Irene pulled something on a hanger out of the closet and made a face. "Is this what I usually wear?" she mumbled, fixing her gaze on the faded jean skirt and one-shoulder black top.
Without thinking, Tristan looked up and saw the dress, then caught sight of Irene again. "Aah! Sorry… Um, yeah, you usually dress like that," he answered.
"This? Seriously?"
"I can text Amelia if you don't believe me," Tristan said, and Irene sighed unhappily and turned back to the closet. That was when she noticed a secret shelf of clothing that seemed more to her taste. Her lips curved up into a wide smile as she picked up a knee-length flowered gown.
"Seriously, what is taking you so long?" Tristan grumbled, making Irene roll her eyes at him. It wasn't like she was the one who asked him to sneak into her room through the window. He continued, "There's a café nearby. Amelia's waiting for us to meet her. Do you feel up to doing that?"
Before Irene could answer, there was a knock at her door. "Irene? Who are you talking to? Can I come in?"
"Oh no! That's Ashley… I'd better hide," Tristan said, while Irene raised her eyebrows.
"I thought you said you did this all the time?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean Aunt Ashley is a fan of it," Tristan said as he jumped into her closet, shutting the doors silently behind him, just as Ashley opened the door, carrying a black fluffy cat in her arms.
"Your baby was sitting outside your room. He misses you," Ashley said as she set the cat down on her bed. He looked up at Irene with his big green eyes.
'Okay, kitty, why do you look more familiar than anyone else I've met so far?' Irene mused, staring at the cat, then turned to Ashley. "Dax… That's his name, right?" she blurted out.
"That's right! How did you know his name?" Ashley said, but before Irene could answer, they heard a sneeze come from her closet, and Ashley scowled.
"TRISTAN!" Ashley called out, while Tristan sheepishly opened the closet door and stepped out. "Do you have some kind of problem with front doors, young man? And you still owe me for that broken pot. Don't think I've forgotten about that."
"I won't forget. I'm just trying to find a replacement," Tristan said, while Ashley rolled her eyes at him.
"Any garden center pot will do, Tristan. It's a plant, for heaven's sake," Ashley said, and Tristan nodded his head.
"I'll work on it as soon as possible. Irene and I were just going to meet Amelia, actually. I can get a replacement while we're out," Tristan said, while Ashley looked shrewdly at the two of them, then sighed in resignation.
"I suppose it would be good for you to get out for a bit. Tristan, please use the door next time. Even Dax is trained to do THAT much," Ashley said, giving him a pointed look.
"Absolutely," Tristan nodded.
"And don't forget the pot," Ashley reminded him.
"Won't miss it," he said, and as Ashley left the room, Irene turned to Tristan.
"Pot, huh?" she commented.
Tristan cracked a smile. "A couple of months ago, I accidentally knocked a potted succulent off your windowsill while I was climbing through the window. It broke and made a huge mess. Aunt Ashley made us both clean it up," he explained, then looked sideways at Irene, as if testing to see if she remembered the incident. "Anyway, I've been meaning to replace it."
Irene nodded at him, then mused silently, 'So he wasn't lying about climbing through my window being a usual occurrence.'
"We should go… Amelia's waiting for us."
"I'm the one with memory loss, so you lead the way," Irene said, while Tristan chuckled as they left her room together.
A short while later, Irene was gathered at the café with Amelia and Tristan. Tristan took the liberty of ordering Irene's drink, a foam-topped chai tea latte. She took a sip and then asked, "This is what I usually order?"
"Yeah. What do you think of it?" Tristan asked, and Irene shrugged.
"Not bad," she answered. "Since we're all here, I want to know myself better… That probably sounds silly, but what kind of person am I?"
"Hah. Where do we begin?" Tristan drawled.
"He means you are great. You're a good, loyal friend," Amelia chimed in.
"All that, and more. You're smart, funny, and pretty," Tristan said, looking dreamily at Irene.
"Pretty isn't a personality trait, Tristan," Amelia said with a roll of her eyes.
Tristan shrugged. "But it's still true."
"Thanks, but… What about the bad stuff?" Irene said, while Tristan and Amelia looked uncertainly at one another. "Come on, like, you don't really know someone until you know their bad side. Nobody's perfect, right?"
"Irene," Tristan called out.
"I'm serious. Don't think you're going to hurt my feelings. I can't remember what my life was like before this… It is hard to have an emotional attachment to who I was when I don't have any memory of that person, right?" Irene said, while her two friends heaved a sigh.
"What specifically would you want to know?" Amelia asked.
What's the worst thing I've done, and what did I do that made you want to keep being friends with me? Like... have I ever betrayed any of you?" Irene said, and immediately Amelia's eyes dilated as she took a deep breath and got to her feet.
"Sorry, I'll be right back." Irene watched as Amelia dashed off to the ladies' room. She then turned to Tristan, who stared down into his drink.
"Tristan, what is it?" she asked.
"It's just... maybe it's not weird for you to discuss all your flaws, but it's weird for us, your friends," Tristan said, and Irene sighed as she thought, 'I guess I didn't think about that.'
"What did I do to Amelia? It must be pretty bad to make her run off like that."
"It's not really my place to tell. You should try talking to her instead. But I thought it was all water under the bridge. Anyway, it might hurt more to bring it up again," Tristan said, and Irene's brows pulled together into a frown.
"Tristan... was I a bad person?" she asked, and Tristan looked up at her, his gaze softening.
"I've known you since we were kids, so I'm not the best person to ask... I think you're great," Tristan said, with an unreadable expression in his eyes.
"Come on, just be honest with me," Irene insisted.
Tristan took a deep breath. "Fine! If I had to be critical, sometimes you put yourself on a pedestal... Sometimes you do things without thinking about how it will affect people close to you. Sometimes it makes it hard to be your friend," Tristan disclosed.
"So why are we friends, then?" Irene asked.
"You have a lot of other qualities that make us stick around. We put up with it because we like you," Tristan said, and Irene was about to ask him something else when someone tripped hard over the back leg of her chair. She turned to see who it was, and a girl about her age shoved her shoulder, causing her drink to spill on the table.