"Huh...?" Margaret was taken aback by Alex's words. She was hoping for an embarrassed laugh and a couple of half-baked excuses. But all she got was a straightforward rejection.
"What... What do you mean by it won't work anymore, and let's just put a full stop to everything?" Margaret asked, looking straight into Alex's eyes. Margaret felt that she had made it very clear by her actions all along and especially the other day that she was not just playing with him. She was romantically interested in him. So why was he outright rejecting her? And what did those gifts she got for the last few days mean?
Alex, when saw Margaret looking at him, expecting an explanation, averted his eyes from her and looked away. He got off his bike and stood in front of her.
He knew to a certain extent that all these days, Margaret was not particularly angry with him and was playing it hard, maybe to spice things up between them. But his priorities have changed for once. While earlier, all he wanted was to have an ordinary life with his parents, brother and friends. Find someone to love. If possible marry her and even grow old together. Now his priority was to get back his memories and get done with these messed up dreams and mood swings once and for all.
When Margaret saw Alex standing there without saying a word, she grabbed him by his arm and made him look at her, "Say something. You know how I feel about you, don't you? And from what I can see, you feel the same for me. So what's the problem? What is this all about putting an end to it?" That elegant mature Margaret, who looked like nothing could faze and surprise her, now looked like any other girl in love, trying to fight for it.
"Is it because of how I got mad at you for no reason at all the other day? Is that it?" Margaret asked, "It was my fault for teasing you that way, okay? But believe me, it had nothing to do with how I feel about you," Margaret tried to lay down her feelings in front of Alex, “And if you want, I will apologize to you and try to make it up to you any way possible.” Margaret said.
"I..." Alex wanted to explain, but as soon as he looked at Margaret, he felt dizzy, and his vision began to blur. Alex shook his head to get rid of the dizziness, but it was of no help.
"I love you..." Alex heard a voice in his head. He looked around, confused to find who was talking to him, but only Margaret was there with him.
"I know you love me. So why are you pushing me away? Just because of your parents?" He heard the girl's voice again ringing in his ears, "If you can't let go of your revenge, then let me help you. All you have to do is ask, and I will leave everything behind."
"Shut up..." Alex whispered, but Margaret still heard him.
"What?" Margaret couldn't believe her ears when she heard Alex. She got close to Alex and tried to hold on to him.
"You know that I can help you. Use me... Use me any way you want. I won't care even if I die, but don't push me away. You are the reason for my existence." Alex heard it again.
"Who are you? What do you want from me?" Alex said. This time he was loud enough for Margaret to hear it clearly, "Get away from me." Alex said and pushed Margaret's hand away. He stumbled back because of the dizziness but his motorcycle prevented him from falling.
When she saw Alex back away, pushing his hand away, Margaret felt teary-eyed, "Enough, Alex. You can't do this to me." Margaret felt aghast by the way Alex was treating her, "You can't treat me like that even if I was in the wrong."
Hurt, Margaret looked at Alex and slowly pulled back her steps. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that Alex would be so insensitive and brazen to her.
She had already decided yesterday that if Alex don’t give up and did, any sweet gesture like the last few days one more time, she was willing to let go of her hard to get attitude and play it nice. And when she saw him personally put the flowers on her door, she finally gave in. She was about to confess her feelings for him, but before she could do it, Alex dropped the bomb on her.
Everything changed with a few words. Margaret hoped that Alex would suddenly out of nowhere say, ‘I was joking.’ But there was no explanation from his side. She waited for Alex to say something, but he looked everywhere but her. Disappointed, she turned around to leave. Maybe she was so hurt by his words that she failed to notice the turmoil Alex was in.
"Uhhh..." She had not taken more than two steps when she heard a thud and Alex groan. When she looked back, Alex was on the ground, supported by his bike, looking all pale. She could see him take deep breathes and wriggle around in desperation.
Worried about him, Margaret hurriedly walked up to Alex and supported him.
"Alex, are you alright? What happened?" Margaret asked, but Alex was too out of it to reply. Slowly his eyes began to drop, and before she could comprehend, Alex was lying there unconscious in front of her.
"Alex, wake up," Margaret spoke as she shook Alex, "If this is a joke, let me tell you, it's not funny at all."
Margaret continued to pat him on his cheeks, trying to wake him up. She even thought of going in and calling out to Martha, but eventually, she didn't do it.
Without many options for her to choose from, Margaret looked around for the bottle she had with her. She picked up the bottle and squeezed it, spraying all she had left in it on Alex.
"Uahh... I am drowning... Help... Help," Alex woke up with a jolt uttering nonsense, but when he looked around, he was collapsed on the road with a concerned Margaret in front of him.
"Why am I like this?" Alex asked Margaret.
"You tell me," Margaret counter questioned, "First, you were blabbering nonsense and then collapsed on the ground on your own. Look, your face has gone pale in minutes," Margaret said as she stroked his face gently. Margaret didn’t notice it, but all her anger washed away as soon as she saw him lying on the ground, pale and breathless.
Hearing Margaret, everything came gushing into his brain. It took him some time to straighten his thoughts, but when he was done, he looked at Margaret with complicated eyes. This was not the first time he had these visions, but the thing that struck him was that it was the second time he had these visions when Margaret was with him.
The day they fought, as he watched Margaret walk away from his house, Alex had a similar experience. That day, just like today, he had a voice of a girl sound in his brain. That day, Margaret just walked away without looking back, so she had no idea. But Alex felt that there was some connection between Margaret and the girl in her subconscious, or at least Margaret could be the link for him to find out more about the girl.
"You are beautiful," Alex suddenly said without any context.
"What?" Margaret, who was busy rubbing his palms, was shocked to hear that out of nowhere compliment. She looked at Alex, hoping for some more words to shed light on what he just said to avoid any misunderstanding, but it never came. Alex, on the other hand, continued to look at Margaret with a smile plastered on his face without saying another word. This might be his only chance for damage control.
"Chhat!" Margaret, without wasting any time, slapped Alex, "Have you lost it?" She asked.
The slap was so sudden that Alex was still smiling after receiving a blow to his cheeks. Third slap in two days. That was the count right now and still counting.
"Why would you do that for?" Though Alex complained, the smile on his face never left.
“Just wanted to know if you hit your head or something?” Margaret said. Margaret always prided himself in the fact that she always had the upper hand in dealing with situations, but right now, she had no idea what was going on.
“I didn’t. I mean it,” Alex smiled as he took her palms in his.
"I don't know," Margaret decided to leave it aside for the time being, "But that's not important right now. What happened to you?" Margaret asked.
Alex had no reason to lay it all in front of Margaret for now. From the looks of it, he can't just trust her with his secrets, at least not before he finds out the connection between the voice in his heart and her, "It was probably because of the heat," Alex lied, "I have been working out a lot lately, and with the sun raining fire, I guess everything just did a number on me,"
"Are you telling the truth?" Margaret asked, still not convinced by his reply.
"How can anyone lie in front of such a beautiful face," Alex tried to flatter Margaret with his flowery words.
"Don't act," Margaret was not amused by his flattery this time, "You were singing a different tone not too long back," Margaret remarked.