Holding on to Hope Read online

  Brad stopped and smiled. “I don’t care what time it is. I have to find my man, Les, and I have to find him now.” He said it with such intensity that it tugged at her heartstrings. “And you, my dear Les, are coming along with me.”

  “What if I don’t want to?” Leslie whimpered. She was tired, and being part of a search party wasn’t something that she was up for. All she wanted to do was go back to her apartment and sleep with Pat in her bed.

  However, her friend gave an evil laugh before turning toward the door. “I will be waiting for you by the car, so hurry up!” he called behind him.

  After lots of cursing and muttering death threats at Brad, Leslie followed his lead, still assured that nothing good was going to come out of it. Yet a small part of her heart prayed for a miracle.

  Part 2

  IAN LIVED in a nice, rented apartment, a couple of miles away from the NYU campus. It had hardly taken any time for them to reach their destination, finding very little traffic at such an early hour. The city had definitely woken up by then but not by much.

  As Brad pulled his old Civic to the curb, Leslie announced, “I think I will stay inside the car.”

  “Les.” Brad smiled knowingly. “Come on. He isn’t going to bite you.”

  She watched as he removed the car keys before stepping out, and she sighed. “He might as well,” Leslie mumbled under her breath as she got out.

  Brad and Ian shared almost all the same classes together in college. That was the reason Leslie had come to know Ian. Until then, she had no idea that there was an Ian Anderson in one of her classes—Economics 101. She would have loved to keep it that way, but Brad used to talk about this guy so much that her mind had started working overtime. She had initially thought there was something going on between those two, and so, Leslie had decided to meet him.

  It turned out, however, that it was the biggest mistake of her life.

  “Ian!” Brad kept banging on the door. “Open up, man. It’s important.”

  Leslie nervously looked around the neighborhood. She feared if this went on for too long, there would be police cars lined up on the street in no time.

  Thankfully—or not—the door opened within a few minutes.

  “Geez, Parker!” A guy with a familiar face and black Mohawk appeared at the door. His voice sounded groggy, and his dark eyes kept squinting, trying to adjust to the brightness outside.

  Leslie almost felt his pain. “What the fuck are you….” He turned his gaze to her, and his eyes flew open wide. His scowling face broke into a huge grin, unknowingly showing off some filthy piece of food stuck between his front teeth. Seeing something like that, Leslie wanted to throw up. “Les, hey! It’s funny. I just had a dream about you.”

  “Really?” She kept a polite smile on her face, even though she wanted to punch his face. “What are the odds?”

  “It was weird; I mean, you were in my house crying because you broke up with your boyfriend, and I was being there for you, like a good friend.” Leslie could see right through that angelic face he was putting on.

  “Damn right it’s weird,” she said before shooting daggers with her eyes at Brad. Her blond-haired friend dug his hands inside his jean pocket as he stood and gazed at her, giving her an apologetic look. It wasn’t his fault. Ian was the one who kept hitting on her, even though he knew she had Pat in her life. He wouldn’t stop trying, no matter what Leslie did to dissuade him, and that was why she couldn’t forgive Brad for getting her into this mess. If it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t have ever met this guy.

  Ian blatantly came on to her every time their paths crossed. It had to stop. It was this thought that made Leslie realize something rash that she could do to Ian.

  Leslie stepped up beside Brad and patted Ian’s bulky arms. His grin widened, ticking her off, but she still didn’t let her smile waver. “My relationship with Pat is going pretty strong so it’s all cool. But hey, it’s really great to see someone worrying about me so much. I’ve always wanted a nice, caring brother like you, Ian.”

  Brad had drawn his lips tight together and stared with an amused expression on his face. Ian, on the other hand, seemed utterly mortified.

  He cleared his throat several times before he said, “Why don’t you guys come in?” Ian cast his head down before turning and going inside.

  Leslie caught Brad looking at her accusingly and shrugged, entering Ian’s house.

  His apartment looked quite spacious, with minimal furniture around. Leslie never took Ian to be a neat freak so it surprised her to find everything so organized. A couple of antique paintings hanging on the walls intrigued her. Those looked like they were painted eons ago.

  “Would you two like some coffee?” Ian’s question averted her attention. “I think I, for one, need some caffeine in my system.”

  She noticed the wrinkles forming on his temples before he thumped his own head with a fist. “Sure.” Leslie gave a nod. She could do with some coffee too.

  Brad went to sit on the couch and rubbed his knees. “I’m good,” he told Ian as he gazed around.

  Saying that he was good was an understatement. However hard he tried to hide it, Leslie could sense his ecstasy; the adrenaline rush that he was experiencing. She knew how badly he wanted to question Ian right now. If he could, Brad would have surely caught hold of that big guy and held him down, demanding answers.

  His perky mood cleared one doubt in her mind, though—Brad couldn’t have been totally wasted the previous night. Otherwise, he would have shown at least some signs of a major hangover similar to what Ian was displaying at the moment. But Brad looked perfectly normal. Not to mention, he was up so early in the morning.

  That deduction, however, made several other questions in Leslie’s mind pop up.

  Ian appeared back in the living room holding two mugs in his hands—one he handed to her with a shy smile before settling down in a chair. “So what’s this about?” he asked, looking between them. Leslie had occupied the space next to Brad on the couch, leaned back, getting comfortable, before taking a sip of her coffee. After all, she didn’t have to do the talking.

  “Ian,” Brad started cautiously. “Do you remember when exactly I left the nightclub last night?”

  Ian took a sip of his hot drink and furrowed his brows. “Not really. Why?”

  “How could you not remember?” he asked with a frown on his face.

  “Dude, you didn’t tell me you were leaving. How was I supposed to know? Jon, Bryce, and the others left pretty early, so I figured you took off too.”

  Brad sighed. “Well, I met this guy at the club last night….”

  “And he finally does it, ladies and gentlemen.” Leslie watched Ian grinning from ear to ear, and she couldn’t help the giggle. “About time, Parker, about fucking time,” he said, raising his coffee mug to him.

  “Don’t get too excited. You haven’t even heard the interesting part yet,” Leslie said, nudging her friend playfully. Brad blushed. “This guy he met? Well, he and Brad did do the deed all right, but our friend here doesn’t remember anything else other than that.”

  “What do you mean?” Ian looked lost.

  “Well, it’s complicated.” Brad made a face, telling him with a bit of hesitation. “I don’t remember who that guy was.”

  “Good for you.”

  “No, you don’t understand, Ian.” Brad shifted sideways in his seat to properly face the dark-haired guy. “It’s not good. It’s anything but good. That guy meant something to me, I am sure of it. Why else would I sleep with him?”

  “Uh… because you were kind of horny last night?” Ian chuckled. “I remember how desperate you were to get laid last night. You know, Les, he was flirting with every man in that nightclub. He didn’t even spare the straight ones.”

  Leslie could only imagine it, and the scene playing in her mind was hilarious. “Really now?” She asked, looking at Brad amusedly.

  She could swear Brad’s face couldn’t have gotten any redder than
it already was. “You aren’t listening to me, guys. That guy was special.” He desperately tried to make them understand. “Okay, I admit I was a bit horny. I mean, I am gonna turn twenty-one in a few months, and I still have no one in my life. Valentine’s Day is always a painful reminder of how lonely I am. I always dream of the perfect world or the perfect man to be with, and I began to think that it’s only my fantasy, a pipedream. So I wanted it badly.”

  There was a moment of silence in the room. Ian and Leslie exchanged looks. It was the first time she, or even Ian, had seen Brad so vulnerable. Right until then, Leslie thought she knew him quite well, but she was proved wrong. Her friend had a side to him that she was completely unaware of.

  As they exchanged looks, both she and Ian silently agreed not to tease him over the matter anymore. “I do remember hitting on every guy at that club, and I do remember many of them flirting back too. But I didn’t go home with any of them. No, I went with this guy. This one guy that took my breath away in an instant, and I gave in to my desires for him.”

  Leslie gulped down the last sip of her coffee and placed it on the table in front of her. She then took his hand and squeezed it. “I’m sure he was special, Brad.”

  “He was.” Brad smiled sadly and faced Ian. Leslie noticed him staring at Brad with some weird intensity. “Ian, was there anyone specific I was talking to? Maybe you saw….”

  “I don’t know.” Ian replied, and Brad grunted, falling back on the couch. Leslie watched as Ian sat his mug on the coffee table and leaned forward. “Look, I was partying all night with the ho—with the crowd.” She caught him looking at her from the corner of his eyes, and she rolled her eyes. “There were so many people last night. You were there, Brad. You saw how crowded the fucking dance floor was. To be honest, after you left to get a drink, I didn’t see you at all. And that was quite early in the night.”

  “And here I was thinking that you were gonna help me find him,” Brad mumbled and rubbed his face. “Do you think you could get me into the club tonight also?”

  Ian looked between them, his big black eyes showing concern. “Um… sure, but what exactly do you have in mind? You’re not seriously thinking that you’ll find that guy in the club again, are you?”

  “As a matter of fact, he is,” Leslie said, glancing at her blond friend.

  Brad sat up straight once again. “I can’t explain why, but I think the people working in the bar might know him. There are bits and pieces that I do remember about him, and I think one time when he ordered his drink, he actually called the bartender by his name.”

  “You never told me that one,” Leslie pointed out.

  “It just came to me out of nowhere. I guess. As the time is passing, I’m slowly starting to remember little things about him. Maybe by the end of the day, it will all come to me.” His voice sounded hopeful when he said that. “The memory of the pendant? I didn’t know I remembered that until I talked to you.”

  “Wait. What pendant are you talking about?” Ian asked, obviously clueless.

  “The guy he was with had this unique pendant on him. Brad remembers that,” Leslie replied.

  “Unique, how?”

  “Well, the pendant was kind of historic—made of bronze, I believe. It was like a warrior’s sword with vines winding around it,” Brad explained, showing the swirl with his finger.

  “Oh!”

  “He thinks that someone might recognize it and will be able to point out the guy for him,” she added.

  Ian cleared his throat and hesitated. “So this pendant… did it have small green gemstones embedded around it?”

  “Yes!” Brad almost screamed in his excitement. It also piqued Leslie’s interest, and she began to wonder that her blond friend might have been right after all. “So you’ve seen it.”

  “Yes, I have.” Ian had his forearms resting on his legs while he fidgeted with his fingers and cast his head down. Leslie suspected something was wrong, and she slowly turned her gaze to Brad, who stared back at her. “I’m sorry, Parker, but….” He looked up again, biting his lip and sat up straight. He reached his hand up and uncovered a chain that wound around his neck. “I think you are describing my pendant here.”

  Brad sprang from his place on the couch and was kneeling by Ian’s chair in no time. Leslie watched as he held it between his fingers, gently caressing the metallic pendant while he stared at it in wonder. It was exactly how he had described it to them. “This is it,” he spoke in a low-toned voice. “But how could….”

  “I was wearing this last night when we went to that nightclub. And the reason you remember it so vividly is because the design has been imprinted in your mind. You asked me about it more than twice.”

  “You and I…?”

  “No, god, no!” Ian scrunched his nose. “Dude, I’m straight. You know that!”

  Leslie worried that the revelation would devastate her friend now. So she watched each of his actions closely. Brad let the pendant slip from his grasp and stood up, still staring at it. “Maybe he was wearing the same pendant, who knows,” he tried to reason.

  However, Ian shook his head adamantly. “It can’t be. This pendant has been in the Anderson family line for centuries, passing on generation after generation. I told you that last night,” he said. “So unless he is an Anderson like me, he couldn’t have one.”

  “God!” Brad yelled as he turned away from them. “What is wrong with me? Why can’t I remember anything about him?” His voice cracked, giving Leslie her cue to help.

  She went over to his side and stroked his back in order to soothe him. “Hey, it’s all right. You just have some memories mixed up from last night, and that could be from the alcohol, right? I know you haven’t had much, but maybe you drank too much and that is why it is all a blur.”

  “But damn, Les!” He gazed at her with wetness around his eyes. “I have to find him. I’m not ready to give up on him already.”

  Leslie put her arms over his shoulders and hugged him calmingly. “You’ll find him. Weren’t you saying that the memories are slowly coming back to you? For all you know, you might come to recollect his name, or maybe you’ll remember where you noted down his phone number.”

  “What if that doesn’t happen?” Brad whispered, sounding completely dejected.

  “There’s always a Plan B.” Leslie smiled, as he looked at her curiously. “You’re going to go back to the nightclub and find him there, probably waiting for you. Ian and I will come along, though, just to make sure you remain alcohol-free this time,” she spoke in a playful tone, and Brad chuckled. His smile always warmed her heart. She looked in Ian’s direction. “Tonight, after all our classes are done. Okay?”

  Leslie could relate to the reservations Ian was having at that moment. The Mohawk guy looked as worried as she was in her mind. There were so many doubts and so many questions. Circumstances seemed impossible, too fantastic to be true. Yet there was hope in Brad’s eyes—he was holding on so firmly that Leslie wanted to throw all her reservations out the window and help him. And she was certain that Ian too had his best interests in mind.

  Thus, Plan B was agreed upon.

  AT AROUND seven in the evening, Leslie met up with Brad and Patrick for a quick snack. It was already decided that they would wait for Ian in the coffee shop, and then they would all head over to the nightclub together. Patrick tagged along because he was suspicious of Ian’s intentions. He had never trusted that guy, but then Ian had never given him a reason to do otherwise.

  Brad, on the other hand, was more focused on his end goal. He had to see his guy once again, and it was all that mattered to him at the moment. It surprised Leslie that he had managed to tone down his anxiety and get through the day at the university. She had reason to believe that he must have been distracted in all the classes he attended. Leslie couldn’t pay attention either, as the worry for her friend kept her preoccupied.

  Patrick expressed that he was feeling out of loop with all that was happening. So as they settled
in one of the booths, Brad, once again, narrated everything to him. Sadly, he had failed to recollect any new information about his mystery guy from his dormant memories.

  “You know what I think?” Patrick spoke after listening to every account. “I think it’s super cool that you met your perfect guy on Valentine’s Day. Gimme a high five, bro!”

  Leslie giggled at the clap of their hands. “It’s cheesy all right, but the suspense about this mystery guy does make up for it. I can’t wait to find out how he looks, and then Mister Parker, I can frankly comment on your perfect guy’s disfigured face,” she teased as she feasted on her bagel.

  Brad took a sip of his tea and hissed as he quickly set it back down. “Damn! It’s hot,” he muttered under his breath, taking hold of the napkin and dabbing his lips. He blew out a breath. “And F-Y-I, Les, my guy is as hot as… this cup of tea.” He smirked.

  Patrick gave a rich laugh.

  Suddenly, Leslie felt eyes on her, and she looked across their table. A pair of freakishly blue eyes stared in their direction. They belonged to a man, a bit older in age—probably in his fifties, she guessed—with long gray hair. His face was round and wrinkled, making him look very ugly. He wore a black trench coat over a white shirt and a striped tie. Leslie noticed the big rings on his finger and deduced that he must be some wealthy man. However, his stare was making him appear scary.

  When he realized he was caught in the act, his lips curved into a cold smile.

  She quickly looked away and tried to concentrate on what her boyfriend was saying. However, Leslie kept getting the weirdest feeling that nothing around her was safe anymore. The worrisome thoughts kept her occupied. An unmistakable panic was slowly settling in.

  All because of an old man who was probably innocently looking at the college kids as they sat right across from him and reminiscing about his past!

  Leslie shivered. “Guys,” her voice wavered. “I’ll be right back.”

  Thankfully, none of the boys noticed the change in her tone, and she quickly made her way to the ladies room. Once she was in, the first thing she did was empty her bladder. Somehow, the old man had freaked her out so much that she felt the need to pee. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly that triggered such emotions in her. This had never happened to her before.