I've been seeing Dr. Carter for a week or so now. She's helping me remember who I used to be."
"Funny how you go there after we break up." Talia said, although Aaron got the feeling that she didn't actually find anything about it funny. "I tried to get you to go there from the moment that you told me you were an amnesiac."
Aaron shifted his gaze from the floor to the pantry shelves. The salt sitting on the shelf was as interesting to look at as the floor was. But anything was better than meeting Talia's eyes for more than a few seconds. "I guess while we were together, I didn't think that I needed to go. After we broke up…" He lightly shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know…I just felt like it was something I should do."
Talia hummed, apparently lost for words as well. The silence threatened to return, and Aaron decided to take the initiative and prevent it.
"I guess…you were right." He began. "I did want to figure out who I used to be. It just ironically took us breaking up for me to figure that out. So, thank you. For suggesting that I go there for years and dealing with me whenever I told you no."
She scoffed again, rolling her eyes. She was acting as if she didn't care. Aaron knew her well enough to figure that out. Or at least, he used to know her well enough. "You're welcome, I guess." She flickered her eyes at him just as Aaron did the same, but neither of them looked away this time. "I suppose the headaches are a side effect of whatever Dr. Carter is doing?"
Aaron nodded. "Yeah, they are. She has an Alakazam draw the memories out of my mind. It's a really interesting process, although it's brought on a lot of discomfort and pain in my head. That's the cost of trying to reclaim who I was though."
"I assume that nobody knows you're going to Dr. Carter?"
"No, I've been trying to keep it a secret. I don't know who I was yet before I lost my memory, and I don't want people to ask me a bunch of questions I don't know the answers to." Aaron found it in himself to laugh genuinely then. "You know how George and Jack are. Once they start on something, they can't stop."
Talia laughed as well, scratching her chin. "Yeah, I know how they are. I totally understand why you wouldn't want those two idiots knowing you're an amnesiac."
"For all I know, I could have been some terrible criminal. Wanted throughout several regions, and I just hid in Kalos, which is why I'm here."
"Something tells me that isn't true, Aaron." Talia replied, a small smirk appearing on her face.
"You don't think I could have been a killer?"
She rolled her eyes then. "Oh please. You love Pokémon and people too much to ever be a killer. Is that fletchling still following you around?"
"Yeah, it is." Aaron said. "It hasn't pecked me in a while though, so maybe it's starting to warm up to me?"
"Have you gotten close to it recently?"
Aaron rubbed the back of his head, which by itself was enough of an answer for Talia. "No…"
She laughed. "Then that doesn't count, Aaron!"
Both of them laughed, and for Aaron, he was reminded of the countless times where they had laughed together. Where they simply had fun and enjoyed each other's company. The joy was short-lived though, and they couldn't pretend that nothing had changed for very long. The reality was still there, all around them. Talia seemed to start thinking the same thing, and the smiles they both previously had on their faces slowly disappeared. The familiar quietness returned.
It didn't remain for long though. Talia decided she would speak again a few moments into the silence. "What happened?" She asked, barely above a whisper.
It was the golden question. Aaron knew immediately what she meant even without an explanation. It was a question that he had asked himself often for weeks by this point, but never quite had a solid answer to.
"I…don't know." Aaron said.
This did not seem to satisfy Talia, who creased her brow. "What do you mean, 'I don't know'?" Her voice got a little louder, and broke near the last word. "One day I think we're completely fine, and then all of a sudden you break up with me! All I get at the time is that we just weren't working out. And after over a month of us being separated, you tell me now that you don't know why you did it?"
"I…"
"You what?" She interrupted, emotion seeping into her voice. "I loved you, Aaron! And you broke up with me like I didn't mean anything to you!"
"You did mean something to me, and you still do!" Aaron replied, looking up with a stern face as he raised his voice to match hers.
"Then what happened!?" She yelled, her voice echoing off the walls. "I've been torturing myself for weeks trying to figure out what I did wrong, but I can never figure it out!" She gestured with her hands dramatically, leaning away from the door for leverage in her movements. "I know I wasn't a perfect girlfriend, but I think that I deserved more than a simple 'We aren't working out'!"
"You did deserve more than that!" Aaron groaned, covering his face with his hands and looking at the floor. "I know that I didn't go about it in the right way, but I don't know how to describe how I felt back then, or what I feel now!"
"You never were good at talking about your emotions…" Talia replied bitterly, crossing her arms again, before sending a pointed glare at Aaron. He looked up, sensing the change in her demeanor. "Answer me this then, Aaron: Do you still have feelings for me?"
Aaron paused for a moment, trying to figure out exactly how to reply to that question. He thought back to what he told Dr. Carter during his first visit. "Yes, and no, I guess."
"What does that even mean!?" She replied. "What am I supposed to make of that?"
"I don't know! That's the point! I don't know either, and that's what I've been trying to say this entire time!"
"Okay…" Talia said, taking a deep breath. She was trying to calm herself down, and mostly appeared to be failing. But at least she was trying. "Let's figure out some things here. Explain to me as best as you can what you mean by "you have feelings for me and you don't" at the same time. Can you do that, please?"
"Well," Aaron rubbed under his nose. "Like I said, it's really hard to explain. One day, I just noticed that things between us had started to "slip". I don't know how else to describe it, or what that even means, but that's about the best way I can put it. I just began to think that you weren't…the one…for me." He paused for a moment to allow himself a second to think, and raised his hand to interrupt Talia's reply. "Before you say anything, I tried to give it a chance! I spent a few weeks after that hoping that it was temporary and that the feeling would go away, but it didn't. It only got worse. I tried, and it didn't work, and no matter what I felt, I didn't feel like it was right to lead you on. I broke up with you because I couldn't love you the same way that you loved me."
Talia was quiet and chose to stare at the ground like Aaron was before. She seemed to absorb the information decently well, and wiped a tear that began to form in her eye. Aaron sighed and joined her in looking away. "I still care about you, Talia. "He added, much more quietly. "It's just not the same that it used to be though. You were still my first girlfriend, that I know of, at least. Those two years we were together were filled with most of my happy memories since waking up in Frank's cave four years ago. But…I just felt like you deserved better than me. Someone who wasn't confused and didn't know what he felt. That's why I've been feeling so guilty about us breaking up. I don't know how I began feeling that way, or even what it means, but couldn't bring myself to be in a relationship where I couldn't care about you the same way you did to me. That wouldn't be fair to you."
Talia did not reply at first. She sniffled and wiped at her eyes again, trying and failing to appear strong, it looked like. She was always strong-willed, but her emotions seemed to be too much to handle at the moment. "Well…" She said with a broken voice. "At least I know now that I didn't do anything wrong. That's good, I guess."
"No, you didn't." Aaron said. "You made me very happy for all the time that we were together." He rubbed the back of his neck again. "If it makes you feel any better, Dr. Carter told me that my feelings fading for you may have something to do with my memory naturally coming back on its own. If that's right, then at least we have a reason as to why it happened."
Talia chuckled bitterly. "That doesn't make me feel better, actually. That makes me feel worse. Like I never had a chance with you at all."
"That's…not what I meant. I'm sorry."
She put her hand up. "No, it's okay. If that's right, and we'll assume it is just so we can have something to blame it on, then it isn't your fault why that happened. I understand you can't control your memories coming back, and that I'll never know what it's like to be an amnesiac. Let's just…change the topic, okay? How is therapy going? Have you started to remember stuff?"
Aaron inwardly thanked Arceus that they got past that conversation, even if he knew that they weren't quite done yet. "I've actually started to remember a lot. I used to be a Pokémon trainer and I traveled around Kanto and Johto with two great friends of mine."
"Pokémon trainer, eh?" Talia said, raising an eyebrow. "I guess that seems like something you'd do. Were you any good?"
Aaron awkwardly laughed. "If my performance in Kanto and Johto was anything to go by, not really. I'm hoping that I got better as time went on."
"I'm sure you did." Talia shrugged. "Remember anything else?"
"I remember that my best friend was my starter Pokémon, Pikachu. He was always with me everywhere I went, it seemed. He and I went through a lot together. And, I may or may not know the Kalos Queen."
This caught Talia's attention. "You might know Serena? Now, that's interesting. How so?"
Aaron rubbed under his nose. "Well, I have a memory of helping a girl back in Kanto when I was a little kid, and she resembles the Kalos Queen. Dr. Carter has a theory that this girl from my past and the Kalos Queen are actually the same person, but I'm not quite convinced of it yet."
"Well, she is the expert on this stuff. I'd believe her if I were you."
"It just seems too unlikely. What are the chances that I would help a girl in the woods all the way in Kanto, and then years down the road, we meet again, and she becomes Kalos Queen? Doesn't seem very likely to me."
Talia put on a smug smirk, wiping one of the tears from her eye. "Sounds about as likely as me saying that I know her too…"
"Yeah, I can't imagine what the chances would be of that happening…" Aaron said, chuckling. When Talia's smug smirk didn't go away and she continued eying him expectantly, Aaron deadpanned, sitting up a little straighter. "You're joking, right? You have actually met the Kalos Queen before?"
"Yep. I've actually met Serena before. Why don't you call her by her first name?"
"It helps with my headaches, but that doesn't matter right now. Where did you meet her? How? When!?"
Talia looked up at the ceiling, obviously reminiscing in something she hadn't thought about for a long time, judging by the small smile on her face. "I'm sure you recall that I used to participate in contests?" Aaron nodded, but she did not look at him. "During my last year in Hoenn, I had told myself that that year would be my last year in contests. I didn't know what I was going to do with myself after that. I just knew that I wanted to get away. Do something with myself that I actually enjoyed. If I recall correctly, I met Serena at a contest in Lilycove City, and she had just arrived to the region. She was just starting out with contests, I think, after coming from Kalos." Talia paused and looked down at Aaron, no doubt to find satisfaction in the shocked look on his face. She found what she was looking for, and her smug smirk grew.
"She ended up beating me in the final round," Talia continued. "And I went up to congratulate her. We talked for a bit afterward, and I told her of my lack of a dream. She told me that she understood where I was coming from, but luckily had someone whom she looked up to that helped her find her own dream and believed in her when she needed it most. She wanted to be that person to me, she said, and recommended that I come to her home-region of Kalos to find what I wanted to do." Talia shrugged, looking to the side. "I did that, and that's how I ended up at Restaurant Le Yeah. I found I have a passion for serving people and providing excellent service to bring about happiness, and I hope to someday become Hospitality Manager at a major chain restaurant or hotel. You know all about that though."
Aaron found that he was unable to respond. The gears were turning in his head at Talia's story, and he felt a headache coming on.
"So," Talia added. "I came to Kalos and got a job at Restaurant Le Yeah. After almost working here for a year, you turned up, and then Serena came back to Kalos not long after and became Kalos Queen after beating Aria."
"But…" Aaron said, finally finding his voice. "You came to Kalos four years ago, and if you're saying that Serena left Kalos and went to Hoenn at about the same time, that means…"
"She left Kalos around the same time you lost your memory, Aaron. It all perfectly lines up, from what I can see." Talia finished for him, her smirk turning into a grin. "I think that Dr. Carter is on to something about you knowing Serena…"
"Oh man…" Aaron said, putting his hand on his forehead. His headache was increasing by the minute. "Maybe I did know her…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic baggie. Talia eyed him curiously as he took out three of the small pills and popped them into his mouth.
"Your headaches are that bad?" She asked, her grin disappearing.
Aaron swallowed, nodding once. "Some days are worse than others. I'm just trying to be preventative here by taking the pills before it gets too bad."
"I mean, is it at least getting better over time?"
Aaron shrugged. "Maybe. If it is getting better, I haven't really noticed it. To be honest, I've been trying not to think about my past too much since the whole situation with the Kalos Queen and the showcase."
"George didn't do a good job at explaining how that happened." Talia said. "Since I know the real cause of your headaches, do you want to fill me in and what actually happened last Friday? If you're comfortable with it, of course."
Aaron waved his hand. "It's fine, I can tell you. I don't really know what happened. I just know that as soon as she walked out on stage, my head hurt really bad. I couldn't take my eyes off of her though. It's like I was in a trance. Lost. And then when she started her finale, we looked at each other, and she fell, while my head exploded, and I left because I couldn't take the pain anymore."
Aaron looked up at Talia after she didn't respond for a few moments. Her face was straight and emotionless, as if she was thinking about something.
"What was it like watching her on stage? She's supposed to be the best of the Showcase Foundation, you know?" She asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Aaron was confused by the question, but answered anyway. "I don't know. I never really liked performances, as you know. But watching her was…something else. I don't even understand it now. I don't think I had ever seen something as eye-catching as her performance. Serena was…amazing…up there, honestly. I'd probably have more to say if I wasn't worried about getting a headache again." Aaron took a deep breath. He had said her name twice in a few minutes, and thankfully, the headache wasn't getting any worse. It still hurt, but the lack of it getting worse meant that he may actually have been making progress. Thoughts for later.
"You had feelings for her, didn't you…?" Talia asked, tone flat, as she averted her gaze to the wall.
Aaron stared ahead, stunned. "I…don't know." He replied. "I can barely remember anything about her, let alone something as big as that."
Talia sighed. "It doesn't matter that you can't remember right now, but you probably will eventually. I can see it on your face when you talk about her. It all makes sense now. The fading of your feelings for me, your memory coming back, you being entranced by her." She paused, locking eyes with Aaron. "You started to regain your memories on your own, as Dr. Carter hypothesized, and with that, you began to lose your feelings for me. Instead, your feelings for Serena began to come back. And with you regaining your memories with the help of a therapist now, it'll all come back that much quicker."
"But we don't even know if what Dr. Carter said was right!" Aaron said, adjusting his stance on the chair. "And now you say that I have feelings for someone I can barely remember?"
Talia looked down at her feet. "I know you pretty well, Aaron. Like I said, I could see it on your face. You may not be able to recognize it, but I could see how you felt from how you talked. It reminded me…" She paused and took a deep breath. "It reminded me…of how you used to talk about me."
"Oh…" Was all Aaron could think of to say. Truthfully, he was lost for words. Talking about emotions was never his strongest trait, but he liked to think he had gotten better at it thanks to his maturity and experiences with dating someone for two years. Situations like the present though just reminded him how he still had a lot to learn about girls and emotions.
"Okay, let's say you're right." Aaron began, swallowing nervously. "How does that explain the care for you I still have? It didn't go away!"
"No, it didn't go away," Talia said. "But it decreased. You said yourself that you don't love me like you used to, and this all started when Dr. Carter says is likely when you began to regain your memories on your own, without the assistance of an Alakazam. It's a stretch, but it makes sense to me, at least."
Aaron was quiet again. He was quickly running out of words to say. This entire time in the pantry was nearly overwhelming, to say the least. Aaron stood up from his seat on the crate and sighed. Talia eyed him curiously as he closed the distance between them, and wrapped his arms around her in a hug. He felt her stiffen and attempt to resist just a tiny bit, but her apprehension fell almost immediately, and she soon returned the hug earnestly.
"I'm sorry." Aaron whispered into her hair. "I never meant to hurt you."
Talia did not respond at first. Aaron heard another sniffle come from her. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it. That doesn't make it hurt any less though…" She said into his jacket.
"I know. I wanted to thank for all the good times that we had, but I never really got the chance since I screwed up our breakup. I just hope that we can still be friends after all this."
She backed up a step, looking up at him with her teary green eyes and a sad smile. Aaron blinked, and for just a second, Talia was not standing in front of him. Dazzling blue eyes replaced her green ones. It was the teenage version of Serena from his dreams, staring at him and laughing. Aaron blinked again, and she was gone. Talia was back in his arms. Maybe he was going crazy?
"You look like you just saw a ghost." Talia commented with a laugh. "Was me saying that we can still be friends too much for you to handle?"
Aaron rubbed his neck, chuckling. He chose not to tell her about his potential craziness. "No, that sounds fine to me. I wouldn't have it any other way."
"I guess I can settle for being friends." Talia said, backing away from Aaron and taking a few steps back towards the door. She banged on it loudly, making Aaron jump. He wasn't used to loud noises after being in the quiet pantry for so long. "Hey! Idiots! Let us out! We solved the problem, I think."
Talia looked back at Aaron for a moment, both of them sharing a look of acknowledgment and mutual understanding. A few seconds later, footsteps were heard outside the door, and lo and behold, the door opened to reveal George. Both Aaron and Talia shielded their eyes from the bright light coming in from the kitchen.
"Took long enough. Now, Talia, let's get back to work. You've got a lot to tell me about." George said, winking at her. Talia rolled her eyes and hit him, and both the waiters walked off towards the dining room. Talia turned around though and gave Aaron another look as she was heading through the dining room doors. She looked sad, but content. More content than Aaron had seen her in a long time.
Albern walked up to Aaron, an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry lad. It had to be done. I hope it went well."
Aaron shrugged. "You could say that. I don't think she'll be hostile to me anymore, so I've got that going for me." He pointed back at the pantry that was his prison just a few seconds ago. "Do you still want me to do the inventory, or was that part of the ruse to get us to talk?"
Albern laughed, patting Aaron's back. "No, Aaron. Yannick and I actually do need you to do that. Locking Talia in there was something we did on the fly."
"It was my idea." Jack added, poking his head of the dish room again. "For once, they all decided to listen to me."
"He's right, I'll give him that." Al said. "Now finish up inventory. It's lonely out here with just Jack to talk to."
"Hey!"
Aaron laughed, and walked back into the pantry. His headache wasn't getting any better, but it also wasn't getting any worse. That, to Aaron, was good enough. This time, he put a stool in front of the door so that he would be alerted in case anyone tried to pull a similar stunt by locking him in there again. He had learned his lesson, and would never let his guard down in the pantry again. He grabbed his clipboard and pencil, and attempted to find where he was in his counting, humming that song he heard in the morning once more.
As the day came to a close, Aaron cleaned himself up and hung up his hat and apron. Waving good bye to his friends, which included Talia now, Aaron exited the restaurant and began walking leisurely down the sidewalk back to his apartment. All of the hostility that previously existed between the former couple seemed to have disappeared, and they were capable of holding a few conversations here and there throughout the workday, even if some of them were awkward. It would take some getting used to, but Aaron was thankful that he could go to work without worrying about how Talia was going to treat him that day. He was certain that everyone would be thankful for that, judging by all of them ganging up on them and forcing them to talk.
Aaron looked up at the sky and saw his fletchling flying over him. It seemed to be staring behind him though, but Aaron paid it no mind. Sometimes the bird would see something interesting and decide to investigate it. He turned around a corner, heading in the direction of his apartment, but didn't notice two faces that he would recognize and one vaguely familiar one turning around the corner at the other end of the block. If Aaron was one second slower or the three were one second faster, they would have seen him and his familiar black hair. Fate had other plans though…
"Let's call it a day, guys…" Clemont said, wiping a drop of sweat from his forehead. "It seems like we've been almost running for the past four blocks!"
"How did you ever travel with Ash and walk miles every day if you can't keep up with us now!?" Misty said, putting her hands on her hips.
"It's been four years, and I haven't had to exercise for a long time!" Clemont groaned, attempting to catch his breath.
"This is day four of our search, Misty." The final companion, Brock, added. "We haven't come up with any trace of Ash since getting here."
"That doesn't mean we should just give up! We have to keep looking!" Misty replied, looking away and putting her chin up.
The three stopped, allowing Clemont to catch his breath. Brock reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Taking a pen from the top of his ear, he unfolded the paper and put it up against the building they were next to so his writing would be legible. With a frown, he inspected the list of bullet points that were on the paper.
-Lumiose Park-✔
-Pokemon Center-✔
-Battle Institute-✔
-Lumiose Museum-✔
-Fighting Dojo-✔
-Pokeball Boutique
Disappointingly, Brock crossed off the "Pokeball Boutique". They had spent the entire day traveling around the huge city, checking all of the places where they thought Ash could be. On previous days, they focused on food stands, parks, restaurants, and adoption centers, and today they focused on Pokemon-related buildings or training centers.
"Any word from Serena or Sycamore?" Brock asked.
"Nothing yet." Came Misty's reply. "If we're going to stop for the day because Clemont is tired, we could check up with them back at the lab."
Just then, Clemont's phone chimed, signaling that he got a text. Reaching into his pocket and retrieving his phone, he clicked it on so he could look at the screen.
"It's from Serena." He said before beginning to type a reply. "She wanted to know how the day went, and that she's heading back to the lab."
"That's good timing." Brock added. "I can understand. She's been up a lot longer than the rest of us."
"When did she start?" Misty asked.
"5 AM," Clemont said, before taking a look at his watch. "That means we have been looking for Ash for 9 hours today, and she's been looking for 12."
"The girl is dedicated; I'll give her that." Brock said, a small tear forming in his eye. Misty eyed him cautiously. "It's just a shame that she's taken by Ash. She's just so pretty and…"
"Alright there, buster." Misty glared, grabbing his ear and earning a yelp from her taller friend. "Calm down. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."
Clemont suppressed a chuckle while shifting his gaze ahead. He understood why Ash was so fond of these two after spending the last four days with them. Morale was low for the search, as Clemont had lost count of how many investigations they had been on looking for Ash in the past. Anytime anyone thought they found evidence of him being alive, they would all gather together and search various regions. Ash's past friends, May, Max, and Dawn had previously joined, but didn't want to come to this search. Hope that he was alive seemed to be dwindling with each passing year.
Pushing the negativity to the back of his mind, Clemont looked past his arguing friends and saw the blinking sign of Restaurant Le Yeah down the block.
Smiling, he tapped on Misty's shoulder. "Did we check at Restaurant Le Yeah when we were looking into food places that Ash may be at?"
Misty released Brock's ear, much to his relief, and put her hand on her chin. "No, I don't think we did. We figured it would be too fancy for him, since the food is a little pricier and they expect at least a little class, unlike Restaurant Le Nah."
"Yeah that place did seem like something Ash would like more, even if he wasn't there…" Brock added, rubbing his reddened ear.
"Even so," Clemont said. "I should take you guys there before you fly out in a few days. It was one of my favorite restaurants as a kid, but I haven't been there in a long time. Chef Albern used to know my dad, so we'd go there when I was little."
"Sounds good to me. When are they open?" Brock asked just as a pretty blonde woman wearing a waitress dress was exiting the restaurant. Seeing an opportunity, Brock raced ahead before Misty could catch him, and was in front of the woman on one knee, holding one of her hands in his own.
"If the restaurant hired staff as beautiful as you, I'd go to Restaurant Le Yeah every day. So what do you say, do you say "yeah" to my offer for a date, my love?"
"Uuhhh…" The woman said, nervously looking around.
Thankfully, she didn't need to reply, as Misty was on the spot in just a second. She forcefully grabbed Brock's other ear, dragging him away as he yelled out in pain from the poor girl just as Clemont ran up to her.
"I'm sorry about that, miss." Clemont said, huffing a little as he hadn't quite caught his breath from earlier. "My friend can be quite…abrupt…in how he approaches women."
The blonde smiled sincerely, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's okay. It's always nice to be complimented on how you look. I just wish he went about it less…creepily…"
"Trust me!" Misty yelled, yanking Brock's ear harder. "He's been like this for a long time, and he hasn't quite learned his lesson!"
"I will never give up!" Brock yelled back as he tried to get free, and failed.
Clemont laughed and turned back towards the woman in front of him. "Well, I was wondering what the hours were of Restaurant Le Yeah? My two friends here are from Kanto and have never been to the restaurant before, and I haven't been there since I was a kid."
"Oh! Well, we are open 7 AM to 5 PM Monday thru Saturday, and closed on Sunday!" She said excitedly. "I'm the waitress at the restaurant, and either I or my partner, George, will serve you whenever you come in!"
"Great!" Clemont smiled. "We're busy for the next few days, but we'll find the time to pop in!"
"My name's Talia," She winked. "I look forward to seeing you three there!"
"I'm Clemont" He gestured then to the two bickering friends behind him. "This is Brock and Misty. We'll see you whenever we come in. I'm looking forward to it too!"
With a wave, Talia departed down the road, leaving Brock, Misty, and Clemont behind in front of the closed restaurant. Seeing the lady leaving, Misty let Brock go, who rubbed both of his ears with a groan.
"Did you have to pull so hard?"
"You were creeping her out!" Misty yelled. "When will you stop doing that?"
"Come on guys" Clemont interrupted with a wave of his hand. "Let's head back to the lab. We'll call it a day here."
Nodding in agreement, the three friends walked down the block and waited for a bus to arrive. Within a few minutes, they were on their way back to Professor Sycamore's lab. It was almost on the complete other side of the city, so it took a bit longer than expected thanks to travel-time and the evening traffic, but they did eventually get there. Paying the bus driver his fee, Clemont waved goodbye as the bus pulled away and the three of them walked up to the entrance of the lab.
Running out to greet them was Pikachu, Ash's best friend and former inseparable companion. Walking closely behind the yellow mouse were Serena and Professor Sycamore. Pikachu jumped into Misty's arms, who gladly began to scratch behind its ears. The mouse Pokémon cooed in delight, appreciating the affection it was receiving.
"Good to see you too, Pikachu!" Misty said, rotating Pikachu so that she could scratch a different spot.
"Any luck?" Serena asked, a hopeful look on her face.
"Nothing today…" Brock replied, making Serena's face drop.
Clemont walked up and put a hand on her deflated shoulder. "If he's out there, Serena, he'll turn up. There's no way that someone hasn't seen or heard the professor's televised message or the signs you've put up around the city."
"Let's not forget though that this isn't the first time we've searched the city…" Sycamore said, rubbing his chin. "I do hope he's out there, but we've been looking for four days and haven't had a single bit of evidence turn up."
"We do fly out on Saturday." Brock chimed in. "I hope we can make the best out of tomorrow."
Serena rubbed her eyes groggily, and Pikachu jumped from Misty's hands over onto her shoulder, cuddling into her head affectionately. "I know it may seem like a fool's errand, guys, but I just know that I saw him this time…I hope he turns up."
"We all do." Clemont said. He looked Serena up and down, noticing her disheveled appearance. Her clothes were dirty and her eyes had bags under them. She looked barely awake. "You in particular have been running yourself ragged since the last showcase though, Serena…You really need to take a rest."
"I don't know…" She trailed off, looking to the side and kicking a stone on the ground.
"Get some sleep tonight, Serena." Misty added. She walked up to her blonde friend and gave her a hug. "I hate to say it, but you're more useful when you can think straight. I'd hate for you to see him, but be so tired that you don't recognize who he is. It has been four years, you know."
She seemed to think it over for a moment before sighing. "Okay. I'll go home and try to sleep in tomorrow. Only because you guys said so, though."
"Good." Clemont replied, before turning his attention back to the group. "Where do we search tomorrow, since it's our last day looking?"
Brock pulled out his map from his backpack. Unfolding it and holding it in front of him, he mentally checked off places they had already looked. "Well, we have checked all the places where we thought he would be…so how about we just do a general sweep of the city? That way we could cover a lot of ground and we aren't limiting ourselves to just one location?'
"Sounds like a plan." Sycamore said with a nod. "I'll see if I can help out tomorrow, but my research is my number one priority, so I may not be able to join."
"Sounds good." Brock answered, folding up his map again. He looked at Serena then. "Hey Serena, Clemont offered to take us to Restaurant Le Yeah sometime. Since we're going to be looking for Ash all day tomorrow, I figured it would be a good idea to go tomorrow evening as a good close to the day? That way we can spend Saturday morning before our flight in peace."
Serena smiled, but shook her head. "I have a meeting with Palermo tomorrow evening, so I won't be able to go. You three make sure to have fun though. I haven't been there in a long time, but I hear it's really good!"
"I'm sure it is!" Clemont answered. With that, they said their goodbyes, promising to make the most out of their search tomorrow. Serena and Pikachu went back to their home, while Brock, Misty, and Clemont all went back to the Clemont's apartment. They all silently hoped that they would find some evidence of their old friend in Lumiose City. If not, then it was yet another failed investigation, and more proof that Ash may not be alive after all…
That same evening, after making himself a meal and finding a good show he actually wanted to watch, Aaron sat peacefully on his couch. It was dusk, now, and the sun had almost dipped below the horizon completely. Prism Tower's beautiful lights shined in the distance, and street lights illuminated the entire city so that all could see even during the darkest of nights.
Aaron adjusted his position on the couch and was reaching for a blanket to cover himself up with when he heard the familiar chime of his phone receiving a text. Curious as to who that could be, he got up and went to get his phone.
How did the talk with Talia go?
It was George.
Aaron rolled his eyes, even know he knew nobody could see him, and quickly typed a reply back.
I'm sure Talia told you how it went…
Yeah she did, but I'm wondering how you felt about it
Aaron shook his head. Sometimes George's meddling in his affairs was irritating.
It went well, I think. I'm glad that she and I can restart and try to be friends.
Several moments passed without a reply, and Aaron had thought he had silenced his friend. Putting his phone down, Aaron turned and began to walk back towards the couch when he heard it chime again. Groaning, he turned back around and picked up his phone.
Good. We're at the bar down the road, and you're invited
Aaron couldn't help but chuckle. He hadn't been to that particular bar in a long time. Who goes to the bar during the workweek?
Your friends. Now get over here. You haven't hung out with us in a while.
Aaron looked up from his phone towards the window. It was dusk, which was the perfect time to go to the bar, and George was right, it had been a long time since he hung out with them. He was still friends with all his coworkers, and he figured that it wasn't right for him to be avoiding them because he was worried about stress. After all, what could a few drinks do? He lived just down the road. If anything, a few drinks would loosen up his stress and make him feel better.
Smiling, he quickly typed up a reply. Okay. I'll be there soon
Aaron slipped his phone into his pocket and went to grab his heavier jacket, since nights were usually colder than the daytime. He left his apartment and began the short walk over to the bar. He knew exactly which one they were at, as it was the one that they frequented as least once per week back when Aaron was just beginning to work at Restaurant Le Yeah. They hadn't gone together in a long time though, since Albern was worried about becoming an alcoholic. Ironically, this bar was where Talia and Aaron got to know each other at first.
The dusk crowd was a bit busier than Aaron expected, and he weaved through groups of people walking back and forth on the wide sidewalk. Not far in front of Aaron, walking the opposite direction, was a mother texting on her phone and a small child close by. Aaron and the small child looked at each other, and he offered a smile to the kid. The child though, tugged on his mom's jacket and pointed in Aaron's direction with a surprised face.
"Mommy, it's that 'Ash Ketchum' guy that Professor Sycamore was talking about!"
The mother glanced up briefly, but immediately looked back at her phone with a hum. "Don't point at strangers, dear. It's rude."
Aaron looked around him as he was passing the mother and child, thinking that the kid must have been pointing at someone else. Or, maybe it was just the overactive imagination of a child. Either way, Aaron immediately forgot about the small occurrence and turned a corner on the sidewalk, continuing his walk to the bar. He was only a block away, and closed the distance quickly.
Pushing the wooden door to enter the bar, Aaron acknowledged the female bartender with a nod, and she did the same in return. It was dimly lit, but not too dark. There was a small crowd sitting at the bar itself, as well as a few tables scattered around. Compared to when they used to frequent this establishment, it was a slow night. There used to be huge crowds in the business. Then again, it was a Thursday.
Scanning the interior for his friends, Aaron spotted them off to the side sitting in a booth with a few drinks already set out. Albern was waving him over, and Aaron smiled at the small group. Noticing that the only free seat in the booth was next to Talia, Aaron took the spot and greeted everyone.
"About time you showed up." George said, tapping his half-drank glass on the table with a smirk. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming."
"You walk slow." Jack chimed in from the other side of Talia on Aaron's left. This prompted Talia to giggle, who elbowed Aaron in the side playfully. It was an odd move on her part, but Aaron didn't pay it any mind. They were friends now, and that meant they could act like it. He was just used to her hating him, as that was how she had acted since their breakup.
"I wasn't going to run here." Aaron said. He noticed a waitress approaching, and he quickly began to think of what drink he would have. He didn't get the chance though, as Jack quickly stood up and raised his hands.
"A round for my group of friends here, my good waitress."
She seemed to immediately know what he meant and walked off, while Aaron looked over at Jack with a confused face.
"What did you order?"
He smirked devilishly. "You'll see. It's my favorite thing to get here."
"That doesn't make me feel very good about this."
All the others seemed to join in Jack's delight, and they all chuckled. Aaron couldn't help but smile, but he did not find whatever they were laughing at very funny. A few minutes later, the waitress reappeared in front of their table with a tray full of shot glasses. The shot glasses had a dark brown liquid in them, and looking at its contents as it was placed in front of him made him grimace.
"I can already tell I'm not going to like this…" Aaron said as he picked up the small glass. Raising it in the air and clinking it with everyone else's, Aaron threw back the shot as quickly as he could.
The taste was terrible and it burnt horribly all the way down his throat. Thankfully everyone else seemed to have the same gagging reaction as Aaron did, including Jack.
"What was that horrible drink?" George asked, waving his hands around as if that would banish the taste from his mouth.
Jack laughed, although he didn't look much better. "I call it the 'Jack special'. You mix several liquors together, which makes it very potent. I'm working on the taste factor though."
"There's no fixing that taste, lad." Albern said, rubbing his chest. "That was terrible through and through. Let's have a real drink. Next round of beers is on me."
"Sounds like a deal to me," Talia said, nodding her head and gesturing towards her empty glass. "Although anything sounds better than the 'Jack Special'."
Albern maked a waving move with his hand and the waitress luckily sees and began to gather beer bottles for the group. Meanwhile, everyone began to discuss the day at work. Time seemed to fly by, and the number of empty bottles at the table multiplied. As the night went on and the hours ticked by, it was safe to say that nobody was sober anymore. Jack ordered one more of his specials for himself, while everyone else remained with much safer drinks. After all, they did have to work tomorrow. Aaron had to admit too that this night was the most fun he had had in a long time, as he was laughing with his friends about some stupid joke that a customer had told Talia earlier in the day.
A bit into the night, the waitress walked by to gather up empty bottles. Nobody paid attention though, as they were too engrossed into their conversation. That is, until she gave Aaron a quizzical look.
"You look familiar…" She said, pointing at Aaron. "Do I know you?"
Aaron thought for a few moments but failed to recognize the woman in front of him. She must have started working after he stopped going to this bar, as she wasn't there when he was a regular. "No, I don't think I know you." He said, shaking his head.
She stared at him for a few seconds. "I don't know. Guess I was just seeing things. I see a lot of people come in here, so maybe I just thought you looked like someone I had seen before."
"I guess." Was Aaron's simple reply. With that, the waitress finished gathering the bottles and walked off. It was such an odd little interaction that Aaron couldn't help but think about it for a few seconds. Of course, he had been mistaken for other people in the past. Everyone has. But this waitress seemed certain that she had seen him at some point. He didn't know her at all. At least he thought he didn't.
Talia cleared her throat, bringing the attention back to her. "Anyways… that's how I ended up with soup all over my apron a few days ago. Some angry customer thought it looked better there than in their bowl." Talia said, continuing her story from before.
Aaron shrugged, taking another drink from his bottle. He decided to just forget about the instance with the waitress. No use thinking about something he didn't know about. He had lost track of how many beers he had drank at that point, and was past the point of caring.
Albern leaned across the table, tapping on his temple. "Aaron, lad, how has your head been treating you lately? Has it been getting any better?"
"It comes and goes, Al. Although I do think I'm getting a little better."
"I'm sure your talk today helped." George added, and then he yelped. Talia's proud smirk revealed without words that she had kicked him underneath the table.
"You really should go to the doctor for that, Aaron." Jack said, taking a sip of his own drink. He stopped having his specials long before, as he didn't want to blackout. "It has to be a sign of bad health."
Aaron rubbed behind his neck sheepishly, looking away. "Well, I guess you could say that I'm doing that…"
Talia looked at him with surprise, but Aaron didn't seem to notice. "What do you mean?" Albern asked, swishing his drink around in the bottle.
"Well, you know that therapist down the road from the restaurant?" Aaron began.
"Yeah, Carter is her surname, I think." George said. He was leaning forward, apparently eager to hear what Aaron had to say.
Aaron nodded his head. "Yeah, that's her. I've actually been seeing her for a bit over a week now."
"What for?" Jack asked, cocking his head to the side. "You got trauma from your past and that's giving you headaches?"
The thought crossed Aaron's mind that he didn't want to share this information with his friends just yet, but it left as quickly as it came. Drunkenly, Aaron continued after taking a swig from his bottle, finishing it off and slamming it down on the table. "Not quite, Jack. Turns out, I'm actually an amnesiac."
It was silent at the table for a second. "You're kidding me." Was George's deadpanned reply.
"Nope." Aaron said, shaking his head. "Can't remember a thing before four years ago."
"Four years ago?" Jack said. "But you must be something like…" He counted with his fingers. "At least 19 years old! That means you can't remember most of your life if that's true!"
"No way." Albern said. "This is why you've been having headaches? Because you can't remember anything past four years ago? How does that make any sense?"
"You see, Al," Aaron replied. "I'm going to that therapist to help me get my memory back. She has an Alakazam who goes into my mind and stuff and…" He made a dramatic waving motion with his hands. "Pulls the memories out. Like water. And it gives me headaches."
"It's true." Talia added, making everyone look at her. She shrugged. "I've known for a few years now. He told me not long into our relationship. The guy can't really remember a thing before four years ago. At least, that was true until he started therapy. Now he can remember some things."
Jack stood up and pointed at Aaron. "So, you're saying that you don't know who you were before four years ago!? For all we know, you could have been some murderer or something!" He shrieked out, and then put his hands on his head in surprise. "And now because we're here with him, it makes us look like his accomplices! We've all been doomed!"
Talia grabbed onto his shirt and pulled him down forcefully. "Sit down, idiot. Aaron wasn't a murderer."
"Yeah!" Aaron added, slurring his words slightly. "I was a Pokémon trainer! I had a Pikachu and best friends and everything!"
"So wait," George said. "The reason why you've been so generic when talking about your past the entire time we've known you is because you couldn't remember anything in the first place?"
"Yep. That's why. I figured the less people that knew about it, the better. Sorry guys."
Albern shrugged. "That's okay with me, lad. I'm glad I know now why you've been so mysterious in the past." He looked at Aaron questionably then. "So why did you run from the showcase then as soon as the Kalos Queen came out? What does that have to do with your memory?"
Aaron waved his hand. "Well, I might have known her from my past. Turns out, according to my doctor and Talia, that she and I may have been friends or even more at one point. I'm not sure. It's all confusing because I don't remember yet."
"Hey! Stay away from my woman!" Jack yelled out, and earned a kick from George which made him yelp.
Aaron laughed and began peeling the label off of his empty bottle. "Yeah, I feel really confusing things about her that I don't understand. It makes it really hard when you can't remember very much about them, but they give you an "odd feeling" in your heart, ya know?"
"I'd hate to be you…" George said with a hum. "It took my boyfriend and I quite a long time to get together because he was a bit confusing, but at least neither of us had to worry about memory problems."
"It doesn't help that I don't even know what we were. For all I know, we could have been engaged. Or we were just friends." Aaron said, leaning his elbows forward on the table. "The feeling that I have isn't very specific. I could have just been best friends with her! As Dr. Carter says, I'll just have to wait and see what happens."
"It doesn't matter what you were, you stay away from her!" Jack yelled out, pointing his drunken finger at Aaron accusingly.
George told him to sit down and shut up, but Aaron stopped paying attention. It was a scene that had played out in front of him several times already, and it always ended the same way: with Jack being punched in the shoulder.
Aaron looked to his left and saw Talia leaning forward and staring into her bottle, looking rather sad. He had a good guess as to why she was feeling down, and thought he should try and cheer her up a little. After all, they were friends now. Reaching out and putting his arm around her, Aaron gave her a slight squeeze. She looked surprised, but didn't protest.
Leaning towards Aaron's ear just as the other three were arguing about how Serena was out of Jack's league, Talia whispered "I'm surprised you told them about your memory loss."
Aaron shrugged as best he could, considering his arm was around Talia. He leaned in towards her ear. "They were going to find out eventually. I figured I should get it out of the way now instead of letting them find out later." He whispered back.
"Despite what you told them; I stand by what I said earlier today. I suspect that you and Serena were more than just friends…"
"I'm not going to make any assumptions until I find out the truth, either from her or from my memory. I don't know what this feeling is just yet…"
"I know you pretty well, Aaron. Don't forget that. You're right though, we'll just have to see what happens."
"I tried not to think about her for a while," Aaron whispered. "Whenever I thought of her, my headaches would be worse. I haven't figured out why yet."
Talia looked up at him, confused. "Really? What does Dr. Carter have to say about that?"
"Dr. Carter suspects that Serena has something to do with my head injury, but I don't know if I believe that."
"From what I remember four years ago, that doesn't really sound like something she would do…"
"That's part of the reason why I'm so confused. The headaches whenever I think about her have been getting better. I can at least manage to do it now, but that doesn't mean it isn't still difficult."
Talia then looked up at Aaron and gave him a look that his drunken mind couldn't quite comprehend. She stared up at him with eyes like an Eevee, but Aaron blinked and she disappeared from his vision. Sitting next to him was teenage Serena again, this time with short hair for some reason, and she looked to be wearing a blue shirt with the collar up. She was blushing and smiling widely at him, laughing at something that Aaron didn't understand. He didn't have any time to think about it though, as he blinked and Talia was back in front of him, leaning in close to his face. For a moment, her lips brushed against his left cheek, kissing him softly.
Surprised, Aaron did not move, and simply looked at her with shock as she shyly backed away, a light blush on her cheeks. Either that, or her face was red from the drinking. Aaron couldn't tell.
They were both quiet for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say after what just happened. After staring at each other's eyes for several moments, Talia chuckled to herself and looked down.
"I'm sorry…" She said. "I shouldn't have done that. I just…wanted you to have something to remember me by…"
Aaron was quiet for another second before laughing. "Talia, I don't need a kiss to remember you. Weren't you listening to anything I said in the pantry? I will never forget you. Even when I regain my memory. I just don't want to hurt you. I never did. I just…didn't know how to go about it in the best way."
"I know that now." Talia said, moving her head a little. "I'm glad I know that now. I'd probably continue torturing myself for who knows how long if I didn't." She offered a small smile then. "Serena's a nice girl too, at least from what I remember. If you ended up having feelings for her in the past, then I respect her for it. I still want you to be happy too, and I support you no matter who you're with."
"You really won't give up on the belief that Serena and I were together, won't you…?" Aaron said, chuckling.
She shook her head, her smile widening. "Nope. And you'll see someday that I was right. You just have to figure it out. Anyone that you could fall in love with must be a pretty cool character. I should know, after all."
Aaron playfully squeezed her again, but this time, went the extra step and brought her into a side-hug. He gave her a sincere grin, no doubt influenced by the alcohol. "Thanks, Talia. For everything."
"Thank you too, Aaron." She replied, before giving a brief tight squeeze of her own. They both separated at the same time, with Aaron removing his arm from Talia's shoulder, and they rejoined the conversation with their friends. They were arguing about baking vs cooking, and would likely be glad to have the added support of Aaron and Talia. That night was one of the best Aaron had in a long time, even if the day itself may have been stressful, considering the pantry-conversation. Despite that, he was happy that he and Talia were on good terms now. And he may be going crazy, judging by his unexplainable visions of teenage Serena, but Aaron was glad to see where his life was heading at the moment. He was taking one day at a time.
Welcome to the end of the chapter! A lot happened here. Set things up for future chapters, showed what Ash's friends have been doing in the meantime since the showcase, and showed Aaron having fun with his coworkers, as well as having the conversation with Talia in the pantry.
This was the longest chapter yet too. Around 11k words. I originally was going to have it split into two chapters, but figured I could just get everything out in one segment, and I just went ahead with that.
This was kind of a transition chapter too. I'll explain in the future, but just know, this chapter is the transition into something else.
I'd like to think this story is progressing along rather nicely. Thanks to everyone who has read this and reviewed/followed/favorited! I appreciate it. Have a good day, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
Twilly