Chapter 2 Memories...

Juliana, lying on the ground alone in the middle of the road, still wearing her wedding dress, felt despair take over her, bringing her to tears. Without a cell phone, without money, without knowing where to go or what to do, Juliana took off her heels that were hurting her already swollen and sore feet and began to walk aimlessly along the road ahead of her as tears blurred her vision. The cars passing on the road honked at Juliana, while the drivers shouted obscenities at her. Cold and fear overcame her as she shrugged her shoulders and hugged herself in an attempt to keep warm. "Juliana!" A vehicle had slowed down, following her steps on the road, and as she heard her name, Juliana felt relief replace the despair she felt as she recognized the voice of Patrick, Dimitri's brother, calling her name. "Come on, Juliana. I'll take you home." Without saying a word, and without any other possibility, Juliana got into the car and drove home... whatever that meant.

***

Juliana was awakened by the sound of the shower. Slowly she felt her consciousness returning, without having any control over it, as she felt her head throbbing, and the sour smell that invaded her nostrils made her stomach turn and bile rise up into her throat. He tried to open his eyes, but as soon as the dim light from the lamp reached his eyes, the pain was more intense than he could bear. Nothing made sense when he managed to glance quickly around the room. He couldn't recognize anything in that place. And that made it absolutely certain that he had never been there before. He tried desperately and uselessly to remember how he got there. He wondered what this place was and whose room he was in. And the sound of the shower being turned off made her heart race desperately, wondering who was there and what else might have happened? Why had someone taken her there? The memories came back to her mind like completely disconnected flashes. The wedding. The contract. The divorce contract. The wedding party, the guests. Filippa. Until the moment she was practically dragged to the car by Dimitri. The cold, dark, lonely road. The fear that took over every inch of her body. And then: Patrick. But she still didn't know how she got there. And while she tried to remember where she was and how she had gotten to that completely unknown place, Juliana saw Patrick coming out of the bathroom. His dark hair and body still damp from the hot water, wrapped in a black towel from the waist down, while drops of water slowly dripped down his healed abdomen, attracted Juliana's still confused but attentive and curious gaze, which, despite everything, recognized how handsome and attractive Patrick was. The headache was unbearable. And all Juliana wanted was to stay in the dark and in silence. She just wanted to find out that everything she remembered was just a bad dream, and that her life was still the same as before. She wanted to find out that she hadn't gotten married, that she hadn't been kicked out of a car still dressed as a bride, that she hadn't been left alone on a deserted road... but when she opened her eyes, all she saw was a completely strange place, where she had never been before, and of this Juliana was sure. As if sensing that he was being watched, Patrick looked at Juliana and smiled. "You woke up quickly. I thought you would sleep longer." "Where am I?" "At home." "Clearly this isn't my home." "It has been since you married my brother, little sister-in-law." "And why am I here... and... why am I here with you and not with Dimitri?" As these questions echoed unanswered in her mind, Juliana realized that she was wearing only panties and a bra... on Dimitri's brother's bed. Frightened that she didn't know what had happened, Juliana looked around the room, and as she saw her wedding dress completely dirty and lying in the other corner of the room, the memory that she had married an arrogant playboy for a contract was like a punch in her stomach. To think that she would have to endure this marriage for another thirty long days was more than Juliana considered herself capable of enduring in the midst of a hangover. "It's a complicated story... but..." "What happened, Patrick?" "After I found you on that road, all alone and dressed as a bride, we came here. And as I was pouring myself a shot of whiskey..." The memories came back like magic in Juliana's mind as Patrick slowly told her what had happened. "Considering this horrible headache, I deduce that I insisted on drinking with you." "Evidently..." "And then?" "And then we drank... we drank a lot. And you started to cry and cry and cry, and the more you cried, the more you drank. Until..." As she listened to Patrick's words, Juliana looked at the ends of her hair, which were completely stuck together, and judging by the smell impregnated in her body, and the horrible taste in her mouth "I threw up." "Vomited. All over me. On my expensive Italian suit, practically from head to toe. And then, I had to take a shower here... impossible to leave, to get in the car completely covered in vomit." "I need a shower urgently, or I'll end up vomiting again. Sorry about the suit." "Brother-in-laws are for these things." Juliana made an attempt to get up, but felt her head spinning, and sat down on the bed again. Patrick quickly ran to the girl to support her, before she simply fell. Juliana, embarrassed because she was only in lingerie, tried to push Patrick away, pushing him away from her as he insisted on helping her. At that very moment Dimitri opened the door. "Patrick? Juliana? What the hell is going on here?" "It's not what you're thinking, brother." "I don't even need to think about the truth. I can see it." As he watched the pitiful scene of his brother in a towel, fresh out of the shower, and Juliana standing there in just her panties and bra... and in the background the completely unmade and messy bed, there was only one possibility of what could have happened a few minutes ago. In Dimitri's mind, everything was starting to make sense. And without saying a word about what he had just seen, Dimitri began to put together the pieces that formed an intricate puzzle.