Forever Night Stand
Released on December 20, 2015
by Ysa Arcangel
Genre: Contemporary Romance
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Synopsis
Brandy Curtis is a strong and independent career woman who does not care for commitment. She prefers no strings-attached, one night stands because that's all she can give with what little free time she has. This is the life she has chosen and the life she is used to.
However, everything changed when she met Ivo, a gorgeous doctor with irresistible charm. He was just supposed to be another hookup, but he quickly became so much
more. It started as a one night stand which was followed by another, and another. The more nights they spent together, the more Brandy felt that life had given her something to live for.
Things seemed perfect... until a visit to the doctor sends her world crashing. The timing couldn't be worse. As her heart gets closer to Ivo, her memories begin to fade.
With her family history of Alzheimer's and at great risk of acquiring the disease, Brandy will take the chance to live her life with Ivo and fight the condition that threatens to claim her forever.
In this enthralling debut novel, you will find out about the heart that never forgets and the disease which has the power to rob, damage, and destroy yet cannot vanquish the feeling of love and being loved.
Excerpt
No one past the age of six should wear a dress like this. It was fine for a six-year old girl in some kind of play or a Halloween costume party, but not for a twenty-three year old maid of honor for her brother’s wedding. I scanned the dress, trying to think of innocence, beauty, and sweetness but it was all wrong for me.
My brother, Heineken peeked into my room and walked in wearing the most annoying smile ever. “You look good, Brandy. Are you excited for Carl’s wedding?” he teased and ruffled my hair.
Ken is seven years older than I am and he believed that the age gap allowed him to treat me like a kid. He was married once, for about two weeks, long enough to legally be the father of the product of a drunken one-night stand. The mother promptly rode off into a life of heroin and prostitution. Bitch!
However, Scotch, my four-year old nephew, is the most amazing person in my life. So amazing that I could look past the days of him giggling away while we cleaned up the crapped-filled diapers and green-pea-mush vomit. Speaking of baby vomit, I eyed the Snow-White-inspired dress once more and slumped in an armchair. Maybe I’d “accidentally” set it on fire during the wedding rehearsal.
Carlsberg peeped in and grinned, “How’s the dress, Brandy? Would you believe that I didn’t even have it made? Apparently, some other brides tend to be afraid of being “out-prettied” at their own weddings. This means that there are a few more dresses like that in the wedding boutique, stored in case there’s any kind of accident with this one.”
“Why, Carl why,” I groaned. “This is overkill! This dress is for ugly brides with hot friends. Can your Italian bride not think of a better theme?”
“I find it cute and amusing, and it’s actually because Ken doesn’t want you hooking up with Mia’s cousin’s sister-in-law’s best friend’s brother or something, and neither do I. The dress is perfect for hiding all your curves and killing all your momentary self-confidence, making you conveniently unlovable to passersby,” Carl said.
“What? What are you talking about?” I sputtered.
Ken dangled a little pink notebook in front of my face.
“That’s my journal! You sneak, you freak!” I gasped and grabbed for it. “How did you find it? I hid it so well,” I pouted.
Carl sighed, “You know how much she loves fairy tales Brandy and this is going to be my wedding. Please just be happy for me and bear with that dress for about two hours or even less?” He took the journal from Ken and tossed it to me. He smiled, I smirked then we linked arms and laughed. No matter how ugly the dress was, I loved my brother and I would wear the dress for him. “I have a date with a certain Italian girl that I think is engaged to me. I expect you to be wearing the dress on the big day.”
“Wait, have you visited Dad’s grave yet?” I asked.
“Yeah, of course. I asked for his blessing,” Carl said.
“H-how about Mom? Did you pay her a visit?”
“No.” Carl shook his head.
“Why not?” My eyebrow raised. ”At least just let her know, or ask for her blessing as well.”
“Brandy, there’s no use. She won’t understand, she can’t even recognize me.”
“She’s still our mother.”
“I know and nothing could change that, Brands,” Carl said in a low voice. “But even after seven years I could still hear Dad crying for help in my sleep.”
Years ago, our mom accidentally killed our Dad. At the time, mom had slipped back to the grip of her disease and, not recognizing the man she was sleeping with, she thought that she was being raped by Dad.
There must be a criminally culpable state of mind that accompanied her act but since she was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, a murder charge was easily defended. As a result she was turned over to the Lady Guinevere Center for Alzheimer’s. Just like that, the woman I have cherished all my life was gone, in more ways than one.
“Sorry,” I muttered.
Ken spoke from behind Carl, “Brands, mom’s disease has gotten worse. She’s starting to be uncommunicative and soon she’ll stop talking.”
“Yeah, last time I checked, her doctor said her Alzheimer’s is now in its last stage.” None of us spoke but after a few seconds Carl broke the silence and said, “Come on, Brands! Cheer up, don’t ruin my day okay?”
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to practice my Italian accent.”
As Carl left, he added, “If it’s any consolation, I had to have them make it uglier, just because you’re too cute.”
After he left and Ken soon after, I stared at myself in the mirror. Ugh!
Carl’s wedding is on Friday and our flight to Verona on Monday. It was the only thing that was keeping my dress from being accidentally torn to shreds.
After spending almost the entire morning of preparing and packing things for our trip, I went to visit Mom.
I brought with me a photo of Carl’s graduation day. In the picture, I had icing all over my hair because of the cake fight my brothers started. We were all hugging her and putting icing on her face. The picture made it look like everything was okay.
I smiled at the memory of that day and bit my lip to stop myself from crying.
I walked inside the center and down one of the hallways.
I visited my mom so often that she actually thought I worked at the center and preferred me over anyone else. Sometimes she even called me her mom. It is never easy when you become the parent of your parent.
Also, she resented some of the staff when they helped her go to the toilet and bathe her. She had always been uptight about getting undressed and frankly some of them performed their tasks robotically, they seemed to think that Alzheimer’s patients are unaware of their surroundings and would not notice much. I think, however, that even in her condition, my mom could recognize crappy attitude and she resented how some of them treated her for making their jobs difficult.
Every time I visit her, she wants me to take her home, and it always broke my heart. It made me cry and sometimes when I couldn’t control myself anymore, I’d lose it right in front of her. I wish I were stronger.
There are days when Mom would be lucid. She’d have these inexplicable moments of clarity when she would come out of her walled-off state.
“Hi, Brandy! It’s good to see you here again,” greeted Jessica, one of the caregivers.
“Hi, Jess. Nice to see you too!” I greeted her cheerfully. “Where is she?”
“She’s in the garden.” I thanked Jess and headed to the garden. When I got there, I found her staring blankly at nothing.
I walked towards her and when she saw me, her eyes glistened. “Mommy, where have you been?” Mom asked.
“I went to see my brothers. We’re preparing for a flight to Verona tomorrow and have Carl’s wedding on Friday. I wish you could come and meet his bride.”
She didn’t seem to understand anything that I said. Then she blurted out, “Have you seen my daughter Brandy? I haven’t seen her all summer. I wanted to talk to her.”
I bit my lip and knelt down in front of her. I tried hard to blink away my tears and put up a fake smile. I held her hand and showed her the picture.
“I remember this picture. This is my only daughter Brandy and my son Carl, Ken, and Gin. Their names are funny, aren’t they? My husband gave them names like that because he is a bartender in a local bar in our small town in Phoenix,” she recollected. “We took this picture together celebrating Carl’s graduation in high school. Oh they are putting icing all over my face,” she continued while laughing in between.
“You look so happy in that picture.”
“I was,” she replied then she hugged me. “Mom, tell my daughter I love her,” she whispered over my shoulder.
“Yes, of course.”
Nurse Jess came and announced that it’s about time for the residents to go to lunch so I got up and nodded at her. I looked at my mom again and I felt tears streaming down my cheeks. She didn’t seem to know what’s going on around her.
“I’ll see you in two weeks, okay?”
She nodded.
I hugged her goodbye, like I always did after my visits. As I did so, I said, “I love you, Mom.”
To my surprise, she said with great clarity, “I love you, too, Brandy.” Then as soon as she was lucid, she was gone again.
I couldn’t help it, I started sobbing loudly.
After my visit to the center, I drove back to my apartment. Before flying to Verona the next day, I needed to submit six articles to Chief, my editor. He’d have my head on a plate if I didn’t.
I was an advice columnist for The Boston Daily. I went by my pen name Juliet, who on paper, was the most hopeless romantic girl ever.
Unlike the real me. After what happened to my mother, I became paranoid. Alzheimer’s disease ran through my blood. Every generation has their representative, mostly women and I was the only girl in the family. I became afraid...afraid that I would be next.
I switched on my laptop and started writing another article for my column. I replied to one of the letters one of my avid followers sent me. The letter said:
Dear Juliet,
I’ve been dating a guy for about 6 months and it was going great until about two weeks ago when I accepted a job offer and moved to another state. I couldn’t be happier having a wonderful career and living the life that I’ve always wanted and he has been supportive of me, except for two things. First, we could barely see each other due to his work schedule but we made it work at first. Now, however, I don’t know when I’ll see him and I’m not sure how to approach the situation. Second, it bothers me is that he never tells me he loves me. I don’t feel that I should have to ask him to say the words. I love him but I don’t want to be attached to someone with whom I never get to spend time with anymore and will probably never get to hear those words from. I really don’t know what I should do and any advice would be helpful.
Thank you in advance,
Ms. Neglected
Dear Ms. Neglected,
You say that the relationship was going great until two weeks ago, which means that the employment and long distance situation has skewed your relationship. I’m sure that everything feels out of control right now.
My advice is to focus on getting yourself where you want to be so that you can make decisions about your relationship with more confidence. I encourage you to initiate some kind of frank, authentic conversation with this guy.
As for the “I love you” stuff, it’s a personal thing. Some people have to hear those three words, some people don’t. It’s something to think about for sure and with all that’s going on, ask yourself “Can I be happy in this relationship?” If no, then it’s time to go. Right now, your future is the most important thing.
I’d just focus on what comes next for both of you – your career and his schedule.
Sincerely,
Juliet
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About the Author
Ysa Arcangel is a Filipino author based in Manila. She works as a Spanish-English GDS Helpdesk by day and a writer by night. She is a loving partner to a very talented chef and mom to three amazing kids. She is fueled by coffee, tattoo fan, giant dogs lover and an extreme sports enthusiast. She writes contemporary paranormal and romance fics with lots of laughs, tears and sighs showcasing sweet, funny and badass female leads
with raunchy and hot male love interests whether human or supernatural. When she's not writing, you can see her spending time with her family, reading, or
having T.V. series marathon.
