Trevor woke up the next morning feeling much better than he felt he had a right to. He expected to at least have a residual headache of some kind, but he didn’t. Not that he was complaining. Not even a little bit. He figured he’d rather deal with the pain of a broken bone than the headache he had last night. Except for the fact that broken bones don’t go away overnight. Was that normal for a concussion?
Well, it was normal for his apparently. He got up and stretched, glancing at his night table. And panicked.
It’s gone. The necklace. He had left it right there!
He interrupted his stretch to move things around on the stand. The clock. His wallet, keys and phone. His latest book, Quantusum, which was fascinating, scary and fantastical all in one. Then he moved it all again, thinking maybe he had just pushed it around and still couldn’t see it.
Nothing.
He dropped down to all fours and checked under the nightstand. Then under his bed. He opened the single drawer on the stand thinking maybe he put it in there for safe keeping, even though he knew he hadn’t. If it was in there, he could have blamed it on the concussion.
But still, no luck. He had just started to believe finding the necklace was a figment of his imagination when he lifted his pillow and coiled a bit in shock.
How it got there, he hadn’t the faintest clue, but yet there it was in all its splendor. He wasn’t one to do strange things in his sleep. Not that he knew of anyway. And so he found it hard to believe that he would actually unconsciously grab the thing, and place it under his pillow. Materialism was oil to Trevor’s water. He didn’t even own another piece of jewelry!
Though again he couldn’t deny, letting the pink stone twist and turn in the early morning sunlight, that this was a beautiful necklace. It would make a great gift for someone special. You know, someone that was into that sort of thing.
It was then that it occurred to him again that this necklace belonged to someone who was probably missing it. He still wasn’t sure how he should go about looking for the owner. If he was missing something, what would he do? There was putting an ad in the paper. But that took time, and no one even really read the paper anymore. There had to be something online he could look for. A virtual lost and found?
But first, he guessed he could check with the local police department. Even if no one had come in yet asking for it, he could leave the necklace with them. Maybe. He could call and ask, but he hated phones with a passion for some reason. He’d much rather just go in and talk to someone.
The morning was still early though. He didn’t know if the police kept specific hours for this sort of thing, but he was reasonably sure whoever was there didn’t want to be dealing with it at this hour. So he took his time making breakfast and exploring his favorite morning websites and blogs for news. Satisfied he was caught up with world events, Trevor went into the woods and headed for his favorite workout spot.
Trevor had a pretty cool set up here, if he had to say so himself. He had a membership at a nearby gym, but he much preferred the outdoors and his anomalous exercises he had concocted out here. The gym was there for rainy and extremely cold days.
This was definitely his favorite spot in these woods. It wasn’t overly easy to stumble upon, which was great, and he had gone through the effort to make it his own. He had actually gone out and found fallen trees, axing and sawing, which is a great workout in and of itself, until they were a good weight for certain exercises. He was even lucky enough to have two stumps nearly identical in height and not too far apart, where he had placed a rather dense log he found atop of each to use them as a stand for squats. There was a log for lunges, a couple he held under his arms for jump squats. He had brought a bench out for those, to jump on, and also used it for bench pressing. Shoulder presses, curls, he could hit it all. There were at least a couple exercises for each body part he could do. And each day he did whatever he felt like. Or rather, what his body felt like.
The few times Trevor did spend at the gym, he would often listen to the people who called themselves trainers there. And they would set a schedule for people to follow, with a certain amount of sets and a certain amount of reps, using the same exercises day in and day out. That couldn’t be anymore monotonous, far as Trevor was concerned. Perhaps that was good for some people, but how does anyone stick with it? Trevor was disciplined enough not to miss too many workouts unnecessarily. And he was disciplined enough not to neglect certain exercises. But he didn’t have anything planned before he arrived at his clearing each day. He decided what exercises he would do as he warmed up. If certain muscles felt sore or weak, he left them alone. If they felt good, he worked them until they were tired. Simple as that. And it worked for him. It was comfortable and he always looked forward to his workouts. Could he be a little stronger if he used a bar and plates and had something a little more regimented. Perhaps. But Trevor didn’t care in the least. Being outside couldn’t be beat, and strength wasn’t a problem. That was another problem with working out at the gym. He could lift weights he didn’t look like he should be able to lift. It drew attention and he wasn’t a fan of that. In some cases, it almost seemed like some guys took offense to it. He was either getting dirty looks from people, or being asked how he trained to be able to lift so much. A question he didn’t have an answer for.
So he avoided that awkwardness by steering clear of the gym as much as possible. Last winter he had even brought a shovel out to clear the area. He was happy with his system. If that made him a bit on the anti-social side, all well.
This part of his workout took about an hour, and then he went for his customary 10 mile run. Something else he loved to do. He would never break any marathon world record times, but some days, the crisp and cool ones being the best, he felt like he could run all day if he had to.
His standard workout usually took more than two hours, but less than three. Most people would probably find that excessive, but it seemed right for him. After he finished, he got home, concocted a shake made with a bit of protein powder and veggies, and was out the door to the police station by 9am.
The station wasn’t anything spectacular, which was no surprise for a small town like Crystal Woods. Trevor walked through the first set of double doors, and when he attempted the second set, he was thwarted by a pair of glass doors that wouldn’t open. Of course they made a loud sound when he tried to open them, and that earned him a look from the lady working the desk on the other side, as well as someone she had been talking to.
“What do ya need?” she asked through a speaker in the wall, with a little bit of humor behind her voice. Yeah, she knows embarrassed people when she sees them.
And Trevor was a little more embarrassed when he hesitated, not sure if there was a button he should push or something. He didn’t see one. So he spoke, hoping he didn’t miss the obvious.
“Uhh, well, I found something last night. And I was curious to see if you had anybody report it missing. Maybe I could leave it here if not. You know…if you do that?”
“Well, that depends on what you found, now doesn’t it? Tell me, tell me, and I’ll decide if I should let you in or not,” said the clerk, the corner of her mouth up in a smirk. She was messing with him now.
Trevor decided to play along a little. “Hmm, well, I’m not sure I should leave it after all, because I think you’d want to keep it for yourself. You see, it’s this pretty pink necklace…”
And with that a girl shrieked on the other side of the door, interrupting him. Because of the door frame, he hadn’t gotten a good look at who the clerk was talking to. But as he stood there holding the necklace up in front of him, an overly excited and very attractive girl came into view. Her exuberant expression lit her face up. He couldn’t help but smile like a fool.
The door buzzed and she had it open before he even thought to reach for it.
“Oh my God, thank you. Thank you so much,” she was saying as she stepped aside to let Trevor walk past, her eyes on the necklace.
“Bring it over here please,” insisted the clerk. “I already started the report, so I may as well put a close to it instead of just throwing it away. Let’s have a look here,” she said as she took it from Trevor. Apparently the owner of the necklace had already provided a description. The clerk went down a list she had made point by point, and looked satisfied when done.
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“Yup, looks like this is yours Ms. Babbit. Be sure to thank Mrrrrr…”
“Douglas,” Trevor said. “Trevor Douglas.”
“Yes, thank you,” said the girl, finally taking her eyes away from inspecting her sparkling necklace to look at me. For the first time apparently, because she looked and looked. And looked a little more, until it started to get uncomfortable.
“Uh-hum, well I’m glad you found your necklace Ms. Babbit,” said the clerk. “And I’m glad to play matchmaker too. It’s a gift. But I’m sure you two can find your way out. I’ll be getting back to work now.”
She left her counter to go to a back room, obviously amused. Ms. Babbit, looking a little sheepish at the exchange, was smiling but looking away now. She really was quite cute.
“You’re welcome. Ms. Babbit is it?” Trevor said with a laugh, trying to sound like the clerk.
“Yesss,” said the girl, rolling her eyes. “Not thrilled with the name, it being too close to another name famous for missing appendages and all that. So Marie will work just fine.”
“Marie. Ok, I can do that,” Trevor said with a laugh. He could imagine this girl had plenty of tiring jokes made about her name in the past. It was too easy, and it’s the sort of thing unfunny people can’t resist.
“So I found it in the woods not too far from here,” he told her. “The necklace, not the…”
“No, no. No, no, no, no, don’t say it!” Marie exclaimed.
“Fine, fine,” he laughed at her. Upon discovering the necklace in the woods, Trevor was curious as to how it got there. Especially so close to where he found it. Was it wrong that that bothered him? That someone actually traipsed through one of his private spots? “Were you walking through when you lost it?”
“No actually, I never go through the woods. Too many bugs. But, you know the fountain right off of Main? With all the benches and the big patio? I think that’s where I lost it.”
Everyone who lived in the area knew where she was talking about, so it was mostly a rhetorical question. Trevor nodded and said, “I see. Maybe a squirrel grabbed it and carried it out there for you.”
“Probably!” Marie said. “It’s nice to meet you by the way.”
“Same here,” Trevor said, shaking her extended hand. “Glad I came across your necklace. I’m sure you were upset when you realized it was missing.”
“I was! I so was. My heart just sank. I couldn’t believe I could be so careless!” And with that she gave Trevor a hug, which was completely unexpected. Right then, the clerk came out, saw the two of them, and that wry smile came to her lips once again. Trevor was instantly embarrassed again.
“Ok, well you’re welcome Marie,” Trevor said, as he started walking towards the door, hoping Marie would follow so he could escape the embarrassment. He wanted to talk to her more, but not inside the police station with the clerk standing right there. To his horror though, she didn’t take the hint.
“But wait!” she said. “I haven’t sufficiently thanked you for finding my necklace!”
With that, the clerk could barely hold in her laughter, obviously picking up on the sexual innuendo. Trevor looked at her, red faced, and she had to look away. Probably the only way she could stay professional. Bless her heart. This had sort of become an inside joke to the two of them, even though he’d only known her for 5 minutes. Marie, sweetheart that she seemed to be, didn’t understand how torturous this was becoming for him.
“No more thanks is needed. Really.” Trevor told her. “Let’s take this outside so we don’t disturb anyone any longer.”
“Oh, ok,” she said, walking through the door Trevor now had open for her. Trevor jokingly scowled at the clerk, and he heard the bark of laughter she could no longer contain. He was smiling greatly as they walked out, and when Marie turned to look at him outside, she seemed delighted, thinking the smile was for her. That was OK in Trevor’s book.
“Really,” he told her, “no more thanks needed. Apparently it was the right thing to do, bringing it here. And the timing was…”
“Perfect,” Marie finished.
“Perfect,” Trevor repeated. “And maybe a little lucky.”
“I usually believe in fate before I believe in luck or coincidence. Do you believe in fate, Trevor?”
For some reason, the question rocked him a little bit when she asked it. Something about it, with the sincere way in which she asked, sparked something inside of him that he couldn’t necessarily explain.
But since he had no real explanation and he needed to say something, he said, “I don’t know. I guess I’ve never really thought about it too much.”
He cringed at his cliché answer. How often had that bugged him when he was talking to other people?
“Well, start thinking about it. Because it brought us together today,” she said with a smile.
Trevor supposed he couldn’t argue that point. And as they exchanged numbers and parted with plans to meet for dinner that night, he dismissed any thoughts of fate and was already looking forward to seeing her again. He didn’t realize that fate was indeed at play here, but for reasons neither he nor Marie could begin to imagine.
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Dinner with Marie was a glorious event. Considering he hadn’t been on a date in as long as he could remember, Trevor was very relieved it went as well as it did. As long as he could remember. That was yet another oddity for him. He knew there have been other girls in his life. He wasn’t overly good looking with his conveniently short and non-styled hair and average features, but with medium blue eyes and olive skin, he wasn’t unattractive either. Fighting at the Pit had given him plenty of dating opportunities as of late, and he had gone on a few. Before then, Trevor could sense that he hadn’t been lonely. He just couldn’t remember why, or any of the girls, with any detail. Just what seemed like vague, long ago memories he couldn’t quite pull from the file cabinets of his memory. Of course Marie asked him about that very thing on their walk following dinner.
“Oh, I go on dates here and there,’ he said. Not daring to go into detail. They had successfully passed the small talk part of the date during the actual dinner, and were now comfortable enough getting a little more personal. But he certainly didn’t want her thinking he was crazy. It dawned on him just then how early in a relationship it could become necessary to start lying. He couldn’t remember a relationship long enough to know if that actually ever stopped.
“But nothing overly noteworthy, I guess,” he continued. “How about you?”
“Oh me, I was married once already. I was real young. I had just turned 19 when my boyfriend at the time proposed to me. I thought it seemed a little crazy at the time, but then everyone started telling me how wonderful it was. That he was this great guy, and how he was a little older and was an electrician’s apprentice, so he was going to make lots of money. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for a career at the time, so everyone just sorta convinced me it made sense. Ya know?”
“Oh yeah, totally makes sense,” Trevor said, lying to her for the second time since he’d been paying attention. Did he lie to her during dinner he wondered? He wasn’t sure.
Marie looked at him, deciding whether she wanted to believe him or not. Then shrugged.
“Well,” she continued, “obviously it didn’t work out. The economy tanked and he couldn’t find a job. Neither could I, with my lack of experience. Not much of anything anyway. And we hadn’t had time to save much, so it got ugly. Fast. And he got ugly. He started spending every ounce he could find on booze. He never beat me or anything, but some things happened that I knew weren’t repairable. So I decided to get out. I’ve been on a few dates since then. Nothing came of any of them though.”
She looked at him with big, doe eyes. Her brown eyes almost matched the brown of her shoulder length hair, he noticed. He returned her gaze, gently, letting her know he wasn’t intent on judging her for anything. When nothing was said, she gave a coy smile, and looked away.
Trevor laughed, trying to ease the tension a little.
“Well,” he said, “here I am, almost 30 and I haven’t had near that kind of excitement in all my years of dating. Haven’t even been remotely close to marriage!”
“What, you don’t meet all kinds of cute girls working for that office supply company?”
Marie laughed, looking down for a second for which Trevor was glad because he cringed for a millisecond. Damn. Three then.
“No, no cute girls at the office,” I said, which was at least true. Even though he didn’t work there anymore. “None with two legs anyway. The boss sometimes brings his dog in. So she’s not sitting at home alone all day every day. Lady is her name. Says she’s an Australian Shepherd or something. Really cute!”
“Awe! I would love that!” Marie exclaimed. Obviously an animal lover. “Is she super sweet?”
“She is. Super smart too. She can get her own water from the water cooler when she wants. I’ll leave that one to your imagination as to how she manages that,” Trevor said with a smirk.
Marie nudged him on the shoulder. “Tease!”
A whisper came and went, soft but distinct. It didn’t come from Marie, but came almost exactly as she called him a tease. His name was uttered urgently from a long and far distance. But not. He couldn’t explain it, and the confusion registered on his face.
“What is it?” Marie asked.
Trevor scowled a bit, scrunching his forehead and pursing his lips, to let her know he was thinking about it. And listening still. But nothing more came.
“I don’t know,” he said, looking around at their surroundings which were soaked with moonlight. His eyes were good, his hearing great, but there were no more clues to be had. “I swear I heard my name. Guess I was hearing things.”
Marie laughed. “Anyone that would be out here looking for you that you can think of?”
“Nope. Not a soul. Kind of living a solitary life out here these days,” he said with a shrug. But despite the shrug, it bothered him. So often when he thought of being alone, and tried his best to recall his past, it didn’t make him sad. But it brought up a strange sense of loss.
“Not anymore,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes.
Trevor was still half distracted when she said it. So it took him a few seconds to register her intensity. But when he did, he smiled.
“Thank you for saying that,” he told her.
She smiled back at him, making her eyes sparkle. Or was it the reflection of the stars? He couldn’t tell. Then she grabbed his hand and did an about-pivot.
“Shall we?” she asked with all the confidence of knowing what the answer would be.
“We shall,” replied Trevor. Feeling better and more hopeful than he had in, well, as long as he could remember.