Reluctantly, he set his car key on her palm.
“Thanks,” she told him. Then, to Gigi, as she was walking (bolting?) away, “Nice to meet you.”
Gigi responded in kind and Remy picked up her pace as she continued toward his car.
“Do you know how to drive a stick?” he asked.
“Absolutely!”
“I’ll call you.”
She didn’t respond.
As she reversed his car, tears began to push their way into her eyes.
Crap, Jeremiah thought. Gigi had upset Remy so much that Remy had left.
Gigi was looking at him with affection and it sounded like he may have felt affection for her at some point in the past. But the only thing he felt toward her right now was sharp annoyance. “Would you like to come in?”
“I would. Yes.”
In his living room, she slipped off her high heels and tucked her legs beneath her on the sofa. She settled a throw pillow on her lap and her fingers toyed with its texture.
She looked more comfortable in his house than he was.
He switched on lights and took a seat in the armchair facing her. “I appreciate you coming here to check on me.” It was taking effort to be civil. “I'm sure this is weird for you.”
“It’s so weird. I can’t believe you have amnesia.”
He let that pass. “None of my friends or family told me that I had a girlfriend. Can you explain that?”
“Our relationship was still kind of new. We hadn’t gone public.”
“How long ago did we meet?”
“This past June.”
“How did we meet?”
“We met at a bar called Blyth and Burrows in Portland.”
“What was I doing in Portland?”
“Speaking engagement.”
“And what were you doing there?”
“I live there. That bar is one of my favorites.”
The internal compass that sometimes gave Jeremiah a sense of rightness stayed silent. “When did we start dating?”
“Well, that first night was pretty hot.” She smiled. “So . . . we started dating the same day we met, I guess.”
“And after that? We saw each other often and communicated frequently?” He was trying to get a sense of how seriously he’d taken Gigi. Three months wasn’t a very long time to date someone and yet she’d confidently stated that she was his girlfriend.
“Yes, we saw each other often considering that we live an hour and a half apart and that my schedule is demanding. I work in finance.” She rolled her shiny lips inward. “And, yes. We communicated frequently.”
“Do you have photos of us together?” Since Jude hadn't known who Gigi was, he wanted evidence.
