Lemonade

5. "Lemonade Would Be Great, Too!"

"Oh yes. Just skipped my brunch, that is all." She responded. She couldn't ignore the way her name slipped out of his mouth. It sounded so smooth and it felt good. She wanted to deny whatever her mind was thinking.

Aria! Focus! Do not fall for his tactics again! She reminded herself.

"Are you still the same Aria that always ate on time or –"
She didn't let him finish.

"People change. Their thoughts and way of living life also change with time." She let it out all in one go.

Aiden looked at her solemn face for a moment, but not removing the small smile that permanently got fixed on his lips since they'd started talking.

"I feel you remember way too much!" Aria exclaimed to which he simply shrugged. She added more, "I mean you show up suddenly like this in my office after all these years and you know what I mean, right. I don't know what to say!"

"Those are the only things that I remember." He ignored her last sentence and responded to the older question. And the way he'd spoken directly, it left her partly perplexed.

Looking at her inability to grasp accurately, Aiden thought to rephrase it a bit but clearer this time. "I'm having trouble remembering things lately and somehow I've recalled about you. That's why I ended up meeting you. I hope I'm not causing you any sort of disturbance." He expressed it all in one go.

Aria seemed to be in total shock. She was yet to finish processing whatever information he'd fed her. So Aiden intended to make it easier for her. "It has not been long since I've woken up from a coma. I hardly remember anything. So whenever I reminisce about anything, be it a tiny memory or someone from my past, I try to get deeper with it and collect as much as possible." He further informed her.

Aria's initial response was silence, drinking in the information that was quite hard for her to process. Though it took her few more moments, she did manage to successfully decode the meaning behind his words. The only thing she couldn't find was her upcoming words to react.

However, the first few absurd words she found for herself yo react was, "So you show up because you remember me?" The way her brows raised in question made Aiden give her a look containing awe. Right after, Aria's expression suddenly changed, expressing her intrigued state as she asked further, "What do you remember about me particularly?" Her approach was a bit straight but she didn't quite realize. By the looks of Aiden, he did not mind either. Instead, the chap continued smiling and nodded a bit before responding in a normal tone but not before suppressing his enjoyment. "I don't know, Aria. I simply know your freckled face, you liked lacy shirts," Aria bit her bottom lip as she steadily glanced at herself. She loved lacy shirts back then and even in the present, she liked them and out of all the other days, she chose that day to wear one of those. Aiden suppressed a smile and finished his sentence, "I also remember you loved gardening and you stared at stars always."

Aria cleared her throat and spoke right away, "I included the last two things in my bio everywhere, Aiden."

The smile had finally vanished from his face as Aiden looked at her carrying multiple frowns, "So you think that this is a joke?"
"Your history with me forces me to think the same, Aiden Woods. I mean do you remember or not, you've been a painful prankster!" She exclaimed.

He gave her a questioning glance, "Oh, I wouldn't really know!"
"That's because you're supposed to forget?" She hit with another set of judgment.
"That's my truth," he shrugged in a helpless manner.
"Well, it's kinda hard to believe, Aiden. You remember my face but you forgot everything else?" Aria was definitely being hard to convince.
"I am sorry, it's my mistake. I shouldn't have shown up suddenly like this after all these years. 12 years is really a very long time." He started to give up on the task of making Aria believe in his reality.