Chapter 46 So much walking
"His girlfriend?" Nelson repeated as they walked further up the mountain following the trail. He hadn't expected her to mention anything about a girlfriend.
Because he had ended things with his last girlfriend in his first year of high school. Before he began to notice Irene.
So this memory of hers... It was strange.
A doubt was planted in his heart again regarding the true cause of whatever was going on with her.
If it was memory loss... The memories she had should be accurate, shouldn't they?
"Yeah." Irene nodded, completely oblivious to the internal turmoil that was going on in Nelson's head. "You should be surprised. I was, too, when I found out about her." She said, before tilting he head to the side, as though she was reminiscing about how the girl looked.
"She's really pretty..." She said absent-mindedly, "Anyone would love her."
How could Irene forget how beautiful the girl looked? When she had seen her, she was shocked.
They fit each other perfectly. It was as though they were made for each other. Before she had thought Nelson would die alone... She had actually cursed him several times in her mind, but after seeing his girlfriend that day, she began to see him in a new light.
That he wouldn't just die alone, but die heartbroken and alone once the lady found out how selfish and heartless he was.
"What's her name?" Irene heard Nelson ask beside her.
She blinked, snapping out of her thoughts before shaking her head. "I don't know."
She hadn't probed long enough to find out. She was too stunned by the girl's existence to think of anything else at the moment.
"I don't pry into anyone's life, especially not Enel's." Irene explained, "Because if I do, he'd pry into my life too." She said and then paused.
Nelson didn't pry into her life because she had done it first... He did it because he just wanted to.
"He actually doesn't need a reason to pry." She added, before looking around.
They were getting further up the mountain. It should have been a good thing but Irene had only begun to notice how the path they were on was in the woods.
The woods were filled with tall trees. It was the afternoon, and the sun was up, yet because of how tall the trees were, they blocked most of the sunlight from reaching the ground.
Which gave the path a shady look.
Irene turned back to look at Nelson, inching closer towards him. "This place is lonely and scary..." She said.
At least at the bottom of the mountain she had seen a few other people walking the same path, but the further they got, the lonelier it became.
Irene stared suspiciously at Nelson. "You can't kill me you know that, right?"
If he did, his Irene might never come back... He already knew that because she had said so minutes ago.
Nelson resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her and instead just shook his head.
The Irene he married trusted him. She barely questioned anywhere he took her... Even though it was a surprise. But this one, she behaved exactly the way she used to when she was a teenager.
Always so suspicious and wary of him...
How could she be someone else?
His thoughts were confused, he still hadn't gotten enough evidence to believe anything.
"Let's go." He said as he walked on. "It's barely an hour and a half walk to the top." And they had been walking for almost thirty minutes already. "Tell me more about yourself and your universe."
Irene looked up at the long trail in front of them.
She still had an hour more of walking to do.
So much walking...
But, since the option of going down the trail alone was out of the picture, she could only keep moving forward.
"Well..." She jogged up to meet Nelson, "You already know I play the piano. I have been since I was little. I plan on being a pianist... One who would be loved and respected all over the world."
She didn't mind telling anyone and everyone, because it was definitely going to happen.
In her future, she would be an amazing pianist... Not the wife of Nelson Clark.
It had been a dream she had had since she was little... Though it wasn't only hers. It was one of the reasons Irene just had to fulfil it.
Because Katarina couldn't.
She would he fulfilling not only her dream, but her dead best friend's as well.
Nelson nodded as he listened to her. She had said all of these before, and she seemed really adamant about becoming a pianist.
But in all the years he had been married to her, Nelson had hardly seen Irene go near a piano. She hardly looked twice at the one they had at the mansion either.
"What do you think about catering?" He asked all of a sudden and Irene's brows creased.
"Catering?" She repeated, before shaking her head. "I don't know how to cook."
"Really?" Nelson raised a brow at her, obviously disbelieving her answer.
"Okay, I do know how to cook." Irene rolled her eyes. Of course, she wouldn't be able to lie to him; he was an Enel. Just not the one from her universe, but... Almost the same.
"But, I don't really like doing it that much. Only when I absolutely have to."
Only those times that both of her parents had to work late, and she didn't have money to order pizza... Which was most of the time. Her parents weren't as rich as Enel's, but they weren't poor either.
But she was always saving money for one thing or the other... And most times refused to touch it no matter what.
Irene was self-taught. Her mother didn't even know she could cook until a few months ago... A few months ago, her time.
"What?" Nelson seemed surprised when he heard that she didn't like doing it.
Irene shrugged.
She didn't like cooking because it reminded her that she wasn't rich. She would have preferred to just sit back, relax, and be cooked for.
Her mother knew that, so whenever she was at home, Irene got the princess treatment... But when they were out, even though they had given her money for takeout... She had to cook on her own.
"Irene is an amazing cook." Nelson suddenly commented and Irene rolled her eyes.
She didn't say she was a bad cook, she only said she didn't like doing it.
"I know, she's a caterer." She replied in a tone that said 'duh'.
She had found that out from one of the maids at the mansion.
"But what I don't know is, why doesn't she own a catering business or better still, a restaurant or a bakery... I mean, she is married to you."
She was only a caterer in her house.
The lady didn't do jobs, nor did she have a restaurant or a huge business. It seemed as though Irene had only learnt to cook for Nelson.
At least, in the beginning, before she changed.
Nelson looked up at her, "If you were married to me, would you want to work?" He said, pride obvious in his tone.
Irene's lips pulled up into a smile. "Oh... You can open the business for her because you have the funds to, and she can live a sedentary lifestyle equally because you have the funds to afford it."
"That's beautiful logic."
But it was stupid to waste a few years in college only to not use the certificate to do anything.
Irene let out a small sigh. That was none of her business. She had no intention of pursuing a career in catering.
The mountain part became a bit harder to walk as they went further up. It became slanted, and Irene had to watch her steps before taking them.
"This is why I don't do crazy exercises." She complained as she took another step, "Because they are just too..." She tried to jump over a small branch and succeeded, but she didn't land successfully. She missed her step and her leg tripped.
"ahhh!" Irene screamed in fright, shutting her eyes. She could already imagine the pain she would feel once her body hit the ground.
When her body hit the ground.
Wait...
Why wasn't her body hitting the ground?
A few seconds passed, but Irene felt no pain. Instead, she felt someone's hands around her waist, lifting her and pressing her against something hard, yet soft... A chest. His chest.
Breathing heavily, Irene slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was those pair of baby blue orbs staring back at her, worry dancing in them.
Her heart skipped a beat the second his deep voice filled with concern for her got to her ears. "Are you okay?"
"Irene!