Disappeared once or twice

8. A journey

"Julieta!" Bruno yelled completely out of character through the whole house. He had gained a little information from his niece, now he needed to made the picture complete. Maybe his lovely sister had some information that might benefit him.

"I'm over here!" A voice responded, it seemed to be coming out of the kitchen. Bruno headed towards Julieta, he found her immediately while entering the kitchen. She was busy perfecting her recipes.

"Hey sis..." Bruno started awkwardly. "Hey bro..." Julieta replied just as weirdly as Bruno did. A silence fell over them, neither one of them knew what to say. Bruno was trying to come up with the right words to say and Julieta was patiently waiting for him to be comfortable enough to speak up.

"Do you remember something from before I left... Like a woman or something, just saying you know. Not that is has to be a woman, just maybe perhaps you know more about her?" Bruno stuttered the words.

"A woman? You haven't had a relationship in like 16 years?"
"So I did have a relationship."
"Yes Bruno, what's wrong?"

"I, uhh" Bruno stumbled over his words. "I just, I don't remember." He finally stated. Her ever so calmly smiling face changed into an expression of shock and worry. "You truly don't remember a thing about her?"

"Well yeah, that's not entirely true." Bruno scratched the back of his neck and continued fidgeting with his fingers. "I vaguely remember having a somewhat romantic relationship with a woman. But I can't seem to remember who she was."

"Aha, and you came to me to see if I knew anything about that. Right?" Julieta made her prediction for Bruno's sudden call, laughing loudly. The man simply nodded shamefully. "I'm sorry." "Nothing to be sorry about sweetheart, I can tell you what I know. However you've always been a very secretive person." Bruno cringed slightly at the sweetheart. "thank you." He nods. 

Julieta turned around so she's fully facing her brother. "You were so protective about her that mom never really got to have a proper dinner with her. I do know you were dating in secret for like, a couple of years before she left town." Bruno could vaguely remember his girlfriend, even though the details about her and the reasons why she left were unknown to him. 

He did remember now that he had always kept her a secret from his mother. Dating in secret like teenagers would, they didn't care that they were already in their thirties. Always smiling and goofing around, meeting at the most crazy spots they could think of. 

Her name? Why did she leave? How did they meet? 

Only a few new memories were triggered by Julieta's words. But it was more than before, so Bruno was grateful anyway. Every little thing would help him get closer to his goal, restoring every single gap of his memory in the last 15 years. 

That might be what his vision meant, he  interpretation just sucked. He wasn't losing grip of someone, he was losing grip on something. He was losing grip of his memories. It made sense now. All this time he thought it was about someone, about the kid who fell. 

It didn't make sense at all. He still needed to figure out who this kid was and why he was in his vision. It is a fact that you can't make up faces, so it must be someone he had seen before. But when and where?

The answer to this mystery had led to another one. 

"Thanks Julieta." He murmured as he took his leave, back to the safety of his own room. Ready to stare at his walls for a few hours, breaking his brain. An answer never came. How could it, forming words at the wall? 

A problem was finally solved in his life and in no time another occurred. How long will he have to suffer like that? Bruno didn't have any answers so he did what he was used to. Waiting. 

He has waited ten years to return to his family, what harm can a little more waiting do? Bruno really wasn't the right guy for major changes. It will nag at his mind for sure, but it's better to not have answers than to have answers you wish you never knew.