"Tina, let's go to the club." Hans says as he arrives home from work.
"I don't feel like it." I whine.
"Come on Tina." He pulls me up from the sofa where I was lying on. "You haven't been out in so long. You need to train too, you've lost your strength."
"Let's go another day." I moan. I don't want to go anywhere.
"If you don't go, I'll tell everyone that you're a weak chicken." Hans mocks.
I glare at him. He knows I hate people thinking I am weak. "Don't you dare!"
"Then are you going to come?" He asks raising an eyebrow.
"Fine. I'll show you that I am not weak at all." I mutter angrily, walking after him.
I hadn't realised how much I missed training with Hans here in the club. The students whom he teaches greet us with smiles and excitement.
As I start by running on the spot beside Hans, I notice how slow I have become. I used to be on par with him but now he is a few seconds faster than me. It might not look like much of a difference but I know that if I am to continue this profession of being a bodyguard, even a few seconds can mean a life or death.
My slacking off from training has come back to bite me in the ass like Hans mentioned. I'll have to keep training from now on until I am back in shape.
Hans hands me a water bottle as I wipe my sweat off from my forehead. "You've really lost your stride." He remarks.
I nod in agreement. He is right. "I need to improve and return to my original form."
"Don't overwork yourself though Tina. Your body probably won't be strong enough right now since you haven't been eating properly." He says in concern, patting my shoulder.
"I'll be careful." I say, grateful for his worry. "Hey, is there something which can make a person lose their memory besides alcohol?" I ask.
He stares at me in confusion, "That's a random question." He chuckles.
"I'm serious. Can you think of anything Hans?"
As we practise our kickboxing with each other, Hans ponders over it, "There is one thing."
"What?" I ask eagerly as I kick at him.
"Drugs." Hans says. "I am pretty sure all illegal drugs make you forget what you are doing whilst on them. People will do things they would never usually do when they take drugs."
I think about what he said. Could it be possible that someone intentionally drugged me? What about Panda? Was he drugged too or not?
"If you wanted to drug someone in a way that they would never know, how would you go about doing it?" I ask curiously. I had no idea I was being drugged.
"Easy. The simplest option would be to put it in anything the victim would consume. Drugs don't work the way poisons do. So if I wanted to poison someone, I would–"
"Stop. I'm only asking about drugs." I say, staring at him oddly. "You're scaring me."
"Come on Tina, I was getting to the best part." He laughs.
I roll my eyes, "If you ever end up in prison, I won't bail you out."
"Why do I have such a cruel friend?" Hans cries dramatically, falling to the ground.
"I can be crueller." I laugh and walk out of the gym room, leaving him behind.
I hear his footsteps as he runs to catch up, "You're so cold hearted." He pants and grabs my head into a headlock in his arms.
"Hey! Get off me Hans, you'll break my neck." I groan, trying to wriggle out of his muscled arms.
"Why are you a woman now?" He moans as he lets me go.
I grin and proudly stand straight with my chest out, "I've always been one, you just never noticed."
Hans' forest green eyes travel down me and I suddenly feel self conscious as he gulps. I forgot he was a man for a moment. Why am I feeling awkward?
"Um, let's head home after we change." He says quietly.
I nod and enter the women's changing rooms. Why did Hans give me such a strange and foreign expression?
As I change, I think over what Hans mentioned earlier. It could be a drug. Someone could have intentionally spiked the food or drink. But I hadn't eaten properly that day. The last thing I drank was the champagne. Could it be that the wine was spiked?!
But wouldn't that mean Panda would have been drugged too since we drank from the same wine glass? Nothing is certain but I feel closer to the truth.
There is still the missing puzzle which I can't remember. I am pretty sure there were three of us in the room at the time. So who is the person my mind has been overlooking? If I can only remember, I will be able to figure out the culprit.
Once we return home, I run upstairs and stare at the paper where I had written everything. I add the word "Drug?" with a question mark. It's the most likely cause.
As I pick up my phone to check the time, I frown at Wade Rider's message. He has been messaging me nonstop once a day and I have ignored every single one.
Scrolling down my contacts, my thumb hovers over a name.
Ciarra Lake.