Chapter Five

Fake Dates and Fiery Mutterings

"Brie?" Eddie just entered the house and found his housekeeper standing in front of the oven. "Are you alright?"

"Fire," she mumbled, her eyes still unfocused. "There's fire."

"Of course, there is," Eddie said warily. He was used to Nina or Brielle's episodes by now. "It's an oven, right?"

"It's an accident," she then said, her hands shaking. "An accident."

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked once more, a bit scared now. She never shook when she muttered random words. He wanted to call his father or his mother for help but then he realized that the two left days ago for Switzerland. Not that they would be of help. Eddie found out that his father has no recollection of what he said moments before he gave up the locket.

As if she was hit, Brielle flinched. Eddie noticed that her eyes were normal again.

"What was I doing?" she asked, confused.

Eddie gave the room a quick onceover. Spotting the dishes in the sink, he quickly thought of an answer. "You were washing the dishes."

"Right," she said as she did what he said, not questioning anything at all.

Eddie ran a hand through his blonde, frustrated. "Hey, Brie, do you want to go to town for a bit? We could use a break from the house."

"Sure, why not?" she smiled warmly. "I'll just finish these and change."

"I'll be in my office then," Eddie gave a small smile.

Eddie left the kitchen and went to his office. As he closed the door behind him, he gave out a sigh. It's been weeks and there was no progress on the girl. He tried to look for clues but no Nina Martin existed in school records, birth certificates or even hospital records. He even tried his connections in America, noting that Nina has a slight American accent, but even his businessmen friends couldn't find anything.

He stared at the boxes in the corner of his office. Those were from the attic and those were his only hope. They were things left behind by old boarders of the house. They were mostly schoolbooks and small trinkets but there were a few important things in there too. There was a journal that used to be owned by Patricia Williamson, Nina Martin's former roommate and he found out that that was the key to finding peace for the girl who was downstairs.

Sitting behind his desk, he started to rummage the box for more things that can be useful. A picture frame caught his eye. It was of a couple holding each other. The girl, he recognized as Brielle but he did find the boy familiar. Setting the frame aside, Eddie tried to think on where he had seen the boy before.

The door to his office suddenly opened and Brielle entered in a pair of jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket.

Eddie gave an inward sigh. He knows that he took advantage of Brielle's lost memory when they went shopping. He turned her into his dream girl. He had her dye her hair auburn, almost brown and bought her rebel-chic type of clothing. But no matter how she fits the appearance category of his dream girl, she was still missing the personality. He wanted an independent and fiery woman but Nina was the opposite of that as she depends on Eddie most of the time due to her memory loss.

"Are we ready to go?" she asked in a small whisper, reminding Eddie that she was nothing close to fiery.

"Yeah," Eddie nodded and followed her out the office. They left a message to the children, saying that they would be back before dinner.

When Fabian applied to be a high school history teacher, he didn't realise that it was harder than being a college professor. In the first few days he was appointed the job, he'd deal with grading loads of paper (the last teacher left a bunch on his table), cat fights of teenage girls (who were fighting for his attention, nonetheless), disciplining sleeping students and tutoring failing students.

"Here, Fabian," Patricia placed a cup of caramel macchiato on his desk. She'd learned how to make it in culinary school. Despite quitting her previous job (she had a row with her boss-slash-ex-boyfriend), she was quite content with accompanying Fabian in this quest to find the truth about Nina. She needed a break from managing restaurants anyways and she had saved enough to last her for a few years.

"Thanks, 'Tricia," Fabian looked like he hadn't slept in days and he hadn't. He had been working all-nighters for the past week grading essays of ninth graders.

"No problem," she smiled weakly. "Need any help?"

"It's alright. This is the last of them," Fabian yawned. "Any luck on the House?"

"I haven't gone out since the other day," Patricia admitted. "Unfortunately, I was hounded by a lovesick dog." She muttered in disgust.

"Ah, Benji found you, didn't he?" Fabian stifled to chuckle at his friend's demise.

"Couldn't get a clue, that one," Patricia sighed. "I even told him that we were a couple but the idiot wouldn't believe me."

"Well then, Ms. Williamson, I believe we should schedule a fake date," Fabian grinned mischievously, as he realised that it was a Saturday.

Patricia grinned. "A fake date it is."

AN:

Sorry if short. It's a filler chapter.

Does Eddie's dream girl seem familiar? ;) Peddie, are you here?! ^_^

Next chapter: How real can a fake date be? Also, Fabian and Nina- I mean Brielle- finally meet!

Please review! :D