Chapitre 28: Panic Attack III

Mai sat in the campus garden which was still part of the economics faculty and stared blankly at the book in her hand. People might think she's reading a book when she's not.

The first course of the day was finished a few minutes ago, there is still a second course that will start in about an hour. Mai chose to spend time in this park with a book and thoughts wandering here and there.

Her mind recalled yesterday's incident at the mall with Thomas. She might have had another panic attack when she didn't see any blood at all. The trigger must be something else but what? She started to feel strange when she met the woman, a woman named Rara, Aaron's older sister.

Rara is a beautiful woman but somehow looks scary in Mai's eyes. Because of Rara, Mai gets a bit of her memory. The boy in her dream turned out to have an older sister, an older sister. That's right, maybe because Aaron also has an older sister and their appearance is similar to the people she's ever known so that triggers her memories and panic attacks. The girl exhaled slowly.

She tried to remember again, not about her past but what happened after she had a panic attack. Thomas didn't say anything, more silent on their way home. Maybe Thomas didn't want Mai to have another panic attack, so he didn't talk much at that time.

Mai vaguely remembered someone hugging her, saying comforting words to her and she was sure it wasn't Thomas. Mai could still feel the perfume of the person who was hugging her at that time, she was sure it was not the perfume that Thomas used to wear, and the perfume smelled familiar to her.

The things he said made Mai's heart feel at peace, even though Ivani or Thomas also said the same thing but somehow it felt different. Could it be..... Ah, how can that be?

Mai covered her face, feeling ashamed of herself. There were only two men at the time and the perfume she remembered was men's perfume. If it wasn't Thomas holding her then... Aaron was hugging her.

Geez did I carelessly hug people again?

Aaron doesn't seem to mind all the oddities that are on her but after this Mai is sure the man must be tired of dealing with her again. But why should she worry, Aaron will only act like everyone other than his family and friends who look at her like an alien or a creature from another world.

Mai took another breath, shameful shame. If only this disease could be cured, it seems Mai is tired all the time like this.

The boy in her dream, for some reason Mai had a feeling the boy was the key. If only she could find him, find out what really happened, get her memories back. If everything is clear maybe she will know what caused her to be like this, maybe her illness will be cured but the problem is where should she look for the child. She had no clue and her parents were stingy with giving information.

The corner of her eye caught a pair of black & brown sneakers and the smell of a familiar perfume wafted across her nose, a perfume that couldn't be erased from her memory since yesterday. Her heart immediately beat faster.

"Hi...." Aaron stood in front of her and greeted her kindly.

"Hi..." Mai returned the greeting awkwardly.

Oh my gosh, what is this guy doing here?

Remembering what happened yesterday, Mai felt very embarrassed. This person should have given up dealing with her again but why is he even here. Wait, how can Mai think Aaron is here to look for her. Maybe he's here looking for Riven or Thomas or maybe Ivani.

"What are you doing?" Aaron suddenly sat down beside her.

Mai shifted her body a little, feeling more awkward and the smell of Aaron's perfume made her unable to think straight. The combination of the aroma of tea and mint is refreshing and calming. The girl was embarrassed to admit that she had liked that soft fragrance ever since they first met.

"Read a book. You alone? Why are you here?" Mai glanced back at the book in her lap, flipping through the pages as if she was looking for something even though it was just her way of covering her nervousness.

"I'm looking for my cousin but... I can't find him," said Aaron.

That's right. Aaron is here for Riven. Once again, Mai felt embarrassed because she had assumed all kinds of things.

"I haven't seen him since... Sorry, just give him a call." Said Mai.

"He's not answering the phone," said Aaron.

"Ooh." Said Mai.

Silence, Mai returned to her book again and Aaron looked around. The atmosphere between them became strange.

"Are you okay?" Aaron asked her.

"Yesterday... You... You know... I hope you're feeling better." Said Aaron again.

Mai smiled awkwardly, why did he even talk about yesterday. Mai felt bad.

"Sorry to bother you," she said quietly, trying her best to hide her nervousness.

Usually, this feeling of nervousness and awkwardness only applies when in front of Thomas. Recently, this has happened in front of other men as well. But any girl would be embarrassed if in front of him, Ivani, whose self-confidence is so high, could be embarrassed.

A popular man who has many advantages and is handsome. He was even more handsome when seen up close. The look in his eyes seemed friendly and his smile that looked sincere made people around him feel familiar so they didn't mind telling him. Ah, maybe that's the reason Mai told her story in Aaron's car at that time even though they had not known each other for a long time even though Mai already considered the man as one of her friends.

Sometimes there are people we just met but we feel like we've known them for a long time, just because they seem friendly and understand or care about what we have to say. That's what Aaron showed her.

"It's all right. What happened?" he asked. Mai fell silent hearing the question.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to interfere but I thought you would only have a panic attack if you saw... You know...." Aaron didn't say the forbidden word.

"Blood." Mai continued her words, swallowing her saliva at the thought of the thick red liquid. Her body immediately stiffened.

"Yeah, it's weird... I feel weird too. I remember something back then." Said Mai.

Mai doesn't know why she keeps telling the story but everything has already been said, she can't rectify it anymore. It seemed that she had become more open to Aaron now that she didn't hesitate to share her problems, just as she shared this with her four best friends.

"What do you remember? Your memory has returned?" Aaron asked anxiously.

Mai shook her head and Aaron breathed a sigh of relief.

"I remember a little thing. The child in my dream had an older sister. She was scared, she was angry and pushed me to blame me, she scared me," Mai said.

Aaron fell silent. Yeah right. Rara is scary when she's angry. So that's what happened. It was Rara who found him when he fell. Rara and some of her father's men were looking for her at that time.

"That's all? Anything else you remember?" he asked again.

"Nothing, that's all," said Mai.

"But I'm glad I can at least remember a little bit, slowly I'll be able to remember everything." Said Mai again.

Aaron didn't want Mai to remember everything. He wasn't ready, he didn't know what to do if all that happened.

"Why did you suddenly remember?" said Aaron.

"I don't know... I was looking at your sister then suddenly I ...." Mai said.

"My sister triggered it?" Aaron wasn't surprised at all. That's exactly what it's supposed to be.

"Ah no... I..." Mai realized she had said the wrong thing.

Aaron looked at her, waiting for his story to continue.

"Just forget it." Mai shook her head.

Aaron frowned, the man looked confused.

"You... remind me of him... You look alike," Mai muttered quietly.

"What?" The brown eyes glared at her.

Mai is nervous. She was talking to herself, didn't expect Aaron to hear her mumbling

"You are similar to the child in my dream," said Mai.

Duh, stupid, why even explain. Good Mai, the man must have run away now. You are a crazy girl, Mai blamed herself.

"Is it true?" Aaron's expression looks weird, of course, it's because Mai is talking nonsense. Mai regretted her words.

"Mmm... I mean... You both have brown hair and eyes." Said Mai.

"There are a lot of people who have brown hair and eyes," said Aaron.

"Yes, I know... Sorry... I spoke carelessly... I'm sorry." Said Mai.

Aaron was probably feeling disgusted with her right now. Mai took a breath and looked down. Maybe she will lose her new friend once again. Mai is not very good at socializing, from the first her close friends were only the four people plus Boban who didn't seem to care about her weirdness either.