"I was worried sick about you for a week now! I told you to be morr careful on the road!" Melissa engulfs me, tightening her grip as the hug went on.

"Love you too, Melissa." He hugs her back with the little arm room he had.

"We were scared you were kidnapped or worse, sold off somewhere like a piece of meat!"

"Melissa, you do realize I'm a grown man, right? I'm confident I wasn't going to be sold off anywhere." Melissa lets him go and looks at Aphmau.

"And you!" She hugs Aphmau tightly too, "Thank you so much for taking care of my baby brother."

Aphmau snickers at Aaron's nickname for her, "It was really no problem. I enjoyed hisQ company." Aphmau looks back at Aaron.

Melissa stops hugging her and looks at Aaron, "We need to hit the road soon, you've missed so much! From meetings to new plans to possible out of town trips to-"

"Can I have a few moments with Aphmau?" Aaron stops her.

"That's literally the opposite of what just came out of my mouth."

"Please."

Melissa sighs and checks the clock, "Five minutes. I'll be outside by the entrance." She says, leaving the room and closing the door.

Aaron wastes no time to hug her, "Thank you for helping me."

"Come on, it was fun. I'm glad I got to help you." She hugs him back.

One thing that made this farewell even worse is the fact that Aaron didn't want to let her go. He had so many questions and so much regret. He knew his time was limited and yet, he didn't take advantage of that.

Besides Aphmau, the only other thing on his mind was the note. Did she ever read it? Will she ever read it? Was she ever going to?

Good thing Aaron had a backup plan.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Aaron asks while still hugging her.

"Yeah, of course."

"Do you maybe-" Melissa barges into the room, causing Aphmau to let Aaron go.

"Aaron, come on! Mom and dad want to see you right now! We're already running late by the five minutes I gave you."

"Melissa, please-"

"No. Say goodbye and come on!"

Aphmau tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, "Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime."

"I hope so. It was really nice meeting you, Aphmau."

"It was nice getting to know you." She responds as Aarom follows Melissa out of the hospital room. Aphmau sighs and picks up her bag when she notices something sticking out of the inside pocket.

She picks it up and unfolds it,

Dear Aphmau,

I may not remember exactly who I am, but with your help, I'll figure it out sooner or later. Thank you.

Sincerely, John Doe

"Oh Aaron."

•○●A Purplla Publish●○•

Five months later

"You want another shot? Imma get you another shot!" Katelyn slurs as she passes another cup to Aphmau.

"Katelyn, I know it's your birthday, but I think you should slow down." Aphmau cautions her.

"No way! Imma go dance with Lucinda. Don't be a stranger." Katelyn climbs off the chair and walks over to the dance floor with Lucinda and Nichole.

"What the hell?" Aphmau downs the shot and puts it down. She waits over by the bar for her friends to be ready to leave when someone sits down next to her.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

"Sorry, but like I told the last guy, I'm not interested."

"Oh come on, it's been a while since I've last seen you. It'll be my treat." She turns to see Aaron in a long sleeve button down shirt and black dress pants.

She snickers, "What are you wearing?"

"I've had a long day. I thought I look okay to go out to a bar loaded with people in my work uniform." He says, laughing with her. "How have you been?"

"How about we discuss that over the drink you just offered to buy?"

"I like the sound of that."

•○●A Purplla Publish●○•

Until next time,

~SpookyPurplla 💜