The Amnesiac's Redemption

Dazzling, multicolored lights. The roar of the crowd. The addicting rhythm of a thundering drum and harmonic guitar. These are the things that brought life into the hungered heart of Aria La Belle. Ever since she was a child, all she did was sing. She loved it, and then others began to love it too. Before she knew it, her dreams led her onto stages standing behind microphones. The Songbird. That's what they called her and her beautiful voice.

Aria sat in front of a mirror in the dressing room, preparing for her concert. It's been concert after concert lately for her, everyone wanted to hear the Songbird sing and she wanted to make sure she looked just as beautiful as her voice. Her dark eyeliner and eyeshadow brought out her gray irises that were almost silver. As usual, she always wore crimson lipstick that matched well with her jet-black hair thrown to one side, even her dress was a crimson that was identical to her lipstick.

"Knock, knock, Birdie." Aria's guitarist, Mandy, knocks on the door with a grin playing on her lips, the woman was excited like the rest of the band. "You're on."

Aria then returns a bright smile as she leaps to her feet and follows after Mandy. "Let's do this!"

The big crowd talks amongst each other as they await the Songbird's performance. Many people came here only to hear the Songbird sing, but there were two men who came here regularly since it was a local venue for them. There was always someone singing here, someone new each time they came here.

"Another round." A man calls to the bartender while sliding his glass over the counter to him. He ran his fingers through his blonde hair, messing it up as if he was shaking his worries and problems out of his skull.

"Third round already, Lucas? If you don't slow down, I'll have to drive you home again. And you're not exactly fun to deal with when you're drunk." Lucas's best friend, Mason, looks at him with a tired expression. After the stress of work, looking after the drunk CEO heir wasn't exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his day. But Lucas has always been there in times when he's in need, so it's only right he does the same.

And yet Lucas doesn't respond, the man too annoyed with how his life has turned out. The roar of a crowd snaps him out of his burning thoughts but what makes him turn around is when he hears the voice of an angel. The Songbird. Her beauty was just as beautiful as her voice.

His enchantment ends when he finally recognizes the woman. He knew her from high school and he shamefully recalls bullying her often. Aria La Belle. She was that classic nerd that always wore her black hair up in a messy bun, had big glasses, and was usually in overalls with earbuds in her ears. Lucas would often steal her earbuds, knock her books out of her hands, and call her names. And now here she is, on the stage, captivating everyone's hearts, including his. After she was done singing, he was determined to speak with her.

"I'll be right back." He tells Mason who's surprised as he suddenly runs off. Lucas follows Aria's trail until he finds her sitting outside on a bench, catching some fresh air while she can. But she immediately jumps to her feet the moment he approaches. Unlike Lucas, Aria recognized him instantly since he had bullied her for years. Startled by seeing him after a decade and wary of his actions, she's hostile without hesitation.

"What do you want??"

Lucas winces from how aggressive she is with her first words after all these years. "I wanted to apologize." He decides to be upfront like she is being.

Aria's hostility lifts into surprise when looking up at the man. "Apologize?"

"I treated you awfully when we were teenagers and I wanted to apologize for it. I've matured-" Lucas hesitates then shakes his head. "No, there's no excuse. I was just sadistic trash, and I regret my actions." He then looks into her gray eyes. "Your singing was beautiful..."

Aria's surprise is followed by a bashful blush. The last thing she expected from one of her many concerts was to run into someone she has a bad past with and get an apology from him, let alone compliment her life passion. Aria can tell that Lucas is being genuine and can see in his eyes that he truly regretted his actions back then. Aria has always been a kindhearted person, no matter who it is or what they did. And Lucas's sincerity deserved it too.

"I forgive you."

Lucas is surprised by how easily the beautiful woman accepted his apology. He felt that he didn't deserve it and that he should at least work for it. But before he could get a word of protest in, Aria walks past him back into the venue.

That's it?? Lucas quickly chases after her, not wanting their conversation to end just yet. "Wait up! You're not going to tell me how you've been?"

"You didn't ask." Aria gives him a humored smile. "But if you must know..." As they walked back into the venue, her eyes rested on the crowd that was still calling for the Songbird and her smile brightened. "I've... been really, really great. I've strived for my dream and now I have it." The woman then looks back up at him. "And you, heir? Are you the CEO now?"

Aria's smile was just as breathtaking as she was and it left him a blushing mess when she looked at him confusedly over his silence. He clears his voice as if to play off his awkwardness. "No, not yet. To be honest, nothing interesting has been happening in my life." He then peeks at her in the corner of his eye. It was the truth, until he stumbled across her, a flash from his shameful past.

"Chin up. I'm sure something good will happen to you soon." She smiles warmly up at him this time. The pretty woman's sweet nature came naturally.

Meanwhile, from afar, Aria's band spots her with Lucas. Her guitarist, Mandy, was especially shocked. "Is that the Augustine Company CEO's heir?!"

The other two members, Chris and Noah, were surprised as well. "It looks like they're already acquainted..." Noah says.

Chris grins. "A reunion. How about we make it more cherishable?" The other two expressed their mischief with a smirk or a snicker as they took to the stage again right before another singer could get on.

"What the hell?! I was supposed to sing after Aria!" The woman angrily snapped. Her hair was just as red as her temper. She was a singer that has always been second best to the Songbird and had always been jealous of it.

"Wait your turn, Roxanne. We still have important business to do." Mandy sasses while popping her favorite blue bubblegum in her face.

This infuriates the singer further but then she's left confused when the band starts to blow a slow song. Roxanne's jaw drops when she recognizes the famous CEO's heir from the popular Augustine Company, a man that she always ogled. And now here he is, asking Aria for a dance and she accepts. Her blood boils as she watches the two slow dance, Aria's eyes sparkled while Lucas was blushing red. Why do all the good things always happen to that nobody from the sticks?!

Once the music had ended, Roxanne got herself a big drink from the bar and casually walked near Aria till she was close enough to spill her drink all over her dress. When you're a singer, you pick up a knack for acting and that's exactly what she did as she gives a dramatic gasp. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Aria! Are you alright?"

The stain would stay in Aria's dress forever, no doubt, but she still forces a smile. "It's fine, Roxanne, it was just an accident."

Lucas wasn't as much of a pushover however and he defensively wrapped his arm around Aria. "Bullshit. I saw you, you did that on purpose!" He yelled at her angrily, making everyone look their way and see what Roxanne did to Aria. Lucas then mutters his final words. "Get out of here."

"Mr. Augustine... I..." Roxanne looked as if she was on the verge of tears and ran off, disappearing into the crowd.

"C'mon." Lucas then grabs Aria's hand and pulls her outside to inspect her dress in private. He grimaces at the sight as he pulls out a handkerchief and attempts to wipe her dress dry.

Aria sees how uncomfortable he's become and her eyebrows furrow confusedly. "Lucas?"

"You didn't deserve that..." He unexpectedly mutters. "You didn't deserve any of it..."

Aria is a bit taken aback since she couldn't tell if he was talking about Roxanne or talking about what he did to her in the past. Most likely both, Aria placed a hand on his and just smiled again. "You apologized. That's all that matters to me."

"Hey, lovebird!" Mandy calls to her as she fixes to get into her car, she was Aria's ride. "Time to skedaddle!"

Aria looks from Mandy to Lucas, his expression reflects her emotions. Neither wanted to leave just yet. So, Aria shyly spoke up first. "Um... I've got another concert here at 8p.m. Maybe you can show up a few minutes early...?"

Lucas finally smiles. "I'd like that."

"Hurry !" Mandy starts to complain.

"Coming! Coming!" Aria calls to Mandy while giving Lucas a wave of farewell and then leaving.

Right afterward, Lucas drove off with Mason as well since he was on his ride too. During the drive, Lucas's father, David, the CEO of the Augustine Company, called him to see where he ran off to.

"Have you ever heard of the Songbird? Turns out we went to high school together, can you believe that? And she's great! I'm heading back to the venue tomorrow night to see her again so don't give me any late hours." Lucas tells his father over the phone. Mason smiles widely when he hears this. Lucas was always a lady killer and heartbreaker. It was refreshing to see that his heart has been stolen.

David, however, gave an annoyed sigh. "Don't get caught up in a "fleeting crush." You have work to do and-" Before he could finish talking, Lucas hung up the phone.

"Dude! You got a death wish??" Mason was flabbergasted.

"Work is all he cares about. To hell with it. For once I'm happily looking forward to something." Lucas mutters, determined to do things his own way. Mason was concerned but he didn't push it. Lucas was a stubborn man and will always do what he wants.

And just like he said, after work, he drove to the music venue to see the Songbird once again. But before he even gets there, bright lights make his car swerve out of control and flip several times. The smell of gas and smoke in his eyes is the last thing he sees before everything goes black.

Mason rushes through the hospital's halls and into the patient's room where he was told his best friend has been put in. After he heard about the car wreck this evening, he feared the worst and dropped everything to get here asap. Unfortunately, Lucas's father and uncle were already there. CEO and head director, the brothers were twins but because David was born first, Davis will never get to be the CEO.

David looks surprised to see Mason race into the room like a bolt of lightning but his surprise switches into aggression quickly when he finally has somebody he can interrogate. "Did he really go see that woman after I told him not to?"

There was an intimidating edge in David's voice. He was obviously extremely worried about his son but he expressed it in the worst way possible. Mason looks behind David and at his friend who was still unconscious on the bed. His heart twists with worry but he does his best to remain focused. He finally looks at his boss. "From what he told me, yes... but by the sounds of it, he crashed before he could get there."

David scowls and looks back down at his unconscious son. Behind the anger, there was a worry so deep that it was breaking his heart. He was already a widower, he couldn't bear to lose his only child too. Davis puts his hand on his brother's back. "It'll be alright. I'm sure he'll wake up soon."

The CEO gives a small nod and takes in a deep inhale as if trying to suck in his tears. He then turns back to his son's best friend. "Mr. Miller."

Mason squares his shoulders, prepared for his boss's words, but before anything could be said, they hear a pained groan behind them. Everyone spins around, shocked to see Lucas sit up.

"LUCAS!" David hugs his son tightly, almost leaping at him. Mason lets out a deep sigh in relief meaning Davis says nothing.

"Who...?" Lucas mumbles confusedly and David leans back right as he speaks again. "Who're you?"

Everyone's emotions that had gone from worried, to shocked, then relieved, quickly plummeted into tension. David looked especially startled.

"I'm your father, Lucas... you've been in a car crash. Do you remember what happened?" His father asked concernedly but Lucas just looked at us one at a time perplexedly, the look on his face gave them his answer.

"It must be amnesia," Davis murmurs worriedly.

"I'll go get a doctor!" Mason bolted out of the room as quickly as he ran in and glanced over his shoulder one last time at his confused friend. The look on his face was worrying. Does he really have amnesia? How bad is it? Will he ever recover? And what happens now?

At the exact time Lucas's car flipped, Aria was still standing outside the venue, waiting for him. Eventually, the concert starts and she has no choice but to go inside and get ready to sing on stage. But even as the Songbird sings, she still keeps her eyes peeled for that familiar face but she never sees him. As the concert starts to come to an end, it becomes clear that Lucas isn't coming.

During the last song that's being played on stage, Aria and her band sit at the bar and drink. Aria has never been much of a drinker, even if she was down in the dumps.

"I wouldn't dig too deep, Aria. He's the heir CEO of the Augustine Company! Someone like him must have piles of work." Chris tries to comfort his friend.

"He seemed to really like you last night. I highly doubt he stood you up. As Chris said, time probably got in the way." Noah adds in.

"Ahh, who cares? You always got us, Birdie!" Mandy jokes while chewing on more blue gum as she wraps an arm around Aria's shoulders.

Aria smiles gratefully at her bandmates. "Thanks, guys... you're the best."

"Of course we are!" Mandy gives Aria a little kiss on the cheek before standing up. "Sorry to ditch the party so soon but I got somewhere I need to be. I'll see you guys later."

"See ya, Mandy!" Chris calls after her.

Aria smiles as she watches her go, being around Mandy always cheered her up. Their attention is grabbed and shoved into a sour situation as a familiar voice sits next to Aria. Of course, no surprise, it was Roxanne.

"Aria! I heard what happened. Are you ok, doll?" The redhead asks kindly. If it wasn't for the fact they all knew she was a snake, they would've believed she truly cared about Aria.

Aria gives a little shrug and looks away. "I've... been better. But it's nothing. I'm fine." The pretty woman says two words that she says too often, making Noah and Chris frown worriedly.

Roxanne gently rubs Aria's back. "I know the feeling. Falling for a man that you thought was love at first sight but then it turns out to be a fling. It'll be alright, he probably wasn't worth your time anyways." Though they were obviously fake words of sympathy, they still made Aria feel even worse when she used the word 'fling'.

"How about I buy you a drink?" Roxanne asks while summoning the bartender with a wave of her hand.

"N- no thanks, I already had a drink." Aria declines her offer with a raise of her own glass. Roxanne snorts when she sees the kind of drink that Aria had bought before the glass became empty.

"Seriously?! That's mostly juice! C'mon, one more can't hurt for the road, right? Well, not enough where we'll get a DUI." Roxanne laughs at her own joke that neither Aira, Chris, nor Noah found funny.

Aria heaves a sigh. "Alright, alright... one more. But the same thing only."

"Well, aren't you no fun? Fine, fine, you deserve it after tonight. Here, a toast." Roxanne lifts her drink as she as the bartender hands out hers and Aria's. "To brighter futures!"

Aria finally cracks a smile. "To brighter futures." She says before softly clacking her glass against Roxanne's. Chris chimes in with something smart while Noah gives a sarcastic comment and Aria laughs at them for being silly. As the three conversed, Roxanne took that split second to slip some tasteless powder into Aria's drink and it dissolved so fast that nobody could tell that anything was in it. And within a few seconds later, Aria finishes her drink. Roxanne smiles.

"Well, the night is nigh and I have a hot date so see you guys later!" Roxanne chirps as she suddenly leaves.

"Good riddance," Chris grumbles.

"Be nice!" Aria couldn't help but giggle at his grumpiness.

The group of three spends a little more time together before they part ways with affectionate goodbyes. As Aria gets into her car, her body becomes dizzy and her vision slightly blurry but she thinks nothing of it at the time because her mind still rotates around Lucas and why he didn't come to her concert tonight.

What her friends said about him had to have been right. There's no way he's the same Lucas from back in the day when he used to bully and haze her endlessly, right? He seemed changed but she was also so naive that it was hard for her to decide what was the real truth.

Her thoughts buzzing in fear of being stood up and being drunker than she should be, she starts up her car and drives off. Her vision only gets more blurred to the point she's swerving back and forth between the lanes. Her unsteady drive made her phone slip out of her purse and onto the floor of the passenger's seat. Aria was worried that Lucas may try to call or text her, or somebody important in general, so she leaned over to try to pick up her phone without thinking. And right as she turns her head away from the road, she feels her car hit something solid followed by a human scream. It makes Aria jerk her wheel to the side and slam on her brakes, almost making her car flip in the process.

Aria struggles to catch her breath as she tries to register what has just happened. She had run into something and it screamed. She hopes so deeply that it was just a wild animal that she ran over but the moment she opens up her bloodied door, she sees a familiar pack of blue bubblegum. Aria's heart begins to pound in fear and then devastation as her gaze follows the blood trail that leads straight to the body of the life she just took.

Mandy.

Aria La Belle is charged with a DUI homicide and spent time both behind bars and doing community service. Meanwhile, Lucas was in and out of hospitals for regular checkups on his amnesia which showed no improvement other than his family and the Augustine Company. Everything except for Aria, even the awful way he bullied her back in high school was a forgotten memory. Within the last three years, Lucas's father had passed away, and because of Lucas's condition, Davis became the new CEO while Lucas became the head director.

The Songbird's dreams shattered along with her reputation and career to the point her friendship with her bandmates faded away too. Now she was an advertising agent for a company owned by Roxanne's friend, someone who enjoyed making life hard on Aria just as much as her rival did. And Lucas was unaware of it all because nobody told him anything about Aria. The day Lucas was diagnosed with amnesia, David told Mason to never tell him about the woman he met at the concert.

Being the head director, most of Lucas's jobs were to promote the company's success. And the longer Lucas works under Davis, the more and more his uncle seems to act differently around him. He was no longer that caring, kindhearted uncle with sweet words of encouragement. Now he was more direct and curt. His father's twin brother makes it very clear what he wants though he never says it out loud. But Lucas has finally started to get the feeling that Davis has always desired the seat of CEO. It shouldn't be surprising since he knew he'd never get the seat of a king but at the same time... It made Lucas uncomfortable and Mason felt the same. Not to mention that Lucas's share in money was still higher than Davis's, which only makes him more wary. But surely his uncle wouldn't try to steal everything of worth, right...?

Lucas was uncertain. One thing he did know as an obvious fact is that his uncle has always desired the position of CEO. And now that he's got it, his true colors are showing. The cruel reality is that his uncle never loved him, it was fake the whole time. But he and Mason keep their suspicions to themselves. What good would it do if they voiced their opinions? Other directors on the board seemed particularly close to Davis and it would be no surprise if they would always take his side. If only it wasn't for the damned amnesia, maybe his lost memories would give him an edge on what's really going on beneath the cold water's surface.

Trying his best to ignore the Augustine Company's inner conflicts, Lucas does his best to focus on his work. Lucas went off to the company of one of Roxanne's friends. But the red-haired singer was also a forgotten memory, even the name didn't ring a bell.

Lucas walks into the front office of the smaller company to meet with the agent he had talked to on the phone an hour ago. The glass door chimes to announce that someone has just walked in. "Hello?" He calls out since there is nobody in the lobby. It was like a ghost town compared to the Augustine Company which could easily be defined as a beehive with a bunch of working bees and little honey in return.

"Be right there!" Calls a feminine voice that finally introduces herself as she hurries into the lobby. As soon as she came face to face with the man she was supposed to meet with, her jaw dropped with the stack of files she had in her hands. The woman was Aria and she was shocked, she hadn't even recognized his voice on the phone. Lucas gave a confused tilt of his head, her apparent surprise left him muddled.

"O- oh... um," Aria clears her throat while quickly picking up all of her files. "Long time no see..." She quietly and hesitantly says her words without looking him in the eyes. Once again she was wearing her glasses and her long black hair up in a bun. It felt like they were back in high school except her hands were full of papers and files instead of books. Aria instinctively prepared for a brutal insult but when she didn't get one, she looked back up at him expectedly only to see how perplexed he looked.

"Do I know you?" He finally asks. Aria becomes more surprised by his chosen words but then feels a rarely-felt burning fire within her. He had the audacity to leave her hanging and not speak to her for three years then pretend like he doesn't know her when they meet by pure chance?

Aria ignores his question. It felt too similar to how he used to bully her in high school and she'd instead not turn the memory into a trauma by dwelling on it for too long. "What can I help you with?"

"I'm Lucas Augustine, head director from the Augustine Company. I was hoping to work with someone more skilled with advertisements since I'm the one with the connections. It'd be great to work with you, Ms...." Lucas peers at her nametag. "Aria? That's a beautiful name." Lucas then proceeds to look the pretty woman up and down and she could spot a bit of a blush on his cheeks as if he was thinking the same thing about her body. He then looks back into her eyes again with a perplexed lift of his brow. "Are you sure we haven't met before? You look so familiar... do you put yourself in your advertisements?"

Aria's gray eyes widen as she watches him. Again, she can tell when someone is being genuine. And this truly baffled her. Could it be that he really doesn't remember her?

"Lucas... we went to high school together, don't you remember?" Aria asks hesitantly since it wasn't her favorite memory.

Lucas just silently stares at her, the words still not ringing a bell. And Aria's surprise was starting to turn into worry.

"Lucas, is something wrong? Do you really not remember any of this?" Aria finally asks while carefully inspecting him by looking him up and down.

Lucas frowns and rubs the back of his neck while looking away. "Three years ago, I got into a pretty bad car crash. Apparently, it almost killed me. I don't remember anything but they think a deer just jumped out in front of me and I lost control of my car. They told me I have amnesia. Thankfully I can remember some things like my family and my company but other memories are still foggy or vague." He then looks back to Aria. "I take it I knew you in the past then, huh, Aria?..." Lucas's voice trails off as a brief, faint vision crosses his mind. A memory that flickered like sunlight between tree leaves. He sees her on a stage, singing. Aria felt unnerved when he suddenly stopped moving and just stared at her until finally spoke three words, a name. "Aria... La Belle? Songbird..."

Aria's eyes widen again when he says her full name and even her stage name, this makes her smile brightly. "You do remember me!"

"I think? It was just a glimpse but- AGH!" Lucas almost buckles over as he grabs his head, a searing headache pulses through his skull without warning.

"LUCAS!" Aria yells and quickly grabs his arm to stabilize him when he haunched before he could collapse. "Are you ok?!"

"I- I think so..." Lucas winces when he takes a single blink and he runs his hand through his blonde hair as the pulsing slowly subsides. Once he steadies his stance, he gives Aria a small smile. "I take it we got history then, huh?"

Aria was silent for a moment before returning the smile. "Something like that..."

Lucas's smile then unexpectedly turns affectionate. "I look forward to working with you, Aria."

"Likewise." Aria's voice was sweet but as soon as Lucas looked away, Aria's kind smile turned sad. Lucas was only treating her like this because he didn't remember how deep their history ran. Will he back away from her once he remembers everything? Or will he keep treating her this way?

After their day working together on a project for the Augustine Company, Lucas schedules an early appointment with the doctor he sees for his amnesia. He was looking forward to telling him that his memories were finally returning when he met a woman from his past. Though his doctor expresses bliss when Lucas tells him about his progress, the doctor reports to his boss, Davis, as soon as he can. And this news dramatically upsets him. The conniving nature was starting to come to the surface once again. If Lucas recovers all of his memories, then he will be able to steal the seat of the CEO out from beneath him. He knew he had to act fast, and all it took was a phone call.

That day, Mason came into the CEO's office when he received that certain phone call from Davis. He was ordered to come in alone without telling anyone, and little did he know that he was about to become a tool.

"Mr. Augustine?" Mason asks the name that he's been saying for years now. Even after David passed away, he still goes on to say that name. If it wasn't for Lucas's amnesia, he'd still be saying that name for the next decade if his best friend had become the CEO instead. Unbeknownst to him was that this was the very reason why he was called into the CEO's office. The look in Davis's eyes as he leaned over his desk unnerved him.

"Mr. Miller. I have a task for you. And if you refuse... it'll be the last refusal you'll ever make."