Frederick busied himself in the kitchen as he prepared different kinds of dishes for dinner. The blue apron and white chef cap made him look comical. According to him, one couldn't cook without the chef cap and apron....
Ever since he had a misunderstanding with Maria, he had taken the initiative to prepare their meals in hopes that it would go a long way in showing how much he cared.
"Is it done yet? I'm starving!" Maria groaned from the entrance. She had wanted to cook but he insisted on doing it himself and he was as slow as a snail in the kitchen.
"Just starve a bit more and I'll be done." He inched his head sideways and gave a hurried reply.
"Whatever. I'm only waiting because your cooking is always so good!" Maria went out again.
Whoo!
Frederick cleaned the lines of tears that were rolling down his cheek; this was why he hated onions!
After several more minutes of cooking, he took the tray of food out to the dining table where Maria had already dozed off.
"Hey! Wake up, I'm done." Frederick tapped her shoulder until she stirred.
She mechanically turned on her phone and to check the stop watch she had set up earlier,
"Seriously, it took you three hours to cook this?"
"Hey, come on!" Fred pulled out a seat opposite her, "I put in a lot of love to make that, so be more appreciative."
Maria waved her hand and began eating her late night dinner. The food did taste great, totally worth the three hours wait.
....
After dinner, the two huddled up together to watch romance movies.
Personally, Frederick didn't like such movies but felt it was necessary for him to at least accompany her and avoid another fight.
After a while, Frederick's focus was no longer in the movie; he had something else in mind.
It was a good thing that she didn't remember what happened that day anymore neither can she remember that dream she had.
It had bothered him so much to even think that she would one day recover all those locked memories. He didn't want her to go through such a trauma again; a trauma that landed her in coma for a long time....
And that name, she had also forgotten about it. Who would have thought that after so many years, the name of the person who keeps haunting him would resurface in her mind just like that?
Damon is history.... Damon is history...
Frederick repeated as he calmed his tensed nerves.
"Fred, I'm sleepy!" Maria interrupted his thoughts and stretched her body.
"Let me hug you to sleep." He offered knowing that she would fall asleep faster in his embrace.
"Thanks bro!" Maria replied weakly and snuggled into his arms. She felt her head begin to ache slightly.
Frederick's body tensed up when he felt two soft bumps press against his chest. He took a deep breath and pulled her even closer while continuously rubbing her lower back.
He never wanted to let go of her....
....
Rose Street,
1:05 a.m.
Frederick's eyes flew open like he had an alarm in his head. He rolled out of bed and put on his sweater over his sleep shirt.
He bent down and pulled out a large black box from underneath the bed and opened it.
Inside the box were different tools and weapons. He ran his hands across the weapons, his eyes taking on a more sinister look.
There were also files and documents in the box. There were also some bottles of unknown contents, a mask, and a photo album.
He gave a sigh of relief and reached for the photo album. He took out a photo of a small boy holding a ball and smiling brightly with profound blue eyes, he put it back in and muttered,
"All these years, how did you manage to get here?"
After a while, he took a shovel and tip toed out of the house so as to avoid waking up Maria.
He went around to the big tree behind the house.
He dropped the black box and began digging near the tree.
Every stab of the shovel kept bringing memories back to him; painful memories that he had to struggle to live with.
After digging, he put the box into the hole and covered it up again.
No matter what happens to me, he thought, no one will know what I've done, even if they do, Maria will never find out who it was that did all those things.
He had a feeling that she will one day remember, he only had to buy time for himself; time to make atonement and bury more secrets....