Mister West by R.J. Lewis (animal farm read .TXT) 📕

with Aidan. He was telling me he was doing something huge. Something that I caught Steven on the phone tell him was too impulsive.

“He would have wanted to do it regardless of me,” I finally say in a small voice. “He wanted to rebuild another company –”

“He wanted to start a new life with you,” Steven cuts in. “I know this because he told me firsthand. He said he realized his purpose in life, and he finally understood me. He told me a woman can change everything and did for him.”

I don’t speak. My eyes are burning. This is a massive information dump. My body is physically weak.

I feel Ana’s hand on my shoulder. She rubs it. “It’s okay, Ivy,” she whispers sadly. “I love you, it’s okay.”

I rest my hand over hers and return my gaze to Steven.

“Where is he?” I finally ask.

Steven’s face falls. He looks…uncomfortable. Something is very wrong, I can sense it.

“Steven,” I press, “tell me.”

He stands up and begins to pace around the tiny room. His hands fly behind his back, and he clasps them there as he stares down at his shoes with every step he makes. His thoughts are blazing before his eyes. He’s doing that thing again: thinking of what to say before he says it, and it’s driving me crazy.

“You’re making her anxious,” Ana snaps. “You came all the way here to talk to her. So talk.”

Steven stiffens at the retort, but he nods in response, like even he knows he’s being difficult. He returns to the couch and collapses back into it, and this time his face is somber. His eyes meet mine, and there’s fear…fear staring back at me.

“Aidan went away for a while,” he says. “He went to do some soul searching, perhaps. I think he was just trying to find a way to make time pass. He was devastated, even heartbroken. You…cut him deep, but there was also determination in his movements. He told me the last time I spoke to him during this time that he was fighting his demons and he would be ready to open his heart again when he was done. I sense…I sense he was preparing himself for you, waiting for you to be ready.”

I stop breathing, listening intently as I imagine Aidan going through his days in heartbreak. Because of me. Because I was selfish.

“He’s waiting for me?” I whisper, feeling hope bubble to the surface.

But Steven’s face remains solemn. “He…He started to lose himself a little bit.”

“Why?”

“He lost his grandmother six months ago.”

“Oh, my God,” Ana cries out. “How?”

He looks at her and then me. “She was old, that’s all. Ruth was very, very old. She made it to 92. She lived a long life and died in her sleep peacefully. It’s the way we should all go at the end of our lives.”

I’d never met Ruth, but I knew she was the light of Aidan’s life. She helped him through everything. Pulled him out of the gutter he was in when he got hooked on drugs.

“She saved him,” I choke out. “She pulled him back from the brink.”

Now Steven looks emotional. He nods once, swallowing. “She was a good woman. The best.”

There’s a moment of silence. I feel like he isn’t done. In fact, I feel like he hasn’t even started.

He lets out a long breath, regaining his composure. “Aidan grieved hard. He got distracted. You know what his favorite distraction was outside of you, don’t you, Ivy?”

I think for a moment. “Cars?”

“Yeah.”

“He drove.”

“He didn’t just drive, though.”

I nod now. “He’s an adrenaline junkie.”

“He is.”

I wait some more for him to collect himself. What the hell is happening?

Steven licks his lips, carefully saying, “He got into a really bad wreck.”

My spine stiffens. Fear shoots through my heart. “No, no.”

“Yeah.”

So many images flash before my eyes, every one of them sending me into a spiral of terror. “Is he okay? Is he recovering –”

“His body is fine,” he cuts in. “He had the most miraculous recovery. Broke a few bones, but Ruth was looking out for him. His body made it out in one piece…”

Okay, so…? I keep staring at him, imploring him to get to the fucking point.

Steven looks down at the floor, finally blurting out, “His mind is another matter. Aidan suffered retrograde amnesia. When he came to in the hospital, he didn’t know where he was, who he was. The doctors were hopeful this was temporary. These things happen. When the brain suffers a traumatic injury, sometimes the processor gets jumbled up. Thankfully, that appeared to be the case for Aidan. Over the following weeks he was able to piece things together. Not a hundred percent, but enough that he knew who he was, knew who I was. He remembered the launch of the company, even a bunch of our childhood memories together, but…” Steven pauses, letting out a dismal sigh. Then his eyes find mine. “Aidan can’t remember the last few years of his life.”

I stare at him like he’s just ripped my heart out because I know what he’s saying, and I’m terrified it means what I think it means.

“He doesn’t remember me,” I say slowly.

Steven looks at me sadly. “No.”

Thirty-Three

Ivy

I’m sitting inside the tub, trying to breathe. I bolted out of there straight after Steven said No to me. I can’t let anyone see me fall apart.

I bury my face in my hands.

Ana’s speaking to Steven, but I can’t hear what they’re saying. Blood’s rushing in my ears and I feel woozy as fuck. I feel weak. Sick and weak and like I want to sob. In fact, why did Steven have to come here? I prefer heartbreak to this.

Yeah, why? Why did he come at all?

I climb out of the tub and whip the door open. I hurry into the living room. Steven is drinking a cup of water when he looks at me. The color drains from his face because he can see I’m furious.

“Why are