99 I Remember

Facing the stack of documents on his desk, Jason's eyes kept wandering to his cellphone. He received a notification from Selina earlier about shopping for groceries with his parents. This was one of his favorite tasks that he looked forward to, but now it was taken! His family was spending more time with her while he was stuck at work!

Hearing three knocks from the other side of his door, he cleared his throat and leaned back on his chair. "Come in."

"Mister Hui, I have completed the task you've assigned. Whenever you are ready, we can pay Sin Corporations a visit." Aaron reported to him.

"Great! Now, I just need the main character of the day to receive her gift! This is very good news. Let me give Selina a call. Is there anything else that you need?" He saw Aaron standing still in front of his desk as if he had more messages to tell him.

Staring at the untouched files on Jason's desk, Aaron decided to remind him about the deadlines for the documents. "Mister Hui, the files on your desk must be completed by five. You have approximately four hours and fifty minutes remaining to review them. If not, projects may suffer delays."

Jason's smile and fingers froze. Placing his phone upside down, he waved his hand. "Ahem, I know. I'll finish it before the deadline. Thank you for the reminder. If there is nothing else, you may continue working at your desk."

Aaron excused himself and stepped out of the office. While Jason was occupied at his desk, Selina was having fun with his family at the supermarket. In the middle of roaming through aisles, Julia and Celinda told her stories about Jason's childhood as Nick pushed the cart from behind. Whenever the ladies have any items, they wanted to purchase; it'll be tossed into the cart.

As if he was already used to this scenario, Nick followed them quietly. Once in a while, he would interrupt with suggestions between which products they should buy. It took approximately an hour for them to gather everything they needed before heading to the checkout counter.

"Ah! I forgot to grab a bottle of soy sauce. But I don't remember which aisle the sauces are." Julia turned around and sighed as the line grew much longer than before. There were many people in front of them, waiting to complete their purchases.

Selina smiled. "I remember where it is. I'll be right back."

"Are you sure? Celinda, how about you go with Selina to get the soy sauce? The crowds aren't getting any friendlier. If the two of you go together, I'll feel more at ease." Julia said as she gave Celinda an elbow push.

Julia knew how protective Jason was when it came to Selina. If anything happened to her under their supervision, she would never hear the end of it from him. Celinda understood her mother's concern. Holding Selina's hand tightly, the two of them left to look for the bottle of soy sauce.

Squeezing through the crowd, the girls managed to get to the seasoning aisle. They searched through the shelves and found what they wanted.

Selina said, "I found it!!"

Her hands reached out the same time another woman did. Seeing another person's hand reaching for the same bottle of soy sauce, Selina retracted her arm. "You can take it first."

Hearing the familiar voice, Katrina looked at Selina in astonishment. Her hands changed directions and were now gripping the sides of Selina's arms; making Selina yelp in pain.

"Selina!! You're not dead? If you're not dead, then why did you pretend that you are?!!!" Katrina nearly screamed while her nails dug into Selina's skin.

Selina yelled loudly, "Let me go!!! Who the hell are you?!!" Celinda rushed to her side to pry Katrina's hands off her, but the nails only dug deeper as more strength was applied. Out of frustration, Selina kicked Katrina's stomach, making her cover her stomach in agony.

Celinda stood in front of Selina, blocking her from any possible attacks. Katrina stumbled to the freezing tiled floor while holding her stomach. She gritted her teeth and glared at Celinda.

Pointing her finger towards Selina, she yelled. "How come you're here?! You're supposed to be dead! Are you back to snatch Peter away from Shirley?! How dare you? I knew I should have left you at that damn graveyard long ago! I shouldn't have brought you home for Bryan's sake!"

Dark images populated in her mind, blinding Selina's vision for split seconds. She used Celinda's shoulder as support as her legs weakened. Closing her eyes, she held her forehead in her palm as if the lightings in the aisle were giving her a difficult time breathing.

Hyperventilating, she took in huge, gulping breaths. As she sucked in more air than she could handle, her throat dried up, causing her to cough anxiously. Celinda dialed her mother's number, informed her about their situation and attempted to bring Selina out of the supermarket.

Once Katrina saw Selina moving away, she tried chasing after them. Taking two bottles of sauces, Celinda threatened to crack a hole as big as a bucket on her scalp if she dared to follow. Before leaving, she didn't forget to take a picture of Katrina's grave expression.

As soon as Selina felt the warmth of the sun rays blazing at her face, her knees lost its strength entirely. She squatted on the side of the supermarket where the building blocked the sun from reaching her sight. Rubbing the sides of her temple with her palms, a deep crease appeared between her brows.

Pieces of memories floated like a puzzle and joined together. She remembered Katrina's face appearing in her flashbacks. Her voice and words repeated deafeningly into her ears as more and more pictures came up. Like an old film with everything in gray-scale colors, she started seeing many blurred moments in her mind. Her head ached, tears formed like army troops as it rushed up her eyes, dying it red.

She parted her lips, letting out hisses. Squeezing her eyes shut for minutes, she reopened them. This time, she recalled everything leading up to the orphanage. Her sudden quietness and stone-like position scared Celinda greatly.

"Selina, are you alright? Hold on, I'll call an ambulance for you!" She could see her parents rushing through the crowd to come out. When they heard about Selina getting attacked, they ditched the line and the products in their carts. Unfortunately, two exits were blocked off, leaving only one exit and entrance available for them to use.

Julia almost tripped as she slipped out of the crowd. Nick caught her before she fell to the ground. "Selina! How are you feeling? Where are you hurt?" Julia didn't dare care about her broken heel. Instead, she ran over to check on Selina's condition.

Selina's palms slowly left the sides of her face, trembling from fear. As drips of tears cleared out of her eyes, another layer surfed on the surface. Sniffling, Selina said. "It was her. She..She was the one who left me. Jason..I want to see Jason. I need to see him."

Her unstable condition worried everyone. Nick started his car as Celinda and Julia helped her climb into it. Luckily, the traffic was clear. The ride to Hui Corporations took less than ten minutes. Celinda and Julia brought Selina up the private elevator, leaving Nick alone to park his car.

Selina watched as the numbers lit up in the elevator. She rubbed her thumbs together as she mumbled. "Faster..Hurry.."

The second she heard the "ding" sound from the elevator, she dashed out the open doors. Ignoring everyone's existence in Jason's office, she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

"What's wrong?" Jason snapped out of his daze as he enveloped her in his arms. He could feel her petite body shivering relentlessly.

Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her chin to rest it on his chest. Staring deeply into his warming gaze, she whispered in a rasped voice. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long. I remember.."

"What do you mean?" Taken aback by the sudden blast of news to his ears, he asked again to clarify what she had just said.

Her quivering lips formed a weak smile. A drip of tears escaped the corner of her eyes as she whispered. "I remember about us. The orphanage. The kiss. Our promise. I remember you."

His eyes reddened as she spoke broken words, but that didn't lessen the sting in his heart. Her words...These words... were the ones he had wished to hear. Finally, she knew who he was, what promise they've made and most of all - the memories that belonged exclusively to them.

Planting a kiss on her forehead, he wiped away wet trails from her cheeks. One after another, he showered her face with soft pecks. He didn't notice the tear that fell from his eyes, but Selina did. She wiped it away and closed her eyes as they leaned their foreheads lightly against the other.

Celinda and Julia gestured for the other staffs to leave the room, giving the couple their privacy. They too, exited the room and texted Nick to come up using the regular elevator.