Annelie then decided it was time to call Kat, so she stayed in the kitchen area while the other girls went to talk with me. “Okay Jenny,” said Annelie, “what are you doing answering Kat’s phone?” “What do you mean?”, she said, “I am Kat.” “Nice try Jenny,” said Annelie, “but I can tell you two apart.” “Why the video call?”, asked Jennifer. “Because this is important, now where is Kat?”, she asked. “Kat is sleeping,” said Jennifer, “and I am not waking her up, the last time I did that my nose was bleeding for half an hour!”

“Kat will do more than that if you do not wake her up,” said Annelie, “I have some news about Steve.” “What is it!!”, Jennifer screamed. That was enough to wake up Kat. “What is going on here?”, she asked. “Annelie has information about Steve!”, screamed Jennifer. Kat took the phone, “what did you find out?” “One thing is, I found out what the other drug is that was used on Steve,” said Annelie, “and I found the woman that has been looking after Steve, she told me about the drug.”

“How did she know?”, asked Kat excitedly, “does she know where Steve is now?” “First part is a long story, so I will tell you later,” she answered, “but yes, she knows where Steve is right now, he has been living with a woman named Carine Blanchet for the last 7 weeks, which is why we could not find him. But we were so close in Paris! Now, Steve is right here with us, but stay calm, he is all mixed up because of those drugs. His name right now is Bernard, that is what he knows.

He does not remember any of us and he is scared, so we have to take it easy.” “I understand,” said Kat, trying to remain calm, “can I talk with him?” “Yes, that is why the video call,” said Annelie, “just, stay calm, okay, it is really hard on him right now. I will mention one other thing, they…” “Hey, I know what you are saying,” said Kat, “don’t worry, I am a Kat, remember? Not a lion.” So Annelie went nervously back to us and sat down beside me. “This is your wife, Kat,” she said, introducing me, “and here is Bernard.”

I took the phone and looked at Kat and started to cry…so did she. “I, I am sorry Kat, but, I really do not remember you at all,” I said slowly, “I know that must be hard for you and I wish it was different.” “That is okay Bernard,” said Kat gently, “I understand, it is the drugs that did this to you, and we have doctors working on that right now to try and find an antidote for you. Can I meet Carine?” “Yes, for sure, Carine has done so much to help me these last few weeks,” I said, “here she is now.”

I handed the phone to Carine who was exceptionally nervous now. “Hi Carine, I’m Kat,” she said, “and first of all, don’t worry about anything, I am not angry with you at all, in fact, I am very thankful that you took care of Bernard all this time.” “Oh my,” said Carine crying, “I really don’t know what to say. I thought maybe you will hate me so much for living with your husband all this time. But I must assure you, we have been just friends, but…I also must tell you…”

“I know,” Kat interrupted, “and I understand that too. No, I do not hate you one bit, and now that we have found you both, please, come home to live with us, both of you. Steve…Bernard…needs you, and we all want you to be here and be part of our big family of friends.” Kat spoke to Carine so lovingly. “We would love to come to you,” said Carine, “right Bernard?” “Yes, that is absolutely right,” I added. “And don’t worry about your job, or finances, or anything,” said Kat, “we have lots of room for you to live here, it is a huge chateau with 22 bedrooms.”

Kat smiled and so did Carine. “Thank you so very much Kat,” said Carine, “this is so hard to believe, I was not expecting anything like this.” Then Annelie told Kat about getting some of that drug tomorrow. “Are you sure it’s wise to go with only Rock?”, asked Kat. “I will take MC with me too, he will be my surprise if there is trouble,” said Annelie, “and I will send Muffin back with Kristina, Bernard and Carine.” Baldwin arrived then, but left Rock in the car. He was introduced to me, but I did not remember him either.

Jennifer was also in the car when Annelie got there, and they drove to the city with the airport and booked into a hotel for the night. Carine called her employer to let him know she was leaving and off they all went to my home. I was still so very nervous, and scared. Who am I? And what is next?

The End. But don’t worry, our story continues. Please join us for the next phase of this story called, “Bernard’s Secret”.

©2022 Steve McLeod.