The lobster allergy

Aria climbs down the stairs slowly; she meets the rest of the family members downstairs. They were all seated in the sitting room with a worried expression on their face, Mr. James was still at home, aside from the fact that it was getting late already, he didn’t see the need to go to work while his son was unwell.

“How is he doing?” Susan asked immediately she set her eyes on Aria, she got up from the couch and rushed to her future daughter-in-law.

“He is fine, mom… I asked him to get some rest, so he is tucked into bed.” She answered.

“Wait, he listened to you? Just like that?” Rebecca asked with a look of doubt on her face.

“Yes, I was surprised as well. Is it just me or do you all notice the changes? I mean, he is different, so different that I doubt he is our Jimmy.” Aria blurted.

“What are you talking about? Of course he is my son, can't you see that for yourself or did you also lose your memory?’ Susan queried.

“No ma, it is not that. There are just these strange things since he came back, first of all… didn’t you notice his hair was trimmed shorter than when he left this morning?” Aria asked.

“Yeah, I noticed that too, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t Jimmy. He could get a haircut at any time, and you know Jimmy… he does crazy things all the time, he could wake up one morning and decide he wants a tattoo, he doesn’t need reasons to do things,” Rebecca replied less concernedly.

“Yeah, Rebecca is right. He got a haircut, so that means nothing. Unless you have other reasons to think he is different.” Mr. James finally spoke from where he sat.

Aria sighed, she didn’t know how to explain it to the family but she could feel that something was different.

“I know, I am not saying that it is not him, I am just saying that things are off. He isn’t acting like Jimmy at all, he is very different.”

“He lost his damn memory, sis, of course he will be different. I mean, the memory loss should explain the change in him, right?” Rebecca asked.

“Not exactly, he only lost his memory, not his attitude or temperament. Jimmy from six hours ago would have been yelling at someone by now, except he had been pretending to be that way all this time. But take aside his temperament, what of his attitude and character? I mean, he said thank you to me after I tucked him into those sheets, we all know that Jimmy never says thank you.” Aria explained.

“Wait, what? Are you sure that Jimmy said thank you to you? Like, did you really hear right?” Rebecca asked immediately with pricked curiosity

Aria nodded. “Yes, I know it sounds strange, I couldn’t believe it either, so I asked him to come again and he repeated the words. So tell me I am wrong to be worried,” she uttered.

“Okay, enough of this discussion. Fine, he has changed, but shouldn’t we be happy that this accident changed him for the best? We should focus on supporting him in this difficult time rather than question or doubt his actions.” Jimmy’s mother uttered.

“Support him? Well, good thing Aria is here to do that, because you can count me out of that. That jerk deserves what he got and I don’t care if he regains his memory or not.” Rebecca blurted and headed up the other stairs immediately.

“Becca!!” her mom called out immediately but she wouldn’t listen, she was headed for her room.

Aria sighed and turned to Susan. “Don’t worry mom, I will take care of him… I promise,” she assured.

“Thank you dear, that really means a lot to me. Just let me know if there is anything you need to make things easier,” Susan replied.

“Yes dear, you are the only one he is comfortable around at the moment, so please take care of him for us. We really appreciate it and your support won’t go unrewarded.” Mr. James Queen added.

Aria chuckled softly. “Dad and Mom, you both seem to forget that he is my husband to be, I don’t need to be asked before I help him. He is important to me just as he is important to you as well.” she reminded them.

** ** ** ** **

Later that evening, the entire family had gathered at the dining table to eat. It was a very tall rectangular table and Mr. James sat at the head of the table, while his wife sat by his right hand. Rebecca sat two chairs after her mom on the right side of the table while Jimmy and Aria were seated on the left side.

The maids arrived and placed the big basins and trays of food on the table, they dropped a basket of fruits and assorted drinks as well. The family members always served themselves after the food arrived at the table, all the maids had to do was provide the plates and cups for them, with the towels and wash basins as well.

Everybody began to dig in to their preferred delicacy, Rebecca filled her plate with a delicious Chicken ‘n’ watermelon ‘n’ waffles. Included was honey hot sauce, chilled spiced watermelon, bourbon maple syrup and Vermont sharp cheddar cheese waffles; one of LA’s finest delicacies.

There were so many dishes to choose from, only God knows why they prepare so many dishes when they barely even eat them. But that was the thing about being millionaires , you can’t question them for how they chose to use their money, especially when you weren’t there to advise them when they didn’t have it all.

Aria noticed that Jimmy was just staring at the dishes and so she helped him fill his plates with Banana cream pie and Lasagna on another plate, they were his favorites.

He smiled and muttered a thank you which had the family pause for a few minutes, two thank you in one day was a little abnormal for Triple J, and he hadn’t said it as sarcasm, he said it in a very calm voice which was so unlike him. They decide to overlook it and concentrate on the food, Aria had poured him some wine before dishing food for herself.

She was very hungry and exhausted so she didn’t hesitate to dig into the meal the moment she was done with Jimmy’s. about five minutes later, she turned to stare at Jimmy and a scream escaped her mouth.

“Jimmy don’t!!” she yelled, but it was too late.

The family looked up immediately and Mr. Queen’s jaw dropped in shock, what Rebecca dropped was a fork by the way.

Jimmy sat there looking confused and terrified, he had no idea what was going on or why they looked so shocked and scared.

“Are you okay? Do you need water? Do you need to throw it up?” Aria asked immediately with her full attention on him.

“Um… No, I am fine… what is wrong?” he asked with a dazzled face.

“You… You are fine?” she asked in surprise. She turned to the other family members and then back at him. “But you just ate a lobster, you are allergic to lobsters, you don’t even touch them let alone eat them but you just had a handful of it in your mouth right now. So how are you okay?” she asked again.

Jimmy was confused, he stared at the meal and scratched his head, and then he stared back at Aria. “So I shouldn’t eat them?” he asked in confusion. “Am I going to die?” he asked with wrinkled eyebrows and Rebecca burst into laughter.

Susan shot her daughter a mean glare and she almost choked on the food, the family is in shock, on a normal day, Jimmy should be struggling with his breath right now. The lobster always causes an itching on his throat and makes him very uncomfortable, but today he seemed to enjoy it, he was even staring eagerly at it like he wanted to have another bite. What the hell was going on?

To be continued!!