21 Years

It's a complete autumn mood. A cool wind was blowing. A tiny woman sitting on her small bamboo chair on the balcony and feeling comfortable in a short pants and wide blouse. The hustle and bustle of the city outside couldn't get in through the phone headset she wore. Accompanied by a quiet classical music, she was holding the pages of the book she had just started with interest, as if she was almost slipping them from her hands.

When she reached the end of the chapter of the book, she sighed, and she complained that everything developed very quickly. She was slightly stiff from reading in the same position. After getting up and doing a few stretching movements, she entered the kitchen from the balcony. She lived in a studio apartment. After putting her coffee, which had been ready in the coffee machine for more than an hour, into the mug glass, she took the TV remote on the coffee table and sat on the seat.

Her phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Miss Elena Conley?" It was a call from an environment of rustling and rear noises.

"Yes, it is me" Elena was slightly uncomfortable. "Who are you?"

"Ahh. Excuse me, Mrs. Elena. I'm Officer Benjamin Obrien. Your spouse had a traffic accident. We found your number on his phone. He died in the accident. My condolences."

Elena was not upset at all. Because she was a single woman who lived alone. She was sure the detective was dialing the wrong number. "Detective. I'm single…" the phone had gone off. After waiting for a while, Elena thought that the detective hung up because he should have guessed that she was unable to answer the call properly due to death of her spouse.

Elena drank her coffee and watched TV, constantly wondering about the incoming call. About half an hour later, she could not bear it and called the detective. When the phone was picked up, a woman replied "Officer Wendy Clay. How can I help you?"

So, she was called from the police station. "I'm Elena Conley. Today is me detective…" Wendy interrupted immediately "Thank you, Mrs. I have to close the phone. This place is terribly busy. Be sure to start the funeral procedures for your spouse. You will also need to get the remaining legacy by hiring a lawyer. Such a rich husband ... Anyway, Mrs Elena. See you."

Elena was surprised. She couldn't understand why they were not listening to the speaker on the phone. She called again a few times, but the number was busy. After wearing some formal clothes, Elena took her bag and quickly made her way to the police station. When she came to the bus stop near her house, there was no one waiting at the stop. The bus that came first continued on its way without slowing down to pick her up. About 20 minutes later, a second person came to the station. The passenger sat in the seat of bus-stop without looking at Elena. A few minutes later the bus arrived and opened its door.

Elena immediately jumped. After presented her card on the reader machine, she moved to one of the empty middle row seats. A little girl was looking at Elena with interest. When Elena winked at her, the girl responded with a sweet smile.

The bus arrived in front of the police station after a while. She got off the bus with several passengers. After Elena quickly entered the police station, a young, tall, and charismatic man appeared before her. The man looked at Elena with a confident gaze. He passed in front of her and stopped. "Welcome, Miss. How can I help you?"

"Of- Officer. I'm Elena Conley. There was a misunderstanding today. I came to fix it."

"Follow me, Mrs. Conley. I'm Commissioner Lucas Patel. Come this way. My office is here."

Elena followed Lucas into the empty office upstairs. After sitting inside, Lucas willing to take some time to organize the papers on his desk. Meanwhile, a young woman entered. After the woman entered, she sat in the seat opposite her, not looking at Elena. Lucas sent a warm smile again.

"Miss Robinson. Why don't you wait? I can take care of you soon."

The woman was quietly examining Lucas after she nodded. She was looking at Elene from time to time. Elena was disturbed by her blank stare at her.

"Officer, how long will I wait?"

"Mrs. Conley. Now I saw that your husband had an accident. He spent time with a woman whose identity we could not identify yet. However, official records say that your spouse is married to you. You have been living separately for about 4 years."

"That's exactly what I came for. I did not marry anyone. This must be a mistake. I haven't even been with any man yet; you talk about getting married. There must be name confusion."

"Is your citizenship number 302411563222351?"

"Yes."

"Then you were married to this man. Isn't that mind-blowing you say? Should I invite an expert psychologist?"

"What are you talking about? How does this happen?"

After some silence, Lucas pouted "Miss Conley if you're kidding, it's not funny. You shouldn't be joking about such matters. If you think for real, I'll have to get you to see one of our experts."

Elena was about to be hospitalized as a mentally broken person at this police station where she came as a smart person. She stood up with some tension and panic. She opposed by raising her voice.

"What do you think you are? How can I be married? Put an end to this nonsense as soon as possible."

Lucas got a little serious. It was like electricity was coming out of his eyes. "Sit on the seat and lower your voice. I have to send Miss Mia first. Your situation may take longer than we thought."

Elena was angry but stopped herself and sat back on the seat. Mia left in five minutes after learning about the developments in her case. For 10 minutes in the room, Lucas continued to keep his notes. He looked at Elena, who was spending time on her phone after he finished writing his report.

"Do you really think this is a mistake? Or are you really sure?"

"This is definitely a mistake. I don't have intimate pictures with any men on my phone. I don't even have a photo with a man. Here you can have a look."

"Not necessary. So, what will you do if your photo comes out of the body or your wedding photos come out of your house?"

Elena shook her head, swallowing her spit hard. Such a thing was not possible. With support from the table, Lucas stood up and took his thin cardigan from the hanger. He put on his sunglasses.

"So, will you watch what I do? Or are we taking action?"

Elena followed Lucas after getting up from the sofa. They came to an officer. Lucas handed him a piece of paper. After the man entered the numbers on his computer, he printed the search result on the screen on an A4 sheet. After Lucas took the paper, he told Elena to follow. Elena followed Lucas right after him. They came to the parking lot in front of the police station. Lucas got into the car.

"Hey, jump on. We will go to your home that is not yours. Do you have wedding photos? What are your neighbors doing? What about funeral situations? We will check them all."

Elena swallowed and timidly jumped into the car. Along the way, Lucas didn't turn on the radio and didn't ask for anything. After about forty minutes of travel, they came to a beautiful house. The house had three floors and a large garden. Lucas stopped the car in front of the door.

"Hmm. Your house is beautiful. It looks amazingly comfortable. Your husband must be either from rich lineage or a formidable cheater. Houses are very expensive in this district."

"Not my husband! This is the first time I've seen this house!"

"Hmm. I understand. "

Lucas waited a minute after ringing the doorbell. A young man opened the door. The man looked at Lucas curiously. Lucas asked with a warm smile "Is it Mr. and Mrs. Conley's home?"

"Yes. Who are you?"

"I'm Commissioner Lucas Patel. We came to visit the house. We would look at the photos of the departed Mr. Conley and his wife and convey our condolences."

"Here you are, Commissioner. I'm Samuel Wright. I was the neighbor of the two. This is really sad. Come, please."

After the trio entered the house, there was nobody except a few neighbors inside. One of the neighbors approached Elena. "My condolences, lady. We're really sorry."

A few more people expressed their condolences. Elena could not understand what was happening. This must have been a joke. Who were these people? Lucas was looking at the photos among the trinkets in the living room. He called Elena.

"Mrs. Conley. Please come?"

"Commissioner Lucas. This is really ridiculous. Unbelievable."

"What's amazing? Everyone to know you? "

"Y-hmm." Elena arrived next to Lucas. She was going to talk about the incredible thing when she saw pictures of herself and a man hugging her. Elena had a cold shiver. Why didn't she remember anything? Why did she feel like she spent years in the one eye studio apartment? There was no memory of this house, or of the man with whom she held his hand. It was like someone else's life. Elena bit her lips, her eyes blushing. She was shaking. This was her. But how?

Did she have mental problems? Was she a crazy? Or was she extremely forgetful? Or was she dreaming?

She could not answer any of these. Was she schizophrenic?