Chapter 30: Changed

Chapter 30 - Changed As Jamal sat in the barber's chair, the clippers buzzed near his ear as the barber gave him a fresh cut after dyeing his blonde hair to darker shade of brown. He had an AirPod plugged to his ears as he listened to his favorite audio podcast channel— Personal Paradise. He had stumbled upon the channel by chance a year ago when she just started and since then it had been his go to station whenever he needed to relax. Something about the voice calmed him no matter how worried or upset he was. He had listened to it so many times that sometimes he imagined her voice in his head and even had conversations with her in his head. Hearing that she was taking a break saddened him a bit and he hoped that she was okay even though he didn't know much about her as a person. He was halfway through his haircut when he caught Stefan's reflection in the mirror. Stefan was walking toward him, his phone in hand, his expression unreadable. Jamal arched a brow as Stefan stopped beside him. "Is there a problem?" he asked as he took the AirPods out of his ears. Stefan shook his head but looked intrigued. "I don't think so," he said. "I just got a message from someone claiming to be Dawn." Jamal's heart skipped a beat. He turned his head slightly, careful not to move too much as the barber worked. "Dawn?" he repeated. His voice was calm, but his heart had started to race. Stefan nodded and tilted his phone toward him. "Yes. It's actually Genevieve Harris." Jamal's stomach flipped. He frowned and lifted a hand. "Give me a second," he said to the barber, and immediately the barber excused them in the private room, leaving Jamal alone with Stefan. Jamal's brows pulled together as Stefan handed over his phone, and Jamal's eyes scanned the message: [Hey, I was trying to reach out to Jamal, but I got your number instead. I was told you're his assistant and it's not so easy to get his contact or reach him. I don't know if he remembers me, but we used to be buddies. I was in an accident years ago, lost my memories, but recently I started remembering him. Please ask him to reach out to me if he remembers.] Jamal exhaled slowly. The words played in his head like a distant echo. What did this mean? Why was she suddenly reaching out now after all these years when he had moved on? He had given up on love after his last attempt to find Abigail through Mari. Abigail had reached out to Mari and had told her she didn't remember any Jamal and whatever they had that night had been a silly mistake on her part and he should forget about her because she had forgotten about him. Thinking about it, Jamal felt his heart break again. He had felt like an idiot for reading so much meaning into their night together and even though everyone else in the family had been nice enough to not talk about it again, he had felt too embarrassed to even face them. That experience had taught him to keep things to himself more. He was no longer the childish and immature Jamal who believed in love and happily ever afters. No. He was a more calculated young man now whose main focus was being more successful than his mentor and taking HAJ studios to unimaginable heights. Jamal took a deep breath and shook his head to clear his thoughts. As far as she had reached out to him now, there was no way he could ignore her. He might not be interested in her romantically anymore, but that didn't mean she had not once meant something special to him. He lowered the phone, a contemplative frown etched between his brows. "What do I have on schedule next week?" "Not much since we will be in Husla by tomorrow for the business summit, and after that we have some meetings lined up the but we can adjust. If you're thinking about visiting Westend, we can make it happen," he said, since he had been with Jamal long enough to know his thought process. Jamal nodded. "Good. Call her." Stefan didn't hesitate since he was really curious to meet the girl Jamal had liked for all those years. He dialed her line, and the phone rang twice before Genevieve answered, her voice soft and tentative. "Hello?" "Is this Ms Harris?" Stefan said. "This is Stefan Chance, Mr Jonas' assistant. You reached out?" "Oh!" Her voice lit up with excitement. "Yes, I did! I was really hoping to get in touch with Jamal." Stefan glanced at Jamal, then handed him the phone. Jamal took it, pressing it to his ear. "Dawn?" There was a pause, and then a quiet intake of breath. "Jamal," Genevieve said, almost like she was testing his name on her tongue. "Do you remember me?" She asked, hoping he did. Jamal hesitated for a second. "I do," he said. "I thought you had totally forgotten." She let out a small nervous laugh. "I'm sorry it took me so long," she said softly. "It's been... strange. The memories came back in pieces. But when I remembered you, I knew I had to reach out." Something about her sounded off and made him uncomfortable, and even though he wanted to just forget her and not get involved in any way, Jamal couldn't bring himself to do it. Not just for his sake, but because of Lucy and the Hank family, who had been worried about her all these years. "Do you remember Lucy?" Jamal asked, and Genevieve wrinkled her nose. Although she knew who Lucy was. She remembered because of the panda that Dawn had named after her. But she couldn't admit it since she didn't want Jamal to involve Lucy or the Hanks until she was able to build a relationship with him. "No. Who is she? Your sister?" Genevieve asked innocently, "I'm sorry, there's still so much I can't remember," she said apologetically. "It's fine. Do you want to meet?" Jamal asked, hoping that by meeting her he'd get a better understanding of all that had happened all these years and why she changed so much. "Yes," she said quickly. "I'd love that." "I can fly over in three days." She let out a surprised squeal. "Really? That would be wonderful! I can't wait to see you." Jamal allowed himself a small smile. "See you soon, then." "See you soon," she echoed. He ended the call and handed the phone back to Stefan. "Make the arrangements. We're going to see her after the summit at Husla." Stefan nodded, already typing on his phone. "Consider it done." Jamal looked out at the mirror, his mind racing. Dawn. Genevieve. Memories lost and found. Fate. What did all of this mean? He intended to find out.