A Beautiful New Life (10 page)

“So where do you want to go first?” He had the gentlest voice
,
it drew her in
,
and when she did not
answer,
he asked again. She was tempted not
to
answer
intentionally
this time just to hear his voice but
she
did not want to
appear
rude.

“I know what you said earlier but I’d really like to drive around and see if anything is familiar.” He knew it would not be but he did not want to see the disappointment on her face again.

“Well let’s go then.” He pulled out of the parking
lot
and drove southwest toward town. They drove
through town and then
around
the outer suburbs
. After about an hour, she w
as convinced that nothing looked familiar
and
they headed back to town. He showed her where the rehabilitation center and dorms were located.

“You will be training here until they can place you somewhere to work. The dorms are conveniently located across the parking lot here so you can just walk and won’t need any transportation.”

“
Sounds well thought out. Can we
go take a look at my room
?
” She was a little excited now. She was ready to move forward and hoped her memory would return.
She felt this next s
tep would get her closer to that goal.

Michael
parked
and they got out. He led her to the entrance she would use to come and go from the dormitories.

“Let’s see you are in room 230. Oh and here are your keys.” He handed her the keys
and as their hands touched, the connection she felt earlier was stronger
.
She tried hard to remember how she knew him.

“Here we are, Room 230.”

“Okay I’m embarrassed my mind was somewhere else so how did we get here.” She
wondered if she should tell him about the feelings she was having, but decided to wait.

“Well you only get one lesson on that so you will need to pay attention when we leave.” He laughed.
He let her unlock the door and enter the room. It was a single dorm room
, with the
bed against the farthest wall
and
a desk and chair beside it. Megan walked over to the closet and opened the door. The bare hangers made her aware of how little she had or even kn
e
w she needs.

“What about clothes? Will the hundred dollars be enough to get some?”

“Not likely but we’ll stop at the second hand store and see if they can help you out. They will usually allow you some outfits but you’ll have to volunteer some hours manning the store in return.”

“That’s fine; I’d just hate to have to wear the same thing over and over again.”
She closed the closet and walked over to the closed door beside it. She opened the door and found the bathroom that she shared with the occupant next door.

“There isn’t anyone next door to you but I’d suggest getting in the habit of locking the door when you are using the bathroom. So if someone moves in you’re not being walked in on.”
She nodded her
agreement, they returned to the main room,
and Megan sat down on the bed. The whole thought that she did not know who she was or where she came from was all of a sudden overwhelming. She put her head in her hands and cried.
Michael
came over and sat down next to her.

“Hey are you okay?” He rubbed her back not sure what he could do to console her. He had been in her position too. He understood but
she was not ready to hear what he had to say, she just would not understand.

“I’ll be fine.” She sniffed and wished she had some tissues. “I don’t even know why I’m crying. I don’t know what I’m forgetting.”

“It’ll be okay. You’re strong.” He got up from the bed.

She got
up, walked to the bathroom,
and blew her nose. She came back out again
,
looked around and felt she had a feel for what she needed and first on the list was pen and paper.

“Is there a store I can go get
the
stuff I need.”
Embarrassed by her episode, Louise
would not look at him.
She just did not feel that she was that type of person to cry in front of a stranger. Like Michael had said, she was strong and she believed it.

“Yes, there’s one here in town. I can take you.”
Michael
walked to the door and waited until she was ready. They headed out of the room down the hall to the center stairway and walked down the stairs.

“Straight out the door is the parking lot, here to the right is the manager’s office and to the left the first door on the left is the laundry room.
There’s
no charge for using the washer or dryer but you do need to bring your own soap.
Next to the laundry
is a kitchenette. It
has all the cookware,
bakeware
, and other kitchen essentials you will need
. You just need to bring your own food to cook.”

“Well that wasn’t too hard. I can remember that.”

“Excuse me, you must be Megan.” Two m
e
n walked out of the manager’s office. Megan took a step back and stood behind
Michael
. Chills shot through her and she wanted to run. Why did this man scare her so much? He looked like something from a carnival sideshow with his
red skin and
over inflated muscles.

‘Megan.”
Michael
stepped aside exposing her. “This is Mark the dorm manager and this is Vince, head of security.” They both stepped forward to shake her hand. She was not sure which one scared her more now. Mark had a creepy st
al
king look in his eyes and Vince winked at her as he licked drool off his lips.

“Well Megan, welcome. Has
Michael
showed you around?” Mark was standing too close and Megan had to take a step back.

“Yes, he did. Thank you.” She took an extra step to the door. She really wanted to leave now. The guarded feeling she felt from
Michael
was quickly
evaporating
by the haunting perverted feelings coming from Vince and Mark.

“Well we’re off to the store so Megan
can
pick up some supplies.
Gentlemen.”
Michael
shook their hands and guided Megan out the door. She was glad to be away from them and wondered if she should say something to
Michael
but thought better of it. She did not want to set off on the wrong foot with any of them.
Everyone else has been so nice and
has helped
her more than she would have expected.
They headed off to the grocery store to pick up a few supplies. She spent twenty-five dollars but thought she would have to go back because she was sure she had forgotten more than what she remembered. They made their way around town again and then headed back to her room.
Megan did not see
Vince and Mark as
Michael
helped carry the supplies to her room.

“Well I’m going to take off
,
b
ut before I go remember your first day is tomorrow. 
It’s
in the building next door. You also have a follow-up appointment with the doctor in three days.”

“Yes that’s all here with my discharge papers.” She pointed to the papers on her desk. “Thanks for showing me around today. I was wondering though is it okay if I walk around a bit
;
it’s still early?”

“That’s fine, try not to get lost though.
I
f you do lose your way
,
anyone should be able to help you find your way back. It is a pretty small town and pretty much everyone knows everything.” He smiled.

“So…they know who I am and know I don’t remember anything.” She sounded discouraged and maybe a little scared.

“Yes, they know but
I assure you that
no one will take advantage of that and if someone does
,
someone else will know about it and put a stop to it.” He paused a moment at the door. “Hey you’re going to be okay. I’ll make sure of that.” He turned and left before she could respond.

Megan
left but
returned
a short time later
after her little walk. She did not venture far afraid of getting lost but it was nice to be out of that stuffy hospital room. She tried to clear her mind and wondered where she had come from but that was far more depressing than the hospital room so she thought it better to call it a night and headed back to her room.

Morning came and
Megan got dressed and made her way across the parking lot to the rehabilitation center. She had already participated in physical rehabilitation so she knew what to expect. She entered the building and checked in at the front desk as instructed.

“Good morning Miss
Stauss
, you’re assigned to classroom 113, Mr. Jones.
It’s
straight down this hall third door on the left.
You’re
a little early so just go in and find your seat. If you want you can get a head start and work on this questionnaire.” The receptionist smiled as she handed her the packet.

“Thank you, I will.” Megan took the packet and walked down the hall as directed. She was the first person in the room and found the desk assigned to her. She sat down and started work on the packet. She felt lost filling it out. Most of the questions concerned her accident
,
which she did not remember. The next set of questions was about her life before the accident
,
which again she did not remember.
However, s
he read every question and anything that sparked an interest she marked. She would focus on those items one at a time to see if anything comes back.

A few more people filtered in and so did the instructor. He began with a brief introduction. Who he was, his background, and what he expected them to gain out of this class. He passed out the schedule. Megan noticed she had home economics, driver’s education, and physical fitness. The basics an adult female would need. These classes were three weeks in length
. U
pon
completing those classes, Megan will do
additional testing to determine
what
advance classes
she can take.

Megan was ready for it. She was excited to be starting a life in hopes it would take her back to her old one. With that thought
,
she wondered if she even wanted to go back to her old life. It was a thought that
Betty
implanted
in her mind back
at the hospital. Maybe it was better she did not; like they said no one came looking for her or reported a person fitting her description as missing.

As the days went
on,
she saw less and less of
Michael
. He was busy working and she was busy with school. She finished her three weeks of basic education and was tested and encouraged to sign up for some advance classes including computers, statistics, and finance. Once those were
completed,
she could apply for any of the jobs available and eventually move out of the dorms.

As her schooling was winding
down,
she applied for the statistics job at the city office. Not knowing anything about her background
,
she did not feel confident in being able to pull off the interview. The application was a chore in
itself,
as she could not answer most of the questions.

As she arrived home from her last day of school, there was a note on her door to call Carol at the city office as soon as possible. It was time stamped an hour earlier. She rushed back down to the first floor to the manager’s office. She hoped she was not too late.

“Hey Mark, can I use the phone?” Megan was breathless from her jog down
the stairs
.
Mark had proven more times than she liked that her
first opinion of him
was right
. He was slightly overweight with thinning hair and all too eager to please the female patrons and
he
has seemed to
take
a greater interest in Megan.

“Sure
,
are you going to be long? I was getting ready to leave for dinner.” She could see he was holding his car keys.

“I don’t think so I just got a message I needed to call Carol at the city office as soon as possi
ble.” Her breathing was now slowing as she walked to the desk.