Chapter 9: Was She the Woman from the Night 7 Years Ago?

Piper’s POV

“Ouch, ow,” my arm hurt because it seemed like this person’s body landed on top of my arm. When I bumped into this person earlier, I spontaneously hugged the body. It was a knee-jerk reaction. But, wait! Who was the person I bumped into? The body was too muscular. It must be a man. I had to hurry to apologize to him even though my vision was a little twisted and the lighting outside the toilet was quite dark, so it was hard to see things clearly in a slightly drunk state.

“Miss, are you okay?” the man asked as he helped me up. So, I was right, this person was a man. I felt quite relieved because if I had bumped into a woman, I would have felt very sorry for her. After all, when I fell, I would have landed on top of her body while I thought I gained quite a lot of weight after a few months of being busy with office work that I didn’t have time to take care of myself.

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m sorry that I bumped into you earlier, and thank you,” I replied as I bowed a few times in apology.

“Piper? I didn’t expect to see you here. Are you alone?” someone asked, who seemed to have a familiar voice. No wonder I felt like this person had a familiar voice and I felt like I had heard his voice somewhere.

“Umm, Mr. Jay Lee Adams?” I asked. I hoped I was wrong, but in the twenty-five years I had lived as Piper Smith, my memory had never been one hundred percent wrong. By one hundred percent, I was probably about ten percent wrong.

“Yeah, are you okay? You seem to be drunk. Are you alone or with your friends?” he asked as he took my hand to move away from the area in front of the restroom because we had blocked many people from entering. He walked me away from there and we stopped right by the entrance to the main room.

“I’m with Lisa and Max, the man who drove me this morning to your mansion. Sorry I was careless, and thank you for helping me. I guess I should get back before they panic and look for me all over the place. Nice to see you here,” I said as I left.

Gosh! Why did I have to meet my future boss at a discotheque? Wasn’t there a better place to meet? It was a day full of surprises.

When I was about to walk into the main room, he held my hand and he successfully surprised me.

“Is there anything else, sir?” I asked as I walked back closer to him while trying to look at his face, which was full of question marks.

I wondered if what I was seeing was real or the effect of being drunk.

“Sorry to startle you. I have something to ask. Have we met before? I feel like I’ve smelled perfume, like the one you’re wearing?” he asked with a probing look.

From the direction of the men’s restroom, a man came out and walked towards us, then he stopped right behind Jay.

I thought for a moment to remember every detail of the events in my past. Had I ever met him? I didn’t think I’d ever seen his face or interacted with him.

“Sorry, sir. I don’t think we’ve met. I bought this perfume at a department store and I think there are probably many young ladies who wear the same perfume as me,” I replied. Suddenly, he had a disappointed look on his face.

“Okay, I was hoping we have ever met. I was wrong. Sorry to have startled you. But, one more question. The shampoo you’re using has the same scent as the person I’m looking for. Ah, maybe you’re right. There are tens of hundreds of women who might use the same type of shampoo as you. You can leave before your friends look for you,” he said. His face still looked disappointed.

Who exactly was he looking for?

“Good evening, Mr. Adams. I hope you find the person you’re looking for. Bye,” I said as I waved goodbye to him.

“Can you walk on your own?” he asked as his hands supported my arms.

“I can walk on my own, although my head is a little dizzy, but I remember where we sat,” I replied.

“Ok,” he replied.

Just as I turned around and was about to walk to the main room entrance, Lisa came in. “Piper, are you okay? What took you so long? Oh, Jay, you’re here.”

“Hi, Lisa. I come here once in a while and I just bumped into Piper at the restroom door. I’ll be going home then. Have fun,” he said as he waved and left with Nick. They walked to the back door.

Lisa immediately grab my hand as she peppered me with questions. “Piper, did you know it was Mr. Jay Adams? How did you guys meet earlier? What did you talk about? He likes to visit this place. I heard he has a girlfriend. Did he come alone?”

“Lisa, my head is very dizzy. Can we go back to our seats before I answer all your questions?” I asked.

“Oh okay. Let me take your hand before you fall on the dance floor,” she replied with a smile.

Lisa is sanguine, while I’m probably introverted. I’m not very sociable with strangers and I don’t like crowded and noisy places. I like silence and places that are less crowded and noisy. Therefore, my character and Lisa’s character are the opposite. While Lisa has the same character as Max. They were almost identical.

It’s a good thing Lisa came and took me by the hand to our seats because it turned out that when I went back inside the dimly lit and noisy main room of the discotheque, I had a hard time finding our seats.

“You’re back at last. The snacks we ordered arrived earlier. Let’s eat,” Max said.

After sitting down and drinking a glass of mineral water, I felt better. I didn’t think I’ll be drinking any more alcohol, as I had to get to work early before the office closed. While waiting for Lisa and Max to finish their drinks and snacks, I sat back in my chair, wishing the world around me would stop spinning.

A little while later, exactly one hour before midnight, we finally got out of the discotheque and got into the car. I closed my eyes the whole way because everything I saw seemed to spin. Finally, the car driven by Max arrived at my apartment and they helped me into the elevator.

I was a terrible drinker. In the elevator, Lisa and Max engaged me in conversation, but I did not know what they were talking about. My head was too dizzy, and I just wanted to lie down. All I remember was them carrying my body into the apartment unit I was staying in and I heard mom’s shocked and grumbling voice.

“Oh my God, what happened to her? Is she okay? I told her many times not to drink alcohol. That incident happened because she drank too much alcohol.”