'Round Here

A woman sat slumped against a signpost as the sun rose on a quiet Sunday morning. Her bare feet sat over the curb in front of a dollar store. Beside her sat a pair of expensive heels tucked through the handle of a coordinating clutch. Her perfect salon styled blond hair now disheveled from the previous night.

She slept quietly, mostly unnoticed, until a ragged dressed woman, exiting the dollar store, stopped and leaned toward her. Startled awake, she grabbed her clutch and shoes to her lap.

The ragged dressed woman straightened herself. "You're an odd duck 'round here," she cackled. She slowly sat a dollar store bag of food next to the signpost. "It's not safe for you here. Best use your phone and move along," the woman advised as she walked away.

She looked in the bag and grabbed the soda, leaving behind a sandwich and cupcake. She checked her clutch for her phone. It wasn't there, or in her pocket, or anywhere on the ground.

She stood up and looked around, unsure of where she was. To her right were train tracks, deserted and overrun with weeds. Old brick buildings with boarded up windows could be seen standing beyond the tall grass. Across the street sat a pawn shop surrounded by bulldozed lots now covered in sporadic weeds and a layer of crumbled bricks. Behind her, next to the dollar store, was a row of small buildings housing a cafe, a used clothing store, and a car wash. The small buildings continued into the distance where cars and trucks sped back and forth on an unseen highway.

She wondered what had happened to her car. Surely she had stopped to get gas, but there was no gas station or car. She mindlessly searched her clutch again, thinking she had heard her phone, but it was not there. She grabbed the shopping bag, gathered her things, and began walking barefoot toward the highway. She hoped someone would help her, but the businesses were all closed.

At the highway, she set her things on a concrete barrier and put on her shoes. She sat for a long time in the hot sun checking her makeup and swinging her feet. Afraid she would be walking after dark, she jumped down from the barrier and walked the direction of traffic. It was only a few moments before a car pulled over offering help.

She bent down to look into the passenger window. "Can I use your phone," she asked, hoping to call a friend for help and avoid the risk of getting in the car with an unknown man.

He scrunched his eyebrows and curled his lips into a smug smirk at the site of this small blonde bombshell asking him for help. "Caroline?" he grinned like the Cheshire Cat. "You're a long way from home."

"James!" she exclaimed, relieved that she knew him. She slid into the passenger seat of a new BMW, put the shopping bag on the floor, and shut the car door. "Where have you been hiding? Are you still seeing Sarah?"

"Since when do you shop at a dollar store?" he asked, ignoring her questions. Without missing a beat he retrieved her clutch from the concrete barrier and sat it on the seat beside her.

"Will you stop at a gas station?" she asked. "I need to use a restroom."

"Of course," he answered. "Why are you walking the highway? Where is your car?"

She ignored his questions and took a drink of the soda. "Do you like my new shoes?" She put her feet on the dash to model the shoes, her short skirt falling to the seat.

"Yes! Those are nice! I like the matching bag, too, and the cute skirt," he grinned.

"It's a clutch," she corrected.

He pulled into the gas station and, while she used the restroom, turned on some music.

"Where are you going?" he asked when she returned.

"Your place," she answered. "I need to make some phone calls and clean up. Do I still have clothes in your closet?"

"Sarah emptied that closet a long time ago. Did you leave any in the spare bedroom?"

"A closet full," she grinned. Ha! Good ole Sarah wasn't expecting James to bring her home. This could be fun she thought, but Sarah wasn't home.

Caroline chose clothes from the spare bedroom closet and purposely placed her dirty clothes in the bathroom hamper after her bath. Whenever Sarah showed up, Caroline wanted her to know that she had been there.

Caroline hadn't realized how much she had missed James and his apartment. A large studio apartment with minimalist but high dollar decor. A mono-colored sterile and quiet environment. She enjoyed the calm as opposed to her busy and cluttered apartment where random friends drop in unannounced and mystery books are scattered everywhere but the bookshelf.

She wanted James to belong to her again and give her the engagement ring she had seen in his sock drawer, but she wasn't sure how to do that. If it hadn't been for a misunderstanding when she returned from Europe, Sarah would still be an unknown face at a party, and Albert, the handsome, but maybe not so bright, American she met while in Europe, who believes fate has made them eternal, would still be an ocean away. She despised her stubborn nature and regretted that she hadn't insisted she talk it out with James. Hopefully, she would still get that chance.

She went to the living room where James had turned on the news. Caroline was stunned to see a reporter standing behind the deserted tracks where she woke that morning. He reported that there had been a break-in, and a car had been found inside of a boarded-up, abandoned building. The car, now being towed, was exactly like Caroline's. In the background, a woman, looking like Sarah, came out of the building and got into an Uber.

James looked at Caroline. "Whats going on?" he asked. "Sarah was with you last night? How did she end up with your car?"

Caroline looked at James curiously. His questions faded into the background, while the clouded memories of the previous night became clearer.

--

Caroline remembered being frustrated with Albert. He somehow always knew where she was going and it started with her plane trip home. He met her for breakfast that morning and sat beside her on the plane. She wondered if he had searched her purse and luggage where she kept her itinerary. Now at home, she worried he was tracking her car. She was glad to be going to a private anniversary party.

She congratulated her friend, mingled with the guests, and drank heavily throughout the evening. The night dragged on, even so, she was glad to be away from Albert, unknowingly not for long.

"Why are you following me, Albert?" she said frustratingly, as he appeared out of nowhere. I told you when we met that I wasn't looking for any type of relationship. How did you know I would be at this party? How did you get an invite?"

"I'm your plus one," said Albert. "Oh look, there's Sarah." He walked over to the punch bowl and invited her to the table.

"You two know each other?" Caroline asked.

"Your boyfriend introduced himself earlier," said Sarah. "I'm so glad you have found someone and moved on from James. Now we can be besties."

Boyfriend? Caroline was stunned. No wonder James had left that party with Sarah. Albert must have told him the same thing. "Albert is not my boyfriend. In fact, he's somewhat of a stalker," she said, hoping to convey caution to Sarah.

"We're working on that," laughed Albert. "Drinks for everyone." He walked to the bar and brought a tray of drinks to the table. "The evening is ending, let's have a drink and I'll take you both home." He jingled Caroline's keys in her face.

Caroline looked puzzled. "How did you get my keys?"

Sarah made a toast. "To our futures!" She grinned, downed her drink, and announced, "I found an engagement ring in James' drawer. Is it too soon to plan a wedding? Dear Caroline, you must help with my wedding plans."

Drunk, silly, and giggling, Sarah and James left for the car.

Caroline groaned. She knew she was too drunk to drive. She took a swig of her drink then followed them to her car fuming that Sarah had taken the engagement ring from James' drawer.

A very drunken Sarah climbed in the back seat. Caroline got in the front passenger seat. She was feeling groggy and fell asleep.

Caroline woke, as if in a dream, sometime after the car stopped. "Where are we?" she wondered.

Albert didn't notice she was awake and crawled in the back seat to be with Sarah.

Caroline grabbed her keys from the ignition and staggered her way out of the building. She noticed lights across some abandoned train tracks and walked through weeds to finally rest in front of a store. She fell asleep looking for her now lost keys.

--

"Caroline! Answer me!" said James, grabbing her shoulders and turning to face her.

Caroline slowly looked at James as his phone began to ring.

"Hello?" James listened to the caller for a moment. "On my way."

He pointed at Caroline. "You're coming with me!"

James hurried to see Sarah at her apartment.

"Oh! Caroline! Thank you for calling an Uber." said Sarah. "Where did you disappear to last night?"

"I woke up on the other side of the tracks from where you and my car were found. I lost my phone last night, Sarah. I couldn't call an Uber," said Caroline. "Where is Albert?"

"Albert, that's right! Your boyfriend," remembered Sarah. "I got a text from you saying you sent an Uber to take me home. Maybe your boyfriend has your phone and called me an Uber."

"He's not my boyfriend, but he sure acted like your lover in the back seat last night," snapped Caroline.

"Sarah, is that true?" asked James.

"Yes," answered Caroline.

James turned back to Sarah. "How would Albert know your address?"

"From Caroline, I'm sure," stammered Sarah.

"I don't know your address, but I have questions for Albert," said Caroline. "Where is he?"

"How would I know? He's your boyfriend," pouted Sarah.

Caroline glared at Sarah. "There is something else you should know, James. Sarah found an engagement ring in your drawer and wants me to help plan your wedding."

James scrunched his eyebrows at Sarah. "There is no wedding."

Caroline turned toward James. "Will you take me to that dollar store? I have to find my keys, get my car from impound, and go see Albert."

They parked at the dollar store and walked across the tracks to the abandoned building where her car had been. They did not find the keys, so they went back to the dollar store. Caroline sat by the signpost to rest and patted the ground for James to come sit beside her. She searched around the post but there was nothing. Pretty soon the ragged dressed woman, exiting the dollar store, stopped and leaned toward her. Startled, she grabbed James' hand.

The ragged dressed woman straightened herself. "Sure are a lot of odd ducks 'round here," she cackled, nodding toward the abandoned building across the tracks. "They found a dead one behind there this morning. A young man named Al, Allen, I don't know, Alfred?"

Caroline stared in horror at her. "Albert?" she gasped.

"Could be." She slowly sat a dollar store bag next to the signpost. "It's not safe for you here. Best move along," the woman advised as she walked away.

"Creepy," said James. "A dead body where they found Sarah and your car? Probably a local homeless man." He turned on his car radio hoping to hear news of the dead man.

"I hope you're right." Caroline wished she had her phone so she could call Albert. "That was her," she said. "The woman who woke me this morning." She opened the bag to get the soda and there in the bottom were her keys. Surprised, she looked around to thank the woman, but she was gone. She remembered the first dollar store bag she got from her and hurried to James' apartment where she had left it. She ran inside and looked in the bag. There in the bottom, beneath the cupcake and sandwich, was her phone.

Back at the car, Caroline sat quietly with James, overwhelmed by the events of the day. The car radio played quietly in the background until the news came on and announced the suspected murder of Albert Collins, believed to be a homeless man who had been living in the abandoned building.

It was the Albert who had followed Caroline back from Europe.

"I have to go back," said Caroline in a panic. "I need to talk to that woman."

"I don't think that's a good idea. She's just a nosy old woman sneaking around," said James. "It seems pretty suspicious to me, besides I need to talk to Sarah and get that engagement ring back."

James dropped Caroline off at the impound lot. She hoped that the engagement ring was intended for her, but she had other things to worry about. She paid to get her car back and drove to the dollar store. Unfortunately, the employees had never seen a ragged dressed woman in the dollar store.

Disappointed, she sat down and leaned against her signpost as the sun set on a quiet Sunday evening. She fell into a restless sleep thinking about James, Sarah, and the murder of Albert and hoping that Sarah's betrayal of James might work out in her own favor. She thought of the ragged dressed woman and wished she had been brave enough to talk to her. The chance had passed as it had with James, but fate, she hoped, had given her a second chance with James, and she intended to take it.