Promises Forgotten
Chapter 16

The last two videos were of the last day in Vegas, apparently. One I had set up her phone against the car I had rented, the same convertible that she was standing in with the photo I had taken of her. The sun was dipping low and she was leaning against the railing somewhere out further in the desert to where you could see the lights of Vegas far off in the background.

“You know, these past few days have showed me there are still parts of Vegas that aren’t the gross seedy underbelly of the strip.”

She turned back and smiled, a smile that threw my heart for a loop. I walked back in to the frame and I took her hands.

“I can’t lose you, Evie. I feel like the moment I let you go, you will disappear out of my life and I can’t let that happen. No matter what my parents think or what the f*****g world thinks. I need you by my side. My grandfather taught me more than I will ever be able to thank him for, but he also warned me that there might be a time my soul would replace its match. He told me to do whatever it took to keep that person with me. Even if it meant that I had to throw things away that were comfortable. I am going to follow his advice and do just that. Evie, marry me.”

She laughed. “This is the second time you proposed today, Z.”

I smiled and got down on one knee, the lights illuminating our figures but not much else. I produced a box and opened it for her. “I did, but I did it wrong. I did it without a ring. Without showing how serious I was. Please, Evie. Marry me.”

Her laughter faded, but the smile remained as she looked down at me. “Your family won’t approve.”

“You’re right.”

“You might lose your birthright.”

“You’re right.”

“Your access to all the fun parties and that jet you love so much. That never ending flow of money you get from your dad and your grandfather’s work.”

“Evie, if the last thing I buy is this ring, I promise you here and now, I will never regret it. Not a single day will go by that I will regret giving it all up. Not if you are by my side. We will work together on that little dream cafe of yours. Or I will take over the little businesses I have been building outside of my father’s reach. It doesn’t matter, Evie. Because I know if I let you go, let you slip from my fingers, I know without a doubt I will regret it every single moment of my life.”

She placed her hand over her mouth and crouched down with me. Holding out her hand, she nodded. The elation on my face said everything as I slipped the ring on her finger, the pure relief and love as I pulled her toward me into my arms.

“I will never let you go. I promise you, I will spend my entire life making sure you know that I don’t regret anything that comes after this. That your love is all I need in this life.”

Evie laughed and threw her arms around me and we both fell into the dirt. “I’ll hold you to that. Because I will spend every day showering you with the love you deserve. All of it. Even when you don’t think you deserve it.”

We laughed together and I picked her up bridal style, walking her to the car. Before we reached it and I grabbed the phone, she asked where we were we going. I threw my head back and laughed.

“You think we are going to get engaged and not get married by Elvis when we are in the City of Sin, you have another think coming.”

“We are getting married now?” Her voice rose and she started to laugh all over again.

“Of course, we are! Who do you think I am? I won’t lose you, Evie, and if it takes a man dressed in an Elvis outfit to bind you to me, then you bet your a*s I’m gonna say ‘I do’.”

She started to squirm as we got to the car. “Wait wait! But I don’t have a dress!”

“We will replace one. Don’t worry. We will take care of it. Then we will go on our honeymoon!”

“Where the f**k are we going? We’ve spent like nine days in Vegas!”

I grabbed her phone and tossed it on her lap before coming around and getting into the driver’s seat. “We will go to Greece. My parents have a small summer home there. If it’s the last thing of theirs I can use before they disown me, you and I will destroy it.”

The camera was no longer facing anything, but Evie picked up the phone and looked at it. “Were you recording that?”

“Of course. I need f*****g proof. You think I’m going to not have proof I gave you a ring and secured you down. No one would believe me.”

She laughed. “I don’t think you would believe you.”

The video cut out and the room became quiet. I didn’t stop to look at them. I clicked next and the next video played. Her camera was propped up somewhere in an isle and I raced to grab her hands at the church alter we were in. Sure enough, Elvis was standing over us, a bible open for show as he started to recite the marriage rites.

“You may now exchange rings.”

“Shit…I didn’t get a ring for me.”

She chuckled, but pulled out a necklace that I had started to notice in every photo except the ones where Evie was naked, and even some of those had the necklace.

“My mom died when I was really young, so it was always just my dad and me. He died of lung cancer five years ago. He didn’t have much, but he left me his wedding band that he always wore. His said not to bury it with him because he would be with mom, but this piece of him should be left with me. This is all I have left. We didn’t have anything of worth, really…”

She took my hand and slid the ring onto my finger. “Shit, it f*****g fits.”

“He knew. Just like my grandfather knew.”

Evie laughed and nodded. Reaching out, I wiped a tear from her eye. “He would have laughed and I’m sure been right here with us during this, cheering us on. He was f*****g impulsive and always said he was a prime example of what not to do.”

“Well, your father helped us get married and he raised a beautiful daughter. I refuse to feel nothing but awe and thankfulness.”

We both turned to the Elvis, who was crying, and he sniffled. “I can’t remember the last time I married a sober couple, but damn I needed this. You two, under the power vested in me by the State of Nevada, I now pronounce you…” He did the iconic Elvis move. “Man and wife! K**s the damn girl!”

I pulled Evie to me and kissed her, her arms snaking around my neck. Picking her up mid-k**s, I spun her around and she laughed.

“Shit, for once a marriage I officiate might actually live a long life. I wish you two luck!”

Picking her up bridal style, I walked down the aisle and she reached out, grabbing the phone from the perch.

“More proof?”

I laughed. “More proof, that I married a f*****g goddess and she said yes.”

The video cut off and this time I left the dark video on the screen. At some point, I had hoped that the photos and videos would jog my memory. That they would come flooding back for better or for worse. Nothing came back, though. It was like watching someone else live my life. Someone else loving someone and it was more frustrating than I could put into words.

“Well, you definitely weren’t drunk.” Jason cut through the quiet of the room.

“I thought…if I watched these…maybe…”

Stacy shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t think there is anything familiar in any of those photos or videos. Both of you or of her or of the places. Maybe if you were more like yourself, you could better place yourself, but that…that man is no one I have met.” There was a bite to her words that shocked me.

“Stace…”

“I’m gonna need another drink if we are about to embark on more of this shit. It’s like the f*****g Titanic. You know how it ends. In f*****g disaster. In flames. Seeing this just fills in the backstory of those wails and honestly, I’m not sure I will ever get over it. Anyone want another one?”

“Yes.” All three of us chimed in at the same time and she smiled.

I leaned my head back and looked at Adrian. “You’re quiet over there.”

He shook his head. “I’m more shocked. One that the man in those photos and videos is my brother. The second, that Grandpa was right. That it does exist. I mean, I f*****g love Nicole. I thought love was love, though. Love, maybe, felt different to different people, but when you love there wasn’t different types within a life partner. But that…” Adrian gestured to the laptop. “…that is something else entirely. I don’t know how to feel about it.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, apparently, it was too much for this universe and it needed to be torn apart.” I chuckled sadly and closed my eyes.

“It doesn’t, actually. It makes me feel worse.” My eyes opened and I looked at Adrian, who was glaring at me. “You think after everything you have done for me? After everything you have sacrificed over the years, that you don’t deserve every ounce of love that woman gave you? ‘Cause you do. Jennifer is a cunt and she f*****g should be thrown in the trash with the rest of her kind. Stop f*****g sacrificing in the name of our family. Grandpa would slap you upside the head right now. Hell, he would have kicked you out after that first photo and said what the hell are you doing sitting here.”

Jason leaned over and hit me upside the head. I swatted at him. “Hey! He said my grandfather, not you!”

“Yeah, well. He isn’t here and someone had to do it.”

“He’s right, though.” Stacy sat down and handed out our drinks. The sun was already going down and the nighttime office lights started to come on. “Even if you can’t remember. Even if nothing works and you never recover your memories. After all this, can you really let her go?”

I looked at Stacy, who was peering at me over the top of her red cup. “Stace, you think that woman would forgive me? You heard her.”

“I heard a woman who loved and got her heart torn to pieces. That doesn’t mean she still doesn’t love you. Hell, her attitude, how she regarded you in that room. Even sending these. She could have been petty and asked for fifty million in hush money. She could have just turned around and told the world. She could have done so much to you now, basically destroying you with even one of these photos. But instead, she asked for a trust fund with a measly one million. I bet it’s not even going to be in her name.”

Jason scoffed behind me. “What? You think she is setting up a trust fund for some kid she has?”

All three of us looked at him and then back at the screen. Stacy’s eyes grew wide and she looked over at me. “The trust fund would only be accessible when they come of age.”

“No…no f*****g way. There is no way I have a kid out there.” I chuckled and leaned forward, clicking away from the video and clicking on the Z – Greece folder. “If she had a kid, there would definitely have been more of a request than one million. Back pay for child support. Percentages in the company. I don’t care if you’re a f*****g saint, you wouldn’t turn that down for a kid, Stace.”

I turned back to the screen and she was on the beach, holding onto a wide-brimmed straw hat, wearing a pale yellow sundress. It was blowing in the wind in the middle of the day. The sun was bright and you could tell the happiness on her face as she looked over the ocean. Behind her the beach stretched out with even the white and blue houses of Greece behind her. Somehow the sun’s rays captured her and surrounded her.

“She’s not a saint, Z.” I looked over at Adrian, who was staring at the photo. “She’s your goddess.”