Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Now that the adrenaline of the last two days has worn off. Carly didn’t know where she got the courage to fight off not one but two men. She didn’t remember having had any self-defence training, but she felt it in her bones she knew how to defend herself, maybe even more than just defend herself.
She just wanted to help that little girl. It’s all she wanted to do. She didn’t know why she felt the deep sense of protectiveness over the little girl, even just seeing her little trembling body fighting off two attackers.
Here she was packing up her apartment and she had no idea what she was going to do. She had no memories of her past. What type of life she led before she woke up in that hospital bed. She was going to take care of the little girl, while getting her nursing degree. She was going to take of the little girl who overnight stole her heart. Stella had not only stolen her heart but left her feeling like if she stuck to her and Mr. Jacobs she would find out who she was, what she liked, what she disliked...
She had no idea who she was, what she liked for the last couple of years she didn’t even know if she liked coffee, if she did how did she like it... Did she drink tea?
For the past two days Carly’s done nothing but run on steam, packing up her apartment, quitting her job, readjusting her school schedule to match Stella’s schedule. Her professor was less than pleased with her, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had no idea what she was going to do with her apartment.
The four-year-old was excited to hear she was going to be spending all her time with her now. She didn’t expect her to make such a deep impression on the little girl.
She would officially move in with the father and daughter pair tomorrow morning as for now she was packing up her things. She wasn’t going to let go of her apartment. She was going to keep it but pack everything in boxes. Her salary with Mr. Jacobs was more than enough for her to pay for this apartment.
She prayed this job would help her remember the past she’s forgotten about. When she woke up from her coma, she was told she was found half dead in front of the hospital when the staff rushed her in.
She didn’t have a name and after doing at least three tests they finally found out her name was Carly Lewis. An unemployed woman, an orphan with no friends no living relatives to tell her how she lived the past twenty-four years of her life.
If she was twenty-four years old. Sometimes she felt so much older. Like she was twenty-nine years old.
It was just a feeling; her personal information told her she was a twenty-four-year-old woman. A woman who felt like a shell of her former self. Even though she had no idea who her former self was. She didn’t know what she liked. The last four years have been an absolute nightmare for her. She didn’t even know what her favourite foods were.
She didn’t have any likes or dislikes. The doctors told her, her instincts would kick in. But no instincts kicked in. She was but an empty shell trying to be whole. It was why she whole heartedly took the job with the Jacobs family. It was why she was trying to be positive about regaining her memories. She had a little flashback when she was saving the little girl.
Though it was more flashes than an actual memory. After living alone, for so long she was excited to live with someone else.
A knock on her door brings her out of her thoughts.
She walks over to the door. She opens the door and is taken aback by the woman at the door. The woman’s face was swollen beaten black and blue.
Carly’s instincts screamed at her to close the door and to mind her own business. Yet a small part of her was screaming even louder at her to drag the woman into her apartment and hide her from whatever she was running from.
It was obvious she was running from something or someone. The way she kept checking over her shoulder and the way she flinched when she opened the door.
"I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for Enzo..." the woman’s voice is so small and soft she could barely hear her.
Carly frowned. "Enzo?" Was Enzo someone she was supposed to know? Was this a clue about her forgotten past?
"Enzo Amato? He stayed in this apartment?" she asks.
Carly shakes her head. "I’ve lived in this apartment for the past three years all by myself sorry. He must be the previous tenant..." Carly explained.
Koah let out a breath. She just arrived in Chicago hours ago. She came straight to the apartment she heard he stayed in four years ago. Did he move? "You have information on the previous tenant?" Koah asks.
Carly shakes her head. "Sorry. But I could ask the landlord. But I don’t think they hand over that information readily though..." Carly says softly.
Koah nods. She had no where else to do and it would be dark soon. She was going to have to sleep in her car. She didn’t want to, but she had no other choice. Plus, she couldn’t keep the dogs alone in the car for much longer. "It’s okay... Thank you anyway. Do you perhaps know of any shelters in the area willing to take in anyone with dogs?" she asks.
Carly’s eyes widen. "Why don’t you stay in my apartment. I got a job recently where I will be given a place to stay, you can take over my lease, my rent has been paid for the next three months, so if you could look after my apartment..."
Carly didn’t know why she offered her apartment to a woman she just met. She didn’t even know the woman. But something screamed at her. A part of her related to this woman.
It was bizarre. Over the last four years nothing ever felt like this, yet here she was over the last three days, she was getting a sense of herself. She was a protector. Something she had no idea about. She knew self-defence, she liked helping people.
Yet she didn’t have a favourite coffee, a tea brand she preferred, she barely got any sleep and functioned like a person who got at least ten hours of sleep.
Sometimes she even felt she used to work in law enforcement. But Carly Lewis barely even finished high school. She didn’t even go to college. Carly didn’t amount to anything. Or that’s what she assumes.
"Are you sure?" Koah asks.
Carly nods. "Please you’ll be doing me a favour, I had no idea what to do with my apartment before you showed up. This would help me out a lot..." Carly wasn’t lying.
"Thank you so much. I don’t know know how I’ll ever repay you..." Koah didn’t think people like this woman existed in this world. She was giving her apartment to a total stranger. Someone she didn’t even know from east to west. "I’m Koah Harbour..." She stretches out her hand.
Carly takes her hand and smiles. "Carly Lewis. Why don’t you come in. Where are you things? Do you have things?" Carly asks inviting Koah in.
Koah walks in. She looks at the bare walls and minimal furniture. The apartment felt as sad as she felt knowing Enzo didn’t live here anymore. She wondered where her former lover was. Was Enzo alright?
Has he moved on with his life? Did he have a family of his own? was she intruding on his life if she found him?
"Koah?" Carly calls out softly. She didn’t shout or raised her voice, something told her if she did she’d scare Koah and that was the last thing she wanted to do.
Koah turns to Carly. She knew what Carly was doing and she was thankful. "I’m sorry, I was lost in thought..." She says softly. She was thinking about her life without Austin. She didn’t know if she could do it on her own.
"I asked if you had anything with you..." Carly asks taking Koah’s cold hands in her warm hands.
"My dogs are in my car with a few of my things..." she said softly.
"Want me to grab your things? You can take a seat anywhere. I could make you a cup of tea or coffee if you like. I don’t worry about brands but if you do, I could grab some from the store. I’m sorry I’m not very good at this. I don’t have any likes or dislikes and I rarely have someone over so I barely stock the essentials." The thought of Koah being her friend have her a sense of hope. She didn’t have many... Well she only had one friend.
Something about making friends always scared her. She didn’t know why she always feared getting close to people. Yet she wanted to bond with a woman running away from something...
