Office Diaries - Chapter 110

As if having the same thoughts, Charles and Dylan stared at each other with their eyes wide, their faces reflecting their idea of Ria’s possible secondary mental breakdown.

“No way… this can’t be happening,” Charles muttered.

There was no way life could be so cruel as to make people undergo the same traumatic months they did when Ria walked into the office with her memories wiped out. There was just no way— most especially not to his cousin who’d been a dedicated husband.

“But… it’s possible, right?” Dylan suggested just as the door to the office burst open and a fresh looking Ria came walking in.

“Good afternoon!” she greeted both with a cheerful smile while Charles and Dylan turned to her with horrified faces. “Ehrm…is there something wrong?” she asked as she transferred her gaze from one to another.

“What’s your full name, age and what day is it today?” Charles fired his question rapidly, surprising the new comer who paused and blinked as she absorbed his questions.

After several seconds that seemed like a lifetime, Ria inhaled as she stood up straight. “My name is Ria Davis, twenty-two years old and today’s June 10, 2009,” she answered with a straight face which made the others’ jaws drop in shock.

“Oh my God…it happened,” Dylan ġrȯȧnėd as he scratched his head. “We’ll be working without calendars again…” he murmured before standing up with teary eyes as he approached his friend. “Hi, my name’s Dylan— Dylan Ng,” he told Ria whose mouth hung open as they shook hands.

Charles, on the other hand, cleared his throat. “Ms. Davis, please wait here while I call the CEO,” he said as he fished his phone from his pocket.

Before he’s able to dial his cousin’s number however, the door opened again and the man in question stepped in and the executive looked visibly relieved. “Mr. CEO, Ria’s here,” he announced making the other stop on his tracks and blink.

When he didn’t move and continued to look at Charles, the executive wiggled his brows comically as he pointed at Ria with his lips.

“You know…Ria,” he gestured to his cousin who frowned as he stepped closer to his wife who was watching him with amused eyes.

“I know. We came here together,” Michael announced as he placed an arm securely around Ria’s waist making the others stop and stare at him then to her then to him again.

“What’s going on?” Michael then asked upon seeing their weird behavior.

“Y-you’re touching her…” Charles commented as he and Dylan stared at Michael’s hand on Ria’s body.

“Ehrm…what about it?” the CEO retorted in confusion when his wife suddenly chuckled and everyone turned to her. “Love, what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry,” Ria apologized and yet her shoulders continued to shake in her mirth; the back of her hand covered her mouth as she laughed. “It’s just these two suddenly asked me weird questions that I played a joke on them,” she confessed making the other two bewildered.

“Oh my God— you tricked us!” Dylan pointed at her accusingly and the CEO’s frown deepened as he looked at his wife, expecting her to explain things.

“Well,” Ria started, finally able to control her amusement. “The moment I walked in here, Charles asked me for my full name, age and the complete date today, so I teased him a little.”

“You called that little teasing? We thought it was serious,” Charles shook his head disapprovingly as he turned to his cousin. “You can’t blame us for thinking she had a relapse. It’s your fault. You called Dylan earlier using her phone saying you’re at the hospital,” the executive said.

“Oh…that,” Michael muttered as he fished his phone out of his pocket and realized something. “Love, I think we swapped phones,” he announced and Ria immediately took her phone out as well and noted that her husband was right.

“I was calling on speed dial and you were number 2 on my phone,” the CEO explained as he swapped phones with his wife. “Ria was so sick earlier I panicked I didn’t notice I had the wrong phone with me.”

“So you were really sick?” Dylan and Charles chorused as they turned to Ria whose cheeks turned rosy as she placed a bashful smile on her beautiful face.

Her sudden shyness confused the couple’s audience more that the two turned to Michael for answers.

“Well, she was really sick earlier— but as it turned out, it’s not something that can’t be cured in a few months,” Michael announced as he pulled his wife closer to his side as he beamed at his cousin and wife’s friend. “We’re having a baby!”

Their announcement was met with silence and Ria looked nervous until both Dylan’s and Charles’s faces broke into delighted grins.

“Good heavens that’s great news!”

Seeing the others’ approval, Ria’s coy smile widened as she leaned back against her husband, resting her head against Michael’s shoulder as her husband spoke.

“Ria and I are leaving for a long vacation. The doctors said she’s a little delicate right now so I want her to be somewhere she can relax.”

“You’re just making that excuse so you can go on another honeymoon,” Charles snorted his accusation which his cousin unabashedly didn’t deny.

“That too,” Michael answered readily making everyone laugh.

“Fine, leave while I’m in the mood to be nice and take over while you’re gone,” the executive said as he shooed the laughing couple out of his office.

Alone again with the designer, Charles walked towards his table and snatched the documents there, studied it for a while before handing it to the other.

With a wistful smile, Dylan glanced at the door where his friend and her husband went out just a while ago before he spoke. “I’m glad. She’s finally living her dream,” he stated and Charles who caught on to what he meant nodded as he too glanced at the door.

Seeing the couple’s happy faces, there was no doubt that Ria’s dream of being with the man she loved and Michael’s dream of having the wife he adored so much return to him came true— and they’re already having a baby soon too!

“Yeah…the two of them both…”

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The place was silent saved for the hooting cicadas nearby. After a few seconds, the sound of water splashing echoed as Yanee sank deeper into the hot spring, submerging until only her nose up remained on the surface.

“Are you okay?”Ria giggled at Yanee’s dumbfounded expression before she sank into the water. “I think you should stop the recording already,” she suggested as she pointed at the silver box on top of the rocks.

A hand snaked from the water and reached out for it and Yanee switched the thing off before sinking back down. Her silent actions made Ria giggle even more. She was not offended though. She was well aware that her story was very unusual. It’d take time for anyone to be able to take all that in.

A few minutes more and Yanee finally sat up properly. “Sorry about that,” she apologized sheepishly, but Ria waved her hand at her as if to say she didn’t need to feel sorry.

“It’s fine. I already know my story’s on the outrageous side. Your reaction upon hearing it is actually more normal compared to the sisters when they first heard it,” she told Yanee who scratched her head.

“No wonder the potato told me to record it this time,” she murmured loud enough for Ria to hear.

“Potato?”

“Ah— I mean Tohru,” Yanee corrected herself then proceeded on telling her why she started calling Tohru potato.

“What? So is it mind-conditioning so you won’t get affected by his handsome face?” Ria looked shocked before laughing. “You mean each time you look at him you see a potato instead of a face?” she asked, and when Yanee looked apologetic she let out another spate of laughter.

“Don’t tell him, though,” Yanee begged teasingly and Ria nodded as she splashed water by tapping on it.

“I won’t, I won’t,” she promised as she shook in laughter. “But poor guy— he doesn’t know how his own girlfriend sees him.”

“Well, I love potatoes anyway,”Yanee blurted before freezing as she realized what she just said.

But Ria shook her head at her. “Nah, don’t bother explaining. Take your time to get used to it,” she said.

Silence passed between them again before Ria spoke. “Yanee, what do you think of my story?” she asked.

“Well… I was floored. I’ve never met anyone who has a split personality before. It must have been hard for you,”Yanee said as she reached out and gave Ria’s hand a squeeze.

Dissociative identity disorder as she read from a book was a severe form of detachment, a mental process which produces a lack of connection in a person’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity. Most people who had this condition experienced severe trauma.

For Ria who she found to be a very sweet young woman, Yanee couldn’t imagine the hardships she must have gone through.

“I’m so sorry…”